Reborn with a Necromancer System - Chapter 116

Chapter 116: The Instructor
Kai had two things he needed to do before they set out for the Wyvern Grotto. Each of them involving friends in one way or another.

He left Kleo to handle whatever she needed in the city, telling her to meet him back at the League in a week’s time. She nodded without much argument. They both had their own preparations to make.

First, Kai made his way through the bustling streets toward the Citadel’s arena, known across the kingdom as the Arena of Kings.

The one Joran mentioned to him all those years ago. Stories of old champions and how his eyes would gleam while passionately talking about the future. His future. A future that ended too soon.

Kai steadied his thoughts. It wasn’t time to take on his promise to Joran. Not yet. He had someone he needed to see.

Even from a distance, the arena was breathtaking. Massive stone walls rose into the sky, crowned with banners fluttering in the breeze, each one bearing the crest and name of a past champion. The main gates were made of thick ironwood banded with bronze, and from within, Kai could hear the roaring cheers of a match currently underway.

The energy was infectious, almost electric in the air.

He approached the gate, where a stern-faced guard manned the entrance. The guard barely acknowledged him, simply holding out a hand to stop him.

“I’d like to see Rael Drakethorne,” Kai said.

The guard furrowed his brows, as if he hadn’t heard properly.

Kai repeated the request, a little louder.

For a moment, there was only awkward silence, until someone inside the courtyard overheard and rushed up to the gate, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Don’t you know? That’s Master Thorne! The four-time arena champion! Karac finally beat him off his pedestal nine years ago. Wow, that was an amazing fight.”

The guard didn’t even glance at the fanboy, keeping his steely gaze locked on Kai.

“What business do you have with him?”

Kai hesitated.

‘Shit. The name I gave him is now wanted for murder…’

“I’m… someone who helped him on a trip from Orrinsby to Ylthara. Tell him I’ve come to see him.”

The guard grunted and pulled out a small bronze device from his belt. It was circular, about the size of his palm, and had a needle spinning erratically at its center. Small blue runes pulsed along its edge.

Kai stared at it, fascinated.

‘It’s like a compass… similar to the one that broke when the Collector kidnapped Mari. Did dad give her that to communicate with her? I never knew… Is it two-way? Multi-way? How far can it reach?’

The guard tapped the device, muttered into it, and waited.

“Mhm. Yup. Says he’s here to see the instructor. No name given. Just something about helping on a trip to Ylthara.”

There was a faint buzzing sound, and the needle flicked around a little..

A woman’s voice answered faintly: “Yes. Very well.”

The guard clipped the device back onto his belt and jerked his chin toward the gates.

“You’re free to go inside. One of the staff will show you to the instructor.”

“Thank you,” Kai said.

The great gates groaned as they lifted, and Kai stepped through into a long hall filled with statues of champions past.

Each statue was carved from gleaming white marble, capturing fighters in mid-swing, mid-shout, mid-victory. Some were battered, old enough to have lost fingers or swords to time. Others looked almost freshly polished, with the most-recent champions standing proud. Names and dates were etched at their bases, hundreds of years of warriors, remembered in stone.

“Rael Drakethorne…” Kai whispered as he saw a statue of his old mentor.

‘He really was a champion.’

The cheering from the arena grew louder as he moved further in, and Kai caught the metallic clangs and meaty thuds of combat training from nearby corridors.

“Hey! You here to see Master Thorne?” a voice piped up.

A boy, around fourteen years old, hurried over. He wore a slightly oversized tunic marked with the arena’s crest. His blond hair was messy, and he carried a piece of parchment atrached to a wooden board under one arm.

“I’m Fenn! I’m in training to become an arena squire,” the boy announced proudly, bouncing on his toes. “You’re lucky! Master Thorne doesn’t usually take visitors. C’mon, I’ll show you to him.”

As they walked, Fenn talked non-stop.

“You know this place dates back over five hundred years? Some say it was built on the ruins of a fortress from the Age of Kings. Imagine… multiple kings ruling over Imeria! And Master Thorne? He used to be the greatest! Won the championship four years in a row! No one else ever did that before! People used to travel from other kingdoms just to see him fight!”

They passed a massive open-air training hall. Inside, men and women battered each other mercilessly with wooden and blunted metal weapons. The air was thick with the scent of sweat, leather, and blood.

Kai paused for a second, watching.

Here, there were no gentle spars, every blow was meant to bruise, to break, to dominate. Fighters with missing teeth and broken noses laughed as they slammed into each other, instructors barking orders that sounded more like threats.

‘I wouldn’t have minded growing up in an environment like this. Simple. Understandable.’

And amidst it all, young hopefuls watched from the sidelines, eyes wide, dreaming of their own future glories.

Fenn barely noticed the brutality, too caught up in his storytelling.

“Come on. Hurry up!” Fenn called out when he realised he was talking to himself for a while. When Kai caught up, he continued with his rambling. “They say if you survive ten matches in a row, you earn the title of Steelblood. Only five people have ever done it!”

Kai followed, feeling a strange surge of nostalgia. Not from the arena itself, but unchanging things.

‘Even video games change over time, but places like this don’t. No matter how much time passes. I could come here in fifty years and it would probably be the same.’

Fenn eventually led him down a quieter hallway, ending in a smaller, more private training room. Here, there was only one man inside.

Rael Drakethorne stood at the far end, adjusting the weights on a training dummy. His hair had grayed slightly since Kai had last seen him, but he still radiated the same aura of strength and precision.

There was a flicker of surprise on Rael’s face when he turned, and then a slow, warm smile.

“It’s you, isn’t it?”

Kai realised that his illusion sat differently on his face than the one from Mirage’s Veil. He let the illusion covering his face briefly shimmer and drop. He exhaled.

“The face you met wasn’t real, either. But I feel like you’ll understand, Rael.”

Rael’s eyes tried to adjust to the change in appearance, and then they opened wide.

“K-Kai? You’re alive? Wha-how?”

“I almost died. But I’ve had some amazing people looking after me.”

Rael stepped closer, peering at him as if trying to memorize his features.

“But… you’re older. Much older. Too old.”

“Time dilation stuff. It’s complicated.”

Kai gave a faint smile. “Anyway. You admire strength, right? I’ll fight in your arena, and I’ll win, if you can do something for me.”

Rael tilted his head, cautious now.

“Win, hey? Something like what?”

“If you’re as important as I think, you can get a meeting with someone inside the palace. A… working girl.”

Rael’s face darkened slightly.

“Kai… The princess… That wasn’t-”

“No. That thing that kidnapped Mari and killed all those kids? Turns out it was nothing compared to its boss. That killed Aliza.”

Rael looked genuinely shaken.

“You do know that the Church pinned the deaths of those kids on you, right? They told your sister you brainwashed her.”

Kai clenched his fists.

“Those bastards.”

He reforged his illusion with a snap of mana, cloaking his face once more.

“So… A meeting.” Rael rubbed his jaw. “There’s a girl, you said? Working girl?”

“Her name’s Firra. She’s in the palace. Maybe you know someone. Someone who could help?”

Rael nodded slowly.

“That would be Matilda. She’s in charge of the palace’s ‘hospitality wing.’ I’ve passed her a few strays over the years. If anyone could help, it’s her.”

‘Hospitality, hey? Not serving food and drink, I’m guessing. But he can help…’

Kai’s shoulders loosened a fraction.

“I knew you’d understand.”

Rael looked at him hard.

“You’re not seriously thinking of taking someone from the palace, are you? A girl like that would be classed as property of the Crown. You wouldn’t just risk yourself, they’d wipe out your friends and family. No trial.”

‘It’s not like I have family anymore. And my friends are strong enough to look after themselves.’

“I made a promise,” Kai said simply. “I intend to keep it.”

Rael sighed and shook his head, muttering under his breath.

“I’ll see what I can do. When your parents were killed… I wasn’t able to stop it. They were good people. Don’t get yourself killed too, Kai.”

Kai smiled faintly.

“I’ll be careful. I’ll be in the city for a week or so. I have another job in the meantime. Hunting wyverns for their eggs.”

“And you’re off to fight wyverns next?” Rael said, laughing incredulously as he turned back to rearranging the wooden swords on the rack. “Of course you are. A kid fighting wyverns! You’ll be the next damn god of this world at this rate. Ridiculous.”

Kai grinned as he leaned against the wall. For the first time in a long while, he felt just a little bit lighter.

Kei left his mentor to his rambling and exited the arena. He bid farewell to the arena gate guard and headed towards his next destination.

Thesiones Academy.

‘Time to see some old friends, and hopefully not die in the process.’