Patry led Julius confidently up the mountain, "back when I was alive, this used to be a well-worn trail, since Elves would often climb up here to visit the Tree and pay their respects. This Oak Tree is, or, should I say, was, sacred to my people. That's why, ever since humans first arrived in this land, the tree was always hidden by powerful Illusion Magic, in order to keep it safe." The physically 16-year-old Elf explained. "Then how are we supposed to find it?" Julius asked in slight confusion. He trusted Patry, really, he did, but he also knew that his Elven Son had no way to counter Illusion Magic, and neither did he for that matter. "You'll see soon" the Light Mage replied with a secret grin on his face. Soon Patry had led his new soon-to-be Father up to what seemed like a dead-end, as a huge boulder blocked the path. Julius walked up to the boulder and scrutinised it carefully. Then he patted it with a hand, finding it to be solid and cold, "Uh, no offense, but are you sure you haven't forgotten how to get to the tree? This feels like solid stone to me, not something that's not really there" the Magic Knight Captain asked uncertainly.
"That's the point, no human would ever expect there to be an Illusion Spell up here, plus with all the powerful Mana in the area, your senses can't pick out the tiny fluctuations, that we can and that tell us that this rock is nothing but a very realistic fake" Patry explained, walking up to the rock and closing his eyes, "block out your other senses, and focus only on your Mana detection" he said softly in a monotone voice. Julius was still confused, but he had no reason to doubt Patry's words, not when the Elves could do crazy things, like turning themselves into Demons. He breathed deeply and evenly, in and out. The Time Mage forced all other distractions out of his mind, even the feeling of cold and solid rock beneath his palm soon faded away. Suddenly, in his minds eye, he was standing on the path beside an extremely powerful and dense Mana Source. It glowed with a brilliant white, and seemed to have several layers of suppression over it, making Julius almost lose his concentration out of pure shock. 'I've never tried to sense this deep into Patry's Mana before. It's so massive, and he's only 16-years-old physically. I thought I caught a glimpse of it before when he was becoming a Dark Elf, but was he subconsciously trying to hold his Mana back, even then?! There are so many suppressive layers, it's insane! If Patry is really holding back so much of his Mana, that this huge force I'm sensing is only the barest of scrapes from the top layer, just how much Magic does he really have!
I mean, right now it's the size of this- wait' the human thought, about to compare the size of the Mana that Patry was currently allowing himself the use of to the size of the giant boulder, but he cut his thoughts off and gaped in complete shock, as not only was the rock made of Magic, he could sense all the powerful Mana Signatures from before, but they were much closer this time. Julius snapped his eyes open in shock, before turning to Patry, and trying to pretend that the shock was only from the giant illusory rock and all the powerful Mana turning up again. The Teenage Elf nodded with a grin, "it's a Spell that was placed here in order to protect the tree. Anyone with weak Mana reserves, control of detection skills would reach this spot and assume that the path was completely blocked off. But we Elves knew differently, because only we had Mana powerful enough to see past this Illusion Barrier" Patry explained cheerfully. "Wow Patry. If you hadn't been here with me, I'm pretty sure I would never have even thought to check my Mana Sensing when we reached the boulder" the Time Mage replied sheepishly. "Close your eyes again" the Light Mage ordered gently.
Julius did so, and he felt Patry take his hand, "now, block out all your other Senses, just like before" he continued. The Magic Knight Captain was a little nervous about purposely losing every sense he had, but he trusted the Teenage Elf to guide him safely. Soon, Julius could only sense the masses of powerful Mana all around him. Honestly, it freaked him out a little, but the familiar and powerful Magic Signature of the Elf next to him kept him grounded. Without his sense of touch, the human felt very disorientated, but he could sense his own Mana, and Patry's Mana beside him, so he knew that he was still okay. It was almost like floating in a void made up of nothing but Mana. No wonder humans couldn't do this, not only would they not have anywhere near the required level of Mana Detection needed, or the focus needed in most cases to block out all other sensory information, but even if they were really powerful and could pull those two things off- it would be the complete sensory deprivation that would truly do them in. It was already eating away at his composure, and he had trained extensively to for years to be able to stay calm in any situation in order to become the best Magic Knight that he could be, but he forced himself to stay calm.
Suddenly he felt a spike in Patry's Mana and his eyes immediately shot open in fear for the boy, only to find him standing beside him, holding his hand, "okay, that one worked. I was almost worried that I wouldn't be able to snap you out of it" the young Elf sighed in relief. "I'm sorry Patry, I didn't mean to scare you" Julius replied, giving the hand he still held a gentle, reassuring squeeze, before looking back around at the way they had come, to find a completely clear path leading back down the mountain. He blinked, 'the Illusion Spell must only go one way, after all, that fake rock is only to stop non-Elves from reaching this place. Once you're inside, you don't need to worry about it anymore' the Time Mage decided. "Okay, it's only a little bit further now" Patry assured, pulling gently on his new Dad's hand. Julius turned his attention back over to the Teenage Elf and smiled when he saw how excited the 16-year-old Elf looked. He chuckled, "well, you seem excited. Does William share your enthusiasm?" the Magic Knight Captain asked cheerfully. "Uh-huh! *giggle* I can't wait for you both to see it. It's truly a beautiful sight" Patry replied.
Black Clover
A few minutes later, the three of them came to an open space concealed within the mountain. But to get to it, they had to walk down and then passed a curtain of Ivy. "Sorry if I sound rude, but isn't all of this a but-" the blond human cut himself off in sheer awe, eyes wide and mouth gaping wide open, "much" he breathed. Before them, amid a sea of thick, bright green grass, stood the single most absolutely massive Oak Tree he'd ever seen in his life. It's trunk was incredibly thick and, walking up to it with his jaw still hanging on the ground, he could see just how soft it was. The bark was still a rich brown colour, just like a young tree's bark. Craning his neck up, Julius could see an uncountable number of branches, full of bright green leaves. The tree seemed to pierce through the clouds, it was so high. William, having World Tree Magic was immediately drawn to the Oak Tree himself, "Patry, would you mind going a bit closer please?" he asked, but the Spiritual Voice sounded distracted. Patry chuckled and did walk closer though. Soon he stood beside Julius, "how-" the adult croaked, swallowed and tried again: "how is it still alive? And so tall too? Oak trees only live for around 100 years, and even then, they never get this high!" he exclaimed in confusion.
The Teenage Elf smiled, but it was slightly sad, "this tree has been here ever since my people first came to live in this land. We started out as a single family of 6, the Father, the Mother, their two children and their two adopted children." Patry began to explain, sitting down cross-legged on the grass, Julius following suit, already enraptured by the story. William was quiet too, listening intently. "Over the time that they lived in this area, That family planted a single Acorn on the land that, unbeknownst to them, began to feed on the powerful Mana that leaked out from them, saturating the area and causing this tree to not only grow twice as tall and live for twice as long. Throughout all that time, generations of Elves were born lived and died on this land, After 500 years, it was half as tall as it is right now. That was around the time I was born." the Elf explained. Julius' eyes widened in shock, turning his gaze towards the tree, "you're saying, that this tree was already around 500 years before you were born!? B-b-but, it's been almost 500 years since you died! A-a-are you trying to say- that this tree has been here for 1000 years!?" he cried in complete and utter shock.
Patry smiled happily and nodded. He stood up, "this tree has lived and grown in this spot for so, so long. It's life has been sustained by sharing ours. Now, my people may be gone," he paused, fighting to keep his voice from trembling, but continued speaking, "but there are still pieces of us that are living and breathing in this tree. It holds Mana from millions of Elves. It should have died Hundreds and Hundreds of years ago. But it didn't. It survived, and not just by desperately clinging to life. But by relying on the strength of the powerful bond we Elves have with each other and the world around us." The 16-year-old Elf walked up to the trunk, smiling up at it with happy tears forming in his eyes. Patry planed a hand on the bark and leaned forward until his forehead touched against it, "This tree is the very symbol of hope and bonds that only a short time ago I thought was lost to me. It's a precious part of my Tribe's history- and of me too" Patry added, leaning his head against the bark, his tears flowing freely down his cheeks, and a deep feeling of warmth and love in his heart.
Julius slowly walked up to the Teenage boy, placing a hand against the bark as well. They were all silent for a moment, before he spoke up quietly, "He'll be fine. I promise you all- I will protect both Patry and William with my very life if I have to. I hope that even though your Souls aren't here, or even in the afterlife, that somehow, you can see him. I'm sure you'd all be so very proud. Just like I am, as his new Father" the Time Mage whispered, the only other sound that could be heard, was Patry's gentle sobs of happiness.
Black Clover
After Patry, William and Julius had finished paying their respects to the giant Oak Tree, that was all that remained of Patry's heritage, and the young Elf had dried his tears, Julius smiled down at the boy, "So, I was going to write a bill that made sure that this tree was considered a National Treasure, as well as the whole mountain itself a Nature reserve, since I'm sure the current Wizard King would have no objections. Even without mentioning your people. But until I can get around to actually writing the proposal and presenting it, how about a little extra insurance?" he suggested, with a wink. High above them, Julius's giant Grimoire glowed brightly, "Time Magic: Crono Stasis Grigora" he called. Before the Spell could be cast, the blond man grabbed the 17-year-old Elf and sped up the time it took to scale another tree.
Then Patry was set down on his feet again. He turned to see what his, hopefully soon-to-be-Father had done, before his jaw dropped. The entirety of the MASSIVE 1000-YEAR-OLD-TREE THAT WAS TWICE AS BIG AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN EVEN AT THAT AGE was surrounded by an unbelievably huge spere of Time Magic. "There, that should keep any damage from being done before I can create the right documents to show just how important a part of our Kingdom's history this tree is. Then, I just have to present it to our Wizard King. Pretty smart, don't you think Patry?" Julius asked with a satisfied smile on his face. Silence was his only reply. "Uh, Patry?" the Magic Knight Captain asked, turning to look at his Elven Son in slight concern, before his eyes widened- Patry was staring up at the tree and the Spell that was now fading from visibility with huge, shocked eyes and his mouth hanging in slack-jawed disbelief. "Hey, Patry, snap out of it!" Julius demanded in worry, shaking the boy slightly. Patry finally snapped out of his shock and whirled around to face his new Father, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!? JUST HOW MUCH MANA DO YOU HAVE!?" he demanded; brain unable to process what he'd just seen.
The Time Mage chuckled and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "a fair bit I suppose, for a human" he replied, avoiding eye contact. "Oh no, you can't avoid this now! Come to think of it, I've never even SEEN your Grimoire. Do you hide it somewhere out of sight because it's really rare like mine?" Patry asked in confusion, searching the human's figure for any sign of the Magic Book. "Um, well, my Grimoire is, up there" Julius replied, pointing up with his other hand. Patry looked up- and up, and up. His eyes widened in shock and his mouth opened and closed but no sound came out. Floating high above them, hundreds of pages fluttering in the wind, was the human's giant, coverless Grimoire. 'He's, already got so many pages in it!' Patry thought shakily. He had no idea that the man was already so powerful at this stage in his life. "That- that's not possible, how is that possible, you're only human!" he muttered shakily to himself. 'Although, Lemiel was a human too, and he had a Four-Leaf Clover Grimoire just like Licht AND was just as strong as he was. Julius's reserve's are a bit lower, but they're almost as high as Lemiel's Mana reserves. He could be an offshoot descendant of Lemiel's family line, explaining why he's not a part of any of the direct Royal Families. But even if that's the case, I just can't believe it fully somehow. Just how is it possible for a human to have so much Mana?!' Patry thought, trying to come up with a plausible theory.
"Well, even human's can do incredible things Patry, as long as we train ourselves well and work hard. Race, status or lineage don't matter in the long run. No matter who or what you are, all that really matters is that you put in the effort that's needed. Yes, some people will be more powerful or weak that others, but sometimes those things can mean that they'll actually end up having an advantage that others wouldn't expect. It's all about how far you are willing to push yourself. Understand?" Julius replied with a kind smile and a serious look in his eyes. The Teenage Elf blinked, before he remembered something that he'd heard Lemiel say in a flashback during the viewings of their original future, '"I have a Four-Leaf Grimoire, and people always tell me my Light Magic is something special. But if you ask me, everyone is unique, which means that we're all pretty amazing. No matter who you are, there are some things that only you can do"'. Patry laughed, shaking his head, "Are you sure you're not a combined Reincarnation of Licht and Lemiel? Your advice really sounds like things they said in the past or would tell me if they were here" he asked incredulously.
"Heh, like I said before, maybe I am," the human teased. He then looked up at the sky, seeing the darkening sky, "oops. looks like we stayed out here too long. Why don't we look for a place to camp for the night, since it's getting so dark?" Julius suggested. Patry looked up at the sky as well, "yeah, it's probably a better idea than trying to fly back in the rain. Even if we were to head back to Hage now, we'd still get soaked and probably sick as well" the young Elf replied with a nod. So the two of them set about building a small, temporary shelter under the giant Oak Tree. Once they were settled, Patry looked up at the one remaining piece of his past that had always been a constant with a small smile on his face, "thank you- Dad" he whispered, before falling into a peaceful sleep. Julius on the other hand felt a few tears of joy trail down the sides of his face, "you're welcome" he whispered back. Soon enough, the two of them were fast asleep. They had, after all, had an extremely exhausting day. Much more so than what it was originally supposed to be.
To Be Continued