CHAPTER 210: TWILIGHT

Quin looked Riven in the eye. "The game is deeper than what you want or what you want to protect. Rushing into things and trying to do it your own way is never the right path.

Your actions do not only put you in danger, they put your family and everyone else in danger," Quin said.

Riven frowned. He understood what Quin was saying, and it sounded like a subtle way of threatening his family. He clenched his fist. "I don’t care who is what, if anyone comes close to my family, I’ll kill them," Riven said.

"Don’t allow it to get to that point. I have no other advice to give. In a month’s time, you, along with all the top ten, will have to attend a feast that the king is throwing in your honor and for other things that have happened." Quin patted Riven on the shoulder and walked out, his footsteps getting more distant with every second.

Riven stood there, his face blank, no emotions.

"Riven," Liana came from behind.

"Don’t worry," he said flatly and left them there, not looking back. He walked out of the training building and headed for his room inside the main house.

He got in and slammed the door, locking it and walking to his bed. He stared at the ground.

’Why does everything have to be complicated? Why can’t things just go properly? Why can’t there just be a flow? Does it always have to be pain after pain?

Sigh... I don’t want my family to get hurt due to my actions. I’m not strong or important enough to stop the bad things from coming.

Wait, that’s the solution, strength, importance. I haven’t been chasing after strength; I have been chasing a goal: to stop the demons. Strength was only a path to the goal.

If I could poison the Demon Lord and kill him now, I would do it, and he would die. My goal would have been completed, and I wouldn’t have used strength.

But I need strength to protect, strength to guide, and strength to be my own person, not swayed by whatever rules are set up against me.’

He clenched his fists tight, teeth grinding hard.

’I have to get stronger, and I need to get more important. How do I even do that? How do I make myself rise above others in status effortlessly?’ He paused in his thoughts, and then he recalled the talk of the golden set.

He leaned back into the bed, hands pressed against the soft mattress, looking at the ceiling. "I can decide to hide and stand the risk of being found, or I can decide to stand above all of them.

Become the strongest and finally be free from any restriction, and possess the power to ensure that my family is free entirely.

Quin might not have said it, but my family is in danger. I have to stay protecting them in every way possible," Riven thought.

Suddenly, he felt a buzz from Twilight. He pulled the sword out and looked at it.

"You want a way to protect your family?" The voice of the lady suddenly reached his ears. He hadn’t heard from her in such a long time that he thought it was impossible.

"I’ve tried to reach you for so long," Riven said.

"Sorry, the seal had been too strong for me to regularly communicate with you. I’ve also wanted to get in contact with you," she replied.

"I see. So what happened? How are you able to speak with me now?" he asked.

"Two reasons. One, your strength has grown, and so your magica is capable of meeting me halfway and allowing me to communicate. The second reason is that the seal is weakening," she said.

"Your seals are weakening? That’s a good thing, you’ll be free then," Riven said.

"No, it’s not," she said immediately.

"Why not?" Riven asked.

"Sigh... even if I wanted to tell you the whole truth, I couldn’t, but I’ll tell you what I can. I’m a spirit being, a being made of pure magic and concept, nothing more.

A spirit cannot exist without a fully structural concept behind it. A flame spirit is born of a concept of fire and magic," she said.

"And you are born of what?" Riven asked.

"I do not know. That’s the issue, the memories of all the concepts that have made me were locked in every seal you saw, like a puzzle scattered.

The only way to free me is to enter those seals and get to know my concepts. As the seals loosen, I slowly gain freedom, but at the same time, the concepts stored in those seals are destroyed, and I lose a part of me," she explained.

"So the moment you are finally free of all seals, you’ll cease to exist." Riven put one and two together immediately.

"Exactly. Without concept, my mana will disperse and I’ll die," she said.

"So how do I save you? How can I help?" Riven asked.

"Save me? Initially, entering all my seals and gathering the concepts would have been enough, but it’s impossible for you to get inside them with your level of strength right now. You’ll need to grow stronger.

But the stronger my master grows, the faster the seals vanish, and the quicker I die. It’s a race against time," she said, her voice carrying a sadness hidden inside.

"And is there no way to slow it down?" he asked.

"There is a way. I do still have some of my memories and concepts, the concept of sharpness, the one which runs through my blade, the one that you use in the sword Twilight, and the concept of Arcane Blacksmithing."

"Arcane Blacksmithing? What’s that, and what does it have to do with slowing down the process?"

"It’s a path of blacksmithing that’s a bit beyond even this world, but if you learn it, you’ll become someone of great importance in this world. You can also create artifacts that can protect your family.

You can also craft a special item called the Philosopher’s Stone. This item can allow me to regain all my lost concepts and live forever," she explained.

"The Philosopher’s Stone?" Riven asked. What even is that? he wondered.

"It’s an ancient device that can manipulate life. But the current you can never do it, not even normal blacksmithing, let alone Arcane," she said.

"So to save you, to also create things that will make me important, and to protect my family, I have to learn blacksmithing and Arcane Blacksmithing. And to learn Arcane Blacksmithing, I have to grow stronger," Riven said.

"Exactly," she replied.

"It’s a straightforward path, but how do I even start?" he asked.

"You’ll find your way. When you are finally on the right path, I’ll teach you Arcane Blacksmithing. But you have to hurry, because I’m running out of time, at most I have five years until I cease to exist," she said.

"Five years... is it possible for someone to learn whatever Arcane Blacksmithing is in that time?" Riven asked.

"Normally no. It’s too much of a difficult venture. I believe many priests have spent their entire lives to master it.

But you, you have my sister on your side and that book. You are special, and I believe you will be capable of doing it. I have no other option but to put my faith in you," she said.

"Now that you brought up your sister and the book, can you tell me about her and the book?" Riven asked.

"No, sadly I can’t tell you anything about that. I’m sorry. I’ll do all I can to help in any area I can," she said.

"Sigh... I thought as much. It could never be that easy. Since you can’t tell me, then tell me about the movements you made me do with the sword back in the academy when I wanted to cut and you made me cut," Riven asked.

"Hmmmm, that I can do. It’s not a skill, but a state, a state that, if you master it, will allow you to become several times stronger and better with the sword," she said.

"That works for me," he said and got up on his feet, eager to go and train. But only then did he notice that it was dark outside and the moon was already in the sky.

He turned on the lights in the room. "Seems our training will have to wait. My father is planning some sort of elaborate dinner for the guests. I can’t miss that," Riven said.

"I see. Then you should go," she said.

"Yeah, I’ll get ready. But before I go, what’s your name?" he asked.

"Don’t stress about all that, call me Twilight. Oh, and one more important thing: be very cautious of my sister. She isn’t friendly; she is manipulative," Twilight said.

"I’ll keep that in mind when next I see her," Riven said with a smile and walked to his closet to get ready.