The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 77

VIRION ERALITH’S POV:

What in the name just happened? What was that bizarre aura around Tessia? What did the boy do anyway?

I was just barely able to see that orb shoot out and get sucked into my granddaughter’s body. It seemed sort of like an elixir, but I wasn’t really able to tell...

Anyway, I was just glad that she was safe now.

I almost felt bad for the boy; he had just crawled back up to the surface after falling into an underground dungeon—gods know how deep—and now he had to deal with all this.

Was I doing the right thing revealing all this information to Arthur?

There was a bitter taste left on my tongue after I finished explaining everything to the boy; I sometimes forgot that he was actually younger than Tessia.

It was odd, though. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but more and more, my instincts told me that despite his monstrous ability in mana manipulation and latent potential as a mage, his cognitive acuteness, his mental capacity that didn’t belong to a prepubescent child that would make this brat so scary in the future, currently, his level of power had not caught up to his intellect.

"Mmmm... what’s going on? Why am I sleeping on the ground?"

My ears perked up immediately at the sound of my granddaughter’s feeble voice.

"G-Grandpa? Where am... ART!!!!"

My arms were already stretched out wide, ready to embrace my one and only beloved granddaughter, but oddly enough, instead of coming into her grandfather’s arms, her body bolted away from me and towards the boy.

My granddaughter... you’re going the wrong way.

"ARTHUR!!!! You’re alive!!" Tessia almost knocked the boy back down onto the ground from how fast she flew into his arms.

Meanwhile, my arms stayed outstretched.

Maybe the passing breeze would accept my embrace...

ARTHUR LEYWIN’S POV:

As Tess’ faint voice reached my ears and her teary eyes locked onto mine, she bit her lower lip to keep herself from breaking down, and I stood there at a loss. A wave of different emotions, half of which I didn’t even know I could feel, washed over me.

"ARTHUR!! You’re alive!" Her face was already buried in my chest as she finished her sentence.

"Yeah..."— I gently petted her hair—"I’m alive."

I turned to Virion, and I swore I could almost see his petrified body crumbling to bits, his lonely arms stretched out.

His head turned like a badly oiled robot, revealing his gaze, which was anything but automatonic by the image he projected.

Traitor.

Grandpa should still come first.

You’re dead to me, brat.

These were the thoughts that might as well have been tattooed across his forehead by how blatantly his foul mood was leaking out.

Giving Grandpa Virion a sympathetic smile, I looked back down at Tess, who was still in my arms. Only when my old robe that had been wrapped around her body slipped slightly off her bare shoulder did I remember she was completely naked underneath.

"Kyu!"

Sylvie was bouncing up and down, trying to get Tess’ attention as the latter clung onto me like glue, but to no avail.

"The last thing I remember was you handing me over to someone. I can only recall bits and pieces of what happened after because I was in too much pain then. B-But I heard broken pieces of conversations about how you didn’t make it out," she said as her arms still clung onto me like an infant koala. The way she looked up at me with those tear-filled eyes made me almost lose myself.

"I’ll fill you in on what happened, but for now"—I peeled her off of me, wrapping her tighter with the only piece of clothing covering her—"let’s get you decent, Princess."

"What are you talking..." was all she managed to say before looking down, her eyes widening in horror.

Tess let out a horrified scream that shook the room, and without even the chance to react, Grandpa Virion, Sylvie, and I were knocked back by a surge of mana that seemed to have come out of nowhere.

I managed to recover in time, landing on my feet. As I looked to my side, I saw that Virion and Sylvie were both uninjured. Surprised, but uninjured.

Not even caring about the throbbing pain in my chest, I stared, slack-jawed at the sight before us.

Tess was at the epicenter of a storm of translucent emerald green vines, dozens of meters in length, all snapping and whipping around chaotically. What was even more strange was that it looked more like an extension of the bright green aura surrounding Tess, who was now curled up in the fetal position.

"Th-This... mana formation of this magnitude... shouldn’t be possible for her!" Grandpa Virion’s stood there, gaping.

"You have got to be kidding me," I mumbled to myself.

Cupping my hands, I yelled out, "Tess! You need to calm down!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Go away! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me I was n-naked!" she screamed, her eyes still shut tightly in embarrassment. Something told me that those semi-transparent tendrils responded to her emotions because they were swaying even more fiercely right now.

"Didn’t you learn that telling a screaming girl to calm down never actually calms her down?" Grandpa Virion said, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

Of course... I’m the ignorant one I guess.

What good was having been a king? Psh... only the strongest in my country? What good does all of that do, Arthur, if you can’t even quell the anger of a thirteen-year-old girl?

"Tess! It’s your grandfather! Open your eyes!" Virion shouted this time.

"Huh?"

As Tess peeked out from one eye, she finally realized what was happening.

"What’s going on? What is all of this?" The flustered Tess looked to us for help.

"Try controlling your emotions, it’s making your mana flow go out of control," I tried to explain in a more reasonable tone.

Tess looked to Virion, who was nodding in agreement with me.

As realization dawned on her, Tess closed her eyes and began meditating, and the translucent emerald vines slowly dissipated, fading out of sight.

The three of us rushed to where Tess was curled up as soon as the vines, that seemed to be made up of pure mana, disappeared.