Four Years Later
Where's the lighter? I muttered to myself, searching frantically. I needed it to light the candle on the cake. It's been four years since Martha died and Arios was born. That day, life was lost and life began.
Every time I look at Arios, my eyes fill with tears.
How can a four-year-old still be confined to a cradle? No legs to walk, no arms to reach out or hold anything.
He can't feel warmth. He can't hug those he loves.
He hasn't spoken since birth—he just eats and sleeps.
---
Sneeze
It's been a long time since I stepped foot into the workshop. After Martha's death, I lost all zeal to fight, to build, to craft. But now I have a purpose again.
Arios.
He needs hands—to hold, to fight, to protect.
He needs legs—to walk, to dance, to kneel before love.
He needs a chance to live.
I opened the drawer. Dust burst out in a misty wave, forcing me into a fit of sneezes. Bitter experience. But there it was—the blueprint. The Augmentors. I must remake them for Arios. I can't use the same design. The old model had its flaws.
This time, I need Virellium—a rare metal that can amplify and stabilize the immense mana stored within the Augmentors.
But it's deep in Megmura Province, mined under the protection of mage knights.
Crossing into that place… I'll be risking everything.
---
On my return home, something caught my eye.
The door.
I was sure I locked it. Now, it was wide open.
"Arios!" I screamed.
Gone.
Then I saw him—a hooded man fleeing in the distance. I followed, my heart pounding.
Who would kidnap Arios? He's... lifeless. At least, that's what anyone would think.
---
The trail led to a shady outpost on the border of Ostina and Kinisha.
I crept closer.
Two men stood speaking.
"Do you have him?" one asked.
"Yes. The priest is paying a fortune for the kid. I don't know why. The child's a devil—even I, a non-godblood, say that."
"What's he calling him again?" the other asked.
"The Limbless… says the child has limitless mana."
Limitless mana…? Arios… who are you really? I wondered.
Then—stone shifted beneath me. My foot slipped.
"Who's there?!" one of the men barked.
"I swear, I'll slit the kid's throat if you don't show yourself!"
I raised my hands and stepped into the open. "Holding a child hostage?" I said coldly.
Two men. One had a knife. The other a club. Arios was in the knife-wielder's arms.
I relaxed my stance—only to explode forward in the next breath.
"I've had enough," I said. "You'll tell me everything about this priest… but first, answer this:
Has a snail eaten your pride?"
Confused silence.
"What kind of question is that?" one snapped.
"Will pride feed my family?" the other barked.
"Will it protect my home? Raise my status?"
"So you'll sell your own kind… for silver?" I spat.
"You're Judas, reborn."
BOOM. BOOM.
The sound of my leap echoed. My left leg—augmented—propelled me forward with impossible speed.
I struck the knife-man square in the chest, catching Arios mid-air, then kicked the club-wielder aside and rolled Arios to safety.
I exchanged blows with one of them, he was strong to my surprise,
able to keep up with the strength of my augmentors,
The sound of our blows echoed throughout the surrounding areas
" I think we have played enough" I said,
while flipping him over , with a single chop of my hand at the abdominal region, he's body split into two.
Disgust I felt, he's blood and organ remains were all over my body.
With a fury stare, I gazed at the other man, requesting him to tell me why they kidnapped Arios. He fumbled and talked
He trembled under my gaze.
"We were hired," he stammered. "A priest. He paid us to kill the kid. Said he's not ordinary… that he's ' The Limbless '. Said the child's limbs were severed by divine will."
Rage burned through me.
I smashed his face against the wall.
The remains of his brain were like plaster to the wall,
The cracking of his skull was music.
A grim promise to Martha
To take Arios as my own —kept.
---
I took Arios back to the workshop. We couldn't stay here anymore.
Then—he cried.
A sound. A real one.
His first since birth.
A cry of life.
---
"Pass me a cigarette," I told the barkeep at a grimy pub.
How will I do this? I muttered internally.
I need that Virellium—badly. What I saw a few days ago… Arios is no ordinary child, I need to help him control he's mana burst, to make him stronger , capable of defending himself, he's powerful indeed, I saw it first hand.
A mana burst erupted from one of his dismembered limbs—so powerful, it lasted for minutes. I feared he would die from soul depletion.
But it kept going.
The blast tore through the workshop and carved a hole into the mountain nearby. Only a celestial could cause such destruction.
Arios is powerful.
They'll come for him.
And he may be the only hope the non-godbloods have left.
---
I went to kinisha, with Arios.
To the house of a close friend of mine,
I explained everything that has occurred for the past four years, he understood the situation, and promised to take care of Arios as I ventured to Megmura province.
---
On my way to the battered workshop, due to Arios mana burst, I had a moment of self realization
If I die , I did it all for Martha
If I lived, I lived for Martha
Everything I did, I did for her, for my daughter, for the mother of my Savior.
I opened a hatch on the floor of the workshop, there was it,
The sword manament, wielded by
the grade 3 mage knight I killed that fateful day, I won't be able to use it to manipulate mana, but a sturdy weapon it will serve.
I packed my bag, and headed out, kissing Martha's picture farewell.