"You're going to burn it," Ellie argued flatly from beside Arthur, still in her armor.

Her armor was dark brown leather with protective runes engraved, with matching boots, bracers, and left shoulder guard, and a set of black archery gloves. Her pants were a darker shade, but without any runes, and on top of it all was the same white cloak with golden runes that Arthur gave her during their first dive, which helped earn her the nickname, Angel of the Relictombs.

Despite the look, this armor provided just as much protection as a full set of metal armor. It was the latest design made by Emily, specifically for her that not only provided sufficient protection, but also allowed for the increased mobility that Ellie preferred.

Emily's skills with aether had improved significantly, mostly because she focused on only using it for one thing, artificting. The method for artificting with aether wasn't all that different compared to mana, but it also allowed for a much wider range of capabilities. The runes on Ellie's armor allowed for short range teleportation, could grant several short bursts of speed, and obviously increased the armor's defensive strength. Arthur had taken Emily to the second Dicathen relictomb, in which the Djinn who resided there, was an actual teacher. From her Emily learned a great deal about artificting with aether, and how to use certain runes to give the effects of god runes, although significantly more limited. Nothing could actually substitute for god rune, but it was enough to bring her works up to a level where she was compared to Gideon in terms of the greatness of her work. She still had a lot to learn, and was working on gaining more insight into the Spatium and Vivum god runes as a way to increase the survivability of adventurers in the relic tombs.

"I'm not going to burn it. I've done this plenty of times," Arthur defended as he grilled the fish. "If you want to help, help that boy find clothes for the kids."

"No need," the boy said as he walked out carrying a large bowl of salad in one hand, and another with small potatoes, with Alice right behind him.

"Sorry, I recruited some help," Alice said while carrying a basket of rolls and a bowl of mixed vegetables.

"That's fine," Arthur replied, then looked to the boyfriend. "And where are the towels and clothes for the twins?"

He placed the bowls on the table, and looked to Arthur triumphantly as he produced a stack of clothes and two towels from his dimensional ring.

"You should have more faith in Tellynnan brother," Ellie replied as she playfully elbowed Arthur in the ribs.

Tellynnan and Ellie had been officially dating for three years now. When he learned Ellie was working down in the relictombs, he looked into options to get there as well. He wanted to work as a mage and fight beside her, but the council had put restrictions on who could enter, and weren't going to be training any new personnel other than guards until after Xyrus Academy started to train people, which was projected to take a year before starting classes. To Tellynnan, the second son of house Ivsaar, one of the most prestigious houses in Elenoir working as a simple guard? The idea was beneath him. So when he also heard that Feyrith was opening a branch down there, his opportunity had arrived.

He was completely honest with his brother, well, almost completely. He told Feyrith that he wanted to dive into the relictombs like him, and that he wanted to experience the first floor while waiting for the school to open. Feyrith was so busy at the time getting everything set up from the stores location, establishing a supply chain, to getting the special permissions needed for all of his employees that he didn't even question him. If he did, his answer may have been different. His greatest fear about his brother was that he was interested in Ellie, but Arthur refused to let her date and he wasn't sure how far Arthur would go to assure things stayed that way.

Regardless Tellynnan started working in the relictomb store, while also getting closer to Ellie. When Xyrus Academy finally started to take students he decided now was the time to tell Ellie how he felt before he left. To his relief she reciprocated his feelings, and they maintained a correspondence while they were apart. After two years Tellynnan graduated, and took his initial dive. It was also determined that he had an affinity to aether, so he took extra classes in the academy, taught by Arthur.

Since the adventurer guild put aether users in high demand, he was almost immediately recruited to work on one of the rescue teams as a secondary aether user until he gained more experience and a third team was established. Shortly after was when Tellynnan and Ellie started dating, but not until after he went to tell Arthur and gain his blessing. Whether he was brave or just plain ignorant of the danger no one was sure, but he made it out of the meeting in one piece. He didn't exactly receive Arthur's blessing, he was pretty much out on a probationary period, where Arthur could and would end their relationship at any point he felt it was in Ellie's best interest. Three years later he was still on probation, and Tellynnan had been doing everything he could to gain Arthur's approval. Little did he know that Arthur already approved of him, but he still just wanted to keep him on his toes and on his best behavior so he never let him know.

"Alright, fish is done," Arthur announced as he began pulling them off and placing them on a plate.

Ellie grabbed a fork and lifted one of the pieces up to investigate.

"Does my cooking meet your standards?" Arthur asked her sarcastically.

She pulled out her fork and stood tall as she looked up at him. "Visually. We'll see about the taste."

"Well that's great timing," Tess said as she pulled Rinia off her breast and covered up. "Ellie, could you burp Rinia and put her down for her nap? I'm going to get Rey and Cyn dried off and dressed."

In a flash Ellie's cloak was off her and being sucked into her dimensional ring and she was already loosening the straps to her dirty armor. Tellynnan quickly came over to help with the back, and in no time her armor and gloves were in her ring as well, revealing her to be wearing a perfectly clean ocean blue short sleeve tunic. Then after a quick thank you kiss to Tellynnan, Ellie was picking Rinia up and gently placing her on her shoulder as she gently patted her back.

As Tess started walking down the dock to get the twins Arthur couldn't help but feel happy about this life, and that things didn't go horribly wrong as they could have several years ago.

——————————————————————-

It was late and the house was dimly lit. Arthur was rocking Reynolds as Tess just finished feeding Cynthia and was rocking her to sleep too. The twins were four months old now, and were thankfully sleeping through the night, so Alice was also in her own room resting. They were so thankful for Alice agreeing to move in with them, as she was a huge help for the new parents, especially during the night.

Arthur looked to Tess and she nodded, Cynthia was asleep. He then nodded back to signal the same with Reynolds. They both then laid them down in their cribs and headed out. As they walked Arthur looked back to see a set of aetheric eyes under Reynolds crib staring back at him.

"Let me know if anything comes up," Arthur told him, and walked out as Tess closed the door.

With the door closed Arthur reached for the doorknob to their bedroom which was right across from the twins. As he did he felt Tess snake her arms around his waist and hug him from behind.

"Is this our life now?" She asked.

"What do you mean? Of course it is. Is there something wrong with it?"

"It's been over a month now," she replied.

"A month?" Arthur questioned out loud as he tried to remember the significance. "Oh, you mean since we last dove into the relictomb? Yeah, we can go back tomorrow if you want."

Tess pinched his left side. "Not that!" She said grumpily.

"Not that? Oh!" He said, realizing and turned around, putting his arms around her waist. "Sorry, between the twins and dealing with the new commander...I guess I've been a bit distracted lately."

"I get it, I just want to feel loved, desired." Tess looked up at him sadly. "I haven't felt like my best self since the babies were born."

Arthur then bent down and picked her up by her butt.

"You are loved, and very much desired." He brought her close and kissed her. "So how about I make you feel that tonight, and I'll make sure you never question that again."

Tess nodded as she wrapped her arms around his neck and began to passionately make out with him, as he carried her into their bedroom for a night of love making.

——————————————————————-

The entire house was quiet and dark. Arthur and Tess were laying in bed, Tess laying her head on Arthur's chest as his left arm wrapped around her. She was completely worn out and sleeping soundly now, but Arthur was wide awake, only pretending to be asleep. His senses were at their peak, he was sensing every drop of mana in the area while also regularly checking in with Sylvie, who was in her room as the end of the hall, and Regis who was still under Reynolds crib. This was not normal for them, they had noticed something unusual had been happening in the surrounding forest today, and they also received a warning that their suspicions were correct.

Suddenly Arthur's eyes shot open. "It's showtime." He sent to them both.

There were ten figures moving through the door upstairs hall, as two more kept watch outside. They were all wearing black and using artifacts that not only hid their presence, but also fooled the eyes of anyone who may happen to see them. They didn't make a noise as they came to the twins' door. A man with golden eyes looked to a woman with four eyes, two of them red and the other two closed, and nodded. She nodded back and opened her second set of eyes which were purple, and was instantly able to perceive everything in the house, or so she thought. She nodded back to the man with golden eyes, telling him that it was safe to continue.

He opened the door carefully, and eight of them walked in as two more waited in the hall to keep watch. They walked to the twins in their cribs, and one of the others reached in towards Cynthia.

"This is wrong," one with three eyes whispered, causing the one reaching for Cynthia to stop. "Arthur Leywin is supposed to be our ally, yet here we are kidnapping his children. Even if Arthur did something, these children are innocent. They don't even have mana cores yet."

The one with golden eyes grabbed his shoulder. "I understand, but these orders are from Lord Indrath. He would not give an order like this lightly."

"I know, but children..."

"I was ordered not to share this, but you should all know. Arthur Leywin has been studying the Djinn, and Lord Indrath believes he's developing the same aether arts and weapons they were to wage war against us. He had been asked multiple times to stop and surrender his research, and have his aetheric abilities sealed, but he refused. We will now use his children to force his hand, and now he will lose his mana core as well."

"Well that's an entertaining story," Arthur said with a normal voice as he turned the lights on. The others looked back to see the two they left in the hall laying on the ground dead behind him. "First off, no such request was ever made to me. Second, even if it was, I would have rejected it. Only an idiot would surrender his only advantage against a madman."

"Incolent lesser!" The golden eyed Asura spat as he released the pressure from his core, but was surprised when Arthur didn't even flinch.

"Again with this lesser crap? I did something your entire army was incapable of doing, so wouldn't that make me superior to you?," Arthur taunted, releasing some of his killing intent.

"Please calm down," Sylvie said from the opposite side of the room by the window.

"Lady Sylvie? What are you..."

"Just go home. There is no need for violence here today," she said calmly.

"We are under orders from lord Indrath..."

"Ignore them, they aren't worth your life," she replied. "Do you even know why you are doing this? The real reason?" She paused for a minute to let them think, then continued as they didn't give an answer. "Arthur gained insight into aether that surpassed the Indrath clan. My grandfather wanted this knowledge, but Arthur refused to share it." They looked like they wanted to speak, but Sylvie wasn't going to give them a chance. "My mother learned the truth about the Djinn, just as Agrona did. How they were pacifists that also refused to share their insight, because they saw how dangerous my grandfather was, and she shared this knowledge with Arthur. My grandfather is angry, because Arthur is following my mothers will. Even she believed that her father needed to be stopped." She stepped forward. "As heir to the Indrath clan, I order you to stand down before you disgrace our clan more than Kezess already has."

The Asura looked to one another uncertain. They were of different races, but had all sworn allegiance to Kezess. Many had their doubts about this, kidnapping children, especially the ones not from the Indrath clan.

The golden eyed Asura stepped forward to Sylvie, and released the full pressure of his core. "Lady Sylvie has been fooled by this lesser. Take the children now!"

The two closest to the cribs grabbed the the babies, but Arthur and Sylvie didn't move to stop them. As the two Asura tried to pick them up, they realized they couldn't."

"They won't move!" One of them shouted.

Arthur smirked, which was noticed by the leader. His eyes shifted from gold to amethyst as he looked around, and he now understood.

"Aevum?! You used Aevum to separate all of us from time?!" He asked rhetorically.

"What better way to protect my children? With this I can deal with all of you. No destruction to my house or the surrounding land, and no innocent bystanders will get hurt," Arthur explained.

But they didn't care for the reason. What concerned them most was that a lesser cast an aether spell, and none of the elite dragons with them even noticed.

"Don't kill him, disembowel him! I'll subdue lady Sylvie!" The golden eyes Asura ordered.

"And what about me?" A dark voice asked. They turned to see a demonic looking bipedal aether wolf complete with spikes and a set of reptilian-like wings, as destruction burned from his fangs and claws.

Arthur and Sylvie then released the pressure from their cores, which surpassed all of them together.

"Just remember, you had a chance to walk away."

——————————————————————-

"For over a year now you have secretly kept watch over the human Arthur Leywin!" Ademir stated angrily. "For what purpose is there to keep a dozen Asura just to monitor him, after all he had done for us."

A meeting between the Asura clan leaders was being held in Indrath castle, not by Kezess' order, but by more than half of the clan leaders of the great eight. The topic of discussion, Arthur Leywin.

"That lesser has not only developed an affinity to aether, but has also been recently entering the relictombs frequently to develop his aether arts, despite my request that he stops," Kezess replied with a tinge of annoyance.

"And what is your point? He is a proven ally. This is also an ability of the Indrath clan as well, perhaps we should be monitoring your clan too?" Ademir pointed out as the other clan leaders demanded answers.

Kezess released some of his pressure to silence the crowd. "As we have seen in the past, lessers tend to go mad with power when they possess an affinity to aether. Regardless of what he was before, for the sake of Epheotus he must be monitored and if necessary, eliminated."

"So you say," Ademir said through his teeth, resisting pressure. "But all we have are your words. And everytime someone questions you, or looks into the Djinn, there is always bloodshed. What are you..."

He stopped as a change of pressure was felt. Not from Kezess, but from behind them. Everyone turned and most were shocked and confused to see a portal had formed at the door to the room. Two factors made this so unbelievable, one being that portals weren't supposed to be able to form within the castle due to runes engraved throughout. The other being that someone had the nerve to actually open a portal. The only ones not very surprised, we're those who knew it was coming.

After forming Arthur, Sylvie, and Regis exited, with their eyes focused solely on Kezess.

"It seems my point is proven," Kezess said angrily. "The audacity to open a portal in my..."

"Shut up," Arthur said as he released enough of his killing intent to cause everyone to shutter. "You may be the lord of this land, but..."

Arthur was paused by a hand coming forward and pushing on his chest. "Know your place lesser. You only come when you are summoned. Leave now and you may live long enough to be forgiven," Taci threatened.

Arthur looked at the hand, followed it up to look at Taci. "My place? Ha, you're a couple thousand years too young to think you're above me."

Arthur then grabbed his hand and godstepped behind him. Gasps were heard from nearly everyone as they saw Arthur had taken half of Taci's arm with him. Admeir sighed. Taci was one of the few from his clan that Kezess had gained control over, so it was too dangerous to try and turn him to their side. He warned Arthur of this, and he as well as the other clan leaders on his side swore their people loyal to them over Kezess wouldn't get in his way. Meaning hurting Taci was free.

Taci looked down at the bloody stump that was once his arm as he shook. Arthur then grabbed him by the back of the head, and slammed him face first into the floor, cracking it.

"This is my place, above you." He then released his head, then stomped his right foot down on the back of Taci's head, driving it down and forming a crater, only knocking the young Pantheon unconscious, then dropped his arm beside him. He promised he wouldn't kill any of the members of the allied clans unless his life was in danger.

"Now where was I, before I was so rudely interrupted?" Arthur thought out loud, taunting Kezess.

"Everyone out!" Kezess roared as he released the full force of his intent.

Everyone started to move quickly for the door, but stopped as an even more powerful force drove them to their knees, even Kezess was in shock

"Kezess, you don't get the privilege of a private talk with me. They stay, everyone will hear what I have to say."

Arthur then released everyone as they stared at him in horror, even his allies. The warriors among them started wondering if they could defeat him if he attacked. In the end many were confident they could, but also wondered how many would lose their lives before he was stopped.

"Now, Dicathen is not your territory. In many kingdoms, sending a force like that to foreign soil would be considered an act of war."

"Are you here to declare war on me?" Kezess questioned, sounding more like a threat.

Arthur smiled darkly. "War is between kingdoms, not people." Arthur extended his right arm out to his side and began walking toward Kezess as Sylvie and Regis followed. "You crossed a line tonight." An Asura body fell from his storage rune. Immediately a group of six dragon guards formed a wall between Arthur and Kezess. "You went after my children." Another body fell. "I was happy just raising them," another body, then another, and another. "Being a father and husband. I was no threat to you or anyone here, but you showed me you were a threat."

A total of eleven bodies dropped on his way there. The twelfth was a Phoenix that was an ally, and he was allowed to leave for the beast glades.

The rest of the Asura present were in shock. Not only by Kezess actions, but by the line of dead bodies with their cores removed. Arthur looked to his left, then his right as he sized up the dragons before him.

"Kezess, you keep saying every time you kill you are eliminating a threat. Tell me, how long before you exterminate life in the other two continents?"

"Watch your mouth lesser!" An Asura with red feather-like hair spat from Arthur's side of the guards.

"You're the one leading the phoenix now right?" Arthur asked.

"My name is..." he started before Arthur interrupted.

With a wave of his hand he canceled out all the noise coming from the Phoenix, while still allowing him to hear.

"I don't care what your name is. I don't need to know the name of Kezess' dog."

The phoenix released the full pressure from his core, but Arthur, Regis, and Sylvie didn't even flinch. He was about to charge at him, but stopped as another portal opened beside him. This time a muscular man with long red feather-like walked out, followed by a dozen men and women with similar hair types.

"M-mordain?" The current Phoenix leader stuttered as the rightful leader emerged.