>>5738231Clay listens to your thoughts, the smile never leaving his face. After you finish, he drums his fingers on the table, apparently thinking. You expect him to deflect as he usually does, but instead he surprises you. “Well…you’re half right, in any case. Though exceedingly rare, an exceptionally skilled dark mage, with enough effort and application, can eventually learn how to use Nosferatu to extend their lifespan. Personally though, I find that method to be rather crude and morally bleak. I developed my own similar, but wholly unique process instead.”
>“…So how old are you really?”“Truth be told, I don’t remember. I stopped counting after the War of the Eagle and Lion.”
“…That was…the year 751.”
“Don’t I look great?” He smirks, raising his eyebrows excitedly.”
>You sigh. You knew there was something weird about him…but this? “So then, who or what are you really? And what’s this secret to immortality you’ve seemingly found?”“I’m a full-blooded human, same as you. But, per your original hunch, you were correct. I am indeed a Crest bearer. The Crest of Chevalier flows through my veins.”
>“Chevalier? Like the Apostle? I’ve only heard of it in legends. It’s a Crest of the Four Apostles, and one that’s supposedly been lost to history. No one even knows what it did.”“On the surface, it’s a simple one. It allows its user to heal their own wounds as they fight. One can jump into the heat of battle and emerge on the other side completely unscathed. Any scratch or cut they’d have suffered would be healed upon inflicting damage against their opponent. It’s effective, but it lacks the same raw power that other Crests possess. After several years of honing this ability, and many hard-fought battles, I realized that it wasn’t just my wounds that were being healed. Illnesses, fatigue…even aging had all been staved off. Of all those in history that have possessed Chevalier, I believe only its namesake knew how to perform these same feats.”
>“For hundreds of years you’ve been staying alive…by fighting?”Clay nods. “In a sense. Druids like Morag use Nosferatu to drain life-force from other humans. It’s a vicious cycle that leaves a pile of withered corpses in its wake. Chevalier on the other hand, heals my ailments all on its own. It does not discriminate, either. Most times, I don’t even need to kill to receive the effect. A simple disarming wound is enough to revert my course a few months. It makes me wonder if Seiros herself knew what she was doing when she bestowed the Crest upon my master.”
>“Your master?” 