On Arthur's first day in the royal guard. He walked into the area of the kingdom reserved to them. Fort Lilac, located on a hill overlooking the rest of the kingdom. He had to hike up the large hill. As his carriage driver didn't want to risk it on the rough terrain. He was carrying what had to be 3 sacks of over 120 pounds of baggage. His father had made him overpack, and Lancelot had him run some supplies over to the fort. It was all mildly infuriating. Though he had to admit the scenery was beautiful, the hill overlooked the whole kingdom, he didn't really recognize just how big the kingdom was before. Compared to earth, the plains were so vast and so empty. He suddenly thought about the forgotten village to the north. Astor and her grandson.
'...they must be dead by now...'
Arthur felt a lurch of guilt. The moment he left the village, they were doomed to die. The oni would invade from the darkness and take them all in the night. He didn't know if it would be worse for him to remember, or to forget. He continued hiking the steep hill. Eventually he just activated his augment and burst up the hill, each leap he took he dug his foot into the ground and used his full force to propel himself back up. Before he reached flat ground.
In front of him stood a tall steel gate. With stone walls expanding around it to cover the hill. He looked up, and suddenly felt the waves behind the gate begin shifting. He didn't like his new senses now he had become a master, he felt more sensitive to every movement around him, all weighing on his brain at once. Whatever was approaching the gate had rather weak waves, but, its waves seemed to branch longer and weave together. Weak in quantity.
He heard the gate start to rumble and saw a pair of hands underneath it as it was being lifted. Arthur's head pounded. He had to shut off that part of his vision in order to avoid the mental strain. It felt eerily similar to the physical strain he felt when he stopped time. The gate lifted. And a grizzly bear of a man stood there. As tall as he was large. Though Arthur knew the man well.
"There is my nephew!"
Arthur's uncle, Damon Pendragon, stood beneath the gate. Lifting it with his bare hands. Always known for his monstrous strength. Arthur smiled. He had fond memories of his uncle. A kind soul.
"And to think that only a few years ago you were rotting in bed and refusing to see me. You've gotten so tall! Hey, keep that up and you'll become like your uncle here!"
Damon flexed his arm and then guided Arthur into the fort. It was rather empty for the most part. He only spotted a few people. He assumed were the members of the royal guard. Damon's look changed a bit and he looked towards Arthur.
"So, boy. The incident in the kingdom. Mind telling me about that?"
Arthur paused and looked at him.
"About what? I'm sure you've heard enough about it."
"They never clearly described the cause of death of the king. They called it, an incident. But I'm not an idiot. So tell me what happened."
Arthur just sighed.
"I killed him."
Damon paused. His face showed that he didn't expect the answer. But he wasn't shocked.
"How did you pull that off? A 3rd stage saint level battlemage. You killed him?"
"He let me kill him."
Damon seemed skeptical. But didn't pry any further.
"Go get some rest. The hill is…quite tall."
Arthur nodded. Damon showed him to his…room. His room. That did not have a bed. Nor was it indoors. He showed him to a stable room. Opening the gate to a straw bed. Arthur just looked at Damon.
"You can't be serious."
"…this is where new recruits stay. Your first trial will start tomorrow."
Damon walked away. Leaving Arthur to lay on the straw bed. He stared up at the starless sky, illuminated only by the moon. He lacked something, and he couldn't exactly tell what it was. An empty hole in his heart, in his soul. He fell asleep and entered the library of memories. The demon, Verita, and the old man, were nowhere to be found. It was eerie and quiet, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be seeing them anytime soon. The library of memories was said to be an inner reflection of the soul of humans. If there were no disturbances, the soul was tranquil. Tamed.
He picked up the book on draconic runes. And flipped through it again, time was the most interesting rune to him, in the book, reversing and even speeding up the process of time was a possibility through runes. He closed the book and put it on the floor. He picked up another book, the library seemed to always give him the book he wanted, no matter where he picked a book from. Spirits. That was what he was interested in most.