Chapter 104: Answer (2/2)

”How can you talk this way about people from your kingdom!” Princess Nera seemed genuinely furious as she admonished him.

”I can, and I did.”

”You…”

”Stop with this childishness, princess. My business has nothing to do with you.” Arthur glared and the princess glared back. Their bodies spewed off a dangerous aura as if they were getting into a fight the next moment.

”How dare you?” The princess's face was frosty, her tone threatening. However, Arthur didn't back away as well and the tension rose until it was as thick as Roy's head, who tried to intervene and say something about their kingdom having no species of flies.

Emma tried to calm the two down as well, but it was the rings that had stopped their fight as they buzzed and informed them that they would be teleported. Everyone stood up, not wanting to fall as soon as they appeared in front of the crowd.

Their world changed again and they appeared on the platform, the sun hazy with its colors, late in the afternoon. As soon as they did appear, the host grandly welcomed them again.

”Tomorrow,” He said after some congratulations for those who passed. ”Only a hundred of you would be left. As for today, the world shall know your glory!”

When his words ended, their rings glowed like miniature stars as their color changed and some engravings appeared. Their earlier black appearance disappeared and was replaced by a bronze-metallic surface. One word was engraved on it too.

RAC101.

Runes Apprentice Cups, the First after the Hundredth.

This was a sign of glory. It represented being one of the top thousand Runes Apprentices in the world. It might sound undeserved, but reaching this place was simply too tough.

If you didn't have a recommendation, you needed to go through the preliminary rounds. As for the forest, it encompassed an essential factor and that was your perception of runes. This could only be harnessed by years of working around runes and studying them.

Them standing here was proof of their hard work and talent. Everyone got emotional, except for Arthur himself. He stood there blankly as he received the applause of the crowd.

He listened blankly as the host told them they would receive a room for the night and they could enjoy their time in the inner structure of the coliseum.

He listlessly walked with Emma and Roy as they headed to their rooms, where their numbers could be known through their ring. And when Emma asked him what's wrong, he flinched as he only realized that there 'was' actually something wrong.

'It feels undeserved.' He thought to himself and a round of blackness appeared in his chest. After he told Emma everything was okay and he bid them farewell, Arthur walked back to his room.

He felt neither happiness nor pride in his achievement, he dared not to. His ability was given to him by the legacy, something he stumbled upon after Jizo saw something in him. He suffered all those years, but it was unrelated to his current achievement.

Memories flooded his mind as he remembered a part of the conversation that he had with Jizo under that black sky. The reason he has been given so much.

'So, you want me to stop the world from going back to that Era? The Era of Yore?' He asked Jizo, bewildered as that Era was said to be the peak of humankind. There was no threat of mythical monsters and humans regained supreme. It was all tales, but it seemed true since Jizo asked him to stop its reappearance.

'To reach that Era humans will open gates and venture to the other world. They can't, history can't repeat itself. They dream of greatness, of omnipotence, but they're foolish. The only thing waiting for those who dream of such is… the end of things.'

'I can't stop the whole world, it's absurd.'

'Maybe,' Jizo smiled. 'But I chose you to try.'

'Why?' He asked after being stupefied.

'That's an answer you'll find yourself.'