Harbinger: The Four Knights

Aftermath

“Now that did not end well. I didn’t think that Mr. Mark would be waiting for us in the guild at all. Did out long leave made them worried?” Abel said to Amon and Marcus who are sitting near the window with really depressed expressions on their faces. One wants to fight strong opponents and the other one wants to train with his new core that they worked so hard to acquire.

               The three of them are being locked in Marcus’ room for the time being while Mark takes care of everything and giving everyone involved with an earful of sermon.

               “It wasn’t in my calculations for father to be there when we arrived, I doubt mother knew something about this but if she saw us getting locked up then that means she already has a vague idea of what happened. Father would not resort to measures like this if its not concerning, I’m sure that’s what mother is thinking about.” Marcus said as he takes out from his dimensional ring, the core from the dragon that he took down, the giant dragon that was not within their expectations.

               Meanwhile

               BAM!

               “Do you know what you have done Harry? You put the lives of others in jeopardy just because of your thirst for revenge. Those two, Amon is a son of a friend that I consider as a brother. I told him that I will take care of his son in his entire stay here! You even brought my son even when you knew his identity! What is wrong with you?!” Mark yelled with an outraged tone as he sat in front of the guild leader inside his office. “Do you have anything to explain yourself?”

               The guild leader could not meet Mark’s eye while the other one stares at him intensely like he is about to wreak havoc. “I deeply apologize for the trouble I have caused you my lord but I am telling the truth, they all decided join us willingly. I asked them if they want to join, the one you called as Amon, he was the first one to volunteer from the three and the other one just agreed to him but they both share the same enthusiasm and by the time I asked the young master, he also volunteered to join, saying that if his comrades are going to join then there is no reason for him to be left out.” The guild leader remembers every word that Marcus told him that day with such precision that even Mark flinched a little after hearing everything.

               [That kid- did he really volunteered after Amon and Abel wanted to join? Ah! This is turning into quite a headache! This kid is really giving me a lot of trouble!] he grit his teeth in anguish knowing that his son is capable of creating such a mess but when added with Amon’s thirst for strong opponents. He can see the truth in Harry’s words. There is no reason for the guild leader to be lying to him in the first place since there is no benefit for him even if he did.

               Seeing that there is no use in blaming it all to the guild leader, Mark withdraw from the guild but before he leaves entirely, he told the guild leader to be on guard because he is not done yet. “You are not completely off the hook, you are still responsible, given that you are an adult and you should have known better than to send off three kids in such a treacherous expedition.” He said with a cold tone as he left the room with his disastrous aura still lingering.

               “Phew! I thought I was going to die. Knights really are dangerous, even with his aura alone, my senses are telling me its dangerous. Now that I think about it, the young master’s strength is understandable since he is the son of the Knight of the Raging Flames, but the other two- especially that one called Amon, if he is that strong then that means he is also a son of a knight? But which one?” he pondered to himself right after Mark left his room. Mark’s remark shed a little light in the mysteries of the two other kids that Marcus is with but it is not enough to make a complete and definite conclusion.

               Mark then immediately returned to his residence and have a talk with the three, Mark hid the incident from his wife since she tends to be more overacting than he is. He stealthily entered the house and sees his wife drinking tea with her friend that she invited over and slipped inside the second floor where Marcus’ room is located.

               KACHACK!

               Right after entering the room, Mark saw the three of them staring at him blankly while sitting in front of the door across the room. Mark let out a sigh and close the door slowly before his wife realizes that the boys are back. “I want to hear your side. I have already interrogated Harry about everything, it’s your guys turn to answer me.” The three immediately told him everything right from the start of the meeting after they left for the guild, they even showed them the tags that they have which stunned Mark for a few seconds and then recovers from it.

               “So that’s what happened huh? I don’t even know where to begin but I think I get the entire story, so you Amon, you wanted to join the expedition because you introduced to Marcus a way to enlarge his mana pool and that you would need cores for it to be effective and it so happens that the site of this year’s expedition is the dragons’ lair which is a great core for your method. In short you want to help Marcus and fight a strong monster in the process? A two birds with one stone thing?” Amon and Abel nodded their heads, confirming everything that Mark said is the truth.

               The fact that they are demons is hidden from Marcus and everyone else, Mark is the only one that knows their true identity except for Razel who immediately recognizes Amon as a demon. To even show that they are telling the truth, Marcus even showed the core that they got from the giant dragon that he took down. Mark recognize that the core belongs to a monster that is considered as a monarch, the monarch of dragons, but it was still not mature yet.

               “So that means we defeated a dragon that is supposed to be the strongest of all the dragons in that lair but it was not on its final form?!” Amon exclaimed and a disappointed expression engulfed his entire face. “Yes, and you don’t need to be disappointed. That dragon is enough to annihilate you if it was mature enough and putting into account that the lair had not been invaded by humans before so it lacked any experience. But it was mature enough then it would be a different story altogether. You might not have a chance in fighting it and would have died in an instant. Do not underestimate monarchs that much, they are the pinnacle of their race after all.” Mark reminded with a stern tone as the core in front of them glowed a fiery red color.

               [A Flame dragon monarch- they might be reckless but they are quite lucky. For it to be the same as Marcus’ mana type, the method that Amon told him would be a little easier but having a different type of core would be good as well. Then again, I can’t let these guys do something like this in the future. If Luke gets a hold of this news. I might die earlier than expected.] Mark told himself as he also felt shivers running down his spine.

               [But still, no matter how I think about it. It’s impressive that they are the key figures that made huge contributions in taking down those dragons. The guild leader have only praises for their contributions that he can’t stop praising them, event old man Kaseki did the same thing after he knew Marcus’ identity as one of the three.] he thought to himself as he looks at the three talking to each other about their performances during the expedition.

               [It looks like they had fun, I think they got so much experience in this year’s expedition than we think.]

               A while earlier

               “My lord, I get it that the young master is strong but what about those two? What are their identities? The ash colored hair guy called Abel is such an accurate marksman and an overwhelmingly strong healer for his age and the one whom they call Amon, I can’t even describe what I saw that day, his battle sense is on a level higher than most veteran adventurers and is quite perceptive. To be honest my lord, I think even without us there, they could have handled it fine on their own. Especially when the young master took down the giant, we barely did anything to assist him. It felt like they are the perfect team in my eyes. But it makes me eager to know their identities, there is no way kids like those could be that strong, I can’t even comprehend the level they will be when they grow up.” Harry said with a nervous tone but Mark answered his question with a simple answer.

               “There is no need for you to think hard about their identities, my friends just taught that kid from the moment that he knows how to walk the art of fighting while his mother taught him how to conjure magic and that goes for Abel as well.” Harry’s mouth dropped the instant he heard that Amon is also excellent in using magic.               “Huh? But- but- he did not use magic there.” Mark tilt his head in confusion. “Huh? He did not use magic?” Harry hysterically shook his head while Mark buried his face under his palm. “Please forget everything that I said just now. That kid doesn’t know how to use magic at all haha!”                         

               It was too late for Mark to change Harry’s mind when the latter is already convince that Amon is a monster on his own way. “Now I am even more eager to know his identity my lord.” Harry said with an interested tone. [Ah-shxt!] to change the topic, Mark asked the guild leader if he can see the dragon that they manage to take down, Harry immediately nod his head and happily complied but before he can get them out of his dimensional ring, he remembered that he might thrashed the entire guild building if he does it here so they changed locations to an open field that no one passes by.

               Back to present

               “All is well that no one got hurt but I can’t just overlook everything that you, Marcus have done.  You  are the oldest one here so you should have told them off and have not done something dangerous. So I am going to house arrest the three of you for an entire year. You three will not be able to get out and just stay here, I don’t care what you all do but the moment you step out of the house, I will use force to bring you back in.” Mark declared with a stern tone that completely left them speechless.

               And just as Mark opened the door, the figure of his wife with a smile on her face appeared in front of the door and it seems like she had heard everything he said about them being on a house arrest. “Why are they on a house arrest dear?” she asked with a casual tone but Mark felt the darkness and terror behind her voice and failed to give her an answer. “I hope you enlighten me about that, please follow me to our room.” The poor Mark can’t do anything else but follow his wife like a puppy following his master while the three just stood there in silence, watching the intimidating Mark walk away with his tail between his legs in front of his wife.

               “Wow, I did not see uncle Mark to be that powerless before. Aunt Kassandra should be really scary for uncle to melt like that, right Marcus?” Abel and Marcus were surprised that that’s what Amon is surprised about. “My father is terrifying I give you that but he doesn’t come close to mother, she is someone that you should not anger, even the most people are afraid of her and would not hesitate to leave if she got angry. I’m surprised she even had a friend to be honest.” Amon’s eyes glitter in amazement on how Marcus described his mother.

               “If you put it that way, aunt Kassandra is quite amazing on her own! My mother is the same! She always looks calm but if there is something that she doesn’t like or anything that she disagrees to, she could destroy an entire building if she wanted to!” Amon said with an enthusiastic tone while Abel and Marcus on the other hand imagines how cruel his mother can be. “Well, the madam is quite terrifying actually. Thought she tried to control her temper, there are times that she lets it loose. That’s why the great elder always scolds her from time to time.” Abel added.

               Marcus even had a terrified expression on his face after Abel confirms it himself. [Wow- so these guy’s parent is even more scarier than mother-] Marcus then came to a realization when the idea popped out of his mind. [Eh?- if Amon is this strong then that means his mother is equally as strong as he is right? Then when he said that she can destroy a building if she wanted to is real-!] he slowly turned his head to Amon with a terrified look on his face while Amon is smiling like it’s normal for their mothers to be like that then all of the sudden, they felt the ground beneath them shook.

               “It started, dad’s dilemma.” Marcus mutters as he puts his hand together and prays silently. Amon and Abel saw this and did the same thing.

               “Honey, can you be a bit reasonable? That was my favorite cup!” Mark cried as he pointed to the cup that was once a whole. “Oh! So you are worrying about the cup more than you are worried about yourself huh? Who told you to keep this a secret from me? Your son- no, the three of them did something outrageous that would make other parents faint just by hearing what they did but it is also a great  feat that no adventurers from this land could ever accomplish and yet you are going to lock them all here in our house when they have that much potential? Aren’t you supposed to be cultivating them instead?” Kassandra’s figure in Mark’s eyes is a deity that cannot be reasoned with that all he can do is nod his head in whatever that deity wants.

               [What the hell? I thought she would be outraged by the fact that her son did something bad, that’s why I confidently told her that I put then under house arrest and gallantly flaunt the fact that I gave them a good sermon but to think that my deeds would stab me at the back!] he thought to himself as his sweat run down his face like he just got out of the shower. “You should be proud of your son to be  doing such a feat during his early years as a kid. Especially when wars can wage anytime, we must make him ready for when a time like that comes.” Mark was surprised of what his wife said as her terrifying figure turned into a caring mother hoping for her child to be ready in everything that might happen in an instant.

               [So it turned out like that huh? It must have been hard for her too, Kassandra came from a foreign kingdom that is known for having constant wars against other kingdoms. No wonder she wants her son to be ready for war anytime and yet lets him enjoy anything that he can. I must look like an i***t in front of her for not understanding what she intends to do.] Mark grit his fist and embraces his wife who is on the verge of tears after remembering the things that she had gone through because of war and her powerlessness during those times.

               Meanwhile, the word of the guild successfully conquered the dragons from the dragons’ lair spread throughout their lands, along with the three figures whose identities are unknown which were considered to be the key figures in taking down all of those four dragons. Some made fun and joked about it to be fake but the guild members says otherwise. “There is no way that a bunch of kids are the figures that made a great contribution in taking down all those dragons. That is all just a joke that the guild made to cover the fact that they failed.” One of the drunkards in a pub said to his acquaintances while drinking a mug of beer. One of the adventurers that joined the expedition hears this and immediately approached the man.

               “Did I hear that right lad? You claim that we failed the expedition? How dare you claim them to be lies when we almost died you imbecile!” the adventurer said with an extremely angered tone while the drunkard just let out a hearty laugh. “Hey Karok, stop it. There is no need to be dealing with drunk men, they would not listened either way.” Nero said as he tries to drag his comrade away from trouble but before he can stop something from happening, a mug flew straight to his comrade’s face, angering him terribly. “Now you’ve done it you fool. I was just going to let it go but you had just to do it did you?” the adventurer called Karok folds his sleeves while Nero tries his hardest to stop his comrade but it was all in vain.

               A fight started out inside the pub, Nero immediately run out to call for other guild members to stop the fight but the moment he got out of the pub, he saw Kayla and the guild leader walking passed the pub. “Great timing, guild leader! Please help me stop the fight!”

               A few moments later, the fight stopped and the drunkards as well as the adventurer that fought were kneeling in line, all with swollen faces. “What should we do to punish them Mr.?” Kayla asked the owner of the pub who wants nothing to be done and thanked them for stopping the fight before they destroy everything inside his shop. “Ha- Karok, why do you have to flip just like that? I already told you this morning, everyone of you to ignore the gossips.” Harry said as he bows his head and apologize to the owner since they are partially responsible for what happened and promised to pay the damages that was caused but the owner humbly refused the offer so the guild leader was left to take care of the problem on his own and dragged everyone involved outside to give them an earful before sending them all home.

               “Ha- this is really getting tiresome.” Harry muttered to himself as he walks with Kayla on their way back to the guild building. “Are the things that I told you to retrieve ready?” he asked his assistant who immediately nods her head. “Yes- the swords and arrows are ready to be delivered tomorrow at the lord’s residence. And there was something with a round shape that we got inside the dragon as well so I decided to put it in without telling you, will that be alright?” she said. “Round shape?” “Yes, do you want to look at it?” Harry shook his head in refusal. “The three of them have already given us the rights to all of the dragons and just took the core from the giant dragon, if we look at it properly, aren’t we in such a huge debt? There is no reason to be inspecting everything that we have to deliver to them when they have done so much for the guild just after joining for more than a few days.” Kayla understood what Harry wants and tries not to pry into it and just do what she was told.

               The next day

               “Marcus, there is a large crate in the garden, the ones who delivered said that it was from the guild.” Kassandra said while they eat their breakfast. Marcus looks at Amon and Abel with an surprised and confused expression. “Are we expecting anything from the guild?” both Amon and Abel shook their head in response. “I don’t think we have forgotten about things right?” Abel said while Amon finishes his food. “Why don’t we all look at it after we finish eating.” Amon said as he takes the last bite from his bread. All of them agreed and finished their food immediately and hurried to the garden where the crate is resting.

               “Let me open that for  you.” Mark volunteered and opened the crate and saw the carious weapons glowing with a bright red color. Amon picked something up and asked what it was, Mark turns to him and his eyes immediately widen when he recognized what it was. “!”

               DUDUUUUUUM!