Levinia and Celica were side by side in the English style teahouse. Two empty glass cups, still slightly warm, lay on the table. She had chosen this spot not specifically for the tea, but for the comforting atmosphere it offered, or in a word it was simply a good place to clear your head and relax. The blade that ought to be at her hip was now resting in a nearby corner, even though she had a strong attachment to it, right now of all times it would only amount to little more than a hindrance. The girl was currently lying on her back, her head firmly rested on her mother's supple thighs, truly a blissful sight.
"Ahhhh~ This was worth the long journey."
"To think you'd still want to be pampered like this, what a maiden." Celica smiled as she watched her daughter's expression turn red.
"Isn't this fine every once in a while, mother?" She sounded like a spoiled child.
"Of course it is, I'll pamper you as much as you want." Now stroking her daughter's silver hair, Celica began indulging herself in the bashful girl's gleeful reactions.
"If only Kanon could see this side of you." Celica remarked with one hand against her cheek, fully aware of what she'd started.
"T-this has nothing to do with him!"
"You really are cute, Levinia."
Levinia's face sunk back into a deep red color.
"Oh my, he has amazing timing. It seems he's entering the dojo with Sophie right now."
The tea house was quite a ways from both the bath house and dojo, but she made it seem like they were only a few meters from them.
"The dojo of all places? Is father planning something?"
"Knowing him, you can already tell, can't you?"
Levinia clenched her fist at those words before sitting upright.
"Maybe I should intrude." She boldly declared whilst staring at the blade firmly placed in the corner.
The door to the dojo was already wide open as if to welcome in a steady stream of fresh air. It was larger than your average dojo, about twice as big as the average high school basketball court. Stepping inside with his bare feet, the feeling of the warm wooden floor had somewhat helped to comfort him. The walls on either side of the dojo had countless glass pane windows that were no obstruction to the sun's rays and because of that the area was well lit, especially the very center of the room where, almost theatrically, the Silva clan's symbol was perfectly embraced by the streams of light, making it undoubtedly the brightest part of the room.
"Well then Sir Kanon, if there's nothing else, I will return to my duties."
Kanon sat in the center of the room; legs now crossed.
"Yea Sophie, thanks again." He'd given that reply with his back turned to her, but despite this Sophie still gave a bow before she left.
Now alone in this wide space, he closed both eyes and began controlling his breathing. It seemed as if he was isolated from the world, but one with it at the same time. Nothing could be heard in this tranquil atmosphere, and the only thing to be seen were the numerous particles being illuminated by the sunlight as they were gracefully being carried away by the steady stream of air, and the boy sitting amid it all.
"Kanon, you've come."
He knew exactly where that deep voice had come from without even looking.
"It's been a while, Sir Julius."
Julius Silva, a towering man standing at 190 cm tall, possessed a stern face that often-instilled fear in others unintentionally. It wasn't his appearance that prompted this reaction, but rather the intimidating expression that seemed to naturally grace his features. His short, spiky white hair fanned out neatly just above his forehead, reminiscent of a peacock's tail—though much more subdued—perfectly complementing the faded sides of his hair. He was currently donning a white sleeveless shirt, buttoned properly, yet his massive frame stretched the fabric, revealing a portion of his chest. It appeared to be standard training attire, fitting well with the pair of black, loose-fitting pants that he wore.
"Spare me the formalities, especially at a time like this." The man's voice seemed to make the empty space tremble. It didn't sound intimidating at the moment, but Kanon knew that was easily subject to change.
"Alright, Julius."
"Yea, this way things will go much faster." As Julius said those words, he sat down to face the boy.
"I'm guessing you already know why I called you here?"
"It's about those humans, right?"
"Yea that's right. There was something particularly strange about how that last group of humans got here."
"Strange? Didn't humans manage to wander here every once in a while?"
Ironically, even though Kanon was the one to directly confront them, he was the one now asking questions.
"No, before this, the last time I was aware of any humans coming here was around eight years ago."
That was a surprising revelation. Kanon was often outside Solis Keep and he had certainly felt some strange presences in the past but deemed it to be lost humans simply due to the mana he detected from them. He never bothered to interact with them though as he figured they would either meet their fate or simply leave once they had witnessed how unforgiving this island can be to the powerless. But he was wrong. If Julius, someone with such advanced Senken hadn't detected any such presences over the last eight years, then what had he encountered?
"It must have been a mistake then. My Senken is still developing you see."
Julius narrowed his eyes but ultimately decided to let it go.
"I assume you know about the Dragon's Vein that runs beneath this island?"
"Yea, it's one of the channels that carry arcanum around the planet right?"
"Exactly. This dragon's vein in particular is especially potent. Not only does it supply the entire island with arcanum, but it also produces some rather niche effects."
Kanon was looking confused once more, his eyebrows slowly began to converge.
"Niche effects?'
"Well, no wonder you're confused, since it isn't really explained even though it's in plain sight so you can't really call it general knowledge."
"....." He could only wait for the incoming explanation.
"The Unseen Isles, even though those massive structures are floating right above the city, people hardly question as to how."
"I always thought it was because of somebody's Ars Magna." (Great Arts)
"Thats half of the answer, but it's mostly because of the dragon vein. It has a gravitational effect on the island itself and the sea surrounding it. In the island's case it just liberates things close to the center from gravity and causes them to float, ergo the unseen isles. A certain Ars Magna technique in the form of a seal is keeping its effects to a minimum whilst also tapping into the arcanum from the Dragon's Vein to produce a secondary effect."
"Secondary Effect?"
"Yea it creates a barrier and distorts the space in the island's vicinity, we call it the Nexus. It causes ships to never get here no matter how good the sailor is, by warping them through space. Although during the warping process, the ship is often destroyed. However, while some people die during the process of being warped, others do live and the destination they are warped to is not fixed, although it is usually underwater or somewhere in the surrounding area, but almost all the humans who've made it here did it by pure chance."
"......You make it sounds as if someone has done it freely before."
"Yea that's the strange part, the only humans I've seen come to this island and completely disregarded that warping ability was a ship carrying a mercenary group known as Linchpin."
"How did they get pass the barrier?"
Julius' expression grew more serious.
"Some species in the outside world have a special ability called "Genesis Majic." It's a special Majic ability that's engraved onto their souls and can allow them to bypass the rules of the world."
"Eh? bypass the rules of the world?"
This was something completely unheard of for Kanon, none of the humans he fought could do anything like that.
"Yea, in the case of the group that came here all those years ago, one of them had the ability to negate magical forces. Although in the case of arcanum, it only seemed to weaken it, which is why they were able to sail past the Nexus with no problems. But the user only seemed to be able to use the technique on a single vessel."
It was pure luck for the caster's technique to have such a limitation. Otherwise, they would have used the ability on a larger scale to bring an entire battalion to the island.
"What happened to those humans?"
"We fought them, their purpose was no different from the others you fought three days ago. I don't know if it was because of Genesis Majic weakening our arcanum or if they were on the stronger end of humanity, seeing as I had to participate as well."
"Then they must've been really strong right?"
"Yea, for humans they were strong."
He had a slight smile when saying that, as if reminiscing on the battle.
"The human with the Genesis, did he...."
Julius cut him off, already knowing what he wanted to say.
"No, he got away."
"Oh, I see. So, were you thinking that maybe that group of mercenaries had returned?"
"No, not exactly. I didn't sense any familiar presences among them, or of the ones that came within my Senken's range at least. But judging by your reaction, I'm guessing none of the humans you fought had any Genesis Majic."
"No, they didn't."
"I figured. "
Genesis Majic was the equivalent of "Arcane Blood" for other races, it wasn't a genetic ability, but something engraved onto the souls of the wielder. They were often present within the wielder's soul from birth but could also be obtained under special circumstances, which was far rarer. Genesis Majic users existed at a rate of around one in ten thousand .
(That expedition might only be a sign of things to come, judging by what happened eight years ago, they should have known that a single vessel wouldn't be enough.) Julius thought, now he examining the ominous undertone of the situation. The room grew oddly silent, unsurprisingly, Kanon was also sinking into his own sea of turbulent contemplations, like he had just avoided a grave outcome.
"Alright then, why don't you tell me about what the humans you met were like."
His voice had now lost its more serious tonality and had returned to its normal pitch, well, normal for Julius anyway.
"Lorath and Cian huh?" Julius spoke after first time after sitting through the boys rather brief explanation.
"Do you know any of those countries?"
"Yea, I know a little about the outside world, but it's the first time I'm hearing of this Cian empire."
"Well, I did hear that humans are always fighting so maybe this empire is a result of that?"
"Perhaps, but a war big enough to unite five countries under one empire would have some serious aftereffects that could last decades, and yet they're already expending resources on expeditions? Something doesn't add up."
Breaking out of his thoughtful daze Julius followed up with another question.
"Kanon, I could only get a vague idea of what happened from here, but I'll ask you since you're the one that actually fought them."
He paused for a moment, and even the air seemed to become tense with anticipation.
"Were they strong?"
The image of that battle from three days ago came rushing to his mind, as he recalled a certain duo that burned to ashes on the battlefield, a brave girl that stood up to him even on the edge of death, and a lone chevalier that fought to the end.
His lips slowly curled up into a smile "Yeah...they were strong."
Whatever the circumstances surrounding their battle may have been, they still fought bravely despite the odds and knowing they couldn't win. Kanon had felt obligated to respond to that determination with full force, because that was just his nature. He was always one to respect the strong.
"I've been wondering for a while now but why did you decide to meet like this in the dojo?"
"That's simple. You haven't been here in a while, so I want to test your skills." Julius answered without hesitation, but in that same breath, Kanon's shoulders shivered. A flood of memories the boy was determined to repress began rushing to him as he recalled those dark days - broken bones and a shattered spirit.