The question had lingered in his mind for a while now.
What was that golden glow on his sword before it broke? What was that strange blue light surrounding the knight?
If that was mana… how was it supposed to be activated?
Was he supposed to shout some bizarre incantation and fire a magic blast, like in the movies?
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
Svend… he might know.
Bill turned to look at him. The boy was curled up on the cold stone floor, eyes tightly shut.
His arm… or rather, the place where his arm should have been, lay pressed to his chest. Maybe he had forgotten the pain for a moment.
Bill crawled toward him.
His least-injured arm was the one with broken knuckles, so he couldn't even use it for support. He could barely stand on one leg—and that was a struggle, considering the muscle aches and the cuts scattered across his body.
So, he dragged himself forward.
When he was just inches away from Svend's face, he whispered:
"Svend…"
The boy jolted as if he'd heard a ghost. Slowly, his eyes fluttered open.
"Bill?" he asked softly, frowning.
Bill nodded seriously. "Yes, Svend. It's me."
He looked down at the empty space where Svend's arm used to be.A deep wave of guilt washed over him.
Yes, Svend had been an enemy—but if they'd spoken instead of attacking each other from the start, would things have turned out differently?
More than that… if Bill hadn't taken Desmond's body, would Svend be alive and whole now?
He didn't want to know the answer.
"How's your arm?" he asked, guilt heavy in his voice.
Svend glanced away slightly. "It's not bleeding anymore. I made a tourniquet. Still hurts, though. But hey… what about you?"
He narrowed his eyes with a puzzled, slightly worried look.
"How are you even alive? I saw you—fighting soldiers, bleeding everywhere.
You even faced off against a royal knight, Bill! A two-core royal knight! Do you have any idea what that means? It means your bounty's going up! They'll probably put one on me now too, thanks to you!"
Bill sighed and shook his head.
"Svend, I've got a million questions too, but we need to get out of here first.
We can't escape with injuries like these and a thousand goblins outside. We have to move before they come back."
He gestured to his own wounds.
"Could you help me stand?"
As they talked, Bill learned a great deal.
The knight he had fought… he claimed to be a two-core knight of Camelot.
At first, Bill had no clue what that meant, so he asked directly. Svend looked at him like he'd grown another head—like it was common knowledge.
And maybe it was.
But Bill had just arrived here yesterday, so he didn't let Svend dodge the explanation.
Reluctantly, like someone explaining things to a child, Svend began:
"The cores are part of a person's soul. There are nine in total.Each core grants a special ability or element tied to your essence. Sure, you can learn taught techniques, but your innate abilities—those tied to your cores—are far more important."
He then listed them:
"The first is the Echo Core.
The second, Trail.
The third, Veil.
Fourth, Presence.
Fifth, Herald.
Sixth, Ruin.
Seventh, Destruction.
And the last two… no one knows.
No one has ever reached them."
Bill raised an eyebrow.
"And the names? Who came up with those?"
Svend scratched his head.
"Oh, that... A man found some ruins in a distant kingdom called Daemon.
There, he discovered the method to create a core.
Unfortunately, he erased the records of the last two cores, so nobody knows how to progress beyond that point.
He shared the knowledge with others, and no one ever questioned it."
The mention of Daemon made Bill tense for a second.
Still, considering he was in the past, it made sense that there would be records of it.
Even so, he couldn't shake the curiosity of how it might look now.
Maybe someday, he'd find out.
"I need to know how to create a core, Svend," Bill said, voice serious, eyes locked on Svend's green gaze.
Svend gave him another baffled look.
"You mean… you don't have one already?" he asked, as if Bill were some kind of mutant.
"...No?" Bill replied, more confused than ever.
"If that's true, then it's impossible you fought like that on skill alone.
I saw the golden glow you gave off in the forest—I thought you'd formed one right then and there. That's why I guided you to the lake.Are you sure you don't have one? Or… do you not even know what a core is?"
He really thinks I'm some kind of freak now, Bill thought, seeing the look in Svend's eyes.
There was nothing else to do but be honest.
"I don't know…" he said, ashamed.
Svend let out a long sigh, gaze drifting toward the scattered bodies around them.Some groaned in pain, barely alive.
"I don't have a core… and you don't know how to use yours," he muttered, glancing up at the rocky ceiling.
"I have to create one. And you… you need to learn to control yours."
He turned back to Bill, smiling faintly.
"So sit down. I'll teach you what little I know."
There was a spark of pride in his eyes.
"He's talking casually to me now, huh?" Bill thought.