The Beginning After The End (New Heights Book 2) (21 page)

Even as a King previously, I can’t say with
confidence that I was the most mature, and in many aspects, I would even say
I’m not very King-like, but one thing that I can’t change is the amount of
importance I have to those I hold dearly.

After taking a quick shower, I sink into bed,
causing Sylvie to stir in her sleep.
 
She cuddles by me and starts breathing steadily again.
 
The slow rhythm of her breathing lulls
me to sleep.
 

“Brother wake up!!!!”

“OOF” The wind suddenly gets
knocked out of me as my sister jumps on top of my stomach.
 

Rubbing my sore sternum, I gasp
out, “Ellie, you’re not a little kid anymore, you’re going to seriously hurt me
one day.”

“Are you calling me fat Big
Brother?”
 
Ellie pretends to
gasp.
 
This little rascal, she’s
only learning useless things at that school for proper ladies or what not.

I turn to see Elijah already
showered and clothed, his glasses still a bit foggy.
 
“I swear you sleep like a log Art.
 
Your wife is going to seriously have to
use spells to wake you up when you get older.” He shakes his head.

“Shaddup.”
 
I slur, too tired to make a witty
comeback.

After quickly washing my face and
fixing my hair so it’s barely presentable, the four of us, with Sylv on top of
my head goes downstairs.

‘I wonder what’s for
breakfast.
 
I hope it’s
meeeaaat.’
 
Sylv ponders, her little
fox head swaying side to side in anticipation.

“Good morning you four~ you’re just
in time.”
 
My mother calls out to us
from the kitchen as the maids were preparing the table.
 
Even though there were cooks in the manor,
my mother always wants to at least prepare breakfast for us, so while Tabitha
was helping her, the maids help set the table and cleans up afterwards.
 
After I came back, my family, as well as
Vincent and Tabitha, both noticed the apparent change in appearance of Sylvie.
 
I just played it off as her
transformation after digesting a lot of beast cores.
 
But from that, my parents and the
Helsteas knew Sylvie wasn’t just your average mana beast, even making small
conversations with her, as if she was an intelligent house pet.

“Good morning boys, and of course
my little princess, did you guys sleep well?”
 
My father, who was talking to Vincent,
turns to us and gives my struggling sister bearded kiss on her cheek.

“Ew Dad, that tickles!”
 
She pushes him away, wiping the spot she
was kissed.
 

“Did you guys sleep well
kids?”
 
Vincent gives us a broad
smile as he starts teasing my father about his doting habits towards Ellie.

“Good morning Aunt Leywin, Aunt
Tabitha, Uncle Vincent and Uncle Reynolds.”
 
Elijah announces before he sits down
next to me.
 
He stopped calling my
parents Sir and
Lady
as he got closer to them,
eventually calling everyone either Aunt or Uncle.
 

After saying good morning to
everyone, I got back to my seat and started eating a ham and vegetable omelet
with a very crisp soup.
 

While eating, my father suddenly
speaks up with a mouth full of omelet.
 
“That reminds me. Kids, if you don’t have any plans, do you want to go
with us to City Square?
 
There’s a
big announcement in the Capital City of Etistin where the King and Queen reside
but a couple of artificers are going to put up a live projection of the
broadcast in City Square.”

“Honey, please don’t talk with your
mouth full.”
 
My mother gently
scolds before indulging in gossip with Tabitha about the latest news of the
city Ladies.
 
It seems she’s getting
along quite well with the noble ladies of Xyrus, seeing as the both of them
often go out on brunch meetings and afternoon shopping trips.

“Sounds good Dad, Elijah and I
don’t have anything planned today anyways
,
right?”
 
I turn to my
friend who’s wolfing down his second omelet.
 
He shoots us
a thumbs
up and I turn to Vincent.

“I wanna go too! Can I Mom?”
 
Ellie leans forward on the table towards
my mother.
 

“You have school today Ellie.
 
You can hang out with your brother
after.” She nudges Ellie back down unto her chair as my sister pouts.

“Uncle Vincent.
 
I remember you mentioned something about
how you were going to visit a famous researcher that has a lab in Xyrus.
 
Do you mind introducing me to him after
we watch the announcement today?”
  
I ask while I place a portion of omelet unto my fork with my knife.

“Ah you mean Gideon? Has he caught
your interest?
 
He’s not just a
researcher but a well-known inventor and artificer as well!
 
He’s the one responsible for designing the
ships we use for the rivers as well as other well-used artifacts!
 
I do have some business with him anyway
so it wouldn’t be a problem taking you.
 
Was there something specific you needed from him?”
 
He quizzes, the intelligent eyes behind
his glasses shining with curiosity.

“Not something I needed, but more
of something to discuss.
 
I thought
he would find it valuable.” I give a vague answer, catching his interest all
the more.

“Well, he’s not the type to meet
new people but I’m sure I can get him to come out of his hole if I’m with
you.”
 
He nods to himself.

“Great! I look forward to meting
him!”
 
I focus back on my omelet,
which Sylvie took a big bite out of, while Elijah and my father curiously
wonder what I’m up to now.

______________________________________________

The City Square, which was usually
bustling with a lot of activity, was abnormally packed with both normal
civilians and nobles alike.
 
On the
side of the big clock tower, there were four orbs creating a square while
underneath these floating orbs, there were two artificers with their brown
robes, signifying that they do not do their work for glory and fame, chanting
and fiddling with a device.
 
Sylvie,
who was looking around eagerly at the huge crowd of people, was fidgeting on
top of my head.
 
Elijah, my father
and Vincent were the only ones who came, with my mother and Tabitha hanging out
with their friends and Ellie at school.

*BZZZ*

“The three Kings and Queens of
the different countries in our beloved Continent of Dicathen have gathered here
on this memorable day!”

I see a very fancily dressed man announce to an audience that looked to be
in the hundreds of thousands.
 
Looks
like many travelled all the way over there.

“Attention Humans, Elves and Dwarves alike, I go by Blaine
Glayder.
 
While all of you know me
as the King of Sapin, today I speak, not as a the King of Humans, but only one
of the representative of the Continent of Dicathen!”

The hundreds of thousands of people
all kneel, some going on all fours in worship at the sight of the King.
 
The blurry projection becomes clearer
and zooms in on the balcony of the Castle.
 
There I see The King of Sapin in the front, while the Queen of Sapin,
Priscilla Glayder, was seated behind him alongside a few other important
looking figures.
 
My eyes widen as I
recognize Alduin and Merial Eralith, the King and Queen of Elenoir with Grandpa
Virion standing behind them with his arms crossed.
 
Besides them are two representatives of
the Dwarves, which I assume to be the King and Queen.
 

“Today marks the beginning of a new era in this Continent we call our
home.
 
I assume many of you know of
the existing problems between the Humans and the Elves while even the Dwarves
were considered just business partners.
 
However, that is not the way we wish to continue.
 
The representatives of all three
kingdoms, YOUR leaders, have met together many times over the past few years in
effort to unite our races.
 
Two
years ago, we have agreed for ALL races to be able to become adventurers.
 
It started out with just one or two representatives,
but now it has expanded. It brings me a smile when I see parties with humans,
elves, and dwarves alike, working together towards a common goal.
 
Last year marks another big landmark
where Xyrus Academy welcomed students from the Kingdom of Elenoir and the
Kingdom of Darv so that the new generation of the best mages can make friends
and memories with not just humans, but all three races. We all understand how
difficult it may be for some of us to adjust after constant enmity between the
races, we urge you to let go of the past and the discriminations you may hold
and think beyond that, if not for yourself, but for your children and the
future of this Continent.”

There was another big round of
applause with a roar of worship and adoration accompanying it.
 
King Glayder sat down and Alduin
Eralith, the King of Elenoir and Tessia’s father, got up from his seat and
cleared his throat before speaking into this world’s version of what seemed to
be a microphone.

“It is an honor to speak on behalf of everyone here on this
unforgettable day.
 
As King Glayder
so adamantly spoke about, I am also in agreement about the future of this
Continent.
 
For some people, this may
not hold much interest but for many who yearn for Adventure and new places to
visit, I can wholeheartedly say that this Continent is filled with many
unknowns.
 
An obvious example is the
very the Beast Glades residing in this Continent.
 
While an uncountable number of
Adventurers have ventured out unto the Beast Glades, it is not an exaggeration
to say that not even half of it has been traversed.
 
While the mana beasts have not left the
Beast Glades, who is to insure that, just because they haven’t yet, they never
will?
 
Even in our own homeland of
Dicathen, there are places so dangerous, no one dares to explore, but what if I
were to say that even greater mysteries and dangers are out there?”

King Eralith gives a brief pause
while the crowd in Etistin and the crowd here in the City Square of Xyrus fill
with sound of murmurs.
 

“That’s right!
 
You have not
heard wrong fellow citizens of Dicathen.
 
We are announcing today, February 10
^th
of the 1005
^th
Cycle, that we have found evidence of another Continent.”

The crowds break out into a clamor
of noises, some angry, some afraid, everyone curious.
 
Even my own hands shake in excitement as
my father and Vincent look at each other in shock.

“Please.
 
We ourselves don’t
know very much so your guess is a good as ours.
 
What we do know, is that out there,
possibly within reach in a couple of years, is another continent that may or
may not be hostile.
 
There have been
evidence of them trying to reach us as well, but on both sides, it seems that
our current technology does not permit us to travel that far.”

The crowd shown in the Capital is
in chaos until the Dwarven King rises from his chair and walks towards the
microphone.

“QUIETTTTT!!!”

*Silence*

“As Alduin said, we don’t know much.
 
However, in these times of uncertainty
and possible threats in the future, wouldn’t you guys all agree that standing
besides one another is what’s best for this Continent and our people?
 
YOUR children can be in danger as
well.
 
The last thing we want is to
fight amongst ourselves.
 
Our
appearances may be different and our cultures may clash, but remember this…we
are all born in this continent of Dicathen.
 
I for one am proud of that and hope that
future generations will feel the same way.
 
What about you?”

The crowd is silent at first but a
couple of claps trigger more claps and suddenly a huge boom of applause and
cheer breaks out.
 
The Dwarf King
wasn’t as eloquent in his words as the two previous kings that spoke, but his
words had a very strong impact.
 
Even Elijah next to me was clapping excitedly as Sylvie continued to
watch the screen in curiosity.

“The process of joining our three races and Kingdoms will take time and
much effort, but today, we will be anointing 6 individuals, individuals that
we, the three Kings and Queens, believe to be the most courageous, tactful,
smart and powerful.”