He did not even take the time to process any other emotions and latched onto the paper, fixing his eyes on every word.
"Monthly Elaijyans News!" it had headlined.
Elaijya. It was truly Xerxes' continent, his continent he was so proud of.
It held the great six kingdoms, all divided into four greater nations.
The first was the human nation; The Human Kingdoms of Layne and Indonyia. Layne, the kingdom of relentlessness and adventure. Indonyia Kingdom, the kingdom of art, fashion and magic. This was led by King Tyrel Indonyia Lance.
The next was the Dwarven nation: With land that stretches across the centre of the continent, it was one of the greatest kingdoms to forge strength. That was quite literally as well; they were home to the Kingdom of Baratheon. A kingdom prided in its forgery, but equally as known for having the largest mass of adventurers on the continent. This was led by Aasmiral Baratheon.
Following those were the elven nations: The Elven Kingdoms of Eros and Amento. The Kingdom of Eros was not merely a kingdom but a holy kingdom. It was a holy kingdom due to the worship of the great tree. The great tree of Ydvir was commonly known as the physical manifestation of the lord of Light, Luminare. Neighbouring that holy kingdom was the kingdom of Amento, known for its great sense of adventure, which led it to the seas and fostered common trade with the people of Fedradia. These kingdoms were ruled by King Alvir Eros.
The last recognised kingdom was the most remote and perhaps the most unknown. The Daemon Kingdom, to the people of Elaijya, was recognised as a self-sustaining and incredibly strong kingdom. Their population may be extremely small, harbouring less than 10,000, but their strength and wits have kept them as one of the most powerful. This was led by the great warrior, King Xelryss.
Xerxes immediately brought himself to the news where he had noticed the name of his previous guild.
Ordinarily, Xerxes never went in expecting much; when he used to read the news, it often bored him. There was nothing intriguing, just insights into economic news and exaggerated stories that felt dull. But this was different; he had never felt happier.
[Publisher: The Court of Kings]
[Year: 750 (AGWOS)]
[News Location: Layne]
Headline: The Crossed Seas Guild allies themselves with the Eshvir Knights
The Crossed Seas Guild, led by master Tully, has allied themselves with the Eshvir Knights. Following an event six days ago, the forest had unexpectedly fallen victim to an attack by a group of mages, suspected to be perpetrated by the southern city of Layne, 'Merkaties'. The reasons for the attack are unknown, but thankfully, to the knights on watch, 'Cid Eshvir, Shadowbound' and young members of the guild, one in possession of a Fedradian dragon and another with the remarkable use of her wind, they triumphed in battle against the wicked mages. There are still reports and interviews to commence with the Eshvir Knights, the Crossed Seas guild and the Court of Kings, but rest assured, with the prospects of the new generation - Layne and any kingdom for that matter will always be protected.
His eyes widened, seeing their descriptions, and a lump formed in Xerxes' throat as he tried to exclaim with joy upon seeing them, but instead, his voice came out sheepish and unfiltered, showing Aemon the true relief—and simultaneously, the sorrow of being apart from them.
"They are... they are alive, Aemon. Aya survived. Dorian is being a badass. Aya seems to be in decent shape. Aemon... my friends, my family, they are still around and doing their best."
Xerxes tried to hold back tears, but it was almost impossible. He never fully knew if Aya managed to escape successfully after his sacrifice, but this confirmed she did. She was able to find her way back to Dorian, Vanessa and everyone else.
They were also completing quests, not letting the adventuring spirit within them die down, and Emryss, Dorian's dragon, seemed to have grown quite a lot over these past few months for him to be on the battlefield.
Xerxes looked towards Aemon, who had a smile tugging at his lips, "It was probably the best gift you could have given me, Aemon, so thank you, thank you so much for letting me have the chance to know they are doing just fine."
Aemon waved his hand dismissively, "Do not thank me, but thank yourself. You have made it this far, you have done so much to have the chance to earn this, so when you think of this moment, applaud for your own sake."
Xerxes wiped his runny nose and stood strongly. "I will take your advice on that; it has never done me wrong."
He then left the room and spent his time thinking about them all. A myriad of thoughts swarmed through his mind as he began thinking about the message as well. He believed that it was providing him with even more reason to get back to them. Not only that, he was wondering about Merkaites, and why they would potentially attack them.
They were always so stand-alone, they were the ones who despised the King, for all the bad history between them, they did not take to his ruling, and they operated as their own individual land, with specific laws and rulings. Xerxes stressed the idea that something larger could happen; after all, if they were targeting the Eshvir forest, could there potentially be motives to seize the stargate?
It was exhausting to think about something beyond his control, so he didn't and finally took the chance to rest.
The next few weeks for Xerxes were similar; he continued his same routine and even tested his new abilities, which proved to be a successful turn of events. Not only had his mana strengthened, but his overall physique and combat abilities had too.
Those were the benefits, and he even noticed that with the use of soul fragments, he was able to utilise even more power, but tackling the use of three at a time was an extremely strenuous task that Xerxes could not overcome just yet.
Another difficulty he faced was not being able to understand the 'Ezurewrath sword style'. How could he develop into a sword style without any prior knowledge? It was simply near impossible; it required a lot of luck, and that was not something Xerxes exactly prided himself in having.
He was not the only one who had improved. Airi seemed to be developing as well, with a growing understanding of the flames she bore. There were two sides of the same flame; one possessed a healing nature that seemed to strain her mana capacity more than the other. The other being her destructive flames, which were her offensive-based abilities.
There was also an estimate of how strong her flames were; at the current stage, she seemed to be roughly a tier ahead of Xerxes, potentially possessing tier four mana equivalence, but in truth, her mana was a lot more potent, as Aemon described it as not being ordinary mana but something a bit different to it.
However, her memories remained the same; without any form of catalyst or mention of the past, there was nothing that continued to accelerate her thinking and bring back something new.
As for Leiya, she spent more time with Xerxes during his training sessions, and it seemed to pay off. She realised the intensity and the difference in their training ethic. Despite Aemon pushing her, Xerxes pushed beyond his limits each time, and that was something that had been an eye-opener.
She wanted to be a bit more like Xerxes, and carry the same will when it came to battle, so she did, and there was a huge rise in her strength, but they had both agreed that they would finally spar with each other after her birthday, which was nearing.
Conrad and the Lieutenant were in their casual routine of being at the outpost, slaying monsters and surprisingly enough, both of their marriage anniversaries seemed to fall under the same time frame, so Conrad and the Lieutenant took both of their partners out, with a small party being held at the castle.
Xerxes had enjoyed the time. He had also pushed the thought of the worrying 'message' to the back of his mind, and thankfully enough, nothing had happened. The person within his soul core had made no appearances within his mind, and the memory of him seemed to slightly dwindle away as Xerxes kept himself busy with what life was presenting him.