Arthur hovered beside the central orbital cannon, the hum of the magitech systems pulsing gently beneath him like a heartbeat. The air still smelled faintly of superheated metal from the earlier assembly. He was making final calibrations, checking the alignment of the runic conduits and the flow of mana through the embedded mithril orb. Every few seconds, the radar emitted a soft pulse, an invisible ripple fanning out across a thousand miles.
Arthur wiped the back of his hand across his forehead out of instinct, though he wasn't sweating. "Alright," he muttered, stretching his shoulders. "Almost done."
He adjusted the orbital cannon system for the third time that hour. Not because anything was wrong, it's just because he wanted it perfect. He never knew what could happen in his absence, so the idea of leaving any weak point in the island's defenses didn't sit right with him.
"Good," Arthur murmured, adjusting a panel with a subtle gesture of telekinesis. "Energy flow is stable. And the feedback loop is holding."
He leaned closer to inspect the thermal gauge display embedded into the cannon's base. The heat dispersion arrays were functioning well, the guardian's coding had been precise as always.
But before he could initiate the final diagnostic scan, a faint ping resonated on the band around his wrist.
Arthur glanced down, and after reading the message he flicked his wrist, minimizing the hologram.
"Alright…" He exhaled, gave the system one final sweep with his senses, and nodded when everything hummed effortlessly.
He let the extra floating materials drift back into storage space and descended.
…
Arthur reached Selene's residence and knocked gently.
It took only a moment for the door to open, and Selene's expression made his brows lift slightly. Gone was her usual soft calm or playful amusement. Instead, her golden eyes were serious, and worry was evident on them.
"Selene?" Arthur tilted his head. "What happened?"
She didn't answer right away. Instead, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face briefly in his chest. Arthur held her without hesitation, one hand sliding to the back of her head.
After a moment she pulled away.
"Grandpa wants to see you."
Arthur was confused, then let out a slow breath. "Why?"
Selene hesitated for just a second before answering.
"It's about Roderic," she said quietly. "His grandfather is the King of Ashenfang, one of the three Dragon Kingdoms of Drakmire. Like I told you before… Grandpa had an agreement with him. Since you were assumed to be dead, the issue never resurfaced. But now…"
Arthur filled in the rest. "Now that I'm alive, the agreement might break."
Selene nodded.
Arthur wasn't surprised, not even slightly. He had already expected the news of his return to reach the ears of his enemies. And even if they knew about it they couldn't do anything to him as he was already strong enough. And from his assumption currently he was much stronger than a Transcendent rank expert.
Arthur cupped her cheeks gently. "Hey. Don't worry, I'll handle it."
Selene's shoulders relaxed. Her forehead rested against his chest once more, and Arthur could feel the tension draining from her little by little.
"I know you will," she murmured. She knew Arthur was strong, and from his aura she felt he was even stronger than her which reassured her even more.
And Arthur didn't respond to that, because she was right, but saying it out loud felt weird. Instead, he rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head.
A few minutes later, they teleported away from Avalon.
…
They arrived before a mansion Arthur immediately recognized, it belonged to Steve. Even before stepping inside, Arthur sensed the runic wards woven subtly into its foundation, old magic layered with modern reinforcement which he had failed to sense when he visited the place in the past. A maid opened the door, bowed politely, and gestured for them to follow.
"Lord Augustus and Lady Eveline are waiting," she said.
Arthur exchanged a quick look with Selene, who gave a small shrug in return. The maid guided them through polished hallways until they reached a wide chamber.
Inside, two figures sat at a long low-table drinking tea.
One was Steve, he looked as he always did, calm, composed, carrying an aura of restrained power that could crush most foes without moving a muscle.
Beside him sat a woman Arthur had never met in person, but her resemblance to Selene was unmistakable. She was the kind of woman who didn't need to raise her voice to dominate a room, her presence alone did it. She had the same purple hair and golden eyes as Selene but just more mature, it was her grandmother.
Eveline's gaze snapped toward Arthur the moment he and Selene stepped inside. Her eyes narrowed, as she scrutinized Arthur with a piercing look, that Arthur almost expected her to start judging him then and there.
"So," she said with a piercing tone. "This is Arthur?"
Steve coughed lightly beside her and elbowed her in the ribs in a subtle "be nice" tap.
Arthur bowed politely, both out of respect and because he could feel the tension thickening the air.
"Greetings, Lady Eveline. Selene talks about you often. But… I didn't know you were more beautiful in person than she described."
Eveline's lips twitched, then she scoffed. "This boy has a silver tongue, I'll give him that." But the way her lips curled up, it suggested she was very pleased.
Steve sighed dramatically, grabbing another piece of tea cracker as if he'd gone through this routine a thousand times. "Alright, alright that's enough. We didn't gather here to evaluate his character."
Eveline smacked him lightly on the arm. "You quiet down. I need to see how he is before I marry off my dear granddaughter to him."
Selene blushed, seeing her grandparents openly discussing their marriage in front of them. And Arthur just looked at them awkwardly, without saying anything.
After that, Eveline stood and motioned for Selene to join her. "Come with me, let the men talk. It's been a while since I've had the chance to spend time with my granddaughter."
She practically kidnapped Selene, who tossed Arthur a helpless look as she was whisked out of the room.
Steve sighed again, then straightened his posture, and gestured to the cushions across from him. "Sit."
Steve studied him for a long moment. "I believe you know why I called you," Steve finally said, "but after sensing your aura… it seems my worry was unnecessary." he said that because he felt Arthur was as strong as a newly ascended Demigod, which surprised him a lot. Though he had heard about Arthur's power of growing stronger with more pressure. He was still surprised at such a fast rate of his progression.
Arthur held his gaze. "You felt it, huh."
"Already into the early Demigod rank," Steve nodded and said absentmindedly. "You are much stronger than I expected."
Arthur nodded hearing him and said with a shrug, "Technically, it wasn't really me who killed Roderic… he died because of this."
He raised his hand and a swirl of purple energy ignited over his palm, dancing like flame.
Steve narrowed his eyes as he sensed the terrifying energy covering Arthur's hand, which he only came across only a few times in his long life. Though he didn't pry into how Arthur acquired said energy and said, "Aether."
Arthur let the energy fade and nodded. "What do you know about it? Even small details would help."
Steve leaned back, a faint crease forming in his brow. "Not much, and not enough to be something useful. I've only seen it a handful of times in all my years. What I do know is simple, Aether isn't meant for mortals. It's divine in nature…"
Steve sighed and said, "I don't know how you acquired such energy, heck I don't know how you are even alive with this energy coursing through your body right now." He paused a bit as if reminiscing something and continued after a few seconds, "It's an energy mostly used by the gods, and even they don't have full authority over it as it's an extremely volatile energy.
Arthur said as he grinned, "Well then that means I am an exception."
Steve rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah you are an exception. With your current power you should have no problem taking care of Vaelrond." Then he pointed a thumb toward his own chest. "For the record, I reached the Demigod realm centuries ago, and even I wouldn't touch Aether without several layers of protection."
Arthur widened his eyes. "Wait, you're a Demigod?"
Steve gave him a flat look. "Why do you sound surprised?"
Arthur looked at Steve and said, "But from what I know, they vanished after the era of the gods. How did you achieve it?" Arthur was surprised because he was not a Demigod in a traditional sense as he had not acquired that power through cultivation. So seeing Steve reach the mythical rank of Demigod, he was a bit surprised.
Steve looked at Arthur weirdly and said, "You are one to talk with your absurd ability, you are in the Demigod rank too. It's just that I don't advertise my powers wherever I go, so nobody except Selene and Eveline know I have reached Demigod rank."
Arthur nodded as he felt it was reasonable.
Steve placed the cup down carefully. "Vaelrond is only in the Transcendent rank, you should have no problem dealing with him if he comes."
Arthur felt he should not waste this opportunity so he asked. "So… want to spar?"
Steve shot Arthur a look that could only be described as "You cocky brat."
"Well, someone's getting overconfident."
Arthur shrugged. "I want to see how I compare."
Steve clicked his tongue but stood anyway. "Fine, lad. But we can't fight here unless you want this entire mansion reduced to rubble."
He started walking toward the door and gestured with two fingers for Arthur to follow.
Arthur smirked and stood up. "I'll try not to break anything important," he said.
Steve snorted. "You won't get the chance to."
***
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