Chapter 576: The Beginning of Everything (1)

Chapter 576: The Beginning of Everything (1)

Chapter 576: The Beginning of Everything (1)

[TL: Asuka]

[PR: Ash]

In the sunlit garden, three noble children were pushing a young boy around. The boy was gaunt, and had curly, bushy hair. His eyes were brown, and his nose was aquiline. He was handsome and dressed in equally beautiful clothes. Perhaps he was related to his tormentors.

The boy's face was covered in red marks. He sat on the ground, dejected and downcast as he let his tormentors have their way with him. The boy would look up at times only to endure the humiliation further.

A freckled, pudgy boy with a nose pointing high up into the sky grabbed his victim's chin until it turned red. "Look at you. Not even your mother could stand your hideous face. She tossed you away like common trash."

"You're not a part of the House of Burns." An arrogant boy with a chin as sharp as the point of an awl kicked his victim's back, leaving a black shoe print on his white suit. "Your mother's a slut who'd sleep with anyone. You're just a little bastard she had with a ghoul. Your father's not in our house. You have no right to leech off us. Do not try to gain our aunties' sympathy again."

"You uncouth, uneducated, beastly lowborn." The girl in a frilly princess dress jabbed her nails into her victim's chest, as if trying to stab his heart. "I shall exile you eventually. You should've stayed in the slums and begged for money."

Then the girl felt someone pulling on her ponytail. She puffed her cheeks and whirled around, but the first thing she saw were dancing fingers pulling a string of purple electric bolts. The boys then fell for the same spell as well. Their eyes reflected the Sign of Axii, and their faces went limp.

Something eerie yet oddly hilarious happened after that. Like puppets, the little tormentors stood in a circle, slapping each other as they counted numbers aloud.

"W-Who are you?" The boy, released from his nightmare, found a cloaked silhouette looming over him. The silhouette was slender and had twin swords strapped to its back. Its eyes were silvery-gray like stars in the skies. He was lost in those eyes.

"I'm just a traveler who's lost my way. You may call me Roy." The witcher went down and pulled the boy up, then he dusted the soil off the boy's back. "What is your name, boy?"

"K-Kassilas Burns." The boy curled up like a scared hedgehog. He was nervous, fidgeting, and he had no idea where to put his hands. He slowly observed the mysterious guest. The sun shone from behind the boy, illuminating Roy's face. The witcher's face shone like the sun itself. Kasillas was captivated by the ivory swords strapped behind Roy's back.

"Pardon me, Kasillas, but what is this place, and what's the date now?"

"Huh?" The boy ruffled his hair and quickly answered, "We're in Maribor. It's Birke of 913 now."

Roy froze for a moment. So this is more than 350 years ago? The mist took me to Maribor as it was, or is this just an illusion?

"What happened to Orik and his friends?" Kasillas looked at the kids who were still slapping one another, and he was worried.

Roy shook his head. "Those who oppress the weak should be punished, but don't worry. They're going to end up with nothing but swollen faces for a few days. Speaking of which, don't you hate them?"

"They are ignorant. Just a few spoiled children. I bear no ill will toward them. Besides, I should be going through some trials anyway."

"What kind of trials?"

Kasillas' eyes went wide, and with anticipation, he asked, "Are you a knight, Roy? Here to save me and punish the wicked?"

"You may think so." Roy didn't lie. He was a legitimate knight of Lake Vizima. The Lady of the Lake appointed him so.

"But why do you carry two swords? That's not how the stories go."

"One punishes the wicked who have sinned. One punishes the monsters who have ravaged this world."

Kasillas' eyes sparkled. He looked at the witcher in reverence.

"You seem to worship knights a lot."

"I don't have any interests or friends. I like reading stories about knights, and I vow to be one someday." The boy was a fanatic of knights. He put his dirty hand into his shirt's pocket and took out a grey, leather journal. The journal's cover had something written in northern common speech. It read, 'Virtue's Guide, by Sir Matteo.' The boy showed it to Roy like it was his most prized possession.

Roy's lips twitched. He was reminded of Grimm, who would talk about the knight's creed all day, every day. The witcher took the book and flipped a few pages. This book must've been read many times. The spine of the book and the pages' corners were all battered. Every page had a lot of notes written on it, but the book was well-kept.

Blood trickled down Kasillas' forehead and turned his world red. He fell headfirst into the ground like a falling kite. But then, an invisible chain broke, and a surge of scorching heat charged along his veins.

The bald thug flexed his muscles, holding his bat tightly. He swung his weapon down on Kasillas' head.

Something buzzed. A flash of white light arced through the air. Like a stream of wind, a bolt bored a hole through the bald thug's arm, and the impact blasted his forearm away. Chunks of bones and flesh rained.

Before Roy could teleport closer, a roaring stream of flames appeared on the walls of the alleyway. The fire licked the walls, ground, and it eventually surrounded the thugs. Burned by flames, the thugs rolled on the ground, howling in agony. Alas, it did nothing to soothe their pain. The magical fire stuck to them like goo.

Like a sun, the fallen Kasillas spread a sea of light and heat. The fire filled up the alleyway, and the light surged higher than the walls, piercing a hole through the overcast sky.

Moments later, the flames shrank into Kasillas, whose clothes were already burned. The young man lay in the alleyway, naked. Not far before him, a row of three charred objects could be seen. They vaguely resembled humans.

***

"Kasillas wants to be a knight, but he's a powerful and untrained Source." Roy stared at the bastard of the House of Burns. He had grown into a lad. Roy's eyes went vacant. For some reason, he was caught in a stupor.

Footsteps came from the alleyway's entrance. A beautiful girl with a ponytail and a herb basket came running into the alleyway. She looked at the fallen Kasillas, and she blanched. The girl shouted for help while she held him in her arms, nervously checking on him. She almost looked like a girl in love checking on her lover.

The mist came back once more. It cut off all light, but this time, it only lasted for moments. An ancient, stern voice spoke through the disappearing mist.

***

"Do you know why your aunts and uncles hired me, Kasillas?"

"Because I have chaos energy within me. They're worried I can't control this evil power and might hurt someone."

"Correction. Chaos energy does not have any distinction between good and evil. What it does, whether good or evil, depends entirely on the ones who control it."

The mist had fully disappeared. Roy found himself standing within a quiet garden. An old man in a blue sorcerer's robe was standing in the pavilion in the garden's center, talking to a summery young man.

"I want to be a knight. A knight that the people acknowledge. I've trained for seven years myself, and I do not want to give up halfway through."

The old man had a wide forehead and eyes that twinkled with wisdom. He stroked his snow-white beard and smiled with approval. "You have a great talent for magic. Top talent, I'd wager, and you have a pure heart. Do not worry. The arcane arts do not clash with your ideals. During the First Landing, our ancestors sailed the seas and came to this continent. It was then they first discovered and utilized magic. The first thing they did with it was make water come out of a nearby boulder and they saved countless dehydrated sailors. Magic was found to save and educate the people."

"You mean I can be a magical knight who can save the world if I learn from you?"

"If you master the arcane arts, not only can you uphold justice and punish crimes like a knight, but you can also come up with a solution to the greatest threat to humanity: the monsters born from the Conjunction of the Spheres."

"What's the Conjunction of the Spheres?"

"You will know in time."

"Can I bring someone along?" The lad was thinking about the girl with the herb basket. The one who had long, flowing hair, and a beautiful face. She was the only one who acknowledged him.

"Of course, but to make things very clear, fewer than one in ten thousand possess the talent to control chaos energy. Do not feel disappointed if she cannot learn the arcane arts."

"Then I am willing to learn from you." Kasillas took a few steps back and bowed to the old man.

"Kasillas Burns, once you begin your education in the arcane arts, you must cut off your past."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You must have a new name. One the world of magical academia knows you as." The old man paused for a moment, and he stared into Kasillas' face. "How does Alzur sound?"

Kasillas clenched his fists. With a determined look on his face, he said clearly, "Very well, Cosimo. From today onward, my name shall be Alzur."

Roy emerged from the mist. What he saw earlier disoriented him strongly. The scene did not disappear this time, so the young witcher quickly made his way to the creators of witchers in this imprint of history.

***

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