"You knew… my mother?" The voice was breathless and barely there. Thunderous ripples of pain shot through Benimaru as his lung began to heal. He wouldn't die—but it wasn't exactly a painless process.
"Knew her? Boy, I practically raised her," the reply came from the bartender whose grin had widened even more. Although still being on his knees, he didn't seem to care about the position he was in.
"This is an interesting conversation," the voice of Escanor resounded through the bar. Loud and booming—powerful and dangerous. "I'll let you live for the time being, but if you ever challenge me again, your death will be certain."
The pinky finger of the mighty man pointed directly into his heart—a dark warning of what may happen if he was crossed.
The chill of an involuntary fear creeping up his spine was exhilarating for Benimaru—but he held his tongue to prevent further problems.
With nothing but the clothes on his body to his name, he walked out of the bar without a care in the world.
"Sylvia was a good friend of mine; she always came to my bar to play whenever Zeldris didn't have time for her." The bartender, who had now been identified as Dane, poured a drink for the two of them—real alcohol this time.
"Who's Sylvia?"
"Your mother." The hand of Dane stopped mid-pour as the edges of his eyes widened in horror. "My god! You don't know, do you?"
"Know what?" The voice of Benimaru had turned cautious—almost frightened.
As his fingers gripped the cup, a big sip entered his mouth all at once.
"When your mother was young, she used to visit this bar all the time, and I would take care of her and tell her stories." The eyes of Dane softened in remembrance. "But after the death of Gelda—"
"Wait, who's Gelda?"
Dane's fingers raised instinctively as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"They really told you nothing, didn't they?" Annoyance was clear in his voice, but he kept his cool. "Gelda was your grandmother and the mother to Sylvia."
The head shake by Benimaru gave him the confirmation to continue.
"Gelda loved humans very much, too much in fact. She sacrificed herself for them in order to stop a war from breaking out between two kingdoms, Radick and Supret." Dane's voice turned somber as he remembered the day a great woman met her end.
"Hearing of her mother's death, young Sylvia went on a rampage against her father's will and rushed to the human kingdom. I tried to stop her, we all did—but she wouldn't listen."
Benimaru's eyes faced down, staring at his glass cup. Dane assumed he was processing the information, so he continued the story.
"I'm not sure what happened in the human realm, but I know she was eventually stopped. And somehow, in some way, you were given birth to." A smile plastered itself on Dane's face as he spoke. "Lord Zeldris fell into grief at the loss of both his wife and daughter—but he danced like a madman when you were born."
An uncontrollable laughter broke out from within Dane as Benimaru joined him with a soft chuckle.
"So that's the story of my mother," a soft mutter escaped Benimaru's mouth. "It's… a lot to take in."
"The loss of Sylvia and Gelda are two of the four tragedies of the demon realm," clarified Dane.
"What are the other two?"
The expression on Dane's face hardened as the thought raced through his mind.
"Mael… and Elizabeth." The names flew from Dane's mouth before he even knew what he was saying.
His hands shot forth, covering his mouth in a hurry, which left Benimaru confused.
"I'm sorry. I told you about Gelda and Sylvia because it was your right to know. I can't tell you about them."
Although the wish to know more was prominent in Benimaru, he would respect Dane's decision—the man who had saved his life.
Dane's body pressed itself forward, leaning on the table. He had a warm smile on his face.
"So… what else do you wanna know?"
Benimaru reciprocated his gesture with a smile as they talked for hours.
The question that had been hanging in Benimaru's mind: That man, the one who had defeated him so easily, claimed to be the pinnacle of all races.
He said his name was Escanor.
He questioned Dane on who he was, and the latter was more than happy to answer.
Once upon a time, a demon was born. Although his appearance was human-like—his strength was monstrous.
Even without using his mark, his power could dominate almost anyone. The boy's name… was Escanor.
Escanor was born with an ability called Sunshine which draws power from the sun. The higher the sun is, the stronger Escanor becomes.
When the sun is at 12 noon, he becomes unstoppable—able to match even the likes of Meliodas and Zeldris.
His power is incredible, but so is his pride. He was once offered the position of a Commandment, but he rejected it, saying,
"Why would I lower myself to join a group of mere peasants."
Had anyone else said it, they would've been executed on the spot by Meliodas himself. But at that point, Escanor was part of the Trinity.
Three untouchable figures who could do whatever they wished without consequences. They were:
Demon King Zeldris, the strongest demon alive—stronger than all the dead ones too.
The leader of the Ten Commandments, Meliodas—has once beaten the other nine together.
He who stands above all races, Escanor—is commonly known as the Commandment Who Never Was.
Those three hold absolute power.
Escanor scorns his demonic power and thus refuses to use it.
Galand, the current Commandment of Truth, once challenged him to a battle.
The Commandment of Truth forces anyone who lies in Galand's presence to be turned to stone.
Escanor looked Galand dead in the eye and said,
"I am the true god of this era."
Nothing happened.
Escanor was perfectly fine, but when Galand responded,
"No… you can't be this strong. You're lying."
He got turned to stone and had to be freed by Meliodas a few days later.
That's the story of Escanor, the eleventh Commandment in the Ten Commandments.
"Woah," the boy's eyes opened wide in surprise that such a powerful figure existed.
"That's what a lot of people say when they first hear about 'the great Escanor,'" Dane's lips curved into a smirk, enjoying the kid's shocked expression.
Benimaru quickly composed himself, extending his hand forward a few inches. His fingers grabbed the handle of the blade which had shattered to pieces.
"This is the fifth sword I've broken this month," a groan escaped his lips. "Meliodas is gonna kill me."
Hearing this, an idea struck Dane as he remembered something. His body moved quickly as he rushed into the back of the bar—seemingly looking for something.
"What are you looking—"
"There it is!" an exclamation escaped Dane's mouth as his fingers gripped a small rectangular box, then placed it on the table.
His hand wiped the dust off the surface before blowing it away as Benimaru simply looked on in confusion.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Something that will solve your problem." The lid of the box was abruptly pulled off, revealing a set of two swords.
The blades were nearly identical: sleek, with a wide hilt and curved blade that could cut through buildings. The red color of the hilt burned like fire, while the yellow arc in its center flowed like water.
On both swords, initials could be clearly seen to be carved into them. On the first, was the letter "G." And on the second, was the letter "S."
"G and S. Gelda and Sylvia," a sentence, barely a whisper, was heard from the young boy's mouth—but Dane heard him loud and clear.
"Sylvia basically ordered for both her and her mother's initials to be carved into it," a wide smirk appeared on Dane's face. "She was a real—"
His sentence didn't get to end as he was tackled to the floor in a blur. Tears could be staining his shirt as Benimaru cried his heart out into his embrace.
"Thank you. Thank you so much," a wallow of sadness flew from the young boy's mouth as he thanked Dane over and over again.
"It's alright, kid. Everything is gonna be alright." His large hand patted his back affectionately, comforting him deeply.
A few minutes later, once Benimaru had calmed down, the knee of Dane hit the floor in reverence as he carefully held the swords in his grasp.
Benimaru's hand raised upwards to wipe away his tears, then he took the swords into his hands and gripped them as tightly as he could.
"They feel amazing." Benimaru's lips made an almost 360—from a frown to a smile.
"I'd expect them to. After all, Sylvia used them to train all the time." Dane's hand stretched forward to ruffle Benimaru's hair.
After saying his goodbyes, Benimaru eventually left to continue his training.
——————————————————-
"It's been exactly six months since we started training," Meliodas said, "if we are using human time anyway."
His gaze shifted to the twin swords at Benimaru's waist, recognizing them instantly but not saying anything.
'Dane must've given him the swords,' the thought passed through his mind.
"You have completed the first stage of your training, which was to master your demon powers. At least now there will be no risk of you going on a rampage." Meliodas smiled at him, which Benimaru smiled back. A few days ago, he had successfully accessed the stage three mark.
This meant that he could now freely use all three stages of demonic power.
"So what do I do now?" Benimaru asked.
"I'll give you a choice," Meliodas responded confidently. "Either you learn swordsmanship or you learn magic. You will learn both, but which do you want to learn first?"
"Swordsmanship."
"Good answer. Your real training begins now."
————————————————————
"ONE THOUSAND DIVINE CUTS!" the words burst from Benimaru's mouth as he gripped the twin blades in his hands. Demonic power surging within him as his demon mark flared wildly.
The large boulder before him met its end rather quickly, shattering under the force of the young boy's onslaught.
As his knees touched the floor and several pants left his lips, Meliodas appeared in front of him.
"Well done. You have successfully performed Thousand Divine Cuts 1,000 times," his hands clasped together to applaud Benimaru as he smirked.
"Yeah, well, what now?" asked Benimaru.
"You will learn to do this." In that instant, Meliodas' aura vanished completely. No footsteps, no breathing, no nothing. If it weren't for the fact that Benimaru could see him, he would think he didn't exist.
His body gained a paler, more-whitish tint, but apart from that, there were no visible changes.
"This is Zero Reset. A technique used to completely mask aura. If you master this, no one will be able to sense you."
The whitish tint disappeared from Meliodas' body as he returned to normal.
"Draw in all your chakra, both human and demonic. Force it back into your body. That's the first step." The finger of Meliodas raised upward in an instructing manner as he tried to explain.
Benimaru attempted to follow his instructions. His aura flowed back into his body seamlessly without resistance—his human part at least.
His demonic chakra followed a similar trend, almost perfectly retracting itself inwards. But then…
The boy's body convulsed violently. Blood spewed out from his mouth rapidly and hit the ground.
An obstruction had been found in his chakra pathways, which had caused this reaction.
"Looks like you didn't get it first try. Try again." Although his face showed slight disappointment, Meliodas tried to encourage Benimaru—his words served their purpose.
Benimaru tried again, but the result was the same.
Blood flowed not just from his mouth this time, but suddenly broke out from his nostrils.
"Ahhh!" His mouth constricted as he was sent into a state of discomfort and agony.
The feeling of being enveloped in something filled his senses as his eyes shot open. The hand of Meliodas was outstretched, his darkness spreading out to cover him.
He quickly felt his wounds disappear. Meliodas' healing was far more effective than his.
"Thanks," said Benimaru, throat still hurting slightly.
"Don't mention it." The darkness backpedaled into Meliodas' body—disappearing.
"Maybe you're not ready for Zero Reset. We could try something else?" suggested Meliodas with a confident tone. He really didn't want to see Benimaru get hurt more.
"No. One more try. I know I can do it."
With an evident sigh leaving his mouth and annoyance plastering his face, the Commandment Leader reluctantly agreed to the boy's request.
The boy's eyes shut in absolute focus, his chakra seeping back into his body. His human chakra flowed without issue—now for his demon side.
Focus and concentration didn't leave him as he continued to manipulate his demon chakra. He felt that same obstruction but kept pushing forward.
'More! More! More! I can do so much more!' He thought in his head, refusing to give up.
Suddenly, he felt the barrier disappear for a second as his surroundings changed.
The dark environment which he hadn't seen since the Chuunin exams—and the pitch-black entity that resided in it.
He had found himself… in his mindscape.
"Hello… little brother."
CHAPTER END