Black String of Fate

In the secluded mountains far away from the small town of Lehoria, a man could be seen in a meditative pose. He was dressed in simple clothes, but his size, stature, demeanor, and aura told a completely different story. With his sword lying to his side, he looked like a war god taking a brief moment of respite.

But soon, his respite was suddenly disturbed. A knock on the door came, and Arkham sighed and said aloud,

"Come in, it better be important…"

The door, which was a Japanese-style sliding one, opened, and a young man wearing the uniform of the outer sect disciple came in. Looks of nervousness was easily visible on his face, since he accepted this job for some quick cash, not expecting to meet the vice-head personally.

"It is a letter addressed towards you. The name is one which is in your VIP list, and you have protocols to inform you as soon as possible…"

"Relax, kid. Just give me the letter and go. Tsk tsk, mumbling away like that, how will you ever become a real man?"

"I apologize! Here is the letter!"

The disciple stiffly handed him the letter and quickly excused himself. The less he was in the same room as this scary person, the better. Arkham just sighed after seeing his actions and began opening the letter.

*************

Arkham,

I, Xavier, am writing to you for a favor. I need the essence of a mythical elemental beast. Come meet me soon in the town of Lehoria, the place where we met last time…

*************

'...Hm? Xavier? That perfect foundation kid? He needs my help?'

Arkham carefully read the letter once again and saw what exactly he needed help with.

'The essence of a mythical elemental beast? Just what exactly does he need this for?

…This won't do, I must meet him. It's been two years anyway.'

Arkham put the letter down and picked up a pen and paper. He wrote a message to his sworn brother, the leader of the Titan Sword Sect, about his leave.

'Hmm… This should be good enough.'

Arkham then pulled out an arrow from his storage ring and wrapped the paper on its body. He then took a throwing stance and aimed toward the faraway sect headquarters.

'Here… we… go!' Stay tuned with m-v l|e'm,p y r

He threw it with considerable force, and the arrow flew at supersonic speeds towards the office of the sect leader.

Inside the office was another man reading some documents, who looked nothing like Arkham. He looked skinny, fair, and delicate, but tied to his back was a giant sword that was the size of the whole room.

He glanced over to his right, and right as he did so, an arrow pierced through the walls.

'Tsk, Arkham and his mannerless games…'

He grabbed the arrow with one hand and began reading the contents.

************

I'll be gone. See ya!

************

'...What? Where? And for how long? You could've answered this stuff if you bothered to write a letter in the first place.' The sect leader wryly smiled, looking at Arkham's office through the hole the arrow made, finding it completely empty.

And so, Arkham left once again on an unannounced journey. Last time he harassed the local training areas, and now he's going to meet a small child the other side of the nation.

Back in the small town of Lehoria, Xavier could be seen inside the training grounds, sprawled on the ground and breathing rapidly. He was renting the highest level, meant for experts, since anything lower than that began to damage the equipment. In fact, even this training ground was slowly getting damaged.

As he was resting, a knock came from the door. Xavier had already sensed who it was, so he called out.

"Jennie, has any response arrived?"

The attendant, who had also become familiar with Xavier's tricks, opened the door and said,

"Yes, the person himself is here."

His eyes opened wide as he sensed the energy around him even more carefully since he hadn't sensed anyone else besides Jennie. All of a sudden, a huge burst of energy enveloped the whole court, and now he was sure who it was.

"Had fun playing that prank, Arkham?"

"Oh, absolutely. Haha, this tells me that you haven't outgrown me already."

"I'm just 11, how can I outgrow you so soon?"

"You're 11 and you're already at this stage. Don't joke with me boy, nothing is impossible for you. And you don't look 11 either, your stature and demeanor give you the feel of an old man who just looks young."

"Maybe that's what I am…"

"Hah, I'm not that stupid. You're talented, but your energies are still not polished. If you truly were an old master who regressed, you would've been able to create an aura the moment you awakened."

Xavier wryly smiled at these words. Arkham was so close to actually figuring it out, but yet so far. Xavier got up and led Arkham towards his temporary lodgings in the training area. They both sat down on the ground in a large empty room and had some tea served to them.

"Anyway, I read your letter. You need the essence of an elemental mythic beast, right? May I ask why?"

Xavier took a sip of the drink and said,

"Arkham, what do you see when you look at me?"

Arkham deeply looked into Xavier's clear and profound eyes, observing things unseen to the mundane.

"...Well, first of all, I see that you stuck to your words. I see the vitality of a warrior as well as the intelligence of a mage from you. Moreover, your mana is pure, extremely pure. It's to the point I have seen no creatures with purer mana, and trust me, I have seen a lot.

As for your sword… You wield a blade indecipherable even to me. I'm not worthy enough to judge what you've created, but I'm sure it's the most incredible art the world has ever seen.

Both of the paths you're walking are at an incredible level. I can confidently say that no one of your rank can even come close to your sword, but as for your magic…"

Xavier smiled as he completed Arkham's sentence,

"There's someone who surpasses me by a large margin, right?"

Arkham's eyes widened at Xavier's extremely accurate guess, but he didn't push further and rather explained,

"Yes, there's a girl the same age as yours who is also walking a similar path. While your magic, I can say without a doubt is the strongest in your rank, hers is… different. I've only seen it once, but I can say that… Damn, I don't even have the proper words to describe it. She has quite literally left me speechless."

Xavier of course knew whom he was talking about. He expected nothing less from a person who had managed to impress him, and it was given that a mage Archon would be better at magic than some total rookie.

"Well, wanna have a spar? She might have her magic, but I too have my sword. I'll let you be the judge of who's stronger."

Arkham was caught off guard by such a question, but he soon maniacally smiled and said,

"I like you, kid. I'll hold back, so go all out."

**********

In the training arena, a large man with an extremely large greatsword in his hand stood against a young boy who held a simple katana. They both gave off the presence of a master, but it was obvious from a glance that the young boy was much weaker.

"You start, boy. I need to get an idea of what level of strength to use."

"I'll start with my strongest strike then."

Xavier went into a stance and charged up the only move of his battle arts. The surroundings started to dim, and Xavier began to emit a golden-white aura. His blade, similarly, took the shade of golden white, emitting a cold, dangerous light.

Arkham nervously smiled as he commented,

"I already felt it when I arrived at this place, but this energy is unlike any other. This isn't even qi, right?"

"It is, but at the same time, it is not."

Xavier gave a vague reply and rushed in with full strength. Arkham also drew his sword into a defensive stance.

*BOOOM*

The two swordsmen clashed, kicking up a cloud of dust. From within the cloud, Arkham said,

"So you're an expert-level already! Show me MORE!"

He swung out his sword and flung Xavier out of the cloud in mid-air. He expected him to fall down, but to his surprise, Xavier stood on thin air.

"...Barrier magic, tsk."

"Haha, I already told you I was not a pure swordsman."

Xavier then raised his hand and summoned multiple mana bullets out of thin air, and launched them towards Arkham.

'Chantless magic, he's a genius in this path too.'

Arkham simply swung his sword and deflected the mana bullets like they were softballs, but he knew very well that this was not all.