Until six years ago, I never truly held any innate desire to wield a sword, or to do anything else for that matter.
I'd never really struggled with anything, but despite the fact; I still outclassed my peers by a large margin.
I could easily best them in combat, I was smarter, faster, stronger – I was superior in just about every way you could imagine, but that in itself meant nothing to me.
Even children older than me by as much as three years grew envious of my latent potential, but that still didn't matter to me at all.
I had always tried to excel of course, but in an aimless sort of way.
Attending my mandatory lessons on etiquette, manners, dance, and various other educational matters with nothing but a lackluster sentiment.
None of them ever felt significant enough for me to truly give my all, it was indeed a meaningless cycle.
The only clear sensation I can recall from those days was a dreaded feeling of detached luster.
I had thought that was the way I ought to live my life, that I should have just been the "good girl".
It seemed as if Levinia Ariadne Silva was condemned to live this tranquil life at the heights of mediocrity.
Simply taking part in whatever was required of her, with a cheerful smile that couldn't ever come from the bottom of my heart.
But as fate would have it, my entire premonition was abruptly turned on its head. All by the whims of a single Tainted boy, the one who had taught me what failure truly was.
Heh - looking back now....I suppose it was quite strange for someone like me to take an interest in something as arduous as swordplay, given my demeanor up to that point.
I knew there would be consequences for choosing to walk this path, but even so.... I refuse to give up after coming this far.
I will do whatever it takes to protect it. To protect the only thing in this world that can truly push me to give my all.
*********************************
Levinia stood out amid the bustling scenery of shuffling mana beasts and pedestrians circling the area. She was being showered with greetings and well-wishes from just about everyone who passed by.
Her current attire was the stark image of a Miko's traditional outfit. It was a slit sleeved white kimono that was neatly tucked into a blue colored hakama. Her slippers, although they were slightly elevated, were entirely different to something like high heels as she could still move around freely in them.
They were closer to zori than anything else. The girl's presence alone had gifted the entire district with a sort of tranquil aura. Kanon had remained fairly inconspicuous up until now, but given that she had called out to him, he was drawing quite a bit of attention. Their gazes attacked him from all directions. The most notable one being the stern glare from the man standing beside Levinia and acting as her escort, Fredric Lance.
Kanon let out a mix between a laugh and a sigh upon making eye contact with the menacing man. His exhaustion right now was making it difficult to differentiate between the two.
"What are you doing out here?" Levinia asked in her usual tone. It seemed as if she'd already brushed off the events that took place only two weeks ago.
"The old hag is putting me through more training.....If you can even call it that."
"You look like you're dying." She gave the struggling boy a rather kind look.
"Do I? This is just about the usual, isn't it?"
"Yea this is nothing new for you. Wait here, I'll go get you some water." Stepping off without even waiting for his reply, it seems as though the girl was once again dancing to her own tune.
"Boy, that talisman, is it from that sorceress?" Fredric, who had been completely uninterested in the pleasantries up until now, finally spoke with his back turned.
"By sorceress you mean Aurora right?"
"Precisely."
Giving a quick glance to the antique-ish watch strung around his neck and the paper talisman almost blocking his view, Kanon answered -
"That's right. She put these things on me before I set out earlier." With a slight nod, Fredric reacted as if he already knew the answer to his own question.
"As I suspected. Only she could make something so crude looking work so effectively."
"You know what this is?" Kanon asked, gazing at Fredric's back with dire anticipation.
"That talisman is acting as a binding medium that forces you to conform to the caster's will. It's an age-old art and that woman is just about the only one who can pull it off these days."
Fredric was a man of very few words, yet still the meaning and eloquence behind them were always clearly conveyed.
Kanon shifted his view to the object stuck to his forehead that had been impeding his field of vision for well over five hours now.
"Oh...so that's what this one does."
"Hm?"
Raising an eyebrow, Fredric asked his next question with a confused tone.
"Did she not instruct you in the ways of Ars Magna?"
"No....not particularly." Kanon sounded as if his already detached tone had lost even more vigor.
"I see. How noble of her."
"Huh?" Now confused, the boy was about to pry for more details when -
"I'm back. That took longer than expected."
It was only at that moment, upon Levinia's return, that Fredric finally shifted his attention to face Kanon. Throughout their entire conversation, his focus had been on the area surrounding Levinia.
His eyes continued to scan the surroundings, their movement smooth and unobtrusive.The man was clearly a professional.
Levinia had returned with water in something like a bamboo cutout. The inside was hollow, and it prevented leaking, so it was an ideal means of carrying drinking water around, especially for those who had missions.
"Open your mouth, it looks like I'll have to feed this to you."
Kanon's cheeks flushed slightly red at those words, but the girl before him showed no signs of embarrassment, so neither could he. He gulped down the water like it was some kind of exquisite delicacy.
"~That was good~"
A gleeful smile now stretched across his face.
"Alright thanks lady Levinia, I think I can continue now."
Her eyes twitched at those words.
"The crowds are thinning out, and we were just about to come find you so.....At the very least, call me Levinia right now." Her stiff expression eliminated the need for words, and Kanon quickly adjusted.
"Alright....Levinia."
"Mhm" With a satisfied nod, her usual attitude seemed to have been rejuvenated.
"Then let's head out. You were going back to Aurora right?"
"Yeah, I'm almost done with this." He conveyed his dry anticipation with a dull smile.
"Let's go then". Taking charge, the noble girl had already gotten in the lead so they had no choice but to follow - Clearly, she didn't need a guide.
"Jūjiro."
That was the name given to the path Levinia was now taking charge of leading the others down.
It was the fusion of two roads that flawlessly divided the entire city of Solis Keep into four equal quarters, stretching from the northern gate in the Silva domain to the southern gate in the Wujin domain.
Even though the circular domain of "Avalon" was royal territory, it was no exception to the path paved by Jūjiro, even more so because it was dead in the center of Solis Keep. Avalon was essentially the focal point where all four paths of Jūjiro converged. It was the only road that simultaneously connected all five domains, but it wasn't exactly an express method of moving between them.
The movement between domains was rather moderate, and even restrictive in some cases, so it was still much faster to use the designated pathways within the domains themselves for movement between them.
"Jūjiro" was just a concept created in the city's early incarnations that eventually made it into the final product. It wasn't particularly large; and was more the size of two average freeways. Seeing as it was built as more of an afterthought than anything else, these roads were surprisingly hardly ever used.
It did have a certain aesthetic to it however, as certain intervals in the sprawling road had lux crystals that were embedded into small wooden poles on either side of it. These poles only reached the height of a mailbox but only during the night would their true splendor be revealed. Incidentally, the road here hadn't been constructed with the usual brick layout, but rather a segmented brownish material resembling plaster and tar. It was littered with a plethora of hexagonal cutouts that had distinct and narrow crevices between them and were about four inches deep.
Its purpose didn't obstruct pedestrians in the least, as it was supposedly there to help with drainage. The clanking of Levinia's wooden slippers was made even more vibrant as she walked over the hollow spaces. In stark contrast to her carefree attitude, water dripped from Kanon's body with each step he took, and the sweltering heat rising up from the ground below him graced his bare feet and acted as a constant reminder of his current goal, otherwise he might've just passed out.
Although he had been given a brief respite, that was over an hour ago and the searing heat had begun to take a toll on his body once again. However, it wasn't affecting him as much this time as his stamina had been somewhat replenished simply by drinking some water. The only reason these conditions were even affecting him this much to begin with was because of the talisman on his forehead and the training he had been engaging in over the past two weeks.
"By the way, what were you two even doing out here?" Kanon asked the cross armed girl casually strolling in front of him.
Levinia's gaze lowered at those words. Being a noble, she was often stuck inside the boundaries of the estate - of course she did sneak out often but those outings were more a result of her mischievous nature than anything else. Seeing her outside those quarters and in another domain at that wasn't something that should happen all too often.
"It was a request. One from the Longxin clan at that." Levinia answered in a dry tone.
"You mean the ones in charge of this domain? I thought they were usually reserved?"
"Yes, usually they are. But this time things are different. This time their request was about the upcoming Solstice Festa."
Kanon's eyes widened in realization at that reveal, it seems he'd already caught on.
"Oh yea it's around that time of year. "
"So you can already guess where this is going then." Levinia added still cross armed.
"Let me guess..... they want to form a team, right?"
"That's right, just the usual. I had a meeting with the head of the Longxin clan earlier, but it ended pretty quickly."
"Don't tell me you rejected the offer this year again?" Kanon could already predict her next words.
"Of course, I rejected the proposal immediately."
Fredric wore a pleasant expression upon hearing those words.
"Heh-heh... That sounds just like you. I might as well ask why you rejected the offer then."
"Well, I was planning to reject the offer either way, but these things have to be done using the proper procedures you see..."
"Being a noble must be tough." Kanon added, his dreary gaze had gotten slightly brighter.
"It's not so bad." Levinia replied in an honest tone.
She continued.
"But the reason I firmly denied this time was because the head of the Longxin clan had wanted me to team up with his younger brother Jin Longxin who's apparently participating in this year's Solstice Festa."
"I've heard of him. Apparently, he's really good with a spear or something like that. So, what was he like?"
Levinia's irritation sparked with that simple question; it was enough to stop her in her tracks.
"I..............don't know."
"Huh? Didn't you meet with him today?"
Her shoulders jolted at those words.
"He didn't show up......HE DIDN'T EVEN SHOW UP! HOW CAN YOU BE ASKING FOR MY HELP AND NOT EVEN SHOW UP TO THE MEETING? SURE, I WAS GOING TO TURN THEM DOWN EITHER WAY BUT AT LEAST I WAS BEING FORMAL ABOUT IT. THAT SMUG BASTARD DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE BASIC COURTESY TO SHOW UP TO A MEETING LIKE THAT AND EXPECTS ME TO HELP HIM WIN THE FESTA!?"
Levinia had a reputation for casually dismissing many of the requests she had received from other nobles, and she was planning to do just the same this time, but being bested by the nonchalant attitude the young Jin Longxin held made her feel completely defeated. She was now indulging in one of her patented self-centered rants, a common sight Kanon and Fredric were all too used to seeing.
"It's a good thing no one else is around." They both had that thought simultaneously.
"Umm.....Levinia"
"Milady"
"Moon Cutter"
In the midst of this almost comedic scene, three voices had called out to the silver-haired girl. The most notable one sounded calm yet commanding and had completely swept away the mellow atmosphere they had created.
I couldn't sense any of them.
With a swift turn, Kanon was now facing the intruders. The object he carried on his shoulders barely rattled with the motion. He was now on high alert after their sudden appearance.
"Your Senken really does need work." Fredric calmly remarked after seeing the confused look on the boy's face.
Stopping halfway through her tantrum, Levinia slowly turned around. Standing before her was a boy only one year older but despite this, he was about the same height as Fredric. His white hair had two notable bangs on either side of his forehead that gently flopped as he approached them; they didn't mask his features however, as his golden Irises and chiseled jawline could easily be seen.