Black String of Fate

"Hmm… You say you want to hear things only Archons would know… Honestly, there's a lot. Tell me some areas of your interest."

Xavier said with a thoughtful expression, and Arkham went into a deep thought to not waste this chance. He had a feeling that Xavier would be fickle and never offer him this opportunity again, so he had to make the best of it.

"Okay, then please tell me this. Can I ever become an Archon?"

"No."

Xavier immediately answered without hesitation, giving Arkham a bitter reality check. He expected this answer, but that bluntness made him feel worse about it. Before he could sigh and ask the next question, Xavier continued,

"At least, not with the way things are going. I can see that you train, but you don't train like your life depends on it. Even I, who is much more talented than you, trained a lot harder than you are doing now. You have to at least train way more than I did to even have a slim chance of reaching that realm.

Also, it'll also somewhat depend on your luck. After the Sage rank, you need major enlightenment to advance every rank. You'd need to experience a wide variety of things to increase your chances of finding enlightenment. You won't get that by staying cooped up inside your sect.

Well, there are certain treasures out there that might boost you a lot, but you'd never be able to call yourself a true swordsman if you touch realms by taking the assistance of those things.

Well, that's my answer. Any more questions?"

Arkham took a moment to digest that answer and imprint it into his heart. He could tell that Xavier was being sincere with the way he was answering, and sincere advice from possibly the greatest swordsman in history was more valuable than any treasure.

He then asked his next question, slightly hesitating whether he should ask this. He saw Xavier give him an annoyed look, so he hurried with his question,

"How strong were you? The Crafted Archon realm of swordsmanship is something no one in history has ever reached, so what feats were you capable of?"

Xavier smiled at this question because it was his chance to flex.

"Hmm… For starters, I could split continents with my sword. I had regeneration nearing immortality, and I had extreme stars in Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Intuition. I was the strongest in history, probably stronger than the Elemental King, who was called a demigod in his times.

There were none who were as proficient with using True Force as me, and the sword arts I used… Well, they are in a different realm altogether. Hmm, since I'm talking I might as well say it.

I reached the highest tier of sword mastery possible for a mortal. Apparently, it is termed as 'Weapon Manifestation'. When arts of extremely high complexity are mastered to perfection, one can manifest a weapon that captures the very essence of that art.

My art, the Supreme Demonic Art, was a self-improved version of a legendary lost art, and I reached further enlightenment when I thought I had wrung out all I could from them.

It dabbled in the realm of soul, sacrifice, and emotion, so it was more than qualified to receive its manifestation when I finally completed it. Ah, I still remember that moment. I can never forget that, ever in my life."

Arkham was finding it difficult to digest all this groundbreaking information being revealed to him, it felt like he was hearing things he was not yet qualified to hear. The number of questions he had only increased further with every sentence he heard.

'Just what is this 'perfection' he speaks of to achieve Weapon Manifestation? What is the manifested weapon like? How can you tell that an art satisfies the ambiguous qualifications for weapon manifestation? Just what is Supreme Demonic Arts? Why are your current arts so amateurish then?'

He had a lot of questions, but he knew that it was useless to ask them, because he was still a Grandmaster. That high and mighty realm had never felt so small and limiting to him as it is today. It lit a fire in his heart, a fire wanted to fuel.

But, he had one last question, one that he assumed had a very low chance of actually being answered.

"If you were so powerful… Just how did you die?"

Xavier's nostalgia was broken with this sudden question as he wryly smiled,

"You ask good questions, Arkham. This will be the last one I answer…

Fate killed me. That's it, I have nothing more to say." Enjoy exclusive adventures from m-v l'e|m,p-y r

Arkham expected such an ambiguous answer, so he did not push further. He knew death was a sensitive topic, and he wasn't such an ass to make the person who was being sincere with him feel uncomfortable.

"Alright, do you believe me now? But, I don't want you to become extremely respectful and stuff now. Treat me more casually, I won't like it if you change colors because of something I no longer am."

Arkham nodded, and eventually, let out a huge sigh.

"Damn, this might be the craziest day of my life yet. Xavier, as you said, I'll treat you like an equal. Even though you were someone whom I couldn't even look at the shadow of in your previous life, right now, you are still someone weaker than me. I'll give you your due respects when you surpass me."

Xavier smiled, expecting such an answer from him.

"Well, that day will come sooner than you think. For now, let's call Cassandra back and discuss with her what to do now."

Xavier left to meet up with the princess, and after some time, the party of three were sitting inside a restaurant, eating their lunch. Arkham brought out the topic at hand.

"So… What now? Cassandra, why don't you tell us exactly what's going on?"

Cassandra, who was already barely eating, put her spoon down and looked at Arkham and Xavier with eyes that told the tale of a tragedy.

"...Our guardian, the great Phoenix, has been corrupted. Our powers, which were a joint effort and a symbol of symbiosis between us and the phoenix have diminished drastically. We don't know how it happened, but we sure as hell are facing the effects of that.

The enemies of our tribe, the bandits, the monsters… All are encroaching upon our territory. We always lived in peace, yet when our pillar of strength disappeared, all came crumbling down. My father, the chief of the Pyriel tribe, has fallen unconscious, and with our strongest person down, we are helpless against the circumstances."

"Who were these pursuers we faced? An enemy of your tribe?"

Xavier asked after noticing she was missing one point. Cassandra hesitated for a second before answering,

"No… They were the members of our tribe. The ones who were never blessed by the phoenix, the outcasts of our tribe."

Arkham had a dark face after hearing exactly who they just hunted down. Cassandra had a guilty face, Xavier, on the other hand, was much more direct.

"You made us kill those who were finally free from the oppression you guys cast on them in the past? You dare deceive and involve us in matters that are completely your fault? How dare you."

Arkham could see a look in Xavier's eyes that he had never seen before. There was a wrath, a wrath so profound and powerful that even Arkham felt small in front of it. He looked over to the main target of those scary eyes, and sure enough, Cassandra was shivering and color had drained from her face. She could not meet those eyes, otherwise she might faint for sure.

"Xavier, stop it. Please, for my sake."

"...Are you supporting this deception too?"

Xavier turned and looked straight into the eye of Arkham, and while he did not have as severe of a reaction as Cassandra, he flinched and almost drew out his sword.

'Is this the anger of an Archon? I feel as if I've provoked a primordial monster, it doesn't feel human.'

"Please, calm down. I know you feel deceived, but there must be more to this situation than you think. I know the chief of that tribe, and I know very well he doesn't mistreat the outcasts, even if they have a rather low position. In fact, his wife is an outcast herself.

I'm sure that the ones we hunted down had something much more in mind than just simple hatred of their treatment. You also saw them, tell me, did they look like tragic, grieving rebels?"

Xavier calmed down after hearing Arkham's explanation. He let out a huge sigh, now finally being clear about something he wasn't sure that he carried from his past life.

'I still can't stand injustice. No matter how much I change, I'm still an empathizer of the forsaken…

Well, I guess that ain't too bad. It's better than being a murder machine.'