Aether Chronicles: Birth Of A Legend-Chapter 53: Death Wraith

Raegar looked at the vampire woman before the cat maid's smiling face popped into his mind, causing his cheeks to go red. He shook his head and spoke in a determined voice. ''I'll grow old, just like her, if she doesn't become strong enough.''

Vesa looked at him with wide eyes, while Miranda commented with a knowing smile. ''Oh wow. This woman must be special to you.''

''Yes she is,'' he answered while taking the tea the older woman offered.

''Who is she?!'' Vesa suddenly answered, before her mother gave her an annoyed look.

Raegar let out a soft chuckle as he spoke. ''Yuki's more than just my maid. She's been by my side since the moment I drew my first breath. Together with my parents, they showered me with so much love. I wasn't neglected or brought up with strict standards like other noble children.''

He looked into the flames before continuing. ''If growing old means I'll never have to face a day without her presence, then I'd choose that path without a second thought, and I'd walk it with nothing but joy.''

''Do you love her Raegar?'' Miranda asked while sitting down.

''Yes, but I'm too young and she won't accept anything until I turn eighteen,'' he replied with a frown. ''Though right now, love isn't essential to me. I need to become stronger so I can protect the people I care about.''

The two women gazed at him, their eyes warm and their smiles wide, prompting Vesa to remark, ''One day, I'd love to meet the woman who finally tamed the White Devil of Bloodfang Forest.''

As the words left her lips, Miranda's head whipped toward her at the words. ''We told you not to mention that if he ever came back,'' she said, letting out a weary sigh.

Raegar chuckled before asking. ''How did I earn such a name? And where did it come from?''

The older woman turned to him with an apologetic voice. ''You helped a town a few miles from here. Thanks to you, fighting at the Bloodaxe Homestead allowed the people to escape with help from the Devil Hunters.''

His eyes opened wide as he quickly asked. ''Did they survive? The whole family?''

Miranda nodded with a smile. ''Yes. They cleared a path through the horde as you dealt with the bulk of the monsters,'' she informed him.

Raegar sighed in relief. ''That's good. I've been worried about them, but I had no other choice other than to run. There were too many creatures to deal with.''

The vampires agreed before he asked another question. ''How do you know all this, though?''

Vesa giggled. ''Merchants from Nightshade Village. They love to tell tales on their travels, when father heard about a white-haired human with bright red eyes, who was running around the forest training while killing monsters. That's the moment he knew it was you,'' the young woman revealed.

'That's the town I saw with the old man,' he mused.

Following that, the three of them started chatting before Miranda went to get food and drinks as the younger woman looked at him with a smile while revealing some news that made her happy. ''Jacob proposed to me and we've planned the ceremony in the summer. Would you like to come? If you didn't save us from the Dark Ones, there would be no wedding.''

Raegar honestly answered. ''I'll be back in the empire by then, taking my academy tests. If it can be earlier, I'll come, but grandfather will drag me back north.''

Vesa nodded in understanding before continuing. ''You're going to a magic academy? I heard it's tough to pass the tests there and some are dangerous.''

''Yes. Drakenwood Magic Academy is just outside Brightwater City,'' he replied. ''It's in the northwest, which is about a year's journey from here, on foot, but grandfather can fly or use the Empire's Skyhaven Carriers.''

''Those are the flying ships that pass over the village sometimes?'' she asked, in an exciting, just as Miranda entered the room.

The older woman answered her daughter. ''Yes, dear. Dawnfire and Nytheria are close allies. So the imperial family lets the Von Carstien Family use them as a gesture of friendship during the peace talks ten years ago.''

Following that, Miranda said the food was ready, causing the three of them to walk over to the dining table and start eating. An hour passed by and Theo returned while muttering curses at the cold weather.

Raegar was sitting on the sofa in front of the fire, falling asleep, causing the older man to speak with a big smile. ''Vesa! Show him to the bedroom. He needs some sleep, it seems.''

''Thanks,'' he mumbled, rising to his feet with a weary yawn as his aching body protested. ''Yeah, I really need some rest. This cold's brutal to travel in.''

Ten minutes later, Raegar was standing in a small room while looking at a comfortable-looking bed. He took his clothes off along with his magic bag before climbing inside and falling asleep.

By the time he fell asleep, the weather outside worsened and buried the village in snow, thanks to the typhoon-like winds. Hours later, Raegar woke up as darkness overtook the room and he couldn't see outside, thanks to the storm.

'What's going on now? Why is it so cold?' he pondered before getting ready and stepping out of the door.

Raegar walked downstairs only to see Miranda standing by the window staring, but she turned around with a worried smile. ''Snow Wraiths are lurking around the village. Theo reckons they're trying to break into the houses.''

He joined her by the window and spotted the creature, which sent a shiver down his spine as they looked like floating humans wrapped in white, but something about their face gave him the creeps.

'Only weak Tier Two monsters,' he mused with an excited expression while summoning his daggers.

Raegar turned to the older woman and spoke in a confident voice. ''I'll go clear them from the village. I haven't used light Aether yet, so this is my chance.''

Following that, he stepped outside after wrapping up as Miranda tried to convince him not to go out, but he didn't listen. When Raegar's feet touched the snow outside, it crunched, causing the wraith to spin on him.

The monster let out a horrible hiss, but he sent light Aether into the blades before throwing them at it. As the daggers closed in, the wraith dodged one, but he controlled the second to pierce its skull.

Raegar chuckled as the wraith turned into dust and a green core dropped to the ground just as more screeches echoed out across the village. He grinned before picking up the loot, which was a bone.

'What the hell?' he thought while putting them away.

Moments later, a horde of monstrous fiends surged toward him, their snarls echoing through the air. With a surge of power, he sent fire and light Aether into his blades, their edges igniting with energy.

He leaned back, narrowly evading a wraith's vicious swipe, its claws slashing the air where he'd stood. Then, with a thunderous roar, he lunged forward, driving the flaming blade deep into the creature's skull in a burst of searing brilliance.

The abomination unleashed an agonized shriek that shattered the silence, its form trembling as he struck again with the light-wreathed blade. In a blinding flash, it eradicated the wraith, banishing it from existence in a whirlwind of ash and embers.

Raegar smiled as he started fighting the wraiths while deflecting theirs and dodging their wild spells. He used Flash Step to appear above one monster and landed on its chest before driving his daggers into its skull.

Afterward, he flipped over another that charged at him while throwing the fire-coated blade at the wraith, but it suddenly dodged. He chuckled before dropping his hand and the dagger slammed into the monster.

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Following that, Raegar used his speed to keep out of reach of the monster's claws while slaying them until a Tier Three Aura bored down on him, forcing him to stop moving as a stronger wraith appeared.

'Oh shit! A Death Wraith leads these things!' he internally panicked.

Raegar knew these creatures gathered in groups and were led by a stronger one, which he was looking at now. The monster was about to charge, but a female voice reached his ears. ''Edgeweaving: Dance of a Thousand Slashes.''

Moments later something happened but he couldn't figure it out as the Death Wraith froze, its form quivering before it collapsed in a cascade of fragments, crumbling to the earth. Without warning, a young woman descended between them.

Raegar's gaze widened in awe as she stood, unyielding while facing the monsters. ''Torrent of Relentless Cuts!''

In the flicker, she became a hurricane as more wraiths surged forth. Yet she was a storm, her blade a shimmering arc of death that destroys the creatures before he could even register the strikes.

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