Unexpectedly, life was stall afterward with no remarkable events. Arthur woke up the next day, organized the village, gathered some food from the stream nearby, and trained as he watched the surrounding for any dangers. The cloaks were a lot more active after he killed two of them, but their numbers started to dwindle when they couldn't find the village.
Amelia was helpful somewhat with her storage artifact. Arthur's mood was horrible the previous day because of what happened in the cave and the dangers he had to go through, so his attitude toward Amelia softened somewhat now although he still didn't like her for prying into his matters.
The next few days were spent in peace and anxiety about a possible storm. However, there was no storm. Like the clouds after a rainy day, the cloaks vanished from the mountain range after a few days. Just to be safe, Arthur kept his vigilance for another day but there were no signs of them.
It was time to go home. However, Arthur still worried about the goblins' village being attacked. That's why he gave the ring to Mero to keep the village hidden. Although it would limit their growth, for now, Arthur would have them weak than dead. Mero simply had to supply the artifact with enough mana to keep it working.
Leaving the village, Arthur headed with Kira and Amelia toward Joe's pub. The wolf, spending the last few days hunting with the goblins, grew noticeably larger than before. However, he had yet to reach the low-mid-tier.
Arthur was informed that the five armors he sold brought him 150 thousand dollars. Arthur felt his mood turn for the better at the notion that he would be able to pay the debt they had very soon. However, it was always better to give it in installments to not cause unwarranted attention. He left Kira at Joe's pub and left toward the city.
Arthur and Amelia parted ways after they got off the train. Before that, they discussed what would happen if the prince came after her. However, Amelia reassured him that nothing would happen for now. She would stay low lest she is found, but it was hard to find someone by their face these days. Even if they did, she had ways to delay the inevitable.
"This is only temporary," Arthur said before leaving her bewildered.
After getting home, he opened his messages and found Emma to have sent him a letter saying he was recommended through her family. In return, he would have to wear their robes when he participates in the contest.
Arthur then wrote two letters to Mr. Tate explaining the prince's wrongdoings in one of them and telling him to release the first letter if something happened to him. Of course, he made sure to ask Mr. Tate to not read the first letter.
As Arthur lied on his bed, he finally relaxed his mind. Things have been hectic lately so he had no time to work on himself. Now, he only needed to prepare for the Runes Apprentice Cup that would be a month away. For that, he would need to visit dungeons, level up, and study under Master Ronin. With that in mind, he sent him a message.
***
Three weeks passed by.
It was the longest peaceful time Arthur enjoyed after his awakening. Their life was getting better by the day as he started making money through selling artifacts and hunting in dungeons.
Each day, he would wake up and go to the academy. He decided to study hard from now on. He would spend the time afterward in the library grabbing some books and learning about general topics. He met the girl who was sleeping in the library one day, the next, and the next. He realized she was always sleeping in the library.
His club activities decreased, but he would always provide help for them. Especially Ellen, with who he shared a good relationship with right now. They went out a couple of times hunting together, playing or simply eating.
He would then go and hunt in dungeons until it was late at night. Amelia proposed that they would go together, but Arthur refused afraid she was being watched. Pouting, she left him alone, leaving him slightly guilty.
Afterward, he would drop by at Master Ronin's house to learn about mana control, quintessence, and to make up what he had missed in his years of being a drop-out. Arthur learned things about universal awakeners' laws, the do and do not, and most importantly about the strongest awakeners in existence.
The Seven Lords.
They ruled over different lands, leading different families, holding different powers. Not much was learned about the extent of their powers, but their wealth was immense. They were the leading figures behind different cooperates, kingdoms, and nations.
Even though the Yalveran Union, comprised of the union of three kingdoms, was a federal union of kingdoms where they shared a similar amount of governance, the Yalen family still enjoyed the ruling over the council.
Of course, they were a federal union that practiced democracy and elections, the president was someone chosen by the council that was voted by the people. However, that was only on the outside as the head of the Yalen family was still the indisputable king of the union.
Arthur found this information to be shocking, as he had encountered the Third Prince of Yalen family not so long ago. To word it out simply, he was weak. It was only after a thorough explanation of the Union's top figures that Arthur realized how lucky he was. The third prince was the weakest of the candidates to inherit the throne.
That brought relief to Arthur's mentality as he realized the Third Prince didn't enjoy that much presence, to begin with. It seems this was the reason he used such diabolic means of obtaining power, like feeding innocent civilians to a dragon.
After their lessons, he would go home and rest. He also started playing games with his brother. It was after a week of his return that Arthur felt a sudden surge of mana in the house. He rushed to his brother's room, opening the door to find his brother on the bed, surrounded by mana.
"Oren?" Arthur asked, making his brother turn toward him.
"I… awakened?" His brother, still dazed at the sudden surge of mana, was thrilled as he started jumping up and down.
BANG!
"Stop!" However, that simple act crashed the bed's legs as his brother was still using mana unconsciously. Arthur had to shout at him lest he demolishes their house. This didn't happen when he awakened since he had so little mana at that time.
However, his brother… he was a living embodiment of being loved by mana. The surrounding mana buzzed and hummed as it danced around his brother, making his skin sparkle like a fairy.
"Selena would try again after seeing your current appearance," As mana supplied his body, his brother's appearance started improving at a visible rate. His eyes were vibrant with life and his hair was became a lighter shade of brown.
'I guess he's just like our father.'
Arthur thought to himself bitterly as his father's ability was also related to mana. This event was celebrated again by the whole house. Arthur believed his brother's awakening was related to his permanent runes, but he wasn't so sure.
The next two weeks passed even faster than the first, their life-changing drastically. His brother also signed up as an awakener and started going to primitive-grade dungeons. His ability told to him by master Ronin, turned out to be Mana Affinity. It exhibited greater control over mana and larger reserves when he trained.
His mother left her work and started to take care of their house, enjoying a cozy life. She was a non-awakener so she supported her kids by taking care of them. Of course, this happened after Oren and Arthur both asked her to do so. They almost locked her up when she refused to leave her job.
As for Arthur's strength, it kept growing until he was level 23. The biggest change in his life during this time happened after he became level 20. His legacy now had another function, the sub-space. It increased as Arthur's mana increased and it could store anything that wasn't a living being. This has solved a great deal for him, who was currently making money from selling artifacts.
As for the artifacts themselves… They made one hell of a mess.
