Divine Sword Art System

Chapter 6. Bang In Atrea's Sky

The fight was over. Tobias re-sheathed his sword as he reached out his right hand toward his father, Thompson. Tobias' sword skills were different from the usual sword techniques; one of the powers Tobias possessed was the ability to neutralize any kind of magic.

Giselle, Thompson's second child, did not feel sad to see her father lose but was happy as she walked closer to Tobias. She congratulated the young man while praising his sword skills.

"If you can beat Father, then I'm sure you can beat every magic user in this world," Giselle explained, hugging Tobias' body tightly.

"What was that?" asked Darwin as he stepped closer to Tobias.

"It sounds crazy, but the power of Tobias' sword can neutralize any kind of magic," Giselle replied.

Hearing this made Darwin and the rest of the Archibald family gasp in shock. There was no record of a swordsman having the power to purify people's magic. The Atrea Border Guard Commander stepped closer to Tobias, he initially doubted the young man's swordsmanship, but after seeing firsthand, the man seemed to have found the best swordsman in the Atrea region.

"Your name is Tobias, isn't it?" asked the man, approaching Tobias, who was being mobbed by members of the Archibald family.

Tobias turned his face, staring at the man in the military uniform. The young man nodded slowly, met with a smile that spread across the man's face.

"Do you need anything from me?" Tobias asked.

"My name is Ronald. I am the Commander of the Atrea Border Guard. I'm impressed with your swordsmanship, so I'm interested in having you join our forces," he said.

Darwin walked up to Ronald. He asked the middle-aged man to come over and talk about Tobias' future. The man said clearly that Tobias would be put into the academy to train his skills even better.

"Enter the academy? But that place is full of magic users. Can you really take him there?" Ronald asked, questioning Darwin's decision.

"That's what I thought when he won against my father. His abilities are truly incredible. It would be a waste if he joined the frontier army at such an early age," said Darwin.

The first son of the Archibald family realized Tobias's power and recognized his brother's swordsmanship. Ronald listened to Darwin's explanation and fully understood the man's words. After all, Ronald wasn't insisting if Tobias wanted to join or not.

Having failed to persuade Tobias to join, Ronald finally decided to say goodbye. Thompson smiled as he let his friend go. Now, in that place, there was only Archibald's big family with Archibald's servants and guards.

"Let's celebrate Tobias' victory with a small party," said Giselle. She was the most excited about Tobias' small victory over his father.

Thompson and Lussie walked up to Tobias. Even though Thompson lost because he underestimated his son's swordsmanship, he was still proud because in his entire life, it was the first time he lost to a swordsman.

"You're the first one to beat me with a sword," Thompson said.

"I was quite surprised actually, but your strength is amazing. I'm glad we have someone who is talented in swordsmanship," Lussie explained.

The smiles of both of them could be clearly seen in Tobias' eyes. He, who didn't have any inner feelings towards them, also smiled so as not to look arrogant in their eyes.

Thompson invited Tobias and his other children in to celebrate Tobias' victory over him. Archibald's servants began to prepare the party food while the guards returned to their stations.

Just as they were about to enter Archibald's large residence, Thompson and the others were startled by a large bang from the border. The sky, which was originally blue, quickly turned maroon.

"What happened?" asked Tobias, surprised.

Not only did the sky turn red, but a pillar of light appeared from the opposite direction, precisely from the forbidden area. The pillar of light was also rising high in red, implying that something was happening in that area.

"Something must be happening in that place," Thompson said, squinting his eyes with a sharp look at the forbidden area.

The middle-aged man turned to look at Darwin, his first child. Darwin nodded, indicating that he understood the meaning of his father's look.

Thompson immediately ran to his horse that was ready near the guard post, unlike Darwin, who was giving advice to his mother and younger siblings.

"Father and I are going to check the place out. Hopefully, the light isn't something we're afraid of," Darwin said.

Tobias didn't know what the red light meant. But after seeing the response of Thompson and Darwin, he concluded that the light must have harmful effects on this place.

"What does the red light mean?" asked Tobias, curious.

"I don't know for sure, but according to the tales. The red light indicates the birth of an important person from beyond the Gargantua Mountains," Giselle explained.

"Even that's debatable, considering no human has ever reached that forbidden area," Giselle said.

Although it was only a fairy tale, Tobias had never doubted any prophecy during his time as a Taichi. In fact, many of the prophecies in the past had actually happened in the present.

"They'll take care of it. We'd better get in," Giselle explained, asking Tobias to go in with her after seeing that Lussie and Luke had left first.

"Shouldn't we go to the frontier?" asked Tobias, making sure.

"We don't have the authority to be there; only soldiers, noble leaders, and noble heirs do," Giselle explained.

Tobias couldn't argue if that was the rule. He had to obey and understand the current situation. Tobias began to walk into the house, where he was greeted with a spread of food on the dining table.

"Have a bite, Tobias. You don't have to worry about the light. Your father and brother are investigating it," said Lussie, Tobias' mother.

The young man nodded his head. He sat on the other side of the table, close to where Luke was eating. The food looked delicious; Tobias had never seen this food before.

They would not hesitate to provide the young man with the best to celebrate Tobias' victory, considering that no one had managed to win from Thompson. Even Giselle, who was the best at using magic, failed to win against her father.

They continued to eat their food but were stopped when they heard the same bang for the second time. This time, something big was happening beyond the Gargantua Mountains.

A curious Tobias rushed out of the Archibald residence, followed by Giselle and the others. The door to the Archibald residence was open, and black smoke rose from the north, in contrast to the red light rising from the west.

"Did something happen in this area?" asked Lussie, worried.

"We'd better go check it out, Giselle," said Tobias, holding his sword tightly.

"Alright. I'll go get my magical equipment," said Giselle, walking into her room.

A worried Lussie stepped closer to Tobias. The beautiful middle-aged woman lowered her head so that her gaze aligned with Tobias'.

Her delicate hands gently stroked Tobias' face and hair, soothing the young man's heart. She asked Tobias to be careful when he got there. Lussie didn't want anything bad to happen to either of them.

"Don't act rashly. Take good care of yourself," Lussie pleaded, hugging Tobias' body tightly.

The young man had no feelings in his heart, considering he had only known her for about three days. However, her sad face attracted a sense of sadness in Tobias' heart. He smiled broadly to ease Lussie's heart.

"Don't worry, Mom. I have Giselle to protect me if anything bad happens," Tobias said.

Giselle finally arrived, wearing her red coat with a small pouch around her waist. Tobias didn't know what was in the pouch, but he was sure it had something to do with witchcraft.

"We're leaving," Giselle said, saying goodbye to the people in the residence.

Lussie smiled and nodded her head. Not long after, Tobias and Giselle ran to get the horse that was left in the family's stables. They traveled on the horse away from Archibald's residence.

"What exactly happened?" asked Tobias, curious.

"I suspect that the northern frontier is under attack by the Valcke Royal Army," said Giselle.

Tobias widened his eyes. Not in the Taichi world, not in this world; war is always raging. With his war experience, he would try to protect this region if the Valcke troops attacked.

"Then there is no turning back for us."