Chapter 23: Legacy of Kings

"Fey… What do you think you're doing?" The girl shouted at Fey before Arthur could answer. It seems the two knew each other and Fey decided to withhold any further questions.

"This person is with us." A voice answered instead of Fey as a person walked over from the forest. As Arthur looked at the thin pale man, he was reminded of how he got this legacy. Yuran looked as sickly as ever, yet just as kind as he stood in front of Arthur. It seems the girl regained her calm after she saw his entrance.

"I see, so it was true. The fairy and the cripple, what a duo." The girl spat out as she looked at Arthur and continued. "Someone else also said he was with them, but that's a lie. I know every person who's going to participate in the trials. He's not one of them!"

As the tension grew between both sides, Yuran sighed as he shook his head.

"He's like me."

This one sentence seemed to shut the girl up. Her eyes shook as she turned pale.

"Impossible! There shouldn't be another survivor!"

Arthur's felt the whole scene was chaotic as he didn't understand anything that was going on. As he got up, he decided to stay quiet and simply stare at the girl hoping the bluff would work.

"It was impossible too in my case, but I survived." Yuran's voice was sad and desolate. Arthur found it hard that he was the same kind and cheerful person he met a while ago.

After a lengthy silence, the girl found herself unable to say anything. As the tension grew between the two sides, Fey finally opened her mouth diffusing the whole thing.

"It's not like you can beat me anyway."

***

"So, how come you're alive?"

That was the first question Arthur received after he, Yuran, and Fey left. The one asking was Fey, as she was more shocked than happy.

"I fell out of the dungeon at that time. I even ended up in the wilderness, barely making it back."

"Oh…" As dungeons were thought of as separate spaces from the normal plane, the explanation couldn't be refuted as not much was known about the laws governing them.

"I'm just glad you're alive." Yuran cut as he held Arthur by the shoulder and squeezed. His smile was of true relief and Arthur felt touched, although awkward at the same time.

"Then why are you here?"

Fey was the one asking. Faced with her direct questioning, Arthur found himself unable to explain it properly. In the end, he tried to state the simple truth.

"I fell here by accident…"

"You sure fall a lot."

After also inquiring about his eyes and telling them that it had something with his awakening, the two didn't ask any more as they were on good terms and didn't want to dig any deeper into it. As they made their way to their hideout, the three kept chatting idly. Arthur took the chance to ask about the money Yuran sent, and the latter apologized that it was too little compared to saving his life. He said that he was… currently in a dire financial state, too.

Arthur found it hard to reject his goodwill so he left it at that for now and made a mental note to give it back in the future. The three finally reached the cave the two used in the meantime and Arthur decided to rest here for the night. Even though Hazel was left at the camp, she was with her family and over-caring Jin. Arthur felt safer to stay here as he knew the characters of these two to some extent.

The night drew near as the three sat around the campfire talking. After meeting a familiar person here, Arthur found some relief of his loneliness. He decided to ask Yuran about the situation he landed himself in.

"It seems you fell here by accident without knowing everything." Yuran's eyes held complex emotions as he looked at Arthur. The latter felt like Yuran was not looking at him, but reminiscing the past. Yuran continued, "The Holy Crown is a symbol more than an Artifact. There are Seven Families hidden from the world, although it's like a shared secret between the powerful. Many Guilds followed one of these families that have what we call a bloodline."

With a brief pause, Yuran gave Arthur a bowl of grilled meat and continued.

"These families are like trees having many branches, the further the ties to the main family the lesser the bloodline the person holds. The founders left clues about three artifacts the families should obtain, one of them being the Holy Crown. Every thirty years, the gates for the trials of the Holy Crown begins. Each time, they last for five years with some time between each trial. Yet until now, not one person was able to obtain the Holy Crown."

"Huh?!" Arthur almost shouted with shock. The trials were one thing but not one person being able to get the Holy Crown was another. He simply thought the crown gave abilities to whoever gets it, now it seemed like an impossible dream.

"Why would anyone participate in these trials then?" Arthur asked, confused. He knew death was not uncommon given the dangers of the first trial.

"Even though the crown is a symbol, it's also a powerful artifact. It's a miracle. The reason why many people still participate in the trials happening all over the world is simple." Yuran paused as he looked at Arthur in the eyes.

"Whoever wins the crown shall be granted the Legacy of Kings, becoming the one true ruler of the new world."

What Arthur just heard sounded nonsensical. True ruler? Legacy of Kings? Why would people risk their lives for such things? Why can't they just obtain happiness?

Arthur then remembered his father. His father was a simple and honest man. That's what Arthur always knew about him. Yet in the end, the world didn't care for the disappearance of his father. The guild he worked for covered it, the government simply shrugging the responsibility off, and the whole world seemingly moving forward uncaring.

As Arthur's thoughts reached here, he almost laughed at himself. What happiness was he looking for? The stabbing pain he felt when his father was gone returned. He had to shoulder everything for years, not experiencing friendships nor love in his youth, simply working for the pockets of the rich. He has long forgotten the desire to have fun or experience new things in life. He was robbed of that privilege.

Rage felt like a burning flame in his chest. He felt injustice. He felt betrayed. He knew none of this would have happened if not for the world being this way.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" Yuran's voice interrupted Arthur's hysterical state. As he heard the question, he finally managed to calm down. He looked at the reflections of his eyes in his sword, they were glowing. This rage was not his. It was a part of Jizo's rage against the world.

***

The next day, the trio started hunting like usual. Arthur decided to think about what he learned last night after he survives this. Yuran and Fey were far stronger than Arthur, as even a bullet from Yuran was enough to defeat him. As Arthur was still unranked, merely approaching the ranks of neo-awakeners, it was a reasonable gap.

As for Fey… it was better to ignore the gap between Arthur and her. She was an invincible foe for the current Arthur. That's why Arthur told the two to hunt on their own for today, as he remained alone in the cave.

After yesterday's near-death experience, he realized he might die here. Until now, he remained on the periphery of the forest not daring to venture closer to the tower, where monsters appeared in doves and higher rank monsters were common. However, he needed to grow stronger in the fastest way possible to get out of here.

Arthur held the mana core he gained from the Arcula he killed yesterday. At first, he thought about creating a skill through it. However, he found creating a skill for himself was useless at the moment. He could just use his ability to get a similar effect. That's why he thought about using the core for something else.

He could use this to make a permanent rune for Stamina-I, the new rune he got yesterday. It was quite useful as Arthur read it.

[Stamina-I: Increases your stamina by 5 points. Works against fatigue.]

Since it increased his stamina for a short while, it could work as an energy potion or the like. However, there was an idea in Arthur's head that would prove far more useful.

[Absorb: A Legacy rune that can use the life energy of the enemies you have slain to strengthen himself.]

The mana core was the manifestation of life energy that the monsters dropped. Although he could gain stats from the corpse of the enemy, he never got mana. That's why Arthur decided to use his legacy rune to absorb the mana core.

As he used the rune on the core, cracks began to appear on its surface. After a few seconds, the core broke down and a new message appeared.

[Mana stat has been increased by 1.]

[Mana stat has been increased by 1.]

[Mana stat has been increased by 1.]

"Jackpot…"