Arthur woke up refreshed. But then felt the rough straw under him and let out a sigh. It was still dark, the sky still illuminated by the moon, not a single star in sight. He got up and rubbed his back. It felt like he had been poked by thorns over and over again. He summoned the moonlight blade and basically used it as a flashlight. Realizing he had neglected a few things. Revan had already told him about Aria's absence, he had noticed the absence of Thanatos, but expected him to return by now. But he did not. Arthur stared at his hand for a moment, and then let out a sigh. Before attempted to conjure the black flame. In order to clearly state the powerful runes, without the system's assistance, he had to empower his tongue and speak the runes out loud. As the black flames contained the power of obliteration, the words held much more power, even if they strung almost the same string of runes.
'Well…no harm in trying it…'
Arthur spoke the words of the draconic language, not even being able to truly understand them himself. And a black flame manifested in his palm, the flame suddenly started dancing around him. While keeping the flame alive was putting a strain on Arthur's core. The black flame manifested a smile. And stared at Arthur. Almost forming words, before Arthur couldn't take the strain, and immediately let it fizzle out.
'Tch, before it didn't obey. Now I just can't keep it alive.'
The words were odd. He continued to summon his white flames after, and suddenly the strain was much larger. But he could also feel more power contained in it. It seemed like the only thing the system had done was control his output. Helping him not experience exhaustion quickly. But now he couldn't control the output. And would either need to learn, or stick to learning normal magic. Which was awkward now, as he usually relied on white or blue flames.
He walked into the courtyard and up onto the rampart. Overlooking the area near the ocean. The sky was dark, not a star in sight, and the clouds almost covering the moon. He let the wind hit his face and sighed. But he noticed something. The silhouette of a tall standing…tree, lingered in the distance. And suddenly he was interested again.
'What in the world…'
Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Quickly summoning his sword and pointing it at the source of the hand.
"I mean no harm. I assure you."
A woman with long brown hair was standing next to him. Cloaked in long white robes. She had a soft smile, and her eyes seemed like they reflected the ocean. Clear as day.
"Do you need something?"
"Are you curious about that tree?"
Arthur looked back towards the ominous silhouette and nodded.
"That, is the world sapling. There are three of them, supposedly."
"World Sapling? I feel like that would be something I've heard about before."
"It's a topic most people avoid. A 'gift' from the gods."
Arthur turned back towards her and scoffed.
"What a wondrous gift. A tree."
"It's much worse of a gift than you think."
"That so?"
"Well. For some people, at least. Many say that once that tree sprouts, it marks the end of this cycle. And the calamity that destroys our world once over will birth from it."
Arthur raised an eyebrow. And looked back at the tree, and back at her.
"But isn't it already…"
"Indeed. The tree has already almost fully grown. Which means, if what is believed is true, our world will end in a few years. Maybe even less."
Suddenly the silhouette grew an awful lot more imposing.