He had survived countless battles, but he had never seen such raw courage and not just courage, but skill, timing, and an almost uncanny intuition for combat.
Finally, they reached a safe plateau.
Edward knelt beside him, brushing soot from his face. "You're alive," he said simply. "That's what matters."
Michael's eyes glimmered with tears of exhaustion and awe. "I… I thought I was done for."
Edward smiled faintly, but his expression held gravity. "Everyone thinks they're done for, That's when you find out who you are and who's willing to stand by you."
That moment changed Michael forever. From that day, he swore loyalty to Edward, not because of duty, not for gold or title, but because Edward had given him something greater than life…
Purpose, hope, and a reminder that courage could overcome even the darkest despair.
Since then, he had lived in the Everlong mansion, tending the forge when Edward was away, watching over the house even before Bella came, and now, caring for little Kelvin as if the boy, his own son.
Whenever he had a free moment, Michael would sit beside Kelvin and tell him stories of his mercenary days.
...…
While in the room, the pendant responded, activating automatically to protect him.
The fire spike struck the yellow dome of light, sizzling against it. Kelvin felt a shockwave ripple through him as the barrier strained but held. Heat licked at his small hands, and he instinctively brought them closer, adjusting his grip on the necklace.
"How… strong is this artifact even without being properly guided by a mage its still stopped my spell?" the assassin muttered, backing up.
Inside the dome, Kelvin felt a strange warmth. He didn't understand mana yet, but he felt the rhythm of the pendant, its pulse echoing with his heartbeat. It was almost like a conversation: danger approached, act to protect.
The spike struck again. Rank 1 attacks were simple, direct, and powerful, the basic offensive magic of skilled mages. They weren't normally fatal if blocked correctly, but few children could endure one without being flung across the room. The pendant absorbed and redirected the force, holding Kelvin safe.
"I… I can do this!" he whispered to himself, barely understanding what he meant. It wasn't magic, but every lesson Michael had ever taught him: notice danger, protect yourself, trust your instincts.
The assassin snarled, gathering a second strike, more calculated, faster. He lunged again, but Kelvin didn't flinch, he simply focused, tiny fists gripping the pendant, and the barrier flared brighter, absorbing the strike and sending a ripple of Yellow light across the room.
"You… can't be real," the assassin muttered under his breath.
Kelvin's small lips curled into a determined line. "I… protect myself!"
For the first time, Michael's lessons, the stories of courage, of watching, of helping those in need, manifested in Kelvin not as words but as action. The boy's empathy had been honed into instinctual awareness. He had learned from Michael that the right thing to do often required courage, even when one was small.
The assassin realized he could not break the barrier, nor predict when the pendant might flare next. Kelvin's eyes, wide and fearless, tracked his movements with an intelligence far beyond his years.
"Rank 1 attack… blocked," Kelvin whispered to himself, still gripping the pendant. "Not just blocked… I'm safe."
The assassin's lips twitched in frustration. "Impossible… just a child…"
Kelvin didn't understand spells, or attack levels, or the limits of magical power. But he understood safety, observation. And in that quiet, tense room, he learned the first lesson of combat; awareness and heart could protect even the smallest of warriors.
The assassin crouched in the shadows; a vial of dark liquid clutched in his hand. "I will kill you even if I had to stay on bed for a year". With a swift motion, he drank it.
The potion shimmered black with streaks of red. Almost instantly, his aura shifted. Muscles tightened, reflexes sharpened, and mana flowed through him more ferociously than before. The Rank 1 Flame Spike he prepared now carried an unnatural precision, the fire compressed and honed to pierce even the strongest magical defenses.
Kelvin's necklace glowed, sensing danger, and a Yellow dome flared to life. But the spell struck with focused malice. The pendant quivered violently, humming as it tried to absorb the energy.
This time, the necklace failed. The silver pendant, the gift from Duke Emanuel, had protected Kelvin through countless minor threats, activating instinctively to shield him. But this attack was different and the dome of light disappeared.
Kelvin's chest heaved; his tiny heart pounded with a terror he had never known.
"Why are you not cooky anymore, you brat" he said.
As the assassin approached to deliver the final below, a roar thundered through the hallway.
"GET AWAY FROM MY BOY!!!"
The hallway erupted as a blur of motion crashed into the room. Michael.
Seeing assassin almost upon him' its too far I won't be able to reach in time,' he though.
"Sorry, Edward" he activated a spell.
Michael face was twisted with rage and fear, unlike anything Kelvin had ever seen. Without hesitation, he threw himself between him and the assassin's final attack. A purple aura burst from him, wild and raw, burning the air as it surged outward. Kelvin felt it, not mana, not like anything he had read about, but something older, ancient. The aura twisted and pulsed around Michael, forming a protective barrier around kelvin while sending assassin flying with a splash across the room.
Michael's voice was a growl, fierce and strained: "Forbidden Spell: blood burning Slash!!!"
It was magic prohibited by the kingdom because of the cost to use it, but to save kel's life, Michael didn't hesitate to pay the price. The forbidden magic tore the air apart. Blood-Burning Slash did not simply manipulate mana; it tore through life energy itself, drawing on the caster's vitality to unleash a destructive phantom blade.
Every strike drained years from Michael's life, yet in that instant, he did not care. The spell slashed through the assassin, severing him cleanly. SPLAT. The body hit the floor, lifeless, the dagger clattering across the room.
'what was that??'Kelvin stared in shock, trembling. He could hardly process the display.
But the cost was immediate. Michael's aura collapsed, twisting and writhing before fading. His hair, once black, turned white in an instant. Deep wrinkles carved themselves across his face. His back arched painfully as decades of age slammed into him at once. Bones cracked, sinews stretched beyond natural limits, and a cough splattered blood across the floor.
"K-Kel…" Michael whispered, collapsing onto one knee.
Kelvin ran forward, clutching his arm, "Uncle Michael! What happened?!" horrified.
Michael forced a weak smile, placing a trembling hand on Kelvin's cheek. "It's nothing… just little weakness. I'll recover… in a few days. Nothing to worry about."
Kelvin felt it, the burning heat, the weight of the sacrifice. Fear, helplessness, and anger twisted together inside him. He hugged Michael tightly, tears streaming down his small face.