Lord of Annihilation

SLASH!

Completing the last rep of the second movement of her sword technique- [Swing], Olivia lowered her sword and turned to face Ka'lor'ah.

Wiping the sweat gathered on her face, she then shortly replied to Ka'lor'ah's question.

"I am."

Olivia then walked towards the bench on the side and sat atop it in a disgruntled manner. She then exaggeratedly puffed her cheeks and looked towards the ceiling. 

Ka'lor'ah chuckled at her childish tantrum and flew towards her. Seating herself upon Olivia's shoulder, she then asked, "How angry are you?"

"Very angry," Olivia replied with a huff.

"Even though he made a superb sword technique, that's exclusive to you and taught it to you?" Ka'lor'ah teasingly asked.

"He took away my reward," Olivia replied, but this time her voice was a lot softer.

Seeing this reaction, Ka'lor'ah smiled brighter and continued, "Even though he spent all that time developing that 'simulation' spell, just to help you practice battles against Stage 3 opponents?"

"…He did?" Olivia asked.

"He spent a lo~oong time and a lo~ooot of effort. It wasn't easy, you know," Ka'lor'ah lied as naturally as she breathed. She then leaned into Olivia's ears and spoke, "Just. For. You."

Hearing that, Olivia's eyes swam and a smile threatened to appear on her face. However, she quickly shook her head to suppress it and continued to remain cross. 

"I don't care! I'm still angry at him. Humph!" Olivia crossed her arms and harrumphed. 

"Reaaally~" Ka'lor'ah exaggeratedly emphasized and stared at Olivia. She stood up, shrugged her shoulders, and said, "Well then, seeing as to how you're still mad at him, I'll inform Lucius to not bother with the gift he was preparing for you."

Flying into the air with theatrical nonchalance, Ka'lor'ah lightly continued, "I hear that the gift was a matching pair. Like the ones that young couples wear. But, oh well, forget it." 

"WAIT!!" Olivia shot up from her seat and grabbed onto Ka'lor'ah. 

Feeling the two hands tightly constrict her, Ka'lor'ah hurriedly exclaimed, "Oi, let go! You're making it hard for me to breathe!!"

Olivia carefully brought Ka'lor'ah to her eye level and asked with suppressed excitement, "Are you speaking the truth?"

"Would I deliberately lie to you?" Ka'lor'ah smugly asked, to which Olivia unhesitantly replied.

"Yes. You do it all the time." There wasn't the slightest bit of doubt or hesitance in her answer.

Ka'lor'ah seemed to be shocked at her answer. 

She stared into Olivia's unperturbed eyes with amazement and said, "Wow! I'm shocked and appalled to know that, that is your opinion of me. This revelation is startling!"

"Teacher, the starting line in your book is, 'To lie and hoodwink while not being caught for it is the mark of a great leader'," Olivia quoted while rolling her eyes.

She then stared at Ka'lor'ah one more time and asked, "Is it true?"

Ka'lor'ah, rendered speechless by her disciple's retort, motionlessly stood for a few seconds before sighing. 

She then sated Olivia's curiosity, "Yeah, it's true. He's been gathering materials for it since the start of the journey. He left the ship a few hours ago to gather the final material."

Olivia's eyes shone with realization as she asked, "Is it a weapon? Is that why I haven't received my sword yet?"

"Is shouldn't be telling you this, but yes." Ka'lor'ah nodded her head. 

"In your last battle with the Stage 3 Sword-Winged Angel, four months ago, your sword was quite heavily damaged. It can't be allowed to break yet as it is required as the base for the new one. It underwent some special manufacturing process."

"Reyna's [Life Blessing], right?" Olivia guessed.

"Correct. It's the first step towards making a Living Weapon. The reason Lucius asked you to nourish your blade every day using your soul power was also for this," Ka'lor'ah explained.

"Our next destination is to someplace where Lucius thinks a Master Forger is living. Upon reaching, you and Lucius will get your weapons re-forged. So yeah, technically speaking, the two of you will have a matching pair of weapons."

"Of course, he didn't tell you about this, since it was supposed to be a surprise." This part was again, a lie. Lucius had simply forgotten to inform Olivia.

"Anyways, seeing as to how you are right now, I guess getting a gift would make you feel awkward. I'll go inform him to not go through with it," Ka'lor'ah prepared to fly away.

"NO! Wait, Teacher!" Olivia hurriedly grabbed onto Ka'lor'ah, restraining her from flying away. 

Putting on a sweet smile, she then continued, "Hehe, come on, Teacher. Obviously, I would no longer be angry, if he were to give me a gift."

She then removed the black-colored scrunchie which she used to tie her hair up and said, "This was the last present he gifted to me."

"Lucius gifted this to me on my sixteenth birthday. It's made out of real natural fabric and not the common synthetic ones, which are mass-produced. He worked part-time and saved money for an entire year before getting me this."

Olivia then hugged it against her heart for a few seconds, before using it to tie up her scattered hair once more. 

Turning her head to show it to Ka'lor'ah, she then smiled brightly and continued, "I've been using it since then. It means a lot to me." 

Hearing the story, Ka'lor'ah felt guilty about her earlier lies. She had casually lied about the sword being a surprise gift from Lucius as a part of her usual teasing of Olivia.

However, seeing Olivia's actions, it was evident how much such a simple gift meant to her. Especially when it was from someone she loved whole-heartedly.

'Ah, shit. I've messed up, haven't I?' Ka'lor'ah cursed within her mind. 'What do I do now?'

'Ask Lucius to play along? There's no way he would agree to that,' Ka'lor'ah quickly denied that thought. 'Should I just come clean?'

Ka'lor'ah then turned to look at Olivia, who was gently caressing the scrunchie on her head. Her face had a sweet, blissful smile and her eyes wandered with reminiscence.

'Nope, definitely can't do that. It would crush her.' Ka'lor'ah immediately shook her head. Her mind continued to desperately search for a solution to this problem.

'Well, maybe I'm overthinking this. How bad can it be? Olivia remains quiet, I say nothing, and the weapons are forged. Lucius then gives the sword of Olivia who accepts it, overjoyed.'

'Then, conversation happens…she thanks him for the gift…mentions my name…Lucius is confused…denies it and tells the truth…Poor girl gets heartbroken…yep, this is really bad. I cannot let this happen.'

'Who knew that lying frequently would result in such bad scenarios,' Ka'lor'ah bemoaned.

"Teacher!" Olivia yelled.

"Yes?" Startled, Ka'lor'ah snapped out of her thoughts and stared at Olivia with confusion.

Seeing that she had gotten her Teacher's attention, Olivia took a deep breath, resolved herself, and asked the question that she had meaning to ask for a long time, "Teacher, who's Aurora?"

Ka'lor'ah visibly flinched upon hearing that name. 

An expression of shock appeared on her face as she hurriedly asked while feeling befuddled, "How do you know that name? Where did you hear about her?"

Seeing Ka'lor'ah overt reactions of shock, Olivia's mind grew complicated. It was apparent that her question was not as simple as she had thought it to be.

'Teacher definitely knows a lot,' Olivia inferred.

'I need to hear this,' gripping her fists and resolving herself, Olivia then began to explain the happenings before their descent into Cloud Cover Continent.

"…when he woke up dazed, he looked at me and called me by that name. His tone was…I have never heard Lucius call another name, especially that of a woman's, with that tone. Particularly after his…change," Olivia finished.

She then looked up, met Ka'lor'ah's eyes, and continued, "Now, I know that my question might be nosy and this is none of my business. But I want to know, who is this woman and what does she mean to Lucius?"

"Most importantly, why did he call me by her name?" Olivia asked.

Hearing those questions, Ka'lor'ah heavily sighed. 

She looked at Olivia's determined eyes with a complex expression and found her emotions growing even more complex. Ka'lor'ah's thoughts were a complete mess as she debated within herself about her subsequent actions and reply.

On one hand, she wanted to speak no further on this topic and tell Olivia to forget about it. This matter was, after all, a sensitive topic related to Lucius and it would be wise of her to stay out of it.

On the other hand, however, Ka'lor'ah wanted to answer Olivia's questions. This would serve to greatly help Olivia's attempts to gain Lucius' heart and get closer. 

The walls which Lucius and put around himself and the guilt which constantly ate away at his being might get resolved, helping him break free from the binds that he had bounded himself with.

Ka'lor'ah thoughts continued to appear and disappear in the thousands, as she furiously worked to reason this out. 

Ultimately, she arrived at a single question, 'What would be better for Lucius?'

Faced with this question, Ka'lor'ah made a choice.

Ka'lor'ah looked around the room to confirm if it's empty. She then released her power to scan the entire ship to confirm the same. 

After making sure that no one was aboard and her soul connection with Lucius placed him an unknown distance away, Ka'lor'ah neared Olivia and cast [Isolation Barrier].

Fixing her gaze upon Olivia, Ka'lor'ah sported an extremely serious expression and grimly spoke, "You should be aware that Lucius and I have a lot of secrets. There are a lot of things which we cannot tell you or share with you."

Hearing that Olivia's expression became despondent.

"It is not that we don't trust you. It is simply that, you, in your current state, are too weak to burden these secrets. Knowing them would destroy you."

"Having said that, what I'm about to tell you is not the whole truth and is merely a portion. In fact, it might not even be the real truth. Knowing this may help in answering your questions, but it might also hurt and burden you."

"However, it is the only truth that I know of. Of this, I swear," Ka'lor'ah made a complex set of gestures with her fingers, signifying the seriousness and solidity of her vow.

Hearing that, Olivia realized the solemnity of Ka'lor'ah's words. Perking her ears, she listened with incomparable seriousness."

"Therefore, listen well, for I will only speak of this once," Ka'lor'ah began.

"Aurora Letum, this name…no, this woman, is incomparably important and precious to Lucius. Simply put, she is the love of his life."

Olivia's heart immediately shattered upon hearing that.