Jon watched as Summer eagerly chatted beside Amy and Claire, sitting in between them despite the tension she had just caused moments ago. The soft, but delicate sounds of not-so muffled laughter and occasional clinking of wine glasses against one another was all that Jon was willing to discern from that side of the table.

  ‘… She hasn’t changed a bit has she?’

  Summer Flora-Simmons was by any means of the word a beautiful young woman. Her long, luscious red hair dropped down over the side of shoulder, glistening in the dimmed light of the bar around them, appearing closer towards crimson-coloured silk rather than actual human hair.

  Before meeting Avahni, Miyoung, and several other individuals within the System Introduction with Beauty Mana Cores, Lust Mana Cores, Purity Mana Cores and unique facial-type mutations, Summer was undoubtably the most beautiful person that Jon had ever met.

  Based on appearances alone, there was no other person that Jon could think of that came close to Summer.

  The moment that she opened her mouth however-.

  “… And here’s a photo of Jon and Trevor at our muck-up day! I gave the two of them my uniform to switch into! While I was wearing the male uniform, the two of them got stuck wearing a kilt that stretched down towards their ankles!”

  “The two of them ran an eight-hundred metre sprint against the athletics team while doing so!”

  Jon cracked a smile, watching as Amy and Claire pointed towards the photos that Summer showed them. Muffled eruptions of laughter exploded from Kate’s friends, the former even going so far as to lean on Summer, allowing her hand to brush up against the length of her forearm.

  Summer did not hesitate to lean into it, moving both herself and the phone in her hands closer towards Amy, as if trying to give her a better view of the photos. Both of their wine glasses were emptied of their contents, perhaps for the third or even fourth time this evening.

  ‘Almost two years within the System Introduction, was condensed into a mere two months back here on Earth. Of course Summer hasn’t changed,’ Jon thought to himself.

  ‘Everyone else around me continued on with their lives. Celebrating. Learning. Working.’

  ‘Why in the world am I looking for changes that I already know will not be there?’

  Jon sighed, sipping haphazardly on his fifth pint for the night. Spirits and wines devoid of spiritual energy, or those alcoholic beverages that did not have spiritual energy utilized in their creations were not potent enough to affect someone that had achieved Knighthood.

  He would literally have to consume gallons before the alcohol started affecting him.

  And even before then, his Fragment Of Heart and Fragment Of Regeneration would most likely expel all the toxins before it could affect his brain and nervous system. The pint of beer in his hands, was nothing more than a performance.

  Albeit a somewhat tasty one.

  “… Things are going to become so much more complicated in the not-so-distant future…” Jon muttered to himself, placing his empty glass back down on the table. [Bestial Intuition] allowed him to feel a handful of gazes sent in his direction from all around the room.

  One in particular, softly prodded into the side of his head.

  “… You thought that Summer and I were…” Jon’s voice trailed off towards the end of his sentence. Kate beside him, did not hesitate to nod, raising her head almost imperceptibly but affirming his previous sentence.

  Jon just smiled, shaking his head from side-to-side.

  “Nope. Not once. Not in all the years that we have been friends,” Jon said, leaning back further into his chair, “I’ve been in one or two fights with other guys that wanted to get close to her too, before Summer came out, that is.”

  “Things have changed since we were kids, but Summer has always been someone that I can count on. Our relationship might seem a little odd at times, but I guarantee-.”

  “She is more of a sister than anything else. I care for here, but not in the ways that you are thinking.” Jon muttered, turning his entire body to face Kate. Minerva-Infiltration Eyes fixated on her expression, taking note of the flushed cheeks and the nervous tapping of the wine glass in her hand.

  Eyes momentarily glancing towards her two friends, seeing them flirt with the beautiful red-headed girl sitting in between them. Her gaze flickered towards the images of Jon wearing a kilt, before smiling, shoulders slumping just a fraction of an inch.

  “Well… that’s embarrassing,” Kate admitted, “I promise I don’t usually overreact like that, it’s just…”

  Kate’s voice similarly trailed off towards the end, Jon catching the minute changes in her mannerisms and facial expressions. Her lip quivering for half-a-second, fingers clenching into a fist, and eyes narrowing as she gazed towards some distant corner of the room.

  “I-.”

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  “Just got out of another relationship I’m guessing?” Jon interrupted, watching as Kate’s eyes widened, mouth twisting into something that was not quite a frown. Her pale-blonde head paused for several seconds, unsure of how to answer.

  Before nodding, sighing while affirming Jon’s words.

  “Yeah, you could say that.” Kate replied, “I caught him cheating on me about two months ago, just after I finished all of my exams. I… haven’t really done anything since then, other than work and register myself for university.”

  Kate tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, giving Jon a wry-looking smile. She tilted her head towards Summer, still giggling and bantering with Amy and Claire, eyes lingering on her luscious crimson hair.

  “When I saw her, I admit, my mind immediately went towards the darkest possibility imaginable. I didn’t even think that she was an ex-girlfriend or even a cousin or something, I just-.”

  Kate lowered her head, placing her wine glass back on the table. Pushing it away from her, the noise and rambunctiousness of the bar around them seemed to fade, leaving nothing but one thoroughly embarrassed eighteen-year-old girl.

  And one “eighteen” year-old boy, who was about to celebrate his twenty-first birthday.

  “I guess we’re both trying to work out some stuff then,” Jon said, placing his Tabitha-Cedarspear Arm up on the table. The sleeve cuff of his left arm had been rolled up to reveal the muscular forearm, while the sleeve of his right arm remained untouched, concealing the vast majority of his wooden-limb.

  Kate glanced towards said arm, taking note of the faint green veins that mimicked the structure of an actual human hand. Her gaze did not linger too long, lifting her head to meet Jon’s eyes.

  Both of them smiled, feeling the growing awkwardness between them slowly start to slip away. The faint feeling of a leg brushing up against his own, or the subtle grazing of a hand against his arm caused his smile to widen, watching as Kate stood up, excusing herself and heading towards the bathrooms on the other side of the bar.

  Jon watched as her figure vanished behind the figure of another woman, slumping back into his chair, unable to remove the grin that marred his face.

  ‘This… is kind of nice, don’t you think?’ Jon asked to no-one in particular.

  He had spent the last week rushing to complete the formation of his wood spiritual vein, once again becoming a Fourth-Veined Knight. The Alnus-Viridis spiritual vein within his chest pulsated, manifesting in the form of an enormous, stranger fig, adorned with protective leaves capable of resisting flames and thorned mouths which could swallow a man whole.

  In comparison to his other three spiritual veins which were merely based on ordinary concepts, it was vastly more complex. Although thankfully, the effects of his Mask Of Jade Lies assisted him in the formation of the Alnus-Viridis spiritual vein.

  [4]: Increases the ease of comprehending concepts and notions relating to “green,” “wood,” “war,” “conflict,” “lies,” and “stories” while wearing Lethe.

  The formation of his complete Knight Ranked Title had taken almost an entire day to complete on its own. Jon sparing no effort to maintain his patience and concentration so as to achieve the most perfect combination of Title Fragments possible.

  Now, all that was left was to form his final two spiritual veins.

  And then ascend to-.

  [Bestial Intuition].

  Jon felt his brow twitch, Tabitha-Cedarspear Arm unconsciously clenching. His head perked up and turned towards the street, noticing that a handful of young men and women had their eyes completely focused on the phones in their hand.

  Their eyes widened, and hands rushing to cover their mouths as their gazes became fixated on the mobile devices placed in front of them. The inside of the bar was no exception either, the sound of a man’s voice cutting through the disordered conversations that rippled throughout the establishment.

  “Holy shit! Is that Sydney?!”

  A hand immediately pointed towards a flat-screen that had been hanging up above the bar. Although the cricket had been playing in the background with the volume on mute, dozens of eyes could not help but turn towards it, seeing the words “breaking news” interrupt their regularly scheduled sporting event.

  Gasps rippling throughout the gathered patrons as all the conversations and drunken discourses within the bar came to a swift and sudden conclusion. Summer’s eyes widened, mouth dropping as she looked towards the screen, not noticing Jon stand up, breath hitching and fingers clenching, morphing his hand into the shape of a fist.

  ‘No…’

  ‘It can’t be.’

  ‘Is that a-.’

  Jon watched as wandering beams of searing flame burst forth amidst the growing darkness, alongside the crackling of violent thunder and whipping of spider-like threads. An unfathomably large two-headed turtle emerging from the waters surrounding the airport, close to a hundred-metres in length, and adorned in a pale-blue barrier formed from spiritual energy.

  One head reminded Jon of an alligator snapping turtle, while the other an aqua hydra, adorned in lernaean frills and poison-green coloured scales. Flashes of water natured spiritual energy collided against the hardened external carapace of the Sixth-Honoured Lord, splattering harmlessly across its turtle-esque shell.

  Mortals and Knights alike could be seen fighting against the hydra-turtle, although the former were clearly outmatched by the sheer might of the Sixth-Honoured Lord. Summoned companions manifested acidic rain and wind blades capable of cleaving cars in half.

  All were nullified, by whatever barrier the hydra-turtle had formed around its body. Two pairs of eyes glancing towards the uninitiated humans firing towards it, before ignoring them completely, focusing on the small group of Mortals that launched Spells towards it from afar.

  Jon recognizing one of two familiar-looking Spell effects.

  ‘Is that-.’

  ‘Igraine!? David!?’

  More gasps echoed throughout the bar.

  Fragments Of Eradication were released en masse, vermitons and undynes casting Spells and activating Techniques with powerful, destructive effects. Splotches of lava illuminated the hardened concrete that once formed the runways of Sydney Airport, melting steel rebar and asphalt without regard for the scrambling mortals all around them.

  Igraine Delfine De La Rue; Architect Of Ruinous Annihilation released her Fragment Of Annihilation, summoning the infernal image of a human-faced spider. Launching it towards the hydra-turtle, it caused the pale-blue barrier to ripple and flicker for a handful of moments before allowing her companion to launch another decisive strike.

  David Dumass; Guardian Of The Honoured Shield mimicking her actions, activating his own Fragment Of Obliteration. Metal natured spiritual energy forming an enormous, illusory-axe. Leaping forward and swinging the manifested construct down onto the hydra-turtle, Jon watched as the creature lifted its turtle-shaped head, opening its mouth and-.

  “Wait! It’s luring you in!” Jon opened his mouth to yell, ignoring the dozens that had gathered around him, similarly watching the television. His expression paling, as the creature activated its Fragment Of Retaliation.

  [Aqua-Desgate Art; Reflective Water, Imperial Shield].

  His Seir-Perpetual Heart tightened within his chest as he watched a searing blue light explode from out of the hydra-turtle.

  Engulfing David alongside it.