William made a full thrust with his spear as Stormcaller's full power burst forth from its enchanted blade. Just like a lightning bolt, the young boy drove his spear forward without mercy.
However, what happened next blew his breath away.
The beautiful lady didn't move and calmly received his strike. For a brief moment, William had the urge to pull back his attack because the person in front of him felt strangely familiar. However, this feeling disappeared just as quickly as it arrived. William put all of his attention on the opponent in front of him and put more force behind his attack.
When the tip of the spear was merely a meter away from Ella's face, her fist moved and casually deflected the blow upwards. The boy calmly executed a downward slash to regain his momentum, but Ella was a step faster than him.
The two exchanged blows a couple of times within the Sea of Consciousness. No matter what William did, he couldn't get the upper hand. No. It was more like his opponent was matching his current level of strength.
"Stormcaller! Annihilate my enemy!" William threw Stormcaller towards the blue-haired girl and let it attack autonomously. He then summoned his bow and quiver and unleashed a barrage of arrows that left no paths of escape.
"Very good," Ella said with approval. "But, not enough."
She grabbed Stormcaller after it tried to attack her and used it to deflect the arrows that William had fired. She then charged forward and wielded the spear who was struggling hard to escape her grasp.
The spear emitted powerful lightning currents in order to injure the person who tried to forcefully wield it, but it was to no avail. The lightning flowed harmlessly through Ella's body as if it was just a passing breeze.
William narrowed his eyes because he finally understood that his opponent was only taking it easy on him.
"Lightning God War Art, Eight Form," William muttered as he aimed his bow at the approaching figure in front of him. "Exterminate, Khryselakatos!"
The arrow that was nocked on the bow glowed with an eerie green light. When William released the string, a subtle hiss that was similar to that of a viper's reverberated in the battlefield.
Ella was about to deflect William's attack, but immediately changed her plan because she felt something ominous from the arrow that William had shot towards her.
She stopped her charge just in time to see the arrow multiply into hundreds of copies.
The lightning God War Art, Khryselakatos, was a special move that William could use when he was wielding a bow. Its ability was to imbue an arrow with a very potent poison that was especially deadly against women.
To make things worse, the arrow shot by this skill would multiply in the hundreds. Each arrow had the same attributes as the original, which made this skill the perfect attack for a group of enemies.
Even if the arrows just grazed them, the poison would immediately render them unable to continue fighting.
"You've learned quite a nasty trick," Ella said calmly as she threw the struggling spear in her hands. She then smiled and extended her slender hand above her head. "Cryo Fortress."
Massive walls of ice surrounded her in all sides, and a giant fortress appeared inside William's Sea of Consciousness. All the arrows that William had shot embedded themselves within the fortress walls, while Ella stood at above it, smiling at William.
"Play time's over," Ella announced.
With just a single step forward, she appeared right in front of William before casually delivering a simple punch.
Before the boy could even react to the unbelievable move by his opponent, Ella's blow had already reached him. Ella's fist embedded itself on William's chest and sent him flying a hundred meters away from where she stood.
William's face contorted in pain when he received the unbelievable attack from the blue-haired beauty. Everything happened so fast that he didn't even have the time to understand how she was able to land a blow on him in that short period of time.
"It's dangerous to let your mind wander during a fight," A voice whispered in his ear. "Make sure to stay focused on your opponent at all times."
Before William could even say or do anything, he found himself slamming into the ground face first. If he thought that his current situation couldn't get worse, he was greatly mistaken.
The moment his face slammed on the ground, a foot stepped on his back and delivered another powerful blow that made the ocean ripple under William's body.
Unlike his Master, Celine, the beautiful lady with light-blue hair and purple eyes, didn't give William time to recover and made him experience a world of pain.
With each punch, William felt the core of his soul shudder. With each kick, the boy's thoughts scattered.
Ella delivered blow, after blow, after blow, and didn't stop hitting William until the boy had loosened his hold on his weapon. Stormcaller fell on the ocean and the light from its blade disappeared completely.
William was about to hit the ground as well, but a pair of slender arms caught him and held him in a protective embrace.
"You've gotten a bit stronger," Ella whispered in the unconscious boy's ears. "Well done."
Ella floated into the air. A second later, a Celestial throne appeared and she sat there while cradling the unconscious boy in her arms. She unclasped the lock on the back of her neck that supported her upper clothes.
It will not be easy to return William to his former self, and Ella understood that a consistent and gradual recovery was the most optimal choice. Because of that, she was willing to give her baby her full support, and nourish both of his body and soul in order to aid in the healing process.
------
< Soul Healing currently in effect >
< Host's consciousness will slowly recover over time >
-----
When William woke up he found himself inside the familiar goat pen. The interior of the pen was bathed in an orange light, for the sun was just about to set. The young boy fell into a daze as an elusive memory briefly passed through his mind before disappearing completely.
'I think I'm forgetting something very important,' William frowned as he propped himself to a sitting position. He closed his eyes and thought for a long time, but he couldn't grasp the fleeting memory that momentarily appeared after waking up.
When the feeling finally subsided, the boy scratched his head in confusion. "If I forget it then it's not important."
Just as he was about to stand up to go to Celine's house, a shadow appeared at the entrance of the goat pen. Ella walked towards William carrying a basket in her mouth.
She placed it beside the boy and bleated.
"Thank you, Mama," William said.
"Meeeeh."
William hadn't noticed it, but Ella did. When the boy said thank you to her, the corner of his lips lifted a little. It was as if his body was remembering how to smile, but it was still rusty, and needed more "maintenance" for it to work properly.
Ella's eyes softened because she knew that the old William was starting to rise up to the surface once again.
During the next few days, Anna would visit William with her daughter, Eve, to check on his condition.
She would even place Eve beside William in order for her daughter to get to know her older cousin better.
William was afraid to touch the baby, but he was also afraid that rejecting Anna's advances would break her Aunt's heart. That's why he did what he could do to the best of his abilities and sat straight without moving an inch.
He allowed his little cousin to crawl all over him, stick her fingers up his nose, pull his hair a bit, and sometimes, Eve would even sleep on his lap.
Whenever he had reached his limit, he would give his Aunt a pleading gaze and Anna would take that as a sign that their "family" bonding time was up. Anna would then take Eve away and thank William for playing with her daughter.
With the help of Ella's nourishment, William was starting to open his heart again. This was also why the red-headed boy did his best to endure the presence of his adorable cousin who seemed to be hell bent on getting a reaction from him.
----
Days passed…
Weeks passed…
Months passed...
Finally, in the fourth month, the young boy stepped out of the goat pen and walked towards the hill overlooking Lont.
He breathed in the fresh morning air and stared at the darkness. The sky was slowly brightening in the East, but the sun had still not risen. His left arm was hugging Ella's body, who was sharing her warmth with him, as both of them waited for the sunrise.
When the sun finally poked its head above the horizon, the first rays of light illuminated the world. William's light-green eyes, that had regained their clarity, shone like emeralds as he took in the sights and sounds of the beautiful world where he was born.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only Light can do that," William muttered. "Hate cannot drive out hate, only Love can do that."
For some reason, these words would come to his mind from time to time. He had a nagging feeling that someone had told him these words before, someone very close to him. However, no matter how much he tried to seek the owner of these words, only an elusive figure with light-blue hair appeared inside his head.
"Meeeeeeh."
"Yes, Mama. It's a beautiful sunrise."
"Meeeh."
William softly caressed the side of Ella's body as he looked at the town of Lont. A small town in the countryside, where everyone was living a peaceful life and away from the horrors of the world.
A small piece of paradise in a land ravaged by strife.
----
"Master, do you like it?" William asked. "I made sure to use all my skills in cooking it."
"It's not bad, but can you please add some meat next time?" Celine replied. "Although I am an elf, I am not a vegetarian."
"Master, vegetables are good for your body," William countered Celine's argument. "It keeps the skin smooth and makes you look young and healthy."
After the meal, William left to return to the Ainsworth Residence. When the boy was no longer in their sights, the beautiful elf smiled as she gave Oliver a side-long glance. The Parrot Monkey rolled his eyes to the side before flying to the kitchen in order to prepare some meat dishes for Celine.
Both of them didn't want William to go into a relapse so they didn't dare to cook any meat when he was around. Although it was a hassle, the two endured for the sake of their disciple.