Realm Lord
Chapter 92: What he Deserves

Chapter 92: What he Deserves

They all stood over the small wooden desk, shoulders pressed together as they peered down at the aged paper atop it. The blue candlelight cast an ethereal glow over the documents, making the yellowed parchment seem almost luminescent against the dark wood. Multiple large pieces of yellow-aged paper with frayed edges lay before them, their surfaces covered with intricate drawings that scattered across the dusty pages like mysterious constellations.

Arthur felt his heart quicken with excitement. After days of finding nothing, the sight of these documents—clearly important, clearly magical—sent a surge of hope through him. Without thinking, he instinctively reached out for the nearest paper, fingers eager to touch what might be their salvation.

His hand was swiftly slapped away by Lara, the sharp sound cutting through the hushed atmosphere of the laboratory.

Arthur panickedly looked up at her, shock evident on his face. Her eyes were intense, not angry but deeply serious.

"Don’t touch them," she cautioned, her voice low and urgent. "We have no idea how well this spell preserved these pages, if at all, and the last thing we want is them falling apart in your hands."

The blue flames flickered as if in agreement, casting dancing shadows across Lara’s face and highlighting the tension in her jaw.

Arthur giggled awkwardly, pulling his hand back as if the papers might burn him. "S-sorry," he mumbled, feeling his cheeks warm with embarrassment. The others shifted around him, creating more space, though no one moved away from the desk.

Lara shook her head dismissively and brought her attention back to the papers, leaning forward until her face was illuminated by the spectral blue light. Her eyes darted across the symbols and lines, recognition slowly dawning on her features.

"It seems to be a drawing of a spell circle..." she breathed, hardly daring to raise her voice above a whisper. Her finger hovered just above the surface of the parchment, tracing the circular patterns without touching them. "It may even be the one for the spell on the castle..."

She looked up at her companions, and for the second time today, genuine excitement brightened her eyes. "We may have just hit a gold mine."

The atmosphere in the room shifted, tension giving way to anticipation as everyone leaned in closer, careful not to touch the precious documents.

"There’s notes on the page and other pages," Lara continued, her gaze returning to the elaborate designs and cramped handwriting. "I can decipher the language given time. I only began learning this realm’s language not too long ago, so I may need some time, but with some luck, I just might be able to figure something out."

She stared deeply at the pages with a wide, hopeful smile on her face, the kind of smile that could light up even this somber chamber better than any magical flame.

"We’ll help," Jonas said, stepping closer and placing a hand on her shoulder. Kay and Jake nodded in agreement, already pulling up chairs to settle in for what would clearly be a long process of translation and interpretation.

’Well, it makes sense,’ Arthur thought to himself as he watched the team spring into action, each finding their role in this new task. ’They must have studied the language a bit to be an exploration unit and all.’

Arthur suddenly found himself feeling in the way as Lara’s group converged in on her, their movements practiced and efficient, suggesting they had worked together on similar tasks many times before. Their quiet murmurs filled the laboratory as they began discussing symbols and possible translations, pointing at different sections of the documents with careful precision.

Feeling like an outsider to their well-oiled machine, Arthur slowly backed up and made his way to the other end of the room to keep out of their way. The floorboards creaked softly beneath his feet as he retreated, though no one seemed to notice his departure, so engrossed were they in their newfound treasure.

He drifted toward another table and began to look at the vials and jars filled with different miscellaneous liquids. Some were clear as water, others murky as swamp mud. A few glowed faintly, reminiscent of the blue candles but in different hues—pale green, amber, a deep violet that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat.

He was peering closely at what appeared to be a greenish-looking liquid placed in a small vial, trying to discern whether the tiny dark specks floating within it were part of the concoction or merely dust, when suddenly another face appeared next to his. The reflection in the glass startled him before he recognized the familiar features.

A wry grin spread across Aziel’s face as he spoke, his breath fogging the glass slightly. "How much for you to eat it?"

Arthur’s brows furrowed as he turned his head to face Aziel’s grinning countenance. His eyes sparkled with mischief in the dim light, his perpetually tousled hair falling across his forehead. Arthur sighed and rolled his eyes as he turned around and put his hands behind him on the base of the table to lean on, the edge digging slightly into his palms.

Aziel turned around as well, mirroring Arthur’s posture, and for a moment, they just stood in silence, watching Lara’s team work from across the room. The quiet between them wasn’t uncomfortable—that was one of the things Arthur had come to appreciate about Aziel. He didn’t feel the need to fill every moment with chatter.

Arthur had only known Aziel for about a month, but even still, he found that he had grown to trust him quite a large amount. After what they’d been through, the last month for them was probably worth more than a year for most new friends. The shared dangers, the close calls, the victories and defeats—they created bonds that ordinary life simply couldn’t match.

And that’s what Arthur and him were... friends. Though Arthur didn’t want to admit it, even to himself. Not because he didn’t like Aziel—quite the opposite. He had grown to find great joy in Aziel’s company and his carefree attitude. The way he could find humor in the darkest situations, how he never seemed to lose hope no matter what. After all, Aziel was the only reason he was alive in the first place.

So it wasn’t because he didn’t want to be friends with Aziel. But because he didn’t think he deserved to be.

Luke was his friend too... his only friend... his best friend... and he killed him.

The memory came unbidden, as it always did in quiet moments. Luke’s face, the blood—so much blood—staining Arthur’s hands never to be washed away. The crushing guilt that followed him like a shadow, darker and more persistent than any monster he’d faced.

After doing that to one he called a ’friend,’ why should he be graced with another so soon? What right did he have to companionship, to trust, to laughter shared over ridiculous dares involving mysterious potions?

And more than that, Arthur didn’t want to feel the pain of losing something important to him due to his weakness yet again. The thought of forming a bond only to watch it shatter because he wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t fast enough, wasn’t smart enough—it was unbearable. So until he was strong enough to stop anything and everything from taking what was his, he felt scared to make attachments again... attachments he couldn’t protect.

And yet Aziel’s humor, his smile, all his help, was proving to make this harder and harder.

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