Age of Heroes

Sighing, Orval said

'For all of these reason, Levitia had never married Leliana, at least not that the history knows of. And it is not something that our order also knows'

Arial rubs his forehead with his two fingers and then he said

'But…. just because of that, he betrayed someone who treated him like a brother? Arial spouted some words and suddenly he himself went transfixed.

He thought of his own life and there were even some similarities between him and Levitia.

'People could do that' he thought to himself 

Orval reply almost immediately. 

'is there anything surprising about it? Love could move the world and even destroy it'

There is once again silence in the room

It was like Arial is digesting the information that he got, trying to deduce for himself whether this is true. 

He had always believed that Levitia is probably killed by Alexander and the Church.

Up till now, the story that Orval is telling him is the same story that Mikael told him. the difference however lies in the motive of First Emperor of Vern.

And while it is a tragic story, the reason why Arial never cares that much about this hidden speculative story is because he had no relations with Levitia.

To some people he is deified. To some others, he was villainized. 

Whatever the image of the people towards him, Arial did not research it that much since it has no importance to the mater of the present and the future.

He researches it merely to satisfy his curiosity. So, he does not understand why Orval is telling him all of this story about Levitia, a story of a thousand-year past

'What does this have to do with the Blood of Light?'

Orval nods and said

'Patience. Anyway. If you believe my story, the one that imprisoned Levitia is not Alvira his cousin but Alexander. If you remember, before he died, Levitia draws a painting'

Arial nodded. 

'Leliana Smile. I have that painting in my castle, in my study room'

Hearing this, Orval was surprised.

'Ah, so that is where the painting goes' he is silent for a second and there is a complicated expression on his face as he seems to be mumbling something

Then he said 

'Maybe, it is fated to you'

Then Orval said

'Do you know the mystery behind the painting?'

'What?' Arial think for a while but he got nothing so he asks

'What secret? Other than the fact that it is a mysterious painting, with a smile of Leliana that do not look like a smile, there is nothing that I discovered when I have the painting'

Smiling, Orval explained.

'Levitia had a body of a perfect warrior and the sensibility of an artist. He could be cruel to his enemies, but he treated his allies and his companion gently that sometimes you would find it hard to reconcile these differences on one man'' 

'How could a man that was determined to wipe out every Demonkind could have gentle disposition? But that is what human is' 

'It is easy to put someone in a category of boxes but in the end, to pigeonhole someone into a certain archetype, but humans have this contradictory personality in them'

'Characters in a book had the luxury to always remain consistent. If not, people would criticize the character development. But humans…. we are a contradictory race. Sometimes we make decision that is out of characters, make a mistake that is unlike us, do something that is out of our norm'

Orval then continues

'Some people believe that the art of painting that Levitia had developed is to aid him in his cultivation in his inner energy and his swordsmanship like some sword master who uses calligraphy to reach a higher level in their swordsmanship.'

'But we the Enlightened Ones do not think so. We believe that he simply like painting. And even though he had this image of charismatic and powerful warrior, his intelligence and his talent in the matter of art is rarely touch upon in many books'

Sighing Orval said

'It is understandable considering that Zhu Ar Zur is always beside Levitia and Zhu Ar Zur is a genius in tactical and warfare strategy. There is no need for Levitia to compete with someone he regarded as his own brother' 

'But mistake not. Levitia is a smart man. He is not at all of how certain book describe him, as a brute warrior that solve everything with his sword. As the Church had smear Laila, they had also smear upon Levitia virtues'

'A stupid man would not be able to combine so many martial arts and reach the heights that he did in his youth. A stupid man would not be able to balance the power of so many nobles and attract so many talented people to fight beside him'

Then Orval got to the point

'The painting itself is an ingenious way of revealing what had happened during that time. Probably only Levitia who had mastered the use of inner energy and have a great talent in the arts could create such a way to reveal certain things to others who seek the truth'

Is there another secret to the painting? Arial ask and Orval nodded

'The Enlightened Ones once had the painting. One of the members of the Enlightened Ones in the past, is a rich noble of the Empire and he managed to get the painting for a year because of his contribution to the Empire'

'We sent it to one of our places and unraveled the mystery hidden behind the painting. And when we said, hidden behind the painting, we literally mean behind the painting'

Smiling, he explained to Arial

'Artist sometimes paints a new painting behind their old painting to cut on cost. But Levitia did it in a way that is very stealthily. And he did not do so to cut some cost. He did it to reveal something'

'We believe that he was able to create such a mystical painting because it had something to do with his mastery of inner energy'

'Whatever the method he had used; he had managed to send some messages to the future like this. There is a message saying that the culprit is Alexander and the Church. And then…. there is a map. And an instruction'

Arial eyebrows raises up when Orval said a map. A map to what. An instruction to what?

Orval continue talking

'As for the matters of Alexander and the Church we investigated these claims and after investigating it we found many evidence that suggested that they were the one that try to murder the Great Hero. But, it is also our investigation of this matter that lead us to the shocking truth'

'Shocking truth?'

'Ah, I am getting ahead of myself'

Then he got up from his seat. He walks to the window and sighed. He did not face Arial and instead look toward outside. 

Arial also got up from his chair and walk toward him.

Forgive me. I could not remain seated for long. My back is hurting'

Arial nodded, acknowledging it.

Then he began saying 

'I intended to tell my lord all the stories tonight. I thought that it would be a short story. It wasn't until I am starting to tell it, that I seem to remember that it is a tall story and it is hard to explain clearly. So many things that needs to be touched upon, so many history'

Arial did not interrupt him and Orval continue speaking

'Because I think that is my role in all of this. You need to know everything so that you could decide what you could do with it' 

'Even some of the members of the Enlightened Ones did not know the full truth of this matter. Because we study many things and seek many truths'

Sighing, he then said 

'Levitia is an important figure in human history. But Davarus is not the only continent. And human is not the only living beings in this world'

'And he is not the only one that is blessed by the Divine. There are many truths to this world that even us, those who seek for it relentlessly do not know'

'There are stories in the Ming continent, in the frozen cey of the cold Vorthy lands that is as fascinating as one that is in the Human Continent but it is undeniable that one of the Enlightened Ones most studied and researched figure even among the members from the other continents is Levitia' 

'Because Levitia birth and his lineage is special and so the secrets that he is keeping. His act of ridding the Human Continent form the Dark Land influence only affect one continent of many. But the secrets he keeps, that is something that would affect the world'

'This is why there are chapter of the Order that is dedicated solely to the research of Levitia and his life'

He paused and take a breath and then he looks toward Arial. White hair like the first snow of winter, and a blue eye like the blue sky.

A divine blood. Half human, half divine. And he could not help but feel reverence to the man in front of him.

The young child that once train in his Knight Fields is now no longer a child. 

But, a great young man, holding the authority of the world that even if the Church knew his identity, they would not even be able to touch even one strand of his hair 

The Emperor of Eden, the strongest man in the world, the Celestial Emperor in the world of Wulin.