Sacred Brother

I was a young and inexperienced child ignorant of the way of the world.

That's what my imm.a.t.u.r.e and small body always told first to the people around me. I never considered myself superior because I had memories of my previous life as I died quite young. However, I still lived in a world much more prosperous and technologically advanced than this one.

Except for magic and strange species, few things could impress me in this kind of crude town.

Therefore, contrary to Alianelle, I wasn't bothered by crowds especially since I came from another world where this kind of gathering wasn't especially rare.

I saw places with many more people.

However, I never felt anything like that even among much denser crowds of people tightly packed together.

After Paul and Jazor finished their short and lacking explanation, they both closed their mouths and simply turned their eyes toward the large gate like many others around us.

This kind of unnatural silence in a vast crowd was oppressing and made each second appear longer than the previous.

Paul was right.

We were indeed quite late considering that I didn't see anybody else coming after us.

Time slowly passed in this strange and unfamiliar environment without anybody moving.

The strength of the sun punishing us with a rising heat made me regret putting on a jacket before leaving the house.

However, the apparent endless wait ended even sooner than I thought.

It was the loud rumbling noise of the massive door slowly opening that put it to an abrupt end.

I tried to see who was ready to enter, but a large hand was quickly put on top of my head and forced my gaze to shift toward the ground.

I held my tongue and didn't question Jazor's abrupt movement. I could see at the corner of my eyes, Aliannelle doing the same thing after quickly glancing toward us.

The noise of the door opening finally stopped.

Another heavy silence took its place until a common sound reached my ears.

The sound of regular and light footsteps coming closer with each passing second.

I immediately noticed that this regular noise betrayed the presence of three individuals walking together along the long road sinking into the heart of the town.

I couldn't see their appearances with my head bowed. Curiosity tormented my mind but I held back. I instinctively knew that raising my head was the last thing to do in this situation.

Without any other alternative, I shifted my focus toward my other senses.

I immediately closed my eyes and entered the chaotic but familiar world of mana in my mind. The hundreds of people gathered together perturbed my focus and gave me a slight headache but I still quickly managed to ignore them to concentrate on the three people coming closer.

This technique that I learned while I was blind allowed me to survive in my most desperate moments and even enhanced my comprehension of this world's magic. Without realizing it, even after my sight was completely restored, I relied more and more on this new sense.

It proved incredibly useful and enlightening.

However, for the first time, I regretted using it.

There was a single male member of the Ryunno clan, the other two being probably just normal humans.

A blinding light and a sharp pain assaulted my head immediately after this realization. It took all my will and experience with pain to hold back the scream threatening to escape from my mouth.

I opened my eyes by reflex with sweat drenching my pale forehead and my legs still shaking.

Aliannelle and Jazor both noticed my strange behavior but they couldn't say or do anything in this situation.

With the same regularity, the steps that seemed much heavier than earlier continued to grow closer.

I took a silent but deep breath and stabilized my condition. However, I had trouble controlling the shivering of my body while the noise of the steps continued to evolve.

Louder.

Heavier.

Closer.

Until the steps hammering my head finally stopped.

I managed to control the shaking of my limbs but the regular steps came to an abrupt stop a few meters away from me.

Not knowing what was happening, I waited for long seconds.

The anxiety of the numerous people near me also steadily rise with each passing second of this new disturbing silence.

I didn't dare to move or take another look in the world of mana.

I simply waited with my head bowed, ready to face the unknown threat a couple of steps away from me.

When the silence became so oppressing that it became difficult to bear, the light footsteps resumed their previous tune and slowly moved away while I finally exhaled.

Several minutes later, when it was impossible to see the three figures who disappeared into the heart of the town, many people started to relax.

Some breathed a sigh of relief while other timidly raised their heads to finally look around them but none dared to move from their spot.

The headache assaulting me was gone but I had troubles adjusting my thoughts.

"What was that?" I slowly mumbled to myself.

A blinding and overbearing light engulfing and devouring me in an instant.

I never felt anything like that.

It wasn't fear.

I already confronted creatures far more frightening.

I lived for days in total darkness in the savage wilderness on my own.

I also faced my own agonizing death.

Nevertheless, this experience was difficult to forget.

It was as if I was in the presence of a higher kind of life. The kind that despised and laughed at my very existence.

Of course, my sudden attitude didn't go unnoticed by Aliannelle and Jazor by my side while Paul, who was behind us, also noticed my unusual behavior.

"Are you alright, Sillath?"

Aliannelle's sweet voice expressed her concern while Jazor simply looked at me while furrowing his brows.

"Sillath… You…" He mumbled apparently disturbed by something.

"I'm alright, sorry." I quickly answered, interrupting Jazor at the same time.

My pale face didn't seem to convince Aliannelle about the truth of my words but she didn't pursue this matter and chose to stay silent.

Her silence was shared by many others around us, but the whole avenue wasn't as deadly silent as before. A few people could be seen whispering to one another.

Neither Paul nor Jazor talked about what had happened as if they preferred to pretend that nothing ever happened.

Seeing this, I also decided to clear some of the doubts I had on my mind.

"Jazor."

"What?" He asked a little lost in his own thoughts.

"What are they?"

Hearing my question, Aliannelle got closer and silently waited for Jazor to answer what Paul chose to keep quiet about.

Confronted with our stubborn and determined face, the usually cheerful and easygoing dwarf heaved a deep sigh while nervously playing with his beard.

"Seriously, what are they teaching nowadays?" He mumbled in disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that I skipped a good part of my education and that Aliannelle was probably the same.

"Jazor, please tell us. Explain us about the Ryunno clan." Pleaded Aliannelle.

Probably unable to resist in front of her cute face and beautiful blue eyes on the verge of tears, Jazor finally consented.

"I'm not a teacher but I guess I can probably explain a few things."

I stayed expressionless in front of her own successful puppy eyes technique but Aliannelle couldn't hide the small triumphant smile at the corner of her thin lips.

"First, what do you know about them and about the Great war?"

He started his explanation by a question. Both Aliannelle and I looked into each other's eyes and, seeing the same incomprehension as mine in them, I answered for the both of us.

"Almost nothing. Well, I heard about the war but I don't know any real detail. I also heard about the Ryunno clan but I'm even more clueless about them."

Another sigh escaped Jazor's lips in front of my confession.

"Well, I'm not a history teacher but I can tell you a few things. If you are alright with this, Paul."

Paul didn't seem to mind and simply nodded. Apparently, he kept quiet earlier simply because he was afraid to disturb the large but completely silent crowd.

"Several hundred years ago, the world you know was completely different. The different races were hostile to one another. There wasn't any real armed conflict but fights were common. Of course, marriage and friendship between members of different races existed but they were rare and ill-considered. The only good part about this situation was that no one dared to wage war against another specie. Even the Humans, well-known for their greed, didn't have the guts to declare war against a specie with all the others around waiting for an opportunity."

"So there wasn't any dwarf in human cities, for example." Asked Aliennelle with her eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes. The different races chose to focus on what made us different. We didn't try to learn from our differences, we simply laughed at other races for their own cultures."

"This doesn't seem like a nice time." Innocently concluded the young Aliannelle.

"Yes, but this was still an era of relative peace. However, when an opportunity presented itself, what was supposed to happen happened. The Humans along with the Dwarves declared war against the Beast tribe race and the Shinawa people. The Elves chose to stay neutral at first, but one of their rulers decided to take the side of the Humans. The entrance of the Elves in this conflict marked the true start of the first and only racial war of our world."

Jazor made a pause after these words and deeply looked at us to confirm that we really understood what he was saying. I learned about many different kinds of conflicts that had happened along the history of mankind in my previous world.

Each with their own aspect and horror.

"So this was the Great war…" I slowly muttered.

After his words, I had no doubt that a war implicating every specie made an unbelievable number of deaths and deeply influenced the world we were living in right now.

"Yes. A war engulfing all the races of the world that lasted several decades and made hundreds of thousands of deaths." Heavily concluded Vated.

"What about the Ryunno clan." I finally asked.

"How should I explain this… Well, let's just say that they were on the Human side."

"On the Human side?" I asked dumbfounded.

The attitude of the Humans and Dwarves of the whole town toward this lone member of the Ryunno clan wasn't that of a former ally.

Moreover, another point in his story didn't fit.

"Humans, Dwarves, Elves and even the Ryunno clan against the Beast tribes and the Shinawa people? How could a fight so unbalanced last for so long?"

This was my main concern. It happened a long time ago but I had trouble to believe that two races could confront three others along with the Ryunno clan.

"You're really quite sharp for a kid. The Beast tribes and the Shinawa people had another ally in this war."

"Another ally?"

"The Ancient Human clan."

I didn't know what to answer in front of this foreign term. Even if I knew almost nothing about the Ryuuno clan, I had still heard about them which wasn't the case for this other clan.

Moreover, what was all this about this clan thing?

Were they from another race or were they special members of a race?

Many questions assaulted my mind one after the other but I didn't have the time to ask when Jazor resumed his explanation by a simple question.

"So, who do you think won this war?"

Aliannelle and I were both quite ignorant about this world but this question wasn't very difficult.

"Humans did." I simply answered with confidence in my voice.

Dwarves, Elves and Humans all had their respective territories while Beastmen tribes were scattered across the continent with no land that they could call their home. Their lone members were either hiding or treated as slaves by the Dorell Kingdom while the largest tribes were living inside secret locations inside the wilderness.

I didn't know many things about the Shinawa people except that their fate was a little more lenient. As they were a race able to live on land or in the water, I heard that they simply retired from the world shared by the other races to live at the bottom of the sea.

According to my teacher, back in my hometown, it was completely impossible to see one nowadays. The only time the members of this race intervened was to prevent a conflict between the Western and Eastern continent. With their obvious superiority in the water, even the Humans had to follow their rules. That's how the gigantic but lonely port city of Alderal at the western side of the Eastern continent came to be.

"You're right, the alliance with the Humans won this long war. It was a tragic victory with many consequences such as the disappearance of many resources and knowledge but it was a victory nonetheless."

The disappearance of knowledge immediately evoked the Lost magic. I didn't know what this kind of magic, based on complicated magic circles, was able to do back in the days but it was clear that several hundred years wasn't enough to bring it back to its former glory.

"The Beastmen members faced humiliation and forced labor, the Shinawa people completely retired from the world shared by the other races while the Ancient Human Clan faced complete extermination."

"Thank you for the long explanation Jazor, but I think you got slightly off track. I asked about the Ryunno clan, you know." I reminded him.

"And who do you think exterminated the Ancient Human clan, banished the Shinawa people and stole the motherland of the Beastmen tribes?"

"You mean?" I carefully asked.

"Yes. I don't have the time or the knowledge to explain you two everything but there's one thing you must remember. The Ryunno clan was the leader of this alliance between Humans, Dwarves and Elves and this remains true even now."

A heavy silence settled after Jazor's words.

Aliannelle seemed to have some troubles to truly realize what he was implying but I wasn't as innocent or ignorant of the way of the world as her.

Paul's reaction when he thought we were going to be late for the arrival of this member of the Ryunno clan and the submissive attitude of everyone in this town.

It finally all became clear.

I didn't know their true nature but I had enough information to know why I had to bow my head in front of this lone member of the Ryuuno clan.

I had many other questions especially about this Ancient Human clan and its relation with the Human race but Jazor clearly wasn't willing to answer my questions.

It only took me a few seconds to understand why.

The people around were slower than us but they also noticed what was happening and all bowed their heads in submission. The few quiet conversations in the dense crowd of people also quickly died down and restored the previous heavy silence.

It hasn't even been an hour since the member of the Ryunno clan and his two escorts passed in front of us but their business inside the town seemed to be already over. I didn't know what could have justified their presence in this isolated Advanced town but I was relieved that it was of short duration.

I bowed my head with this feeling hidden behind my respectful attitude probably like every other people forced to be present today.

With my sight directed at my feet, I could only rely on my hearing to gauge their position.

The steps I heard were clearly quicker than before.

I also had a strange sensation.

Of course, I didn't try to observe them with my sixth sense inside the world of mana. I wasn't so foolish as to make the same mistake twice but my senses and my sensitivity toward mana was clearly of a higher level since I awakened and trained this technique.

Even without concentrating, I could clearly feel it.

There was something different about them.

I was confident that I would be able to understand what was giving me this strange sensation if I entered the world of mana and completely focused but it wasn't something I could do in this situation.

I tried to understand what was going on when I noticed something that almost made my heart stop.

I couldn't hear their steps anymore.

Just like before, the small party stopped only a few meters away from me.

I was sure I hadn't caught the attention of the Ryuuno clan member this time. I stayed completely motionless and didn't try to observe him like before. A thousand questions assaulted my mind while the trio stayed completely silent and motionless.

Maybe he noticed me on his first passage in front of me and simply chose to ignore me because his business in this town wasn't done yet.

This was the most plausible idea, but I also had another theory even more worrying. Maybe this member of the Ryunno clan felt something different from me like the talking magic beast I encountered inside the wilderness.

However, no matter the theory, I knew that I was in deep trouble this time .

I swallowed my saliva and started to discreetly gather my mana.

"I want this one."

A barely audible male voice suddenly broke apart the silence with cruel words. I felt my heart skip a beat when my fear came true.

I couldn't help but raise my head in reflex.

Three people barely ten meters away welcomed my sight. Two of them with short dark hair and average faces were completely unremarkable if not for their fancy silver clothing incredibly out of place in this town. However, the last one was different and immediately gathered my entire focus.

This man standing the furthest away from me was taller than his two guards by at least a head. He would have seemed quite imposing if not for his thin body and his light blue clothes even more elegantly decorated than the ones carried by his guards.

His delicate face was like the moon, pale and somehow wavering. It was covered by delicate-looking golden tattoos crisscrossing on his young face as if completing a strange but mesmerizing dance. I could get the gist of his features, but none of it stuck in my mind beyond an impression of astonishing beauty.

His blue eyes were clear as crystalline water while his long unbounded blue hair wafted around his pale face completely out of sync with the breath of the wind and appeared as if the clear blue sky suddenly circled around the moon.

The combination of this pale face and strange blue hair was somewhat out of place but it didn't diminish his imposing and mysterious presence in the least while his long hair didn't obstruct his gaze even once, as if these two sapphires couldn't be obstructed by anything.

All in all, his appearance wasn't that far away from us but I could not bring myself to call it humanity.

Perhaps it was because none of his striking features were alluring enough to overcome his cold and indifferent face or because his thin lips didn't seem able to form a smile or perhaps it was simply the mysterious golden tattoos on his face that gave him a grandeur that no simple human-being should ever emanate.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had raised my head as I could see many other people doing the same thing to see who he was talking about.

Just as I had feared, his deep blue eyes were directed at me.

I just had the time to raise my head and briefly observe his appearance when the two guards obeying his words started to walk toward me.

I wasn't sure about his reasons for giving this order but I wasn't planning to obediently surrender. I didn't risk my life so many times just to be captured after finally reaching this Advanced town.

I was already sick of people trying to impose their will on me. Even if I had to run away and give up this temporary safe haven, I couldn't accept that.

Therefore, I patiently waited for the closest guard to extend his hand to grab me. If I wanted to act, I had to end it in an instant.

Before, any other guard could intervene.

Before this Ryunno clan member could show me his power.

I had to freeze them to death first.

It's when the closest guard finally reached us and extended his hand that I finally noticed it.

Their gazes weren't directed at me.

It took me a few more seconds to finally understand who the Ryunno clan member was talking about.

"No…"

Paul's sobbing voice and the shaking of the young girl at my right side confirmed my assumption.

I was ready to defend my life but it took me a few seconds to assimilate the identity of their true target.

I had too many questions swirling in my head to count but none that anybody would care to answer. The reason for this absurd choice didn't matter to me.

At this moment, a single thing truly mattered.

I took a quick step forward to grab the guard's hand that was about to touch Aliannelle.

*Bam*

Before I could reach him, a large hand was put on the top of my head and violently slammed me against the ground.

The violence of the impact almost made me faint.

With my head still mercilessly pushed against the ground it was impossible to see who attacked me, but I didn't have the luxury to care about that for now.

With an angry scream, I released a vast amount of mana to completely freeze the hand holding me down.

However, a sudden wave of foreign dizziness assaulted my head and made my ears ring in protestation. But, more importantly, it also canceled my magic.

I continued to furiously gather my mana, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shape any magic.

"Stop! Why are you doing this? Leave him!"

Aliannelle's screams appeared extremely distant and almost made no sense for my fleeting consciousness.

"Why? What did I do wrong?"

She continued to ask with sobs mixed with her voice quickly becoming more and more distant.

With the entire strength I had left, I resisted the pressure and painfully turned my head to look at my attacker.

Even with the blood flowing from my forehead and obstructing my vision, I immediately recognized this messy beard inches away from me.

"Why? Why are you doing that..."

It wasn't Aliannelle who asked but no answer followed this time either.

I could only watch with incredulous eyes the face of the man stubbornly holding me down while Aliannelle was taken away just beside us.

Unable to resist with my weak body or to use any magic because of the strange ripples disturbing my mind, I could only scream with anger and incomprehension the name of the man I considered as my friend and benefactor.

"... Jazor!!!"