Salvation of the Scum Fifth Prince

Alvara had followed Soren on impulse, and because she had nowhere else to go. For that reason, to earn her keep, she would listen to his orders.

However, she was not a people person.

"You're saying... you want me to find somebody for you?"

Soren sat at the table, legs crossed on his seat lazily as he sprawled out on top of the wooden sheen. "You won't find him. He'll find you."

"That really doesn't make this any less scary."

"He's not good at comforting people. Let sloths sleep as they please." said a low voice as they pulled another chair up beside Soren. "Have you been sleeping more and more recently, little prince?"

Soren's cheek pressed against the table as he squinted. "Didn't sleep earlier." The tone was almost accusing.

"That was your choice." reminded Raphael.

Alvara laughed, but her expression soon fell again.

A great war was coming — or so she was told. This person she was supposed to find, a young fox, as described by Soren, was an essential piece in the story that was going to unfold.

"Anyway, I think the plan is for me to teach you, isn't it?" said Raphael, resting his head on a hand with a grin. "Why don't we get started right away?"

Alvara was the only person who could save Uriel if she learned how to use her necromancy wisely.

Raphael, somebody blessed with immense talents in all the worlds he lived in, was an ideal teacher.

"Yeah, I'm fine with that."

"Now, let's remove the unnecessary items out of the room." said Raphael, standing up as he pulled Soren's chair away from the table.

The prince scowled, "What?"

"I need the room."

"Take another."

Raphael grinned. "No, I won't."

Even if there were other rooms available, how could he pass up the opportunity to bother with this troublesome sloth?

"I'll watch." said Soren stubbornly, holding the chair as he was dragged away.

Raphael stopped. "Do you really want to?"

"Yes."

Observe, observe and observe.

Soren had decided to do just that, and the one he was the most curious about was Raphael. A person who he might've passed, once upon a time.

Somebody who might understand him, ever so slightly.

Raphael's eyes raked over him before he nodded. "I doubt I could stop you anyway, so sit still."

Alvara seemed to watch them carefully, staring at their every movement. "You two are close." remarked the teenager casually, earning a disgusted look from both. She raised her hands in surrender. "You aren't? Sorry."

Raphael sighed and walked over, hand resting on his hips lazily as he spoke. "We'll start right away."

"In here?"

"Place and time doesn't matter in the case of using your mana. Although practice would be better in a place similar to where you'll end up venturing to."

Soren rested his head on the back of the chair, legs crossed. "She can use my training room."

He didn't have any particular attachments for the room, except from the lingering memory of snow-white trunks and leaves of absolute tranquility. Regardless, it wasn't a place he had the right to be possessive of. 

It wasn't his. 

His fingers wandered over the belt which hung at his waist, searching for the small satchel that hung at the side. He pulled out a piece of candy and nibbled at it.

"Your practice room?" wondered Alvara.

Soren nodded. "Yes."

In light of Soren's lacking explanation, Raphael — who knew well of what place he referred to — explained in his steed. "It's a room specially designed for all the princes. A place that can mimic any scene, any place."

Alvara's ruby eyes widened in surprise, interlaced with anticipating curiosity. "Oh, woah. Can I really borrow it?"

There was no reply from its owner, and the two turned to look at Soren, who was focused on chewing his candy.

He lifted his icy eyes and frowned. "What?"

"Can I really?"

"I'll say no if you ask again."

"I won't!" said Alvara quickly, turning to Raphael. "Please teach me now, I've been told I learn quickly."

Raphael laughed. "If you say so." 

He stood, legs slightly apart, as the air suddenly chilled and the traces of amusement faded from his eyes, replaced by a cold glint. There seemed to be a wind that ran up their backs, biting into the skin and threatening to consume. 

Raphael closed his eyes, lashes brushing against his cheeks as a black swirl gathered around him, controlled yet wild.

It crept along the floor, trickling his legs before coiling around like twisting vines searching for its target, like snakes waiting for a command. 

Then his eyes snapped open.

Soren swallowed.

Golden flecks sprinkled across Raphael's abyssal eyes like stars in an empty night sky, seeming to hum gently in their pulsing glow. Alluring. Mesmerizing. Beautiful. 

The fiery wisps of gold started to fade into existence, joining the dark mist in its twisting curls as they melded together, like the starry night sky. 

And as it twisted slowly around his body, Raphael's lips quirked into a smile. The air grew stagnant and suddenly the gold-black mist swirled around him, spiralling into the air.

As soon as it did, everything burst apart.

For a second, Soren saw dazzling stars dancing above his head as vividly as anything else.

Raphael opened curved his eyes at the curiosity on Soren's face, and the wonder in Alvara's. "I've had a decent amount of practice with using my mana over the years, and the application is the same for most places I go. What you just witnessed is the colour of my mana -- it's typically black, but occasionally takes upon golden flakes when I use enough."

"What was it that you just did?" asked Alvara.

"It's a simple method of practicing control." explained Raphael. "You gather all the mana you can feel in your surrounding, searching for what feels like yours, and call for it at once."

"Call for it?"

"It's something that can't quite be explained, but instead found on your own. You have to feel it, let it brush against your body like it's connected. Then, you will it to act under your control.

Alvara squinted at her stretched out palms. "I get it, but I don't."

Raphael grinned and stepped back. "Just give it a try."

"I'll do just that, I guess." A nervous glint tainted her eyes, and she frowned uncertainly.

Soren wondered, "Why are you willing to do this?"

Her head turned to him. "Do what?"

"Try."

"Because if I'd have to learn eventually, I'd rather do it now." said Alvara, opening and closing her hands to relax herself. "Running from a problem doesn't fix it — it worsens it."

Soren said nothing in return and she turned back, taking a deep breath with the flow of the wind.

At first, nothing happened.

There was only the natural, tense silence as they waited in anticipation. One minute, then another, and another. Raphael and Soren remained in their positions; they didn't need to act as long as she was still trying.

Then, a small pulse of weighing darkness rushed through the floor.

It was faint — unlike Raphael's crushing dominance that sent goosebumps skipping along your skin. It was quiet but unknown and unable to be seen. 

Another minute, another pulse. Ripples of darkness flowing across the ground. 

And finally, chaos ensued.

The black pulses growled, and the ground trembled, dark spikes shooting across the walls and air in violent frenzy. It pierced through the light, shattering it as the night completely swallowed the room — allowing the chaos to grow even more.

"Dammit, she's lost herself." said Raphael as he swiped his hand across the air, familiar golden flecks flowing against the violent mist.

Alvara's eyes were wide opened, the glowing red deep drowning in the unfamiliar power.

"Ren," started Raphael urgently, spinning his head around. 

The teenager would have to be held down, subdued, while he calmed her raging mana. Only, it was dangerous and for the typical person, they would reject to helping. This thought made Raphael falter.

But then Soren's chains snapped across the air and wrapped around Alvara, dragging her forward. 

The black wisps of mana rebelled, rushing at Soren as he deflected them with his chains.

Raphael's hesitation lasted only a moment longer before he tore his eyes aware and devoted his mana to calm down Alvara's.

'He didn't hesitate.' thought Raphael in the glimmer of distraction he had room for in his mind. 'It's pretty... reliable.'

Soon after, Alvara's light returned to its usual crimson hue and collapsed onto the ground in a heap as Soren's chains kept her from falling directly down. Raphael coughed, running a hand through his hair.

"It could've gone worse for a first time." said Raphael finally, as he crouched down to gently lift the girl onto a chair, placing her head on the table as she slept soundly.

"...You've seen worse?"

"I've seen much worse." 

A noise interrupted their conversation. Instead of an actual knock, there was a verbal exclamation from the door. 

"Knock knock~"

"....." Soren stared, then turned to look at Raphael, who shook his head at the other's laziness and made his way to the door. 

In the archway, standing as proud and playful as he always did was Brioc.

"Having a party without me? I'm insulted." said Brioc in false accusation, quietly glancing over the scene as he spoke. He lifted his chin slightly and smiled at Raphael. "I haven't met you yet...?

"Raphael Han." introduced the protagonist calmly, "You're Brioc, aren't you?"

"What, has Renren gossiped about me during my absence?"

"I can't say I've heard nothing."

Brioc ran the conversation through his head and glanced at Soren, then Raphael. "Wait, you're the real Raphy?"

Raphael furrowed his brows in confusion. "...Raphy?"

"I kindly gave the nickname to somebody, but it seems I'll have to use another as that person lied to me."

"Oh." The protagonist only took moments to understand the situation and went along with it. "How could they do that to you?"

"I wonder~"

Soren sat beside the other two books indifferently, not a hint of shame crossing his face.

Brioc's grin grew wider before he paused and looked at the passed out teenager on the table. There seemed to be something he felt as he searched the air carefully, narrowing his eyes. 

"Were you training her on how to use her mana?" wondered Brioc. "Why out of the blue, hm?"

This time, Soren lifted his chin tiredly. They'd briefly spoken to the group of three that Soren had brought back with him, but there was little time for a proper conversation.

Since there was time now, Soren would say whatever he needed to. 

"We plan to visit the Haze Kingdom." said Soren bluntly.

Brioc mulled over the sentence. "By visit, I don't suppose you mean infiltrate? Sneak in? I could help you with that, y'know~?"

Raphael was watching for every small expression. "Even if we're going against your family?"

"Especially if you're going against my family."

"Why is that?"

"Not every family is guaranteed happiness. It's a boring story really, do you still want to hear it?" Before anybody could accept or reject him, he continued. "The King is some old man whose morals are messed up. For power, he'd do anything. Anything."

"What did he do to you?"

Brioc's smile faltered. "Enough for me not to look at him as family. Anyway, it was restraining. I hated it, so I left."

His words were light, brushing over the story like any other day. However, Raphael knew that it was different. He'd seen many people, heard many stories, and a complicated family was anything but strange.

Despite that, every person dealt with it in their own unique way. 

Brioc, with his stubborn and unrelenting personality which naturally attracted trouble, had chosen to leave his home. 

To leave everything he knew behind for a life that was uncertain, and could've resulted in death any other moment.

When Brioc shifted his head, he noticed Raphael's distraction and said, "If you're about to pity me, don't."

"I'm not." said Raphael. "You're living a life you're satisfied with, so it doesn't matter what happened in the past. At least, it'll take more for me to pity you.

"Hm, you're not so bad, real Raphy. Now, what's the plan?"

"You'll help us get in without getting caught." answered Soren from the sideline. "There was a way you escape — we'll use it to get in."

"Are you sure? The way I used was an ancient secret... full of dangerous mechanisms and traps, where almost nobody could escape... except me, of course~"

"Speak seriously."

Brioc laughed, grinning widely. "There's an underground set of tunnels that I used. The Haze King had long forgotten about it."

"We'll use that."

"Wow Renren, you trust me so much~?"

"There's no other option."

Brioc gasped. "So your intention was to play with me, then abandon me all along? Are you just using me?"

".....if you said no, I wouldn't stop you."

Brioc was a person that was simply far beyond normal human comprehension, concluded Soren after some thought. Some people, they were better off not understanding.

Raphael pulled over a chair and sat down, leaning back. "What's the Haze King like, Brioc?"

Brioc's voice lowered slightly, carrying a serious tint. "Power hungry — so much, he'd sacrifice as many people as needed for a sliver of power. He's delusional, I find, but he's in a position where nobody can knock some sense into him. Shame."

"You're not surprised he's cooperating with the Third Religion?"

Brioc shrugged. "It'd be more surprising if he didn't. They likely promised him immense power, or ultimate rule over the continent. Even if it was a lie, he'd fall for it."

"Then, is he easy to deceive? To fool?"

"Nope, that's wrong. He's delusional, but there's a reason why nobody went against him. The Haze King is a complete tyrant, and has the skills to be one. He's also paranoid about losing power, so it's hard to sneak around him."

Raphael sighed. "That's too bad. I was hoping he'd be another foolish King."

"Stick to the plan." said Soren calmly, resting his arms on the table. "It'll work."

"So confident~" remarked Brioc with a laugh.

The prince had every right to be with his knowledge of the world that could serve as one of the most powerful weapons against these characters. Not to mention, he was constantly, whether he liked it or not, running into the important characters who made failure near impossible.

Regardless, Soren wasn't one to feel anxiety over the failure of such thing. If the plan didn't work, then he'd decide what to do at that moment.

However, Raphael had other ideas.

Yet, he didn't feel anxiety in this moment. 

Failure was not an option, not anymore. He couldn’t stand to watch another world collapse between his fingers once again, so close to being saved. There existed a doubt that could never diminish.

His eyes rested on Soren for a moment.

Lazy, strange and unpredictable. Somebody who seemed to want to run away rather than save the world. But there was no other choice, not anymore.

He would trust this man.