MTL - Bamboo Horse Alpha - Chapter 37 perturbed

His muscles screamed, his body begged for rest, his mind ordered him to stop. But Bakugo couldn't. Not while Izuku hadn't arrived. So, he pushed forward. Every explosion, every strike, every movement was pure determination, a reflection of his unwavering will to win.For a moment, he felt beyond himself. Fast. Precise. Almost invincible.And then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed. The battlefield vanished, and the pain ceased.It was in that moment that Katsuki Bakugo understood... he had died.Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, images or songs featured in this fic. Additionally, I do not claim ownership of any products or properties mentioned in this novel. This work is entirely fanfic.

The prince of Maldonia, Prince Artemis of House Arteides, the bear killer, the slayer of the elves is crowned King when his father King Arteides dies. The whole kingdom of Maldonia depends on him now, but he puts the throne in jeopardy after he refuses to marry Princess Thelma of House Taelin from the kingdom of Prophis and opt to marry Aurora Kholin, the love of his life.

Aurora is a seer and a powerful witch who has yet to aknowledge her powers, only Artemis knows of it. Lucian Mithandir is in exile recruiting an army to fight Prince Castellan of house Taelin for the throne of Prophis. Artemis wants no parts of this war, but he is very aware whoever wins the war will later turn to Maldonia.

Artemis has no clue that a bigger war is coming which will set kingdoms on fire, Aurora has seen it in her dreams and it’s for the Sweet Waters Throne in Maldonia. The end is uncertain but the ways are clearer, who will sit on the throne after the war between Lord Gandalf of House Old City who owns mighty huge lions and King Artemis of Maldonia who has Aurora and dragons breathing fire.

~ Excerpt Scene ~

The men of the secret council remained behind after the king walked away to further discuss the situation at the borders of the kingdom. The battlefield was named Stonedance and that’s because of its stony surface and this part of the place was usually abandoned and without inhabitants. Some people claimed Stonedance was cursed, that’s because it laid in the middle of two powerful kingdoms.

Stonedance was neither cold nor humid as it stood between the hot and shining Maldonia, and the freezing and gothic Prophis. It was the perfect place to fight and camp, the two battalions had all the space to themselves to prepare for war. Three hundred thousand men loyal to King Castellan Taelin of Prophis laid on the East, and two hundred thousand men keen to keep Lucian Mithandir.

Whatever was going on in Stonedance was of no Artemis’s concern as he focused more on sharpening his swordsmanship skills. He trained from morning to noon, with the lord commander of his kingsguard, Sir Dante Lucan who he befriended and these two became inseparable in a span of just a week.

“Come to me! Hard” Artemis urged his lord commander to not be easy on him.

“If I go hard on you Your Grace, we shall be left without a king to rule” replied Sir Dante Lucan with a smile. “You are getting better day by day; may I ask why the sudden interest in swordsmanship?”

.....

“I am a celebrated knight Sir Dante. I have fought in wars ever since I was nine”

“Exactly my point Your Grace. You are good with your sword, and have been for some time” Sir Dante smiled softly “Is it the war in Stonedance which makes His Grace nervous?”

“Some say I am ought to join my uncle, support the house my mother called it home. While others say my uncle betrayed me the very first day he took Mithandir inside his walls”

“And what do you say, Your Grace?”

Aurora joined them and Sir Dante excused himself. It had been a week and four days since they were last seeing at court.

“I am a warlock Artemis” For the first time ever since Artemis knew Aurora, this was the first she’s declared and accepted her true nature. “I am a seer, spaewife, or any other words you may want to use but I am not normal”

“We have talked about this Aurora, when the time is right…”

Aurora interrupted “The time is now!” she said. “I can feel the flames in my dreams getting hotter. If I don’t seek the help I need now, I fear for my own existence. I saw myself riding a ─” she paused softly.

Artemis leaned on to her “Riding a what?” he asked suspiciously.

“It may sound crazy, I mean I have never heard of such creatures and even if they exist…”

“What were you riding Aurora?”

After a few seconds of not being sure how will Artemis react or take it, Aurora finally exhaled softly and brought herself to speak “A dragon” and then she paused waiting to see how will Artemis take all of it.

I’m in a secret, bad romance with a love dependent student—「Having a secret meeting with a student one is in charge of at school… Isn’t it exciting?」The special relationship with Kirihara that no one can know about began when I took up my post at Mori Kawara High School as a teacher.At school, she’s the serious student council president who has earned a lot of trust from other teachers, but when it’s just the two of us, she becomes mischievous, clingy, and jealous.On weekends, I cook meals at her place, play games together, and pamper her as if we were lovers.Unable to reject her because she knows my weakness, and despite knowing it’s wrong, we continue to pile up secrets little by little every day…「Sensei, my feelings of liking you have grown very strong.」As Kirihara openly confronts me with her feelings, the emotions I’ve been holding back grow even stronger.Even though it would all be over if it were exposed, that sense of immorality ironically only accelerates things further—

Six months ago, tens of thousands of black phantom towers appeared all over the world, floating above the cities. Chemists, physicists, religious people… all of them could do nothing.