01x08 - Reunited with the King

[bunniefuu]

Arthur?

Is that you, Arthur?

Yes.

Welcome home! You really came back!

Oh, Arthur! You're back!

Mommy, no! No crying!

Take your mom and get away from here.

What are you saying?! I can fight, too!

I'm already strong enough.

Then use that strength to protect her.

She's going to have another baby.

Then this is that baby.

It's nice to meet you. I'm Arthur Leywin.

He's your big brother, Eleanor.

My big brother?

#8 Reunited with the King.

How do you feel? You said you were

sick when you got in touch with us.

Are you cured?

I'm fine now.

Have you been eating properly?

You look so skinny.

Yeah, I have been.

You're interrogating the boy, honey!

You're right. Sorry.

Eleanor, come over here.

Remember how we would always talk

about your big brother before bed?

Big brother?

Eleanor, I'm really happy to

finally meet my little sister.

Once things settled down, I told them

about everything that had happened.

And while I trust them,

I left out the part where I met Sylvia.

Which means I explained

my survival from the fall

as a combination of subconscious

magic use and luck.

I told them how I met Tess,

and then recovered in the Kingdom of Elenoir.

I see. And that sickness won't relapse?

You don't have to worry.

The cause was apparently my mana core awakening

too early, and being unstable as a result.

As reluctant as I was to lie my parents,

telling them the whole truth before I had

become stronger posed too much of a risk.

So, who's your little friend?

I found a mana beast nest during my travels.

That's where Sylvie's mother was, dying.

Unfortunately, I couldn't help her.

So, I decided to take this little

gal in, and care for her.

Her name's Sylvie.

Sylvie!

Well, more than anything else,

I'm glad you're healthy.

Really.

Hey, I'm curious!

What stage is your mana core at?

Reynolds! What kind of question is that to

ask your son after he's finally come home?!

What's the harm in comparing

his growth and mine?

Actually, Dad, what have you been doing lately?

Me? I've got a job at the Helstea Auction House.

I'm the instructor for their security team!

More than your beard has grown, then!

So, what stage is your mana core at?

Two years ago, I hit deep orange.

Orange?!

The color of mana, in ascending order,

starts at black, then red,

orange, yellow, silver, and white.

Similarly each has three stages:

deep, standard, and light.

Since he's an augmenter, it's clear

that he's been training physically.

Still, having increased the

stage of his mana core

implies some significant effort.

Impressive, right? So, what stage are you at?

Light red.

Light Light red?!

Damn it! He's almost caught up to me!

Damn it!

That's incredible, Arthur!

Reynolds, didn't I tell you to

watch your language around Eleanor?

I'm begging you, Eleanor, don't use that word.

Damn it! No!

How the heck did you manage light red?

Y'know what, never mind! Let's head

to the back yard and spar right now!

Damn, damn, damn!

Eleanor, no!

This is your fault, honey!

I-I'm sorry

I keep telling you, but you never listen!

It really feels good to be home.

Reynolds! Is it true that your boy's alive?!

Are these friends of my family?

Arthur, this is Vincent Helstea.

He runs the auction house, and he's my boss.

Vincent, Tabitha, let me introduce you.

This is my son, Arthur.

It's a pleasure to meet all of you,

Mr. and Mrs. Helstea.

What manners! Are you really Reynolds' son?

Hey!

I get that a lot, but it is true.

Arthur, this is Lilia.

I hope you two can be friends.

Nice to meet you, Lilia.

N-Nice to meet you, Arthur!

Can I pet your little friend?

Sure.

Oh, Arthur, this is actually his house,

so it's good you introduced

yourself before we made a mess.

A mess?

That's right. I was just about to

spar with Arthur in the rear garden.

Sparring, eh?

Wait, sparring?

They're actually going to spar.

Alice, is what he said about Arthur's

mana core being light red a joke?

I was shocked to hear it,

but he's always been a fast learner.

So, not only did his mana core

awaken at eight years old,

he's already progressed through three stages.

He's got no reason to lie about it, though.

Just sit down, dear.

O-Okay.

Even the eleven and twelve-year-old

prodigies admitted

to the prestigious Xyrus Academy

are barely able to reach deep red.

From what I hear, I probably shouldn't mention

how my progress was limited to light red

because I didn't practice much during

my time assimilating Sylvia's will.

Get ready, Arthur.

Your dad's tougher than he ever was.

So am I.

Let's go!

Not quite enough! You've got to try harder!

So, what do you think?

Not bad at all! I admit, you got

me when I let my focus waver, too.

That said, I'm only getting serious now.

Consider yourself warned.

The sorcerers of this world have

elements that they are best suited to.

Conjurers learn which element

they are compatible with,

and then gain control over them.

But augmenters have trouble

discerning this as clearly,

and are only able to realize their compatible

element after a fair amount of effort.

There was something in my past life

that functioned a lot like mana.

It was ki: life force.

Unlike elements, ki was something

that you had full autonomy over.

Not only that

The lack of inborn compatibility meant

that, while it required more effort,

those efforts also would

bear even greater rewards.

I believe that makes it comparable

to the augmenters of this world.

I've had no shortage of good

luck since being born here,

and this is the cumulative result of it all.

Okay, I'll get serious, too!

My memories of ki from my past life

made my training with Virion over

these years all the more fruitful.

You've improved a great deal

with the fire element, Arthur.

So, let's proceed beyond that.

What's beyond it?

Advanced fire magic!

I wouldn't be surprised just yet.

Water elemental magic?!

That can't be!

That was incredible, Arthur!

When did you learn all that?

And how? What else can you do?

Pretty recently. I can only

just barely control it, though.

You okay, Daddy?

Don't run, Eleanor! Be careful!

That was amazing. I need a drink.

That boy is something else. A real genius!

Do you realize exactly how promising

your son's future is, right now?

You bet I do.

I've known ever since he

awakened, at age three.

He awakened at three?!

He blew apart the house in the process.

That's how your house was wrecked?

That really takes me back!

Are you okay, Daddy?

Reynolds! What about enrolling

Arthur in Xyrus Academy?

Xyrus Academy?

Are you serious? It's the most prestigious

magic academy on the continent!

My husband might be drunk,

but he's making sense.

Honestly, considering the potential he has,

we'd be happy to invest in Arthur's future.

So you won't need to worry about tuition.

You've been so kind to us already,

and now you're offering to pay Aurthre's tuition?

I mean, he's only eight years old.

I'm not sure what the school will say.

Funnily enough, I'm familiar with the

director of Xyrus Academy through work.

If I talk to her directly

Sorry, but since this is about me,

is it all right if I say one thing?

What is it, Arthur?

I appreciate your interest, but I haven't

seen my family in very long time.

That's right Of course. I think

I might've gotten ahead of myself.

The sparring wore me out more than I thought,

too, so if you'll please excuse me.

I wonder if I shouldn't have said anything.

If you head that way, you'll

end up lost in the basement.

Lilia?

Follow me. I know the perfect spot.

Everyone! We've got a guest today.

You don't mind, do you?

Miss Lilia.

Well now, is this the boy that torched the

garden I spend so much time maintaining?

I apologize for the trouble.

Don't let it worry you. She's just poking fun.

She barely said a word before.

Is this what she's really like?

Do we have any duck left?

The fatty part, especially.

Miss Lilia, do mind what you eat. The missus

was upset about you gaining weight recently.

I thought we agreed not to

discuss my weight, Maria.

I'm a healthy, growing girl, after all!

Miss Lilia tends to come here

when she's feeling stressed.

Stressed?

The master and missus want nothing

more than for her to awaken as a sorcerer,

even though they're not sorcerors themselves.

Miss Lilia wants that for

herself as well,

but I have to imagine it's a lot

of pressure to put on a child.

I still can't believe you're back with us.

And you're so grown up and handsome looking.

And it doesn't matter how different

you look. You're still our son.

Am I really that different?

No, on the inside, you're the exact

same boy. So smart, and kind

Yeah. I might know you're going to be the

strongest sorcerer ever in the future now,

but that's only the second best

bit of news I've gotten today.

Your father's right.

About that

Why don't we let Arthur get a bit of rest?

Good idea.

What? Are you too old for

this kind of thing now?

A shame, if true.

Good night, Dad. Good night, Mom.

I missed you both a lot.

Right. Sleep well, okay?

Arthur, about what Vincent said

It was out of concern for you.

Don't worry. I know the Helsteas

didn't mean anything bad by it.

Good night, Arthur.

Arthur?!

Thank goodness you're all right! What a relief!

I missed you so much!

Angela I can't breathe.

Oh, pardon me.

Durden, you seem a lot bigger than I remember!

That makes both of us, kid.

Whoa, whoa. I thought we were gonna

be all smiles for the kid's sake.

What're you crying for?

And is no one gonna ask about that

black mana beast he's got with him?

Just ignore this moron.

Arthur, you've gotten so much

taller and more handsome.

Now it's like I'm the bad guy for not crying.

I'm just trying to keep my cool, that's all.

I'm really sorry. It was my mistake.

Forgive me, Arthur.

Jasmine

Looks like we won't need to step in, after all.

Wait, so you got back all

the way from Etistin City?

Yeah. The pay made the trip worthwhile.

You seriously think that was worth it?

You're the only one who had any trouble.

So, we took a few jobs on the way back,

and now we're finally here.

We ended up visiting a bunch of places

we'd never been to before.

They all seemed the same to me.

Adam was buying souvenirs wherever we went.

What's the harm in that?!

I see. Thinking about it now, I know next

to nothing about the Dicathen Continent,

There was that thing with the

weird color that you got.

It wasn't that weird.

Now, now.

It was gross.

much less the Kingdom of Sapin.

I'm telling you, it's perfectly normal! Look!

Put that away!

Look!

Becoming an adventurer to learn those

sorts of things might not be so bad.

Well, it's certainly a unique bit of merchandise.

He's just being nice.

What the hell?! I don't see what the problem is!

But

There's no problem, you two.

Who buys something like that that?

I'll tell you who, literally

anyone! That's who!