Great Journey: Whims of Fate

Chapter 154. Finally Ready

Time passed quickly after Elyra attained her new class, as Bastion and the girls immersed themselves in grinding their arts and skills. Days and nights slipped by unnoticed while they practiced their abilities, trained their stats, upgraded their arsenal, and prepared for their journey to the Magic Empire.

Apart from improving their status to unlock their potential at Rank 2, they also devoted time to their personal hobbies. Bastion crafted armor, weapons, and gadgets alongside Pebbles. Lilia studied magic and enchanting with her Mana Weave. Elyra cooked feast after delicious feast with her Primal Instinct. Seraphina worked on her novels and Scribing, and Ariel explored the Kingdom of Brilliance and its surroundings.

Progress came in leaps and bounds as they gradually adapted to their new power, facing challenges that eased only to quickly intensify, driving further improvement.

Eventually, 44 years passed since Elyra’s Rank Up, and roughly 96 years since they graduated from the Royal Academy. An entire lifetime of adventures and stories unfolded, yet it felt as if time had barely moved at all.

“Command: Charge!” Alexander, wearing all black armor with bright red veins snaking around it, shouted as he and his summoned Diamond Cavalry charged at Bastion at full speed.

“Earth Quake!” Bastion, wearing the same full plate armor, countered as he slammed his foot on the ground, creating a tremor that broke up the earth around him.

A rubble filled shallow hole with a radius of 30 meters formed, threatening to destabilize anyone who placed weight on it.

Alexander ignored the threat, having learned first hand how to counter such unstable ground. He waited until just before he reached the edge and then leapt at full power, his Diamond Cavalry following after him. He reached Bastion in no time, his lance aimed at his own brother’s chest.

Just as he was about to impale him, the blue mana of Arcane Pulse exploded from Bastion, lifting Alexander and his cavalry high enough for Bastion to evade their attack.

Suddenly, Bastion’s black 1 meter (3'4") long sword broke apart into segments before lashing out, covered in an ominous blue glow, aiming for Alexander’s foot.

Alexander, sensing the attack coming, countered, swinging his lance to deflect it.

Just as the lance was about to hit the tip of Bastion’s whipsword, the ominous mana covering it lashed out, turning into Arcane Shackles that bound the lance’s tip to his Diamond Steed’s neck. The sudden binds prevented Alexander’s lance from reaching Bastion’s whipsword, allowing it to wrap around Alexander’s foot.

Having caught his target, Bastion pulled with full strength, aided by Reinforce, to dismount his opponent.

Alexander, unable to resist Bastion’s strength, was pulled back, flying away from his mount and cavalry, who struggled to turn around and chase after their summoner.

Right as Alexander reached 5 meters from Bastion, Earth Rampart and Arcane Lockdown bloomed, creating two half spheres of walls made of loose earth and transparent blue mana that prevented entering or exiting without breaking them. This effectively trapped Alexander while simultaneously preventing his summons from interfering for the next few seconds.

While flying, Alexander wasn’t completely helpless. He oriented himself mid flight and attacked with his lance, stabbing out three times in rapid succession.

Bastion lifted his shield and with deft precision used Shield Bash, knocking aside the lance and canceling the attack sequence. With his other hand, he unequipped the whipsword using Weapon Slot and grabbed Alexander by the ankle.

At that moment, Alexander knew the match was over. He was swung overhead and smashed onto the ground face first.

Then, he felt Bastion’s familiar weight pressing on his back as the ground began to envelop them both before solidifying. He tried to push himself up and out of the trap but a pair of hands snaked under his chin, pulling powerfully and denting his chest plate.

The armor soon surrendered under the pressure, bending and transferring the force to his neck. Slowly but surely, he could feel his head about to be ripped off from his body.

“I… surrender…” he struggled to say.

He felt the pressure on his neck release, allowing him to finally gasp for breath. He breathed heavily, having nearly been decapitated by another of Bastion’s obscure techniques.

“You win… again,” Alexander said with a heavy sigh.

Ever since Alexander reached Rank 2, Bastion had been summoning him and his Rank 2 subordinates for spars. They eagerly accepted at first, keen to challenge their duke, only to quickly discover just how far below him each of them truly were.

They soon realized that Bastion had no discernible weaknesses when it came to combat. Whether his opponents relied on melee, ranged, physical attacks, magical attacks, or any combination thereof, he was prepared. It often reached the point where he would face multiple opponents at once as a challenge and still come out on top.

It made them question whether they had any future in combat at all, discouraging them from dreaming beyond their posts as knights of the dukedom’s army. That was, at least, until they saw Bastion spar against Elyra.

He was essentially a child in comparison to that monster, who ran circles around him, stabbing from every angle. He would turn into a bloody sieve after every fight and yet continue to spar once fully healed. It put into perspective that there was always someone better, and when such a person appeared, they could be used as a whetstone to drive improvement.

Hence, they were more than eager to continue sparring with Bastion, ignoring how badly they lost each time.

Bastion, meanwhile, paid no mind to the plight of his knights, using them instead to hone his combat sense, arts, and skills. Fighting Elyra had its benefits, but it grew stale when it yielded nothing new. To keep himself sharp, he mixed in battles with the local Rank 2 under his employ, making full use of his position.

“Thanks for the spar,” Bastion said, helping Alexander to his feet. “Same time tomorrow.”

“Yes, my lord,” Alexander replied with a bow, no longer ashamed of the gap between them.

Once he left, Bastion fixed the tilled training ground before heading to his private armory. Unlike the dukedom’s armory, this one was filled with every Rank 2 armor and weapon he had crafted over the decades. Needless to say, there was more than enough to outfit a formidable Rank 2 army.

Included in the armory was his new Rank 2 full plate armor, shield, and whipsword. The armor was black, streaked with red vein-like patterns forged from Rank 2 Blood Iron. The shield and whipsword matched the armor perfectly, and all three were enchanted for durability, flexibility, and physical defense.

He could have added extra features like temperature control, regeneration, and auto repair, but none of those would serve the primary purpose of the set, which was to keep him safe while allowing him to move freely. For that reason, Bastion followed the old saying that “simple was best.”

Of course, that didn’t stop him from enchanting spares with everything under the sun. There were versions that resisted and dealt greater damage depending on the element. Some were made for dealing more damage, while others were built to survive greater punishment. He even had a full plate armor with nothing but regeneration to help him survive continuous damage type attacks. With over five decades to work with, he admittedly went a bit crazy with crafting Rank 2 armor and weapons.

He continued moving through the armory and reached his long ranged weapons, which included hand cannons, autocannons, and regular cannons. He tried making stronger ones, but they were too heavy to aim without specialized machinery, so he settled for his current loadout, satisfied with being able to potentially kill Rank 4 opponents.

He did, however, make versions of them that were purely mechanical, with only heat and vibration resistance to increase their durability. These were intended for situations that completely prevented the use of mana. How he would pull them out of his Inventory, however, was still a mystery.

He picked out replacements for the current set he had damaged before moving to his room in the castle to change his armor with Elyra’s help.

Once finished, he made his way to the dining room, excited for Elyra’s lunch. He met with the girls, who were just as eager, except for Seraphina, who was still too preoccupied to join them.

“I’m worried about Seraphina,” Ariel said. “I haven’t seen her in over a month, since she wouldn’t even allow me into her room to avoid disturbing her.”

“How’s she doing, Ely?” Bastion asked.

“Stressed, lacking sleep, barely eating, and quite frantic. It seems she believes she is close to reaching level 3 in Scribing, so she is pushing herself.”

“What does it matter if she reaches level 3 now versus a year from now?” Lilia asked. “It’s not like our plans will change based on the timing.”

“She’s a gamer,” Bastion replied. “This type of unhealthy obsession is very common.”

“I just don’t get it.”

“Imagine you were on the verge of developing a Rank 3 spell that you could use as a Rank 2 without heavy repercussions. Would you wait a year to develop it, or would you do everything you could to finish it faster?”

“Um… faster, I guess, but I wouldn’t be killing myself over it.”

“What about a Rank 4 spell, or a ritual that would allow you to gain, absorb, and understand useful magical knowledge?”

“Okay, yeah, I can somewhat imagine it now.”

Magic was Lilia’s obsession just as much as gaming was Seraphina’s, hence she could understand her plight.

The same couldn’t be said of Ariel, however, who didn’t have such a vice. She was merely content so long as she had something to do. As for Elyra, perhaps it was cooking.

‘It’s you, Master,’ she said telepathically.

‘That doesn’t sound very healthy, Ely.’

‘It doesn’t have to be, Master.’

Suddenly, Elyra’s eyes widened slightly as she announced, “Seraphina is out of her room.”

Sure enough, a minute later, Seraphina came running into the dining room.

“I did it! I did it!” she shouted while jumping for joy. “I finally managed to reach Scribing level 3! Now, I can finally rank up!”

“Congratulations!” Bastion and the girls cheered as Seraphina’s eyelids started drooping.

“But first,” she said with her index finger pointing up. “I think I need some slee….”

Elyra moved, quickly catching her slightly disheveled falling form, then carried her back to her room to finally get some well earned sleep.

“Now that Seraphina has reached Rank 2, is it finally time for us to leave?” Lilia asked as Ariel’s smile bloomed in excitement for the coming journey.

“Yes,” Bastion answered, a fire igniting in his chest in anticipation. “It’s finally time to go off on our Great Journey.”

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