Chapter 28: A Monster In The Depths Pt.2

Chapter 28: A Monster In The Depths Pt.2

The third month was at its close, and the harsh training was over for Harper, but things went a little bit differently for Ira. It all started at the end of the first month, that whole month could be described as a complete thrashing at it's finest. Ira could do nothing, but receive injuries from the Valkyries. They sought to test his physical limits, which turned out to be incredibly high, but the moment Lauren obliterated his heart everything changed.

"Show me what's different."

Lauren said as she drew her sword.

Ira laughed in response as he stood up and took a fighting stance. Slowly, a black mist-like substance gathered over his arms and legs, it curled around his appendages and stopped at his elbows and knees. It moved in a fluid manner as it curled and twisted.

Ira lunged forward and left a crater at his previous spot. His speed caused a sonic boom, uprooting most of the trees around him. Lauren moved her sword to block just as he arrived. It had to be noted that Ira lunged beyond the speed of sound, and the distance between him and Lauren couldn't have been more than 30 feet, he closed the gap in 0.02 seconds. The Valkyries were familiar with speeds beyond sound, so Lauren was able to react, with a combination or experience and pure instinct.

Lauren raised her sword with an underhanded grip and used her other arm to brace it, as she twisted her body, white particles gathered around the sword, Ira grazed the sword causing his original trajectory was slightly redirected away from her and sent him crashing deeper into the forest. The snapping of trees and panicked flight of birds continued for a few hundred feet. Dust rose as a large scar trailed through the forest.

"M-Mother." Casey said wide-eyed, for the first time in her life she was beyond shocked.

"I know." Lauren looked at the site of the destroyed trees and forest with a genuine smile, pure excitement decorated her face.

A few moments later Ira stumbled out of the ruined forest area, trying to reattach his right arm. He laughed as he finally put it back on and it instantaneously healed.

"I'll accept it."

Ira said to himself as he grinned with elation.

Acceptance. Maybe that's what he felt. When he killed off the last remanent of his old self, it wasn't to make himself more ruthless or cold, though some his actions surely would reflect that already, it wasn't to make himself choose between good or evil since his moral alignment was already unbalanced. It was him accepting he could no longer reclaim that part of himself. His moment of desperation and agony created a ravenous need for power, and even when he no longer remained himself, deep down he still kept the childish and naive hope that maybe he could replace what once was, but now he could accept there was no need for whatever was before.

Deep down, he feared he would hurt the few people he began to care for, in exchange for power, but now along with that ravenous hunger for power was a warped sense of protection he would provide for those he saw as important. They'd grow with him whether they liked it or not, even if they had to sacrifice everything except their lives. To the rational mind that may seem incredibly irrational, but to him, it was only natural. Anything standing in the way of his distorted sense of happiness would earn his purest form of hostility. He never wanted to be that pitiful boy chained to an altar again.

Ira laughed to himself freely. Whether the world was meant to handle someone with a corrupted mentality and unreasonable, was anyone's guess.

Casey and Lauren didn't mind Ira's strange outburst of laughter, instead, they approached in an unbothered manner.

"You have the ability, you just need direction."

Lauren's face still held a pleased smile. While Casey looked excitedly at Ira.

"We'll make sure to thoroughly guide you."

Lauren placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke with a genuine tone of familial love, Casey also showed a warm expression. Casey already thought of him as one of her own sons, While Lauren valued him more than her own grandsons. She underestimated Ira greatly, it was safe to say that currently, he had the makings of a walking catastrophe. She wouldn't manipulate or seek to control him, she wouldn't be a parasite that hindered his development, what she sought was a symbiotic relationship. His actions were sure to increase the growth of the Valkyries. She would give adequate preparation before he carved his path into the world, just like her mother did for her, and just like she did for her daughters.

.............................................

The second month is where his real training began.

"Twist your arm as you extend it. I don't want the fastest or strongest punch. I want the most efficient. Completely extend your legs when you kick, it will allow greater impact."

Lauren said as she used her hand to readjust Ira's arms.

Currently, he had chains on each of his limbs and a blindfold over his eyes. Each limb was tied to a large stone cube. Casey stood at the side using magic to reinforce the chains, to prevent Ira from snapping them. The large cubes each weighed fifteen tons, they were cut from the closest mountain by Lauren and Casey, and each one was dragged to the stone stage by Ira. All though his muscles could carry up to fifteen tons, he couldn't transfer a force of fifteen tons into a punch, not with just his strength. The greater his technique, efficiency, and control, the more damage he would be able to be put into his attacks, needless to say, that was the point of his current situation.

It had been three days and Ira had been doing a complicated routine of punches and kicks while chained to the heavy stone cubes. There had been no breaks allowed, Lauren wanted to force him to control how much energy he used. It was far more practical, for him. While some may argue to use your full power in each fight, if Ira used his full power on most people it would be a waste of energy and frankly, complete overkill. It would be akin to destroying a house for one single fly. Today's training would introduce something new to Ira.

"Incoming."

Lauren stepped away from the stone stage.

Whoosh!

Dozens of arrows made from spirit magic flew toward Ira, Lauren and Casey weren't the only ones present, all seven of Lauren's daughters were standing at the sides of the stage. The reason why Lauren made him wear the blindfold was to let him use his own senses to avoid and detect danger. Ira had around 5 feet to maneuver in, that's as far as the chains allowed him to go. He moved in quick bursts, he spun, twisted, jumped, and ducked. A few spirit arrows hit him but he ignored it, he prevented his wounds from healing, to preserve energy. Even though his body could be considered nearly immortal, he needed the energy to supplement it. Going three days without eating or resting put him in a difficult position, he learned that the injuries which didn't hinder his ability to fight were not important to heal right away.

Ira continued to move in short bursts, it almost looked as if he was dancing. His movements were powerful and quick.

"Two enemies."

Lauren spoke up six hours later.

"Three."

Ira said in response.

"Good."

Lauren responded with a small chuckle.

He could hear and feel the footsteps of three Valkyries approaching, though it was almost impossible to. Each step made noise that was pretty much undetectable to anyone except those with some form of incredible awareness.

The three Valkyries all charged in a coordinated manner, they each held real weapons and attacked with the intent to fatally wound and disable Ira. Two spears and one sword all swung towards Ira, while the spirit arrows avoided the Valkyries and went straight for Ira.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Lauren rung a small bell in one of her hands which produced a surprising amount of noise which blocked out the sound of the footsteps, while her other hand tossed out some powder which smelled strongly of mint. In fact, it was so strong it covered the whole area in its smell, eliminating the scent of the Valkyries and their weapons. Ira jumped while curling his body inwards and crossing both arms together to block, one spear was thrust high while the other swept low, the sword slashed across his arms and left a deep cut which exposed the bones in his arms. He couldn't teleport away to dodge, even if he had his sight, he was still chained to four heavy stone cubes which were too heavy to teleport with.

In a battle there was little to no time to think, the Valkyries knew this, not only them, but anyone who claimed to be a skilled warrior or mage knew this. Fighting techniques are all a combination of muscle memory, instinct, and conditioned behavior. Lauren didn't want the best reactions from Ira, she wanted the impossible. Overloading his senses, misleading him with false information, and creating a confusing environment. The Thynne Family women all went through something similar to gain their battle awareness, but this was even more stressful than that.

After two hours another Valkyrie received a signal from Lauren and joined the attack, It was Judith, Lauren's second born daughter. She wielded a huge battle hammer that was taller than her. She spun it above her with very little effort, Valkyries had strengthened bodies but they could also channel magic to temporarily enhance their strength. Most skilled mages could, but there weren't many mages who would use swords and magic in conjunction, a special concentration was needed to effectively use two different disciplines.

Judith wings spread as she took flight with her battle hammer in hand.

Whooosh!

She assaulted Ira from the air.

Thwack!

Judith swung the hammer downwards and made contact with Ira's arm, the force from the hammer hit with amazing might, and bent Ira's arm backward. His whole body was covered in blood, seeing as he was still bombarded with spirit arrows and hit with weapons, but he persisted through the punishment.

"Haaah."

Ira exhaled lightly as he moved his arm that was still able to function. He twisted the chain around his arm and began to pull the fifteen ton stone cube.

Keeeeeeeeeer.

The loud grating sound of stone being dragged across stone resounded in the ears of everyone present. Ira ignored all the incoming blows and focused his strength.

"Haaah!"

Ira shouted hoarsely, as veins bulged on his arm, he probably could lift it without much resistance at full strength, but now his endurance had been worn down after three days of non-stop exertion. The stone cube lifted off the ground and swung thirty feet into the air. Judith's wings propelled her out of the way and the stone cube just missed her. It still continued forward, the Valkyries standing in front of Ira all dodged immediately as they could guess the trajectory. When the stone cube reached the peak of the swing, Ira pulled downwards with all the force he could muster.

BOOOM!

The stone cube slammed into the stage and shook the surroundings, fragments of stones shot out, and embedded themselves into trees, while the Valkyries blocked the pieces that headed towards them. The debris settled and showed the collapsed figure of Ira.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Lauren clapped with a beautiful smile, while she walked toward Ira. She knelt down and slowly waved her glowing hand over his body. She applied some light healing and decided to let his regeneration do the rest.

"Let's get him some food. For the next three days, he'll only use a sword."

Lauren said as she stood up. The Valkyries all looked at Ira as if he were a complete abomination, though there was no rejection in their gazes, only desire, and excitement. They wished for him to marry their own daughters, and still held hope he could be persuaded to.

..........................................

The training which would drive a masochist to suicide continued for the remainder of the second month. Three months were not a lot of time to make a well-trained warrior, most people would probably advise at least three years at the minimum, but Lauren didn't care as she continued to train Ira and push his limits. The combination of his instincts and Lauren's training regiment increased Ira's abilities to amazingly high levels, he was no longer the boy inexperienced in battle from before.

Eventually, the end of the third month, which consisted of sparring, putting his knowledge into practice, and gaining control of his new abilities, finally arrived.

Ira stood on the cracked stone stage, without any restraints. He wore a ragged outfit which consisted of frayed black training tights and a tattered leather tasset belt, the same as before, with his silver sword and black scabbard on his hip. What was noticeably different was his body, it appeared incredibly dense and compact. Each individual muscle seemed to protrude outwards, his whole body looked to be created for efficient performance. His shirt wouldn't be able to hide his muscle structure now, although he still had a slim physique. His height grew by one inch, causing him to measure a total of 5 feet 10 inches, and his hair was a bit longer but not by much. He still appeared as a youth around sixteen years old, just with an unusually strong and oddly slim body.

Four Valkyries in leather armor held weapons as they stood on the other side of the broken stone stage, their wings were extended, as they prepared to fight. These were Valkyries a few years older than Avery, who had already awakened, most of their "basic" training was complete, and now they needed to grow through more battles.

Lauren and Casey stood together on a nearby boulder and watched. Ira's new abilities added on to his already daunting strength made him a very dangerous person. Lauren guessed his full battle prowess was around Casey's, and would shortly be close to her own. He held a strength similar to an Elder Dragon, except he was a smaller target which worked in his favor.

"Begin!"

Lauren shouted.

Active Skills: Short-Range Teleport, Call of the Third Moon (Inactive), Run Amok (Inactive), Nothingness(Sealed), Matter Alteration, Gravitational Alteration, Quickdraw

Ira appeared right in front of her and hugged her by the waist as he lifted her into the air while spinning.

"I've missed you, you know."

He laughed as he held her up and spun around. Avery chuckled gently in response, eventually, Ira let her down. They smiled at each other before Avery's smile faded away.

"Ira."

She said seriously.

"A few weeks after leaving that village I first met you in..."

She slightly paused before continuing.

"...I asked Justin and Franklin, two Knights I was in command of at the time, to investigate your background without telling you. They came back around three months ago with a man who claimed to be your brother and informed me of some of your family's background. After they told me I killed them before they could report it to the Kingdom's Military and the one who claimed to be your brother witnessed me and fled shortly after."

Avery said all in one breath as she watched Ira's expression.

"...Why did you kill them?"

Ira asked, a bit unsure of how to react.

"I killed them because I love you."

She answered in an obvious manner. There was no blushing or embarrassment. Only certainty. As if it were a concrete fact, though it would be hard to call it anything other than that from her point of view.

"Whether you hate me or not, I will still feel the same."

Avery added on indifferently, she knew how she felt better than anyone else and could safely state that.

"..."

Ira processed everything quickly and broke into a smile. If he was in the same situation and Clark, Amy, Lance and his party, Aldis, and even Harper, threatened to harm Avery's life, he would kill them without the smallest bit of hesitation. That logic seemed normal to him, it didn't mean he was being cold to them, he saw Harper as his own blood, but if that's what he needed to do, it would be done. Avery Thynne gave him a sense of familiarity in that regard, something deeper than the bloodline resonance. Currently, her eyes showed conviction and acceptance, beneath that they showed a readiness to protect him, whether he needed it or not. He could hear her steady heartbeat was steady as if he needed any further assurance she was telling him the truth. He placed his hand on her cheek and chuckled.

"I love you, Avery Thynne."

Ira said with a cheerful smile as he looked at her silver eyes. Avery didn't look away as she grinned. They closed their eyes and slowly closed the distance before they shared a soft kiss.

Thus, that evening marked the birth of a twisted and unreasonable love shared by two people.

..........................................

Shortly after their briefly private moment, Ira updated Avery on his status card before he departed, He and Harper went to the capital by way of a carriage and arrived as it got dark, they walked towards their house with wide grins.

"Maybe I'll finally get your food. "

Harper said as she giggled.

"We'll find out while we get something to eat."

Ira mushed her face as they turned to walk inside of the Bluebird. The quality of the restaurant was good enough to be called upscale, it had been redesigned to draw in a middle to a high-class crowd and it worked pretty well, seeing as they began to receive more customers. Ms. Edda even hired a few extra chefs. Though currently, the restaurant was empty with the exception of three or so people due to the time and the fact a lot of people were scared of being out at night, after what happened in the Capital before.

"Ah! Ira..."

Ms. Edda called out a bit awkwardly from the bar counter.

"Something wrong?"

Ira asked as noticed her expression and inquired.

"Well...There's someone at your table..."

Ms. Edda said as she showed an uncomfortable expression.

"It's fine, I'll sit somewhere else."

Ira shrugged casually.

"No...He's been coming here the past week, he's claiming to be your brother. I didn't believe him but he insisted, so he's been stopping by every day and waiting. He doesn't order anything and just sits there."

Ms. Edda explained.

"Oh!"

Ira smiled gladly. Ms. Edda felt his response was adequate for someone seeing a sibling and sighed with relief, she didn't want to upset her best customer.

"I hope you don't mind letting Harper order her food here, I'll go say hello."

Ira said as he patted Harper on the back.

"No problem."

Ms. Edda smiled as she went into the kitchen to cook a few steaks for Ira and Harper.

...................................................

To the west of the Grenitian Kingdom, an incredibly large and sturdy fortress sat. It was situated on the on the border of the Diavol Territory, to say "on the border" was a bit of a stretch. The "Diavol Territory" was referred to as the Diavol Republic, but the Kingdom refused to recognize it, it was a little degrading to call their land "Territory" as if they were animals, but they held no real love for humans either. The problem stemmed from the failure to recognize the Diavol's actual borders. Since the collapse of the Old Kingdom, the Diavol territory expanded, due to the fact since the Kingdom didn't have the power or resources to keep control of it. As more and more ruins that predated the collapse were discovered, various Entrepreneurs, Mages, Alchemists, Blacksmiths, Researchers, Warriors, Nobles, Mercenaries and just about everyone else in the Kingdom benefited from it. Nobles clamored for expansion under the cause of "Reclaiming what once was." and pressed forward. Leading to increased tension between the Diavol Republic and the Grenitian Kingdom.

The fortress stood as an insurmountable deterrent for the Diavol. It was situated in a mountainous valley, too steep to bring armies over, constructed on the grassland inside the valley. Its walls extended the width of the valley, measuring close to 1200 feet wide, while it stood around 50 feet high, it's stone ramparts were reinforced with magic arrays, a drawbridge that was currently closed, hung over a deep moat, which was made with the intention to be filled with oil, and finally was another set of wooden doors around 20 feet that were locked with a large metal plank. The current fortress was a bit empty though. It had been more than a few months since the attack on the Capital, and since the Diavol showed no obvious movements, some soldiers were called back for additional training in preparation for the future. Right now, there were about 500 people in the massive fortress which could hold 3,000 at capacity. A few defensive armaments such as catapults and ballistae were covered with tarps, they had to remained ready for use in case of a surprise attack. Signal flares and warning bells were placed every 100 feet on the ramparts for good measure. A wooden tube was loaded with reactive alchemical materials, and a string was fastened to the bottom. Pulling the string would create friction and set off the flare, sending a bright light up to 15 miles into the air if the weather wasn't good and up to 30 miles in optimal conditions.

Two soldiers stood guard at the rampart facing the Diavol Territory.

"All I'm saying is, something's wrong. Glen Marbot couldn't have done all that by himself. I think it was a Kingdom experiment gone wrong and they pinned it on him."

One Soldier sipped from a flask that was most likely filled with alcohol before he passed it to his fellow soldier.

"Anyone ever asked you, why would you choose to be a soldier for the Kingdom if you don't even trust the ones in charge?"

The second Soldier responded as he downed the contents of the flask and passed it back to the first Guard.

"Yeah...Your mother and sister ask me, usually right before they take turns mounting me."

The first Soldier responded as they both chuckled as steam rose from their mouths. The temperature becoming colder and the only relaxation they had were moments like these. The Fortress Commander probably wouldn't mind as long as they completed their duties.

All of a sudden something briefly shined far off in the distance.

"Hey! I think I saw a fairy."

The second Soldier shouted.

"Fuck off, you're-"

The first Soldier began to respond but was stopped he saw a faint flash in the distance. Currently, an overcast only allowed small streams of moonlight to reach the valley. After that was a second flash, and then another.

"The flares."

He said as he nudged the other soldier.

"What about them?"

The second Soldier asked.

"Get to the fucking flares!"

The first soldier shouted in an alert manner, the second soldier sobered up and ran to the nearest flare.

A few moments later, a flare traveled into the air and shined a light on the Valley. Numerous weapons shimmered under the light. The Western Valley was filled with an army of Diavol and upon seeing them the second soldier wasted no time ringing the warning bell.

A well-equipped army of 10,000 stood about a thousand feet away from the fortress. Siege Towers, Catapults, Ballistae, tamed Cyclopes and even three Giants, which dwarfed the Cyclopes which were anywhere from 9 to 20 feet. Instead, the rare race of Giants stood at anywhere from 20 to 90 feet. Luckily, if that could be said at all, the Diavol only came with three Giants, that were all about 40 feet, still, they'd have no difficulty reaching over the wall. It was amazing to have three Giants, not only were they rare, but the taller they grew greater the impossibility of controlling them. They had to be seized when they were young, which in and of itself was a monumental task.

"Fuck me."

The first Soldier cursed as he downed the rest of the flask, he knew it wouldn't help the situation, but if he died tonight he'd die drunk.

...................................................