The Beginning After The End by Turtleme93

FULL INDEX - COMPLETE LIST OF CHAPTERS:
Synopsis and Starting Chapter
Chapter 1: The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Chapter 2: The Encyclopedia Of Mana Manipulation
Chapter 3: Head Start
Chapter 4: My Life Now
Chapter 5: Let The Journey Begin
Chapter 6: Up The Mountain
Chapter 7: How I Wished
Chapter 8: Questions
Chapter 9: Ones Held Dear
Chapter 10: Road Ahead
Chapter 11: To And Fro
Chapter 12: Meeting
Chapter 13: Q & A
Chapter 14: What’S To Come
Chapter 15: The Other Side
Chapter 16: Next Step
Chapter 17: Companion
Chapter 18: Family
Chapter 19: Peaceful
Chapter 20: Proclamation
Chapter 21: Everybody Wins
Chapter 22: For Them
Chapter 23: Royalty
Chapter 24: Auction
Chapter 25: Aftermath
Chapter 26: Partners In Crime
Chapter 27: Worth Fighting For
Chapter 28: Examination
Chapter 29: Changes In Dicathen
Chapter 30: Sword And Body
Chapter 31: Last Leg
Chapter 32: Dire Tombs
Chapter 33: Dire Tombs Ii
Chapter 34: Dire Tombs Iii
Chapter 35: Rash Actions And Limits
Chapter 36: Precautions
Chapter 37: A Son, Brother, And Friend
Chapter 38: In The Meantime
Chapter 39: Introspection
Chapter 40: New Winds
Chapter 41: I’M Not That Nice
Chapter 42: A Ball
Chapter 43: A Ball Ii
Chapter 44: Xyrus Academy
Chapter 45: You Dare?
Chapter 46: Not Quite As Planned
Chapter 47: Wiser Than The Wise
Chapter 48: Attention
Chapter 49: Reminisce
Chapter 50: Disciplinary Committee
Chapter 51: Classes And Professors
Chapter 52: Classes And Professors Ii
Chapter 53: Classes And Professors Iii
Chapter 54: It’S A Pleasure
Chapter 55: Match Start
Chapter 56: This Is Going To Hurt
Chapter 57: Family Gathering
Chapter 58: Feelings And Old Memories
Chapter 59: First Day On The Job
Chapter 60: Confrontation
Chapter 61: Romantic Idiot
Chapter 62: My Team
Chapter 63: Baby Steps
Chapter 64: Field Trip
Chapter 65: Widow’S Crypt
Chapter 66: Widow’S Crypt Ii
Chapter 67: Widow’S Crypt Iii
Chapter 68: Widow’S Crypt Iv
Chapter 69: Widow’S Crypt V
Chapter 70: An Unfamiliar Burden
Chapter 71: Evolving
Chapter 72: A Confusing Day
Chapter 73: One Fallen
Chapter 74: A Will’S Last Breath
Chapter 75: Order Of Power
Chapter 76: Manifest Destinies
Chapter 77: Good To See You
Chapter 78: Allies?
Chapter 79: Meanwhile
Chapter 80: Meanwhile Ii
Chapter 81: Meanwhile Iii
Chapter 82: At Last
Chapter 83: Benefactor
Chapter 84: A Greater Scale
Chapter 85: Lineage
Chapter 86: Elven Kingdom
Chapter 87: Winding Down
Chapter 88: A Will’S Unwillingness
Chapter 89: A Stroll
Chapter 90: A Cursed Blessing
Chapter 91: The Start
Chapter 92: Collapse Of Xyrus
Chapter 92: Bird’S Cage
Chapter 93: Chosen Ones
Chapter 94: Arrival
Chapter 95: The Calm Before
Chapter 96: The Storm
Chapter 97: Outcome
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
Chapter 128
Chapter 129
Chapter 130
Chapter 131
Chapter 132
Chapter 133
Chapter 134
Chapter 135
Chapter 136
Chapter 137
Chapter 138
Chapter 139
Chapter 140
Chapter 141
Chapter 142
Chapter 143
Chapter 144
Chapter 145
Chapter 146
Chapter 147
Chapter 148
Chapter 149
Chapter 150
Chapter 151
Chapter 152
Chapter 153
Chapter 154
Chapter 155
Chapter 156
Chapter 157
Chapter 158
Chapter 159
Chapter 160
Chapter 161
Chapter 162
Chapter 163
Chapter 164
Chapter 165
Chapter 166
Chapter 167
Chapter 168
Chapter 169
Chapter 170
Chapter 171
Chapter 172
Chapter 173
Chapter 174
Chapter 175
Chapter 176
Chapter 177
Chapter 178
Chapter 179
Chapter 180
Chapter 181
Chapter 182
Chapter 183
Chapter 184
Chapter 185
Chapter 186
Chapter 187
Chapter 188
Chapter 189
Chapter 190
Chapter 191
Chapter 192
Chapter 193
Chapter 194
Chapter 195
Chapter 196
Chapter 197
Chapter 198
Chapter 199
Chapter 200
Chapter 201
Chapter 202
Chapter 203
Chapter 204
Chapter 205
Chapter 206
Chapter 207
Chapter 208
Chapter 209
Chapter 210
Chapter 211
Chapter 212
Chapter 213
Chapter 214
Chapter 215
Chapter 216
Chapter 217
Chapter 218
Chapter 219
Chapter 220
Chapter 221
Chapter 222
Chapter 223
Chapter 224
Chapter 225
Chapter 226
Chapter 227
Chapter 228
Chapter 229
Chapter 230
Chapter 231
Chapter 232
Chapter 233
Chapter 234
Chapter 235
Chapter 236
Chapter 237
Chapter 238
Chapter 239
Chapter 240
Chapter 241
Chapter 242
Chapter 243
Chapter 244
Chapter 245
Chapter 246
Chapter 247
Chapter 248
Chapter 249
Chapter 250
Chapter 251
Chapter 252
Chapter 253
Chapter 254
Chapter 255
Chapter 256
Chapter 257
Chapter 258
Chapter 259
Chapter 260
Chapter 261
Chapter 262
Chapter 263
Chapter 264
Chapter 265
Chapter 266
Chapter 267
Chapter 268
Chapter 269
Chapter 270
Chapter 271
Chapter 272
Chapter 273
Chapter 274
Chapter 275
Chapter 276
Chapter 277
Chapter 278
Chapter 279
Chapter 280
Chapter 281
Chapter 282
Chapter 283
Chapter 284
Chapter 285
Chapter 286
Chapter 287
Chapter 288
Chapter 289
Chapter 290
Chapter 291
Chapter 292
Chapter 293
Chapter 294
Chapter 295
Chapter 296
Chapter 297
Chapter 298
Chapter 299
Chapter 300
Chapter 301
Chapter 302
Chapter 303
Chapter 304
Chapter 305
Chapter 306
Chapter 307
Chapter 308
Chapter 309
Chapter 310
Chapter 311
Chapter 312
Chapter 313
Chapter 314
Chapter 315
Chapter 316
Chapter 317
Chapter 318
Chapter 319
Chapter 320
Chapter 321
Chapter 322: Echoes Of Accusations
Chapter 323
Chapter 324
Chapter 325 Painless
Chapter 326 Backlash
Chapter 327 Enough For Now
Chapter 328 Face To Face
Chapter 329: A Plea For Help
Chapter 330
Chapter 331: The Trial
Chapter 332: Broken Chains
Chapter 333: Attention
Chapter 334: Last Mercy
Chapter 335: Haunting Peace
Chapter 336: Protection
Chapter 337: Layers
Chapter 338 A Weapon Against Him
Chapter 339 The Central Dominion
Chapter 340 Burden And Stakes
Chapter 341 Ashes And Dust
Chapter 342 Duality
Chapter 343 Professor Princess
Chapter 344 Eyes Locked
Chapter 345 Socialite
Chapter 346 A Dim Spark
Chapter 347 A Stroll With Gods
Chapter 348 Melee Enhancement Tactics
Chapter 349: Hope And Lies
Chapter 350: Colleagues
Chapter 351: Minimally Catastrophic
Chapter 352: Relic, Revived
Chapter 353: Paradigm Shift
Chapter 354: Somewhat Teaching
Chapter 355: Just His Name
Chapter 356: Closure
Chapter 357: Blood Relic
Chapter 358
Chapter 359
Chapter 360
Chapter 361: The Second Ruin
Chapter 362: Fate Intertwined
Chapter 363
Chapter 364
Chapter 365
Chapter 366
Chapter 367
Chapter 368
Chapter 369
Chapter 370
Chapter 371
Chapter 372
Chapter 373
Chapter 374
Chapter 374.5
Chapter 375
Chapter 376
Chapter 377
Chapter 378
Chapter 379
Chapter 380
Chapter 381
Chapter 382
Chapter 383
Chapter 384
Chapter 385
Chapter 386
Chapter 387
Chapter 388
Chapter 389
Chapter 390
Chapter 391
Chapter 392
Chapter 393
Chapter 394
Chapter 395
Chapter 396
Chapter 397
Chapter 398
Chapter 399
Chapter 400
Chapter 401
Chapter 402
Chapter 403
Chapter 404
Chapter 405
Chapter 406
Chapter 407
Chapter 408
Chapter 409
Chapter 410
Chapter 411
Chapter 412
Chapter 413
Chapter 414
Chapter 415
Chapter 416
Chapter 417
Chapter 418
Chapter 419: One Of Mine
Chapter 420: Shackles
Chapter 421: Black Doors
Chapter 422: Black Doors Ii
Chapter 423: One Last Ruin
Chapter 424: Through The Djinn’S Eyes
Chapter 425: Unexpected Visitor
Chapter 426: Changing The Narrative
Chapter 427: Amends
Chapter 428: Hoping
Chapter 429: A Dream Yet To Happen
Chapter 430 Opposition
Chapter 431 Time
Chapter 432 Overdue
Chapter 433 Respect And Regards
Chapter 434 Fellowship Forged
Chapter 435 Entourage
Chapter 436 Obscured
Chapter 437 Scales Of Understanding
Chapter 438 A Broken Path
Chapter 439 Holding Ground
Chapter 440 A Loose Idea
Chapter 441 The Message
Chapter 442 A Snapped Thread
Chapter 443 Horns Of Exeges
Chapter 444 A Sword Struck
Chapter 445 The Truth Of Power
Chapter 446 Scarred
Chapter 447 A Certain State In Time
Chapter 448
Chapter 449
Chapter 450
Chapter 451
Chapter 452
Chapter 453
Chapter 454
Chapter 455
Chapter 456
Chapter 458
Chapter 457: Equivalent Exchange
Chapter 459
Chapter 460
Chapter 461
Chapter 462
Chapter 463
Chapter 464
Chapter 465
Chapter 466
Chapter 467
Chapter 468
Chapter 469
Chapter 470
Chapter 471
Chapter 472
Chapter 473
Chapter 474
Chapter 475
Chapter 476
Chapter 477
Chapter 478
Chapter 479
Chapter 480
Chapter 481
Chapter 482
Categories Genre: All, Fantasy, Martial, Ongoing Status: Ongoing Tags Authors:

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Total Chapters in book: 485
Estimated words: 1771831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 8859(@200wpm)___ 7087(@250wpm)___ 5906(@300wpm)
<<<<136146154155156157158166176>485
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LIST OF LAST 10 CHAPTERS:
Page No. 485
Page No. 484
Page No. 483
Page No. 482
Page No. 481
Page No. 480
Page No. 479
Page No. 478
Page No. 477
Page No. 476
Page No. 475
Chapter 154

Chapter 154

Chapter 154: Changing Tides

I gnashed my teeth at the sight of Cedry’s body falling limp on the ground. The enemy axe-wielder pried his weapon out of the ground and prepared to swing down, his arrogant sneer exposing his yellow teeth, when a thin blade protruded out of his gorget.

As the axe-wielder’s body slumped, Jona—Cedry’s friend—came into view. With a firm tug, he pulled out his bloodied dagger from the man he’d just stabbed before kneeling down next to Cedry.

Idiot. What are you doing in the middle of a battle?

I was inclined to leave him; that’s what Grey would’ve done. But I was reminded of last night—the talk we had before I went up to fight onstage, and the carefree night of drinking that followed shortly after. I hardly knew them more than the enemies I was facing but the sentiments that we’d briefly shared the night before—albeit, half-drunk—tugged at my consciousness, nudging me to help him.

With an annoyed click of my tongue, I dashed toward Jona, who was cradling Cedry’s corpse tenderly in his arms. An enemy augmenter, pulling the tip of his spear out of a soldier’s head, caught sight of Jona. Even underneath his helmet that covered much of his face, it was obvious that he was grinning at his luck.

Concentrating on the ground just below his feet, I shot a stone spike at the enemy. The spear-wielder narrowly avoided a fatal injury, flopping awkwardly to the ground as he clutched his bleeding side.

I increased the output of mana to my body and dashed toward the wounded soldier. As he lay rolling on the ground in pain, I stepped on his chest to keep him steady.

Mercilessly, I drove Dawn’s Ballad deep into the breastplate of the spear-wielder and watched the light go out in his eyes.

With one fluid motion, I slid my sword out and drew an arc, getting rid of the blood on the blade, before tugging Jona by the scruff of his neck.

“You need to get out of here,” I growled, shaking him.

He looked back at me, his eyes flooded with tears. “Cedry, you’re going to be okay.” he mumbled, his gaze distant as he clung onto his half-elf companion’s body like an infant.

The sharp whistles of incoming arrows and the faint hiss of spells approaching drew my attention, but with both my arms occupied I could only do so much. I’d been stingy in my usage of mana purely because of the unlikely scenario that I’d have to fight against one of the four scythes or a retainer but if I wanted to get Jona and Cedry to a safe place, I’d need to expend more mana than I’d want to.

Grey’s voice echoed in my head, chastising me, urging me to leave them and conserve my mana for the worst-case scenario.

Cursing under my breath, I knocked Jona out with a firm punch to his solar plexus. His body spasmed from the shock I’d added to ensure that he’d be out cold as I heaved him over my shoulders and used my free arm to scoop the half-elf’s body under my arm.

Cedry’s thin corpse weighed more than Jona’s body as I held her by her waist. I couldn’t do anything about her arms and blonde hair dragging on the ground, but Jona’s unconscious body seemed to take offense, his arms dangling towards her from my shoulder, as if trying to scoop her up.

Ignoring the creeping desire to just drop them back to the ground, I freely released the mana I had been conserving. An intoxicating sense of power rushed out of my core, spreading out to my limbs and filling me with renewed strength. Tuning out the chaotic clamor around me, I focused entirely on the mana surrounding me.

Because of the expanding layer smoke and fire, I willed a spiraling barrier around us as I prepared to rush them back to base. A translucent layer of mana whirled around us as a torrent of wind and stone began shaping itself into a sphere.

Strengthening my body, I pushed off the ground. Immediately, I had to tighten my grip around Jona and Cedry to keep them from falling. The barrier I’d conjured remained strong as arrows and spells bombarded it. Sparks ignited each time an enemy hit my barrier, deflecting or redirecting anything that came our way, but the spell was constantly eating away my mana reserves.

Thanks to the mana rotation technique I’d learned from Sylvia, even such a superfluous spell like this could be recovered back in a fairly short amount of time.

I plowed through the battlefield, gritting my teeth to cope with the weight of my two passengers as I concentrated solely on keeping the barrier active despite the intensifying attacks on it.

My body jerked as a particularly powerful spell bombarded my barrier but I held firm and increased the amount of mana into the barrier. Cries from the enemy soldiers ordering their subordinates to bring me down echoed within the forest.

At least with all of their conjurers focused on me, Vanesy and her soldiers will have an easier time, I thought.

As soon as I was out of the main battle, I released my spell. Immediately, an augmented arrow skimmed my cheek, drawing blood. The force of the arrow brought down a tree beside me, catching me by surprise.

With Jona’s limp body sagged over my shoulder, I had to turn around to see who I was up against. Before I could spot my attacker, two more arrows whizzed toward me.

I had barely a second to react, but that would be enough. Letting out a deep breath, I murmured, “Static Void.”

The deadly arrows were only inches away from me when I released the first phase of my dragon’s will. The world grew still as even the chaotic sounds of battle deafened.

In one swift movement, I positioned my right foot on top of one arrow and bit down on the shaft of the other arrow. Releasing Static Void, my neck immediately jerked from the force of the arrow in my mouth as the arrow beneath my foot buried into the ground.

Whipping my head towards the direction of the attacker, I released a torrent of pure mana. For a moment, the afternoon sky grew dark as terrified birds shot from the trees and littered the sky, sensing the malicious intent I’d let loose.

I stood there for just a second, staring at the space where I thought the enemy archer was, his arrow in my mouth, warning him—warning him what I was capable of if he got in my way.

My unspoken threat seemed to have done the trick because there were no more arrows or spells headed my way. Turning back, I bolted into the dense forest, making my way back toward the edge of the cliff where we’d come from.

“Arthur? What happened?” a voice called out as I lowered Cedry and Jona to the ground at the edge of the encampment.

I looked up to see Madam Astera, blood on her face and on her once white apron. Noticing my gaze, she looked only to shake her head with a faint smile. “Don’t worry, it’s not my blood. I’m just helping the medics and emitters patch up some of the wounded that were brought back.”

I nodded. “I see. In that case, please take care of her”—I pointed to Cedry—“and look after Jona.”

Without waiting for the head chef’s response, I turned around toward the cliff, ready to head back, when something tugged at my boot.

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“Why? Why couldn’t you have saved her like you saved me?” Jona’s hoarse voice trembled as he tightened his grip around my ankle.

“I can’t save every soldier in a war,” I replied, unable to look back and face him.

“Liar... I bet you could’ve if you really wanted to. You’re a lance, right? I wasn’t sure until you caught that arrow with your mouth. For a second, I thought I was dreaming because the arrow stopped mid-flight.”

I gnashed my teeth in frustration—not at him, but at myself—and kicked my leg free from his grip. “Like I said, my priority isn’t to save every soldier I come across in war.”

“We might not’ve known each other that long, but if Cedry was alive, there’s no way she would’ve just thought of you as ‘just a soldier,’ General.” There was venom laced in the hiss of my title.

Whipping around, I lifted Jona up by the scruff of his shirt once more and pulled him close. “I’m sorry for your friend, Jona, but pull your head out of your ass. There are enemies out there stronger than you can imagine—stronger than any adventurer you’ve probably worshipped—and you want me to expend all of my energy to save everyone here? If I do that, who’s going to stop them? Who’s going to stop the enemy leaders that can level a mountain if they wanted to?”

The hate and blame from Jona’s eyes disappeared, replaced by guilt and sorrow as tears rolled down his cheeks. “What am I going to do, then? I promised her when we were little. I was finally going to keep the promise... I was going to ask her to marry me.”

At his words my chest ached, twisting into knots as my breath became short and ragged. I struggled to keep composed as I stared into Jona’s grief-struck face.

“I’ll take care of him, Arthur,” Madam Astera whispered, pulling Jona back by his shoulders. “Go on.”

I gave a curt nod and peeled my eyes away from Jona. Heading back up the cliff, my mind was clouded with thoughts of Jona and Cedry. I saw them spar, I saw them bicker, and I saw them laugh together, but I never thought much of their relationship.

“Damn it,” I cursed as I weaved through the dense array of trees. The sounds of battle grew louder but my thoughts were focused on Jona’s last words.

The faint whistle of an arrow snapped me back to reality. I spun out of the path of the projectile and conjured several throwing knives out of condensed ice, throwing them at the enemy archer without breaking stride. The pained grunt of the archer and the hollow thud of his body falling from the tree sounded behind me.

A few feet later, a bolt of electricity crackled toward me. The spell was powerful but by the way it branched out and weakened, I could tell the caster was inexperienced in the deviant magic. Sidestepping away, I gathered mana to the tips of my fingers once more and released the spell.

Unlike my attacker’s lightning, mine shot out like a bullet. However, just as my spell was about to hit its target, a metal wall erected from the ground, deflecting the streak of lightning harmlessly to the sky until it dissipated.

Annoying. While fighting against the Alacryans, I began to see a pattern. For every augmenter or conjurer fighting, there seemed to be a different conjurer whose sole duty was to protect them. The archer earlier didn’t seem to be an augmenter, which explained why he went down so easily.

Because the enemy conjurers and augmenters weren’t focused on protecting themselves while fighting, their attacks were much more relentless and brash.

My mood had turned sour since dropping Jona and Cedry back at camp, and my temper grew as more and more enemies attacked.

“Fine! You know what? The more of you all I kill, the less my soldiers will die!” I spat, revealing a menacing smirk. “Realmheart!”

Conjurers and augmenters that were hiding now stuck out like sore thumbs as they prepared their attacks. As the particles gathered around them, swirling and spinning in preparation, it became all too clear what sort of spells they were conjuring, but I needed more time to counter them.

All thoughts of conservation were gone as I once again released the first phase of my dragon’s will. The world froze once more and I quickly assessed the spells needed to counter the attacks of twelve different enemies. “Three blasts of fire, a barrage of sharpened rocks, augmented arrows, a lightning spell, condensed bullets of water, and one of the conjurers was planning on burying my feet from under me to keep me from moving. Easy enough,” I murmured. Like I thought, conjuring the barrier earlier to save Jona had drawn a lot of attention.

Seconds ticked inside the suspended realm of Static Void. My body felt heavier but I didn’t care. This was nothing. I released Static Void as soon as I was ready and retaliated.

Immediately, spells detonated from all around me, a cacophony of screams and wails mixed in as well. Enemy and ally soldiers alike looked around, confused by the sudden explosion.

As I heaved out a breath, I couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction. Rather than canceling the enemy’s spell like how Lady Myre had taught me by using mana interpretation, I overloaded the Alacryan soldiers’ spells, causing a deadly backfire.

“How’s that, Jona! Are you satisfied?” I fumed.

“Arthur!” a clear voice called out from behind.

Looking over my shoulder, I spotted Captain Glory. She wore a hardened expression as her two long swords dripped with blood. Her once tied hair had come loose and was caked with mud and dried blood, and her armor wasn’t any better off, but there was still a fire raging in her eyes.

“You look like crap.” My lips formed a pained smile, relieved to see a familiar face.

The corner of her lips curved up into a smirk. “That’s not something you say to a woman even during war.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I chuckled.

“Anyway, did you do that?” Vanesy asked, looking around.

I nodded. “I was testing something.”

“Testing something during battle? You never change.” She let out a sigh. “Do you think you can do it again?”

“Probably,” I answered when suddenly, Sylvie’s thoughts poured into my head. ‘Arthur, I’m coming back.’ There was a flood of emotions that was laced together with her message: worry, desperation, and fear.

What happened? Did you find something already? I sent back to my bond, her emotions affecting mine.

‘No, I had to stop midway...’ She grew silent for a moment but there was a grim sense of foreboding that made my heart beat faster until she spoke again. ‘Someone is headed your way. Arthur, he’s... he’s strong.’

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<<<<136146154155156157158166176>485
Total Chapters in book: 485
Estimated words: 1771831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 8859(@200wpm)___ 7087(@250wpm)___ 5906(@300wpm)
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