NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8: Six months later
Just like that, six months passed away in the blink of an eye.
During the past few months, Raphael's abilities with his Arcana spirit became more widely known, reaching even the Kingdom of Triastal, the farthest kingdom from Camelot.
Meanwhile, Camelot buzzed with rumors and tales of the young Garcia heir's incredible powers, and his abilities began to spread throughout the land like wildfire.
But then again, Raphael's Arcana was a marvel in itself—a shape-shifting spirit that could transform into thirteen different creatures, each one resembling the signs of the zodiac, with the final one being the mysterious shadow zodiac: Ophiuchus.
Usually, regardless of an Arcana spirit's grade, one only holds one soul skill per rank. Those who have more than one Arcana spirit will have multiple soul skills per rank.
However, Raphael's case was entirely different.
Each transformation came with a specific set of soul skills, meaning—thirteen per rank.
Fortunately, there are limitations too.
When Astralith transforms into one zodiac beast and unleashes a skill, for example, a soul skill of rank-1, even if it transforms into a different zodiac beast, it cannot unleash any skill of rank-1 until the cooldown timer resets, which is usually 5 minutes for rank-1 soul skills of any Arcana spirit.
This limitation added an intriguing layer of strategy to Raphael's combat style, where he had to carefully consider which transformation to use in any given situation.
Additionally, there was also a time gap between transformations. Raphael could not simply shift from one form to another at will. There was a pause between each change, a brief moment in which he had to allow the Arcana's energy to stabilize before the next transformation could occur.
King Arthur, who was always on the lookout for powerful individuals who could shape the future of the kingdom, was eager to ensure that such a talent would be nurtured and properly trained. Hence, he bestowed Raphael with an esteemed mentor—Alexandrus, the legendary son of Hercules and grandson of Zeus himself. Alexandrus was a figure revered across the supercontinent, one of the top five strongest individuals in the world, and also the Supreme guardian of Camelot.
Under Alexandrus's tutelage, Raphael left his home and moved to Mt. Alexandrus of the White Mountains, a place named after his master.
At the same time, Eon's abilities continued to evolve at an equally rapid pace. Her Arcana, the Hourglass, granted her the ability to manipulate time—stopping it, reversing it, and sometimes slowing it down. Eon's training was intense but fascinating as she reached the peak stage of the 4-star realm in no time.
Under the guidance of the Grand Elder, Corwin Garcia, Eon's training accelerated further, as Corwin helped refine her skills and mentored her on how to push the boundaries of her time-manipulating abilities and how to incorporate those techniques in a battle.
Meanwhile, Rael was also trained by someone. His father let go of Raphael and Eon, finally focusing on training Rael. As a weapon-type user, Rael had no need for long-ranged magic attacks or energy-based spells or so whatever. His focus was entirely on enhancing his physical prowess and sharpening his combat skills. But instead of following a traditional path of combat training, his father, Aurelius, had a different vision for him.
Aurelius did not allow Rael to train his soul energy like other members of the family. Instead, he put Rael through grueling physical training—intense workouts designed to push his body to the limits.
Rael also never complained. He puts up with whatever is thrown at him, for his goal is to become independent of his father's influence and become a free man. The lack of praise from the King only reduced his loyalty to the homeland to nothing. He decided to become strong and take his sister away from the House to live far away.
For six months, Rael endured hellish training. Every day, for 16 hours, he pushed his body to the brink of exhaustion, lifting weights, running, and sparring with his dad or the soldiers.
His diet was tailored to his needs, consisting of the meat of high-ranking monsters that would help him build strength and increase his resilience. Every minute of his day was spent training his body and honing his passive skills, specifically his death vision. While his physical body became stronger every day, there was no noticeable improvement in his ocular abilities no matter how hard he trained under his father's guidance. His death vision remained stagnant, unable to perceive more than a vague outline of a person's aura.
The tournament was fast approaching, and Rael still found himself stuck at the intermediate stage of the 3-star realm. His body, though lean, had become incredibly resilient through rigorous training. His bones were as strong as those of a 6-star realm expert, yet he always lost against 5-star realm knights due to the difference in their soul energy.
Eon and Raphael, though, were not progressing with their soul energy. The tournament rules prohibited individuals in the 5-star realm and above from competing as rookies, so both of them had intentionally stagnated at the peak stage of the 4-star realm, focusing more on combat techniques.
After their final sparring session, where Rael was once again beaten by his father, Aurelius announced that his training was over for the time being. He instructed Rael to rest for a week before they departed for the capital for the tournament.
Young Rael wasn't confident as he had yet to win a single combat during the past six months.
He had to look for a way to improve his soul energy during the next couple of weeks. He knew the method but didn't know the way to achieve it. As a result, he could only become more frustrated.
Rael returned to his room in a gloomy mood, sitting on his bed as his thoughts churned. "I have two weeks. I have to look for a way to enter the Arcana world. But Father is against it, and no elder would help me. The only one who can help me is Grandpa. But, how to convince him…"
"Rael…"
It was then Eon, ever the comforting presence, entered shortly afterward while skipping in a good mood. "Hmm?"
"Are you still worried about the tournament?" Eon asked, her voice gentle as she sat beside him.
Rael sighed deeply. "Yeah. My soul energy is insufficient and to fulfill Father's challenge, I need to get to the top 4."
"Well, we can go to the Arcana world," Eon said, letting out a smile.
"You know that's not possible." Rael sighed, explaining to her the denial from their father.
Eon's eyes glinted mischievously as she said, "It isn't the first time we did things behind Father's back."
Rael raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "What do you mean?"
Eon explained, "I can control Time Stop enough to give us a way to enter the Arcana world without being detected by the guards."
Rael mulled over the idea for a moment. "You sure you can do it? The guards are 7-star Arcana Masters."
Eon's grin widened. "I tricked even my teacher, Grand Elder Corwin, a Supreme Being. Those aren't a match."
"Hmm… ok, let's do it."
That night, after most of the people in the mansion slowly drifted into sleep, Rael sneaked out of the house, with Eon following close behind. The household guards had long been accustomed to the siblings' late-night habits, but even they couldn't have predicted what was about to happen. With Eon's time manipulation abilities, they were able to slip past unnoticed.
Within no time, they managed to sneak into the Ancestral Temple premises where Garcia House's private world portal is located. As both of them knew before, two 7-star realm experts were guarding the portal. At the moment, those two looked a bit sleepy, lazily leaning to the back of their chairs.
"You ready, brother?" Eon whispered, watching them from behind a statue on the pavement.
As Rael nodded, Eon summoned the hourglass and she whispered. "Soul skill: Time Stop." The hourglass turned upside down and the white sand started falling down to the other bulb.
With a swift motion, Eon froze time for a couple of seconds, just long enough to carry Rael across the portal and into the Arcana world before time resumed its flow.
Meanwhile, in the temple of Zeus, located not far away from the Ancestral temple, the High Priestess, who was in deep meditation, suddenly opened her eyes. "The time manipulation at such time?" Her eyes widened as she turned her head toward the east. "Eon… what have you done?"