Chapter 6: - Resolve
(Flynn's POV)
After calming my mother down and ensuring that she was in a much better state, I left the room to her as she resumed her painting. Making my way back through the corridor, I saw Aiden through the window making his way to the training grounds from the garden.
'He's already decided which combat art he wants to learn huh… I doubt he'd change it from what he was originally using. It suits him best after all'
Arts. Due to the presence of the phenomenon called mana which came to this world several millenniums of years ago, a lot of things began to change.
People started developing strange abilities and the spectrum through which life was seen turned on its head. People or groups of people could now also store memories in the form of scrolls by conversing with the mana in the air and registering their unique mana wave on the scroll to be used.
Once another individual takes up said scroll and reads through it, the memory of whatever was stored in the scroll would be assimilated into their heads as if it were memories of their own. That led to the creation of arts.
There were three forms of arts in this world. Combat arts, weapon arts and skill arts, of which weapon arts and skill arts were the most used.
Combat arts, although very important for close range fighting and self-defense in the absence of weapons was far less used than weapon arts which every tom, dick and harry wanted to perfect. Don't get me wrong, people still learned combat arts but only at its base level. Most people just never learned it to perfect it, especially nobles.
The reason for this was quite simple. Weapon arts had far greater firepower and actual gains. If a person was to learn a weapon art that was fully compatible with them, they could effectively increase their mana core rank just from the enlightenment they get from gradually mastering their weapon art.
Combat arts however was something everyone could learn, regardless of whether you had the talent for it or not. This is also why it's looked down upon by nobles while it is often practiced by normal people.
'Those nobles just enjoy showing off their wealth, don't they?'
Skill arts basically functioned as a way to learn mundane things but was still necessary for a lot of people who just wanted normal lives and jobs in this super powered world. Things like marksmanship, cooking, calligraphy, acrobatics and so on. An individual still wouldn't be able to instantly use the skills as it would still require practice just like the other two arts.
Skill arts aside though, the Belmont Family however, have always been built up on power so most of our ancestors were genuine battle freaks. Which is why it was made compulsory for us to master and perfect not just weapon arts but also our combat arts.
Although Aiden had been using one of the two combat arts from our family's vault which had been honed and passed down through generations of Belmonts, and was also well suited to his fighting style, Flynn however never gave his fighting style much thought and just used what he saw Aiden using.
That was a very big mistake as Aiden's combat art, the Styrke Art capitalizes on raw strength and power with heavy but moderately fast hard hitting punches and kicks. For Flynn, those arts would never work for him because his physique suited someone who could capitalize more on speed.
"He shouldn't have learned the Styrke Art at all. It's very inefficient for him" I mumbled as I continued walking.
Well, I already know what I need to learn. A combat art and a weapon art that would capitalize on Flynn's biggest strengths along with a few skill arts, but for today, I need to go and sleep off my exhaustion. Aiden may have been here for three days now but this was all new to me. I needed rest, and I needed a lot of it to be in peak condition.
***
(Aiden's POV)
-Whoosh!
My fist whistled through the air as I threw another punch. I continued doing that as I alternated between punches and kicks, each one releasing a whistling and whooshing sound as I performed the various movements of my combat art. Styrke art was the combat art that Aiden used and it was something which he only perfected towards the ending of the novel.
'I need to get stronger way faster than he ever did. At least I have future knowledge about this world through the novel but I shouldn't completely depend on it since both Flynn and I are going to completely twist it on its head' I inwardly thought.
Luckily for me, Aiden's talent was pretty much unrivalled in this world. However, just like most people in this world, Aiden got complacent. Usually, after 3,000 to 5,000 years, the Demon King would be resurrected and humanity would have to duke it out with him and his minions for their survival again.
Although humans won every time, the battle with the demons would still leave behind severe casualties and an irreparable trail of destruction in their wake, so much as making some lands inhabitable due the dangerous radioactive particles and dark miasma left by the nether energy in the area from years of battle.
Such was the gigantic crater present in this world, a phenomenon that was left behind from the large scale battle between Beelzebub and The Hero, Amael, the first human to singlehandedly wipe out half of the demon race, his generals and even the Demon King himself.
Amael was so powerful, partly due to his magic, the [Creative Series], which made it so that whatever he imagined could be brought to fruition. This was how he was able to wipe out so many demons including five demon generals and also prevent them from ever resurrecting again.
The only exception to this rule was the Demon King himself who had his own counter magic, The [Destructive Series], which was basically the same as Amael's magic, but instead of being powered by Aether, was powered by Nether energy. Hence he was able to nullify the effects of Amael's magic.
'Those two are absolutely busted…'
It's been 15,000 years since that battle and yet there were no signs of any recovery from the demons and as a result, humans became very relaxed, forgetting about their impending doom. Although some people still kept it in mind, they were very few and in between. Those people believed that the next invasion was going to be the last one, resulting in the total defeat of us humans. They were right.
I know I said Aiden was able to stand up to the Demon King, but I never said he won. He may have inflicted heavy injuries on him but it wasn't enough to defeat someone who gets even more powerful after every resurrection. Aiden lost that battle and Earth in its entirety became the homeland for demons.
"I can't let that happen. I already died once. I already lost my family once. I won't lose them again".
That was my motivation to save this world.
As I made that promise to myself, I continued practicing my combat art while thinking of the future.
'The story starts two years from now. That's a lot of time to give myself and Flynn a good head start'.
This world, a world where my brother can walk on his two feet is something I genuinely did not want to lose. My parents, although not my original ones were also here.
"I'm going to give it my all to save everyone I possibly can!" I said with resolve and conviction.
-Swish!
Another kick whistled through the air as I continued practicing my combat art late into the evening of the day.
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(Flynn's POV)
The next morning, in a dining room which was adorned with a crystal chandelier hanging from the ornate ceiling, four people could be seen closely seating together and eating at a long wooden and beautifully designed dining table with a dozen matching chairs.
An adult female in her mid thirties and a young male of about fourteen years could be seen sitting on one side while the other side had two males, one adult which seemed to be in his late thirties and one teenager of about fifteen years with similar black hair and emerald green eyes. They ate in silence for about a few minutes before Flynn broke the silence.
-Ahem!
After realizing that I'd gathered everyone's attention, I stood up and I began to speak.
"I would like to apologize to all of you for the trouble I've caused this past week. No, not just this week but for the past few years. That being said, from now on, I promise to become a son and a brother you can all be proud of"
Silence. Pin drop silence.
Then I looked around and saw the amazed gazes of my parents. They seemed genuinely surprised by my short speech. Aiden was the only one who seemed unfazed by what I did, although he did have a slight smile tugging on the corners of his lips as he continued eating.
'Was Flynn really that much of a wuss?' I inwardly thought to myself.
'Okay he was. He really was, but then again, he was never originally like that...'
As I continued to think to myself, I heard the voice of my Dad as he also spoke.
"That was unexpected of you Flynn. You caught us completely off guard" he then paused for a bit before continuing.
"It's good to see that you're finally ready to face your fears and move forward. Although telekinesis isn't the magic most descendants of our family are known for, it's not all that rare that you awakened a different type of magic. Also, telekinesis is just as rare as gravity magic as it is powerful. It all depends on how well you're able to utilize it".
"I understand Father" I said as I responded back to him and proceeded to sit down.
"Also, don't push yourself too hard dear. Remember to take it easy" my mum chimed in with a bit of worry in her voice.
I could not promise her that I wouldn't do that but I responded nevertheless.
"Yes Mother. Oh and one more thing…" I glanced up to look at Aiden and continued.
"I would like to change my combat art to suit my style and also, Aiden…".
"Yeah"
"Please let me spar with you from now on"
"Sure"
The Duke and Duchess just stared at their sons, absolutely dumbfounded by what had just transpired.