History Sandbox / TheBeginningAfterTheEndArthurLeywin

* ConsummateLiar:
** [[spoiler:He has little trouble passing himself off as a country bumpkin raised in isolation to justify his ignorance of Alacryan customs]].
** [[spoiler:Again in the Relictombs, where he pretends to be Caera's manservant. Unfortunately for him he meets a LivingLieDetector]].

* DespairEventHorizon: Crosses it momentarily [[spoiler:as he lies broken and powerless in the Relictombs, in a foreign continent, with Sylvie seemingly dead, the war lost, the fate of his loved ones uncertain and his mana core shattered beyond all repair]].

* TheDreaded: Was this as General Leywin to the Alacryan army, as the only Lance capable of consistently defeating Retainers. Post-Volume 9, he becomes this to them again. [[spoiler:His new reputation began at the Victoriad, where he came out of nowhere to defeat two Scythes before promptly escaping Agrona and the Legacy with impunity. Then, he shows up in Dicathen and retakes the entire continent in a matter of days all while giving the Alacryan forces there the MookHorrorShow with his godlike powers. He even managed to show up in Alacrya again and blow up a whole military facility with a FantasticNuke, before there returning yet again to assist Seris's rebllion in killing off the Sovereigns]].

* GoodIsNotSoft: While Arthur is a pleasant individual most of the time, when it comes to the pursuit of his goals - in particular protecting his loved ones - he will not back down that easily. Crossing him is often a fatal mistake.

* KillTheOnesYouLove: A major incident in his past life as King Grey [[spoiler:saw him being forced to duel his childhood friend Cecilia for the position of king. Cecilia, who had been fought over all her life for her power as the Legacy and was tired of being used as a puppet, took the opportunity to commit SuicideByCop during their duel]].

* ObliviousToLove: PlayedWith. Arthur isn't indifferent to Tessia's advances, but due to how inexperienced he is in that domain, he chooses to shelve the issue under "She's too young/It's childish infatuation and it'll pass". When Tessia makes it clear how serious she is, Arthur ultimately gives her an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove. Later in Volume 7, he confesses his feelings for her and they promise to get married after the end of the war.

* WreckedWeapon: During the war, his sword Dawn’s Ballad gets broken twice. The first time around occurs when he fights Uto, the second time occurs at the end of the war with Arthur being forced to discard it for good.

* AdventureDuo: During his days as the masked adventurer Note, he traveled alongside Jasmine as her own protégé.

** Agrona Vritra, the deity responsible for invading Arthur’s homeland of Dicathen, causing the deaths of many of his friends and family, and [[spoiler:reincarnating him in the first place along with his friends Nico and Cecilia whom he has brainwashed into serving him]].
** [[spoiler:Kezess Indrath, the deity responsible for Agrona’s StartOfDarkness, orchestrating the destruction of Elenoir, and also causing the deaths of many of Arthur’s friends and family]].

* BigBrotherIsWatching: The "Stalking" relic allows him to witness people and events halfway across the world.

** In his past life, [[spoiler:Grey's first and only love was his childhood friend Cecilia. However, he was willing to step aside and let Nico have his chance with her. His lingering feelings for her only served to make him having to kill her during the King’s Tourney all the more traumatizing for him]].

* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: During [[spoiler:his negotiations with Kezess, Arthur twice calls him out on his genocide of the Djinn even though Kezess, being the TopGod, is far more powerful than he is. The only reason Kezess does not strike him down for his insolence is because Arthur is the first being in millennia since the genocide to have come close to understanding how to control aether, though Kezess sternly rebukes him by warning him that any further mention of the Djinn will be the end of him]].

* TheDreaded: Was this as General Leywin to the Alacryan army, as the only Lance capable of consistently defeating Retainers. Post-Volume 9, he becomes this to them again. [[spoiler:His new reputation began at the Victoriad, where he came out of nowhere to defeat two Scythes before promptly escaping Agrona and the Legacy with impunity. Then, he shows up in Dicathen and retakes the entire continent in a matter of days all while giving the Alacryan forces there the MookHorrorShow with his godlike powers. He even managed to show up in Alacrya again and blow up a whole military facility with a FantasticNuke]].

* HornedHumanoid: [[spoiler:Sports a pair of these when donning the Relic Armor.]]

** Killing Lucas in an especially gruesome way earns him the lasting enmity of his brother Bairon, although Bairon forgives him later. This proves critical in situations where both needed to trust each other, as Bairon instead looked for any opportunity to make Arthur pay without risk of reprisal.

* SingleLineOfDescent: [[spoiler: After merging with Sylvie's physical body he has the genes of Agrona, Sylvia, Kezess, and Myre]].

* TechnologyUplift: Arthur ends up becoming a one-man example. When he visits Gideon to acquire artifacts that he needs for himself and his family, he shows the artificer the blueprints for a steam engine which he could use to power the Dicatheous. However, Arthur begins having reservations about giving Gideon any more pieces of technology from his past life as he is afraid of the potential threat it could pose to his homeland. He ends up being proven horribly right as he learns years later that the Alacryans reverse-engineered the Dicatheous to create an armada of steamships to transport their army to Dicathen.

** In the Xyrus Academy Arc, Arthur, Elijah, and Tessia form this dynamic. The dynamic is shattered at the end of the arc when [[spoiler:Elijah is kidnapped during the attack on Xyrus and brought to Alacrya to reactivate his original personality, Nico. Later on, Tessia is captured by Nico and turned into the vessel for Cecilia both as part of Agrona’s plan and to spite Arthur on Nico’s end]].
** During Arthur's time in [[spoiler:the Relictombs and Alacrya, his main companions are Regis - the manifestation of the Acclorite that Wren gave him before the war - and Caera - a Vritra-blooded Alacryan whom he met shortly after he got stranded in the Relictombs - as replacements for Sylvie and Tessia respectively after he got separated from both at the end of the war. After Arthur acquires an ancient suit of Djinn PoweredArmor that causes him to sport horns, Regis jokingly refers the three of them as "the Horny Trio"]].

* YinYangBomb: Arthur and his family [[spoiler:are descended from the long-gone Djinn race. Then thanks to Sylvie’s HeroicSacrifice to preserve his body, Arthur becomes part-Asura, specifically dragon and basilisk considering Sylvie’s own WarringNatures as the descendant of both the Indrath and Vritra Clans respectively. The "Yin Yang" part is that the Indrath committed genocide upon the Djinn out of jealousy for the latter's ability to control aether, which the former believed was exclusively theirs to control. This is on top of the atrocities both clans have committed upon Arthur’s homeland of Dicathen in the midst of their DivineConflict]].

During Arthur’s training on Epheotus in preparation for the Alacryan invasion, the Asuran smith Wren Kain IV embedded into Arthur’s hand a unique weapon that he called an Acclorite. Wren promised Arthur that it would be the ideal weapon for him as it would mold itself to match his fighting style, but with the caveat that it would only awaken within a year. After Arthur finds himself stranded in the Relictombs in the aftermath of the war, the Acclorite finally awakens, manifesting as a spectral wolf called Regis.

* ContrastingReplacementCharacter: To Sylvie as an animal companion of Asuran origin who is bonded Arthur, replacing her following her HeroicSacrifice at the end of Volume 7. Sylvie used to be innocent and childlike but during the WarArc became more serious as developed concern for her bond's well-being. Regis on the other hand tends to tick off his bond with his constant snarky remarks and humor. Following [[spoiler:Sylvie's resurrection, the two coexist as {{Foil}}[=s=] to one another, especially since by then Sylvie's default form has become her human form]].

* CustomUniform: As a member of the Disciplinary Committee, Arthur wears a unique black uniform with a golden trim. This makes him stand out when compared to regular students who wear blue and white uniforms.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Post-Volume 9, [[spoiler: Arthur wears a dark suit of armor, conjures spectral flames, and is accompanied by a terrifying spectral wolf. Fortunately, he would rather spare your life rather than resort to violence first (though if you still insist on fighting, he is more than willing to oblige to show you just how big of a mistake you just made). That is, unless you are of the Indrath or Vritra Clans (except Sylvie), in which case he will show you no mercy]].

* DespairEventHorizon: Crosses it momentarily [[spoiler:as he lies broken and powerless in the Relictombs, in a foreign continent, with Sylvie [[NotQuiteDead dead]], the war lost, the fate of his loved ones uncertain and his mana core shattered beyond all repair.]]

* ExperiencedProtagonist: Thanks to retaining his memories as a battle-hardened king, Arthur is a skilled combatant even at a young age. When he is just four years old, he is able to hold his own against a veteran adventurer during a friendly spar, help his family fend off a bandit ambush, and kill a group of slave traders all by himself. Five years later, Arthur is able to match an even stronger adventurer in combat during an examination to assess his own skill as an adventurer. Later on, he is able to slay a monstrous Elderwood Guardian on his own after most of his party got wiped out.

* FreudianTrio: After [[spoiler:Sylvie's resurrection at the end of Volume 10, Him and his two bonds exhibit this dynamic. Regis is TheId, Sylvie is TheSuperego]], and Arthur is TheEgo.

* ContrastingReplacementCharacter: To Sylvie as an animal companion of Asuran origin who is bonded Arthur, replacing her following her HeroicSacrifice at the end of Volume 7. Sylvie used to be innocent and childlike but during the WarArc became more serious as developed concern for her bond's well-being. Regis on the other hand tends to tick off his bond with his constant snarky remarks and humor. Following [[spoiler:Sylvie's resurrection, the two coexist as {[Foil}}[=s=] to one another, especially since by then Sylvie's default form has become her human form]].

* ArrestedForHeroism: After Arthur ends the attack on Xyrus by executing Lucas, he and Sylvie are arrested by the Lances at the behest of the council. In spite of the protests of the survivors, in particular the Glayder siblings whose parents are on the council, Arthur and Sylvie are taken away. Not helping matters is that one of the Lances apprehending him is Bairon, Lucas’s older brother, who has nothing but hatred for him for killing his brother and the offense against his family. As it turns out, this was part of a gambit by Agrona to manipulate the Council into handing Arthur and Sylvie over to him.

** When [[spoiler:he is brought face to face with the Legacy, he notes that Cecilia is NotHerself, as rather acting like the same tortured woman who committed SuicideByCop in their fateful duel she is instead despising him as much as Nico did. He infers that Agrona must have done something to her either before or after her reincarnation to make her hate him. Sure enough, it is later revealed that Agrona had subjected both Nico and Cecilia to MindRape and gave them FalseMemories as he had them ReforgedIntoAMinion]].

* FatalFlaw: How extreme Arthur is generally about his personal relationships. Goes all the way from being aloof and extremely distant in his previous life, out of fear his personal connections might be used against him to hurt him, straight to being overprotective to the absurd. This costs him dearly, as this mindset railroads him into situations that could've been avoided. Later from the beginning of Volume 8 onwards he gets better.

* FreudianTrio: Him and his two bonds exhibit this dynamic. [[spoiler:Regis]] is TheId, Sylvie is TheSuperego, and Arthur is TheEgo.

* HeavySleeper: Has noted he has difficulty waking up, which has lead to his sister to elbow drop him to wake him up. Later on, Bairon, who hates him for killing his brother Lucas, decides to wake him up from a nightmare by throwing a lightning bolt at him, though Arthur manages to wake up and catch the bolt.

* HeroicBSoD: [[spoiler: Suffers one after his father's death]].

** Arthur’s friends and family in Dicathen, especially Tessia, serve to keep his head in the right place. The desire to not only protect them from harm but to also [[spoiler:reunite with them after the end of the war helps drive him forward to survive in both the Relictombs and Alacrya. In particular, his desire to save Tessia from her fate as the vessel for the Legacy serves as a major goal for him once he returns to Dicathen and reunites with his family, especially since he had made a ChildhoodFriendMarriagePromise with her during the war and feels extremely guilty about the harm he had allowed to happen to her and her family]].

** When drawing upon the [[spoiler:third phase of Realmheart]], as it actively starts killing him. He does not realize this and instead feels invincible in that state.

** At the close of the WarArc, [[spoiler:Tessia goes back to the Council Castle on her own to try to rescue her parents in spite of their treason. She arrives to find her parents executed by the Alacryans. In the process of having to rescue her, Arthur is forced to stay behind to hold off the Alacryan forces. In turn, this leads to his near-death and him ending up in the Relictombs]].

** When [[spoiler:Aldir sacrifices himself to allow Arthur to resurrect Sylvie, he bequeaths Arthur his weapon Silverlight as proof of his death and asks him to say that he brought him to justice for his crimes against both Dicathen and Epheotus. As much as Arthur feels Aldir is taking the easy way out for his role in destroying Elenoir and wants him to stay around to fight both Agrona and Kezess, he begrudgingly lets him carry out his sacrifice. The only other individuals to know the truth outside of the Hearth are Sylvie, Regis, and Wren]].

* BigManOnCampus: Arthur has a rather lofty reputation during his time in Xyrus Academy. In spite of being a first-year, he earns a spot on the brand-new Disciplinary Committee despite having no prior connections. Not only does he humiliate a professor during the first day of class, but he ends up replacing said professor at Director Goodsky’s behest the same day. This is followed by him managing to hold his own in an upper-level combat class where he ends up saving the StudentCouncilPresident from an attack GoneHorriblyWrong. On top of all that, the fact he attracts the attention of both Princesses Eralith (the aforementioned StudentCouncilPresident) and Glayder becomes a topic of interest among the student body which earns him the envy of quite a few students.

* {{Irony}}: It is revealed [[spoiler:Arthur is a descendant from the Dijnn while also having an Asuran body with both dragon and basilisk blood after merging with Sylvie's physical body. Meaning Arthur has within him the blood of his and his ancestors' greatest enemies]].
* ItsPersonal: Several of Arthur’s enemies got on his bad side due to this trope. Especially if they threatened, harmed, or outright killed his loved ones.
** Lucas. When they were adventurers in the same party, Lucas ended up causing a TotalPartyKill during a botched expedition and got off practically scot-free thanks to his corrupt family’s influence. Arthur was forced to take precautions to protect himself and his family from Lucas’s family, as House Wykes is one of the most powerful houses in Sapin, even having one of their own elevated to the position of Lance. Lucas would go on to torment Arthur during his days in Xyrus Academy despite not knowing his identity. Suffice to say, when Arthur gets the opportunity to end him for his role in the attack on Xyrus, he does so in a cathartically graphic fashion.

** Cadell, the Scythe who killed his ParentalSubstitute Sylvia when Arthur was young. [[spoiler:Seeing him again at the close of the WarArc reignites Arthur’s childhood trauma, and when they do clash Arthur is outmatched by him. However, once Arthur CameBackStrong after the war, he was finally able to slay him at the Victoriad]].

** {{Averted}} again the close of the WarArc when [[spoiler:he loses against Cadell, the murderer of his ParentalSubstitute and the strongest among the Scythes]].
** PlayedStraight in the climax of Volume 9 where he [[spoiler:cripples Nico and kills Cadell as a payback for all the suffering they caused to both him and his loved ones]].

** In Volume 8, [[spoiler:Arthur learns that after the climactic battle of the previous volume, his mana core has been damaged beyond recovery. From there, he RePower[=s=] himself and CameBackStrong. He learns that Sylvie's HeroicSacrifice has made his body part-Asura, develops an aether core to replace his destroyed mana core, acquires game-changing spells known as Godrunes as well as a suit of ancient PoweredArmor, and awakens the Acclorite which manifests as a shapeshifting GuardianEntity named Regis. Thanks to his own insight into aether and the power of his bonds, Arthur is poised to master all three paths of aether, with him wielding spacium, Regis wielding vivum, and Sylvie wielding aevum, which in turn could lead to him mastering the final form of aether, fate]].

* VirtuousCharacterCopy: To [[Literature/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation Rudeus Greyrat]]. There are many similarities between them[[labelnote:For example]]Both are adult men who died only to ReincarnateInAnotherWorld to a family that consists of a loving healer mother, martial father [[spoiler:who dies later on]], and LittleSisterHeroine, first demonstrated their magical prowess at a young age by destroying part of their house, were separated from their families at due to a tragic accident only to later reunite with them, became an extremely talented mage and adventurer and later attend a MagicalAcademy, own a supernatural CanineCompanion, are brought into contact with enigmatic deities who [[spoiler:later turn out to be their enemies]], encounter [[spoiler:people from their past lives]], attract the attention of several different LoveInterests including a {{Childhood Friend|Romance}} RescueRomance with a silver-haired elf, and discover [[spoiler:their reincarnations have made them a ParadoxPerson]][[/labelnote]], but the main difference is their treatment of women and how they handle their maturity in spite of their apparent age. Rudeus is infamous for being a serial pervert as in his past life he was a {{Hikikomori}} whose only knowledge of how to interact with women came from playing H-games, and as such he repeatedly displays sexual behavior even in his infancy. Arthur on the other hand acts far more maturely than Rudeus as in his past life he rose from street orphan to king, and spurns most girls as he is aware of the mental age gap (on top of having been a mostly CelibateHero in his past life with the one woman he did harbor feelings for [[spoiler:winding up committing SuicideByCop in a duel against him]]).

** When [[spoiler:the repentant Aldir sacrifices himself to allow Arthur to resurrect Sylvie, he bequeaths Arthur his weapon Silverlight as proof of his death and asks him to say that he brought him to justice for his crimes against both Dicathen and Epheotus. As much as Arthur feels Aldir is taking the easy way out for his role in destroying Elenoir and wants him to stay around to fight both Agrona and Kezess, he begrudgingly lets him carry out his sacrifice as Aldir has made up his mind. The only other individuals to know the truth of Aldir’s demise outside of the Hearth are Sylvie, Regis, and Wren; this is because Arthur is wary of how many spies Kezess has around. If the truth were to get out, Kezess would view it as a violation of the deal he made to Arthur wherein he forbade him from having contact with Aldir and the resulting consequences could be disastrous for the Dicathians, especially since Arthur learns Kezess sent down his forces to occupy Dicathen while he and Aldir were in the aether realm]].

** Thanks to retaining his mindset and experience from his past life (as a battle-hardened king in a world governed by AsskickingLeadsToLeadership and with ki powers similar to the magic in his current life) he is able to prematurely awaken his mana core when he was three years old, which leads to him become a quadra-elemental mage with control over fire, water, earth, and wind, on top of also being able to control the deviant forms of the first two, lightning and ice. In turn, his control over the four elements allows him to tap into aether, which no one alive but the Asuras can control. Speaking of which, he was also fortunate to come under the care of the dragon Sylvia, who before her death imparted onto him her beast will, which not only allows him to tap into her powers but also assists in his ability to control aether. She also imparted onto him the egg containing her unborn daughter Sylvie, who later acts as his bond and mount in battle. Later on, his connection with Sylvia gets him the attention of the Asuras themselves (as Sylvia was the daughter of their ruler Kezess), who take him to Epheotus where he receives TrainingFromHell, furthers his understanding of aether, and receives new weapons. Once he returns to Dicathen in time for the Alacryan invasion, Arthur has become a OneManArmy able to slaughter a horde of mana beasts that would give most people pause.
** In Volume 8, [[spoiler:Arthur finds out that after overexerting his beast will at the end of the war, his mana core had been damaged beyond recovery. From there, he finds a way to RePower himself and CameBackStrong. He learns that thanks to Sylvie's HeroicSacrifice to keep his body from tearing itself apart from using his beast will, his physiology has become part-Asura which not only enhances his physical capabilities beyond most mortals but also allows him to regenerate serious injuries. He develops an aether core to replace his destroyed mana core and gains a more comprehensive understanding of it that exceeds that of the Asuras thanks to studying the artifacts and ruins left behind by the ancient Djinn from whom he is descended from. He acquires game-changing spells known as Godrunes such as Destruction and Aroa's Requiem as well as a suit of ancient PoweredArmor only the Djinn and their descendants could wear. He also awakens the Acclorite Wren gave him before the war, which manifests as a spectral wolf called Regis who acts as a shapeshifting GuardianEntity and can also act as a conduit for the Godrunes. Thanks to his own insight into aether and the power of his bonds, Arthur becomes poised to become master of all three paths of aether, with him wielding spacium, Regis wielding vivum, and Sylvie wielding aevum, which in turn could lead to him mastering the final form of aether, fate, the very power sought by Agrona himself]].

[[caption-width-right:225:[[labelnote:Click here to see him post-Volume 7]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2qbrokfykj_f3s5ia7ljgefhlx3_1.png[[/labelnote]]]]

* MyGreatestSecondChance: Arthur views his new life as a second chance. While in his past life as King Grey he earned his position at the top through his fighting prowess and leadership, it came at a severe cost to him. He had lost his surrogate mother Olivia Willbeck at a young age, [[spoiler:was tricked into striking down his ChildhoodFriendLoveInterest Cecilia (leading to his other childhood friend and Cecilia's fiancé Nico swearing vengeance upon him), and upon becoming king declared war on the nation that had masterminded his surrogate mother’s death which led to the deaths of countless innocents who had nothing to do with Grey's vendetta]]. To prevent such a tragedy from happening again, Arthur vows to become strong enough to prevent what happened to his loved ones in his past life from happening again. Unfortunately for him, [[spoiler:he had been reincarnated at the whims of Agrona, an evil deity who sought to conquer Arthur's homeland of Dicathen in pursuit of his own vendetta against the Asuras of Epheotus who had exiled him. As such, Arthur's desire to not repeat what happened in his past life ends up being all for naught as he loses people he held dear to him to Agrona's vendetta such as his father, Sylvie (though she gets better), and the Eraliths. Making matters worse is that Agrona had also reincarnated Nico and Cecilia as well and had them both ReforgedIntoAMinion, meaning even if Arthur wished to completely forget about his past life Agrona would not let him. With the events of his past life coming back to haunt him in his new one, Arthur desires not just to protect his remaining loved ones from the same fate, but to right his own wrongs]].

* VirtuousCharacterCopy: To [[Literature/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation Rudeus Greyrat]]. Both are adult men who died only to ReincarnateInAnotherWorld to a family that consists of a loving healer mother, martial father [[spoiler:who dies later on]], and LittleSisterHeroine, first demonstrated their magical prowess at a young age by destroying part of their house, were separated from their families at due to a tragic accident only to later reunite with them, became an extremely talented mage and adventurer and later attend a MagicalAcademy, own a supernatural CanineCompanion, are brought into contact with enigmatic deities who [[spoiler:later turn out to be their enemies]], encounter [[spoiler:people from their past lives]], attract the attention of several different LoveInterests including a {{Childhood Friend|Romance}} RescueRomance with a silver-haired elf, and discover [[spoiler:their reincarnations have made them a ParadoxPerson]]. The main difference between them is their treatment of women and how they handle their maturity in spite of their apparent age. Rudeus is infamous for being a serial pervert as in his past life he was a {{Hikikomori}} whose only knowledge of how to interact with women came from playing H-games, and as such he repeatedly displays sexual behavior even in his infancy. Arthur on the other hand acts far more maturely than Rudeus as in his past life he rose from street orphan to king, and spurns most girls that show interest in him as he grows up as he is aware of the mental age gap (on top of having been a mostly CelibateHero in his past life with the one woman he did harbor feelings for [[spoiler:winding up committing SuicideByCop in a duel against him]]). A good situation that demonstrates their differences is how they handle being kissed by their childhood friend. Rudeus acts like a regular teenager without considering the mental age gap (on top having previously consented to another of his LoveInterests when she wanted to have sex with him years ago without considering the dubious moral implications). In contrast, Arthur is shown to have a brief moral crisis in the aftermath due to said mental age gap, which he follows up on by telling her that they should wait until they are older before they resume their relationship.

[[folder:Regis (Unmarked Spoilers for Volume 7 Onward)]]

* BigGood: From Volume 10 onward, Arthur takes up the role from both Virion [[spoiler:and Seris. In the process, he becomes a sort of indirect MagneticHero to not just all of Dicathen but to even some among their enemies. Not only is he viewed as an inspirational figure by the Dicathians, but he manages to undo the Alacryan conquest of Dicathen in only a matter of days. His feats and reputation do not just stop with his own people. To the Alacryans, he quickly becomes TheDreaded not only because of what he did during the Victoriad but also due to his own actions afterward during the retaking of Dicathen. The mere prospect of facing him has driven many Alacryans to surrender to him, an action that in Alacryan society is [[YouHaveFailedMe normally punishable by death]], as they have become more fearful of him than their own Vritra overlords. In addition, thanks to Seris's manipulations Arthur was able to become a professor at Central Academy during his time in Alacrya wherein he was able to influence the next generation of Alacryan nobility. In turn, when Seris launched her rebellion, Arthur's students convinced their families to either abstain from supporting the Vritra or to throw in their lot with the rebellion itself. Even among the Asuras themselves has Arthur developed a reputation. The turmoil from him slaying an Asura in the climax of Volume 9 has caused considerable dissent in Epheotus, among which include Aldir and Wren departing from it. In turn, they eventually find their way to the Hearth, the secret enclave of the Lost Prince Mordain, which Arthur himself is eventually summoned to at the end of Volume 10]].

** In Volume 10, [[spoiler:during the Siege of Vildorial, Arthur uses the tempus warp the Wraiths had brought with them to prevent the Destruction Godrune from overtaking him and thus killing everyone around him, which takes him to an Alacryan military facility in Vechor. He is immediately surrounded by a force of Alacryan soldiers led by Janus Graeme, a professor at Central Academy who had tried to frame Arthur during his time in Alacrya. Graeme tells his troops that they have nothing to fear as Arthur appears to barely be clinging to life, only to be proven horribly wrong as Arthur proceeds to let the power of Destruction loose, obliterating the camp and everyone within it before he returns back to Vildorialn]].

* CameBackStrong: At the end of Volume 7, Arthur, despite being one of the strongest mages on the Dicathian side, [[spoiler:was barely able to hold his own against the combined might of two Scythes and the Alacryan army. He is forced to overexert his powers to keep fighting, and when that fails his bond Sylvie is forced to sacrifice herself to not only keep him from tearing his body apart but to send him off to safety into an unknown location, and in the aftermath he also finds out that his mana core has been irreparably damaged beyond repair as a result. In spite of all of this, Arthur ends up gaining new powers that match if not outright exceed his previous powerset. He learns that Sylvie's sacrifice has made his body part-Asura (which allows him to regenerate quickly), develops a replacement core that runs on aether instead of mana (which allows him to manipulate the elements again albeit indirectly) and gains a more comprehensive understanding of it that exceeds that of the Asuras, learns game-changing spells such as Destruction and Aroa's Requiem, awakens the Acclorite Wren gave him before the war (which manifests as a ShapeshifterWeapon GuardianEntity named Regis), and acquires an ancient suit of PoweredArmor that only he can wear due to him being a descendant of the Djinn. In the climax of Volume 9, Arthur gets to put all his newfound abilities to good use. In his rematch with those two Scythes, he effortlessly knocks out one in a SingleStrokeBattle that destroys said Scythe's mana core and slays the other before promptly escaping back to his friends and family in Dicathen. Once there, he ends up fighting an Asura sent to kill them, one who had stymied all of the remaining Lances, and slays him as well. As if that were not enough, Volume 10 has Arthur capitalize on his newfound power and reputation to single-handedly undo the Alacryan conquest of Dicathen in a matter of days. However, Arthur's comeback is undercut by the fact that even though he is now one of the strongest mortal mages in the world, he knows that he alone won't be enough to take on the Asuras who have caused much of the conflict in the setting]].

* MagneticHero: Arthur has this as one of his strengths. While he is not especially charismatic, it is moreso due to his feats that he ends up attracting allies to his cause. He is inspirational not just to the people of his homeland of Dicathen, but even to their enemies in both Alacrya and [[spoiler:Epheotus]] with some among them even throwing their lot with him.

* AGodIAmNot: After [[spoiler:returning to Dicathen and putting an end to Taci’s rampage with his newfound aether powers, some of the survivors claim he is a true god and praise him as their savior. Arthur, who is a NayTheist and a HumbleHero with no love for the Asuras for the atrocities they have committed, dismisses these remarks]].

** During the [[spoiler:reconquest of Dicathen, Arthur always offers his Alacryan enemies a chance to surrender, as his true enemies are not them but their Vritra overlords. When they refuse, Arthur shows them how big of a mistake they just made in rejecting his mercy. A notable instance occurs when Arthur retakes Xyrus. During his negotiations with the Alacryan governor, she attempts to get him to back down by hiding behind a detachment of Dicathian LesCollaborateurs. In doing so, she attempts to convey to him that some Dicathians have appreciated Agrona’s rule and are willing to fight to keep Arthur from restoring the antebellum status quo. She underestimates his resolve as he proceeds to slaughter them all regardless, before reiterating that she and all Alacryans in the city must leave now]].

* InevitableMutualBetrayal: [[spoiler:After Arthur retakes Dicathen, he is summoned back to Epheotus by Kezess. Even though Arthur knows by now that Kezess is a genocidal tyrant responsible for his fair share of atrocities, he begrudgingly agrees to negotiate with him. In return for Arthur telling him all that he has learned about aether, Kezess would guarantee Epheotus’s protection should the Vritra invade. Kezess attempts to use a MagicallyBindingContract so that Arthur would have to hold up his end of the bargain immediately, but Arthur is able to reverse the bindings. Both parties know that once Agrona and the Vritra are dealt with that hostilities are bound to resume between them. After all, Kezess is not going to let Arthur’s slights against him off that easily, while Arthur intends to bring Kezess and all of Epheotus to justice for their crimes]].

* KillTheOnesYouLove: A major incident in his past life as King Grey [[spoiler:saw him being forced to duel his childhood friend Cecilia for the position of king, Cecilia, who had been fought over all her life for her power as the Legacy and was tired of being used as a puppet, took the opportunity to commit SuicideByCop during their duel]].

** Arthur ends up giving the beast will he retrieved from the Elderwood Guardian to Tessia as a gift. What neither of them knew was that [[spoiler:said monster was in fact a failed Vritra experiment. This comes to bite them both at the close of the WarArc, when Agrona, the Lord of the Vritra, reveals that he now has control over Tessia's life thanks to said beast will. As such, he [[TheCommiesMadeMeDoIt blackmails Tessia's parents]] into letting his forces into the Council Castle, forcing the Dicathians to evacuate. In turn, Tessia wanting to save her parents leads to a catastrophic chain of events. Not only are her parents executed to mark the end of the Alacryan conquest, but the climactic battle that ensues results in Sylvie being forced to perform a HeroicSacrifice to save Arthur, who ends up being stranded in the Relictombs in the aftermath with his mana core damaged beyond recovery]].

* ObliviousToLove: Played with. Arthur isn't indifferent to Tessia's advances, but due to how inexperienced he is in that domain, he chooses to shelve the issue under "She's too young/It's childish infatuation and it'll pass". When Tessia makes it clear how serious she is, Arthur ultimately gives her an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove. Later in Volume 7, he confesses his feelings for her and they promise to get married after the end of the war.

* ParadoxPerson: It is revealed at the end of Volume 10 [[spoiler:that the only reason why Arthur did not end up being ReforgedIntoAMinion like Nico and Cecilia is because his bond Sylvie, whose soul had been displaced across time and space after her HeroicSacrifice at the end of Volume 7, ended up being present when Agrona snatched the soul of Arthur’s past life King Grey and intervened by wresting the soul away from Agrona’s grasp so that Grey would be reincarnated into Arthur instead of Agrona’s vessel of choice. Sylvie herself only ended up the way she is because Arthur was the one to raise her for her entire life, which made her realize at that moment that she had to be the one ensure Arthur’s reincarnation occurred as she knew it by creating a StableTimeLoop. As such, Arthur only ended up as the person he is today due to an ontological time paradox that he was indirectly responsible for]].

* ParentsWalkInAtTheWorstTime: In the {{Webcomic}} version, shortly before their ClassTrip Arthur attempts to help Tessia integrate the beast will that he gave her into her mana core. However, the attempt gets derailed by playful teasing between the two of them which leads to Tessia tackling Arthur to the ground. At that moment, Tessia's grandfather Virion walks in on them and remarks that while he wanted them to get closer (Arthur and Tessia are ChildhoodFriends who have reunited after years of being apart), he didn't expect to be walking into something that he thought was far more intimate. This causes Tessia to realize that she is straddling Arthur in a rather compromising position, causing her to jump off him in embarrassment.

* RealNameAsAnAlias: Variant. In his time [[spoiler:living incognito among the Alacryans after the war, Arthur goes by the name of his past self, Grey. He does so in order to hide his true identity from the Alacryans as a Dicathian]].

* ReincarnateInAnotherWorld: The novel begins with King Grey mysteriously dying in his bed, only to be reincarnated as a boy named Arthur Leywin. As it turns out, [[spoiler:he was reincarnated by Agrona, who was seeking to harness the power of Grey’s deceased childhood friend Cecilia, the Legacy. To fulfill his goal, Agrona reincarnated both Grey and his other childhood friend Nico to act as anchor points for the Legacy. Grey only avoided the fates of his childhood friends as brainwashed servants of Agrona thanks to the intervention of the temporally-displaced Sylvie, who snatched his soul away from Agrona to be reincarnated into Arthur]].

** When he confronts [[spoiler:Nico at the Victoriad, he has every reason to hate Nico as much as the latter hates him. After all, Nico had captured Tessia so that she could be made into the vessel for his dead fiancée Cecilia not only in accordance with Agrona’s plan but also just to spite Arthur for killing Cecilia in their past lives, on top of all the other atrocities he has committed in Agrona’s name as one of his Scythes. However, knowing how Nico used to be his best friend in both his current life (as Elijah Knight, whom he failed to save from being captured and brought to Alacrya during the attack on Xyrus) and his previous life, Arthur feels that he failed him both times. As such, while he could easily kill Nico (who is the weakest among the Scythes) with his newfound aether powers, Arthur merely knocks him out in a SingleStrokeBattle (DePower[=ing=] him in the process) and allows him to be taken away]].

* WeUsedToBeFriends: [[spoiler:With Nico/Elijah and Cecilia. They used to be childhood friends in their past lives until Grey was manipulated into dueling Cecilia during the King’s Tourney. Cecilia, who had been a pawn her whole life, took the opportunity to commit SuicideByCop. This caused Nico, who did not know any better, to swear vengeance against Grey. If that was not bad enough, Agrona, who had been pursuing Cecilia’s power as the Legacy, reincarnated the three of them to serve him in his war against Epheotus. While Grey managed to avoid the MindRape and FalseMemories his friends were subjected to thanks to the temporally-displaced Sylvie’s intervention, he still has to contend with the fact that Agrona had them both ReforgedIntoAMinion and twisted their hatred of him against him]].

* WorldHealingWave: [[spoiler:Aroa’s Requiem allows Arthur to reverse the physical damage done onto the target of his choosing by using aether. Sadly he cannot use it to resurrect people, as when he reconstructs the Djinn sanctuary following his fight with Taci he is unable to resurrect the lives taken by the Asura during his rampage]].

** The end of Volume 7 is a major one for Arthur [[spoiler:as he loses not just the war but several of his loved ones. First, his father Reynolds is killed which causes a rift between Arthur and his mother and sister. Then, the Council Castle is suddenly infiltrated by the Alacryans. During the fighting, Arthur is forced to face Cadell, the Scythe who killed his ParentalSubstitute Sylvia many years ago, which reignites his childhood trauma. In the aftermath, Arthur learns from that this all happened because the beast will he had given to Tessia had given Agrona control over her life, and so he [[TheCommiesMadeMeDoIt blackmailed her parents]] into letting his forces into the castle. Then Tessia sets out on her own to try to rescue her parents, only to find out once she arrives that both they and the Glayders have already been executed. If that weren't enough, in the ensuing battle Arthur and Tessia come face to face with Elijah, who has seemingly been ReforgedIntoAMinion as one the Scythes after having been kidnapped during the attack on Xyrus years ago. Elijah then reveals to Arthur that he is in fact Nico Sever, his former childhood friend from his past life as King Grey, and that he has been working with Agrona willingly out of a desire to exact revenge on Arthur for killing his fiancée and their shared ChildhoodFriendLoveInterest Cecilia. What follows is Arthur and Sylvie being forced to hold back Cadell, Nico, and the Alacryan army in order to buy time for the Dicathians to escape. In the process, Arthur overexerts himself using Sylvia's beast will which nearly tears himself apart and it is only through Sylvie performing a HeroicSacrifice to save him that prevents him from either dying or being captured]].
** The trauma does not stop there, as it continues all the way through Volume 8. In the aftermath, [[spoiler:Arthur is presumed dead by the Dicathians which itself is traumatic to his mother, sister, and Tessia. However, he had in fact ended up in the Relictombs, a dimension completely alien to him with no apparent way out. He finds out shortly afterwards thanks to the second message Sylvia left for him the truth about the war - that Kezess and the Indrath Clan from which Sylvia and Sylvie hail from had committed genocide on the ancient Djinn which led to Agrona and the Vritra Clan's StartOfDarkness and thus the war itself. He also finds out that his mana core was damaged beyond recovery due to him overexerting Sylvia's beast will, and he is forced to go incognito among a group of Alacryans while finding both a way out and a way to RePower himself. At the end of the volume, he witnesses Tessia getting captured by the Alacryans when she returns to Elenoir and turned into the vessel for the Legacy, who he realizes is Cecilia reincarnated. He then witnesses Windsom and Aldir arrive in order to eliminate the Legacy, followed by the latter destroying Elenoir using the World Eater technique. Effectively, the volume ends with Arthur being able to do nothing as his friends, family, and homeland are put through severe trauma at the whims of cruel and callous gods as he is stuck in an unfamiliar domain in the company of people he considered his enemies. However, the end of the next volume has Arthur finally being able to make a comeback, and a rather cathartic one at that]].

** [[spoiler:Agrona was the one responsible for reincarnating Grey into Arthur as he sought the power of the Legacy, who was Grey's deceased childhood friend Cecilia. Thanks to the intervention of Arthur's temporally-displaced bond Sylvie (herself being the daughter of Agrona whom Arthur has raised his entire life), Grey ended up reincarnating outside of Agrona's control. Coupled with Agrona launching an invasion of Arthur's homeland of Dicathen, which killed many of his friends and family and led to his LoveInterest Tessia [[GrandTheftMe turned into the vessel for the Legacy]], and it is safe to say that the man who would have been one of Agrona's greatest pawns has instead become his greatest mortal nemesis]].
** [[spoiler:Kezess orchestrated the genocide of the ancient Djinn, which led to Agrona's StartOfDarkness when Kezess exiled him for uncovering the truth. Among the few GenocideSurvivor[=s=] were the ancestors of Arthur's family, the Leywins. Arthur only finds out about all of this courtesy of Kezess's own daughter Sylvia (herself being the aforementioned Sylvie’s mother). Coupled with Kezess orchestrating the destruction of Elenoir in a futile attempt to prevent the Legacy from being summoned and attempting to purge of what was left of Arthur's friends and family, and Kezess has no one to blame but himself for inadvertently creating a man who has devoted his entire being to making him and the rest of the Asuras pay for their crimes]].

* ForgedByTheGods: In his youth, Arthur wielded an Asuran-made sword known as Dawn’s Ballad. During his time in Epheotus, he trained under the maker of said sword, Wren Kain IV, and was surprised to learn Wren considered the blade a failed product of his. Sure enough, during the WarArc, Dawn's Ballad gets shattered twice with Arthur being forced to discard it after the second time. Before Arthur departs Epheotus, Wren remarks that if given enough time he could give Arthur a superior weapon that would suit him better and as such embeds an Acclorite within his hands that would manifest its powers if given a year. After Arthur [[spoiler:ends up in the Relictombs, the Acclorite Wren gave him finally manifests in the form of Regis]].

** At the start of Volume 5, Arthur finds himself brought before the Council after having been arrested in the aftermath of the attack on Xyrus. While the Eraliths are sympathetic to him, the Greysunders barely give him any respect and push for him to be found guilty, forcing the Glayders to act as the mediating force between both. As it turns out, the Council is under the manipulation of Agrona and the Vritra who orchestrated the attack on Xyrus with the Greysunders being willing pawns and the Glayders being reluctantly cowed due to Agrona threatening their children. As such, the intent of the trial is to neutralize Arthur (and Director Goodsky, as she had been a rogue agent who [[TokenHeroicOrc turned against her people]]) by getting them convicted of the attack. It is only thanks to the intervention of the Asuras Windsom and Aldir in purging the Council of corruption (by killing the Greysunders) that the verdict does not come to pass.
** In Volume 9, [[spoiler:Arthur is apprehended upon arriving in Alacyra and put on trial by Blood Granbehl who blame him for the deaths of Kalon, Ezra, and Riah in the previous volume. Once again, it is only thanks to the intervention of an outside force that Arthur is acquitted of the charges. This time around, it is Seris Vritra, who upon hearing of Arthur from her protégé Caera began pulling strings so that he would survive in Alacrya and be of use in her own schemes against the Vritra]].

* StockLightNovelHero: Arthur fits the criteria for an {{Isekai}} protagonist in that he reincarnates as a child in a fantasy world and becomes a prodigal mage and adventurer. He is a MagicKnight able to control the four classical elements and his power accumulates over the course of the story. To illustrate how quickly his power grows, he unlocked his mana core at a much younger age than usual which grants him a considerable head start compared to others his physical age. He also has a dragon for a familiar and can take on the powers of one, which combined with his magical prowess grants him unique abilities such as being able to manipulate [[ElementNumberFive aether]]. In short, he effectively won the SuperpowerLottery in his new life.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: The CruelAndUnusualDeath he deals unto Lucas has him burn off his left arm, then freeze and shatter his right arm, before finally using gravity magic to crush Lucas’s pelvic region, [[GroinAttack genitals included]]. This is used against him in the aftermath, as when he is brought to trial before the Council, the Greysunders attempt to use the graphic nature of Lucas’s demise as evidence that Arthur should be punished. To be fair, the Greysunders were in league with the Vritra and were already planning to get Arthur convicted by any means necessary.

** In Volume 4, Arthur and Sylvie’s arrival is what puts an end to the attack on Xyrus Academy. He manages to cower Lucas, who had been causing most of the carnage, into submission with his KillingIntent. This is followed by him subjecting Lucas to a CruelAndUnusualDeath by unleashing the full display of his powers.
** Volume 5 has Tessia and her party along with the Twin Horns about to attack a dungeon infested with Alacryan mana beasts. However, when they arrive at the entrance they find only the corpses of mana beasts. When Tessia opens the door, she finds Arthur sitting AtopAMountainOfCorpses, having dealt with the mana beasts in the dungeon for them.

* BrotherSisterTeam: [[spoiler:After he returns to Dicathen, Arthur starts bringing his sister Eleanor along with him when he enters the Relictombs. As the Leywins are descended from the Djinn, Arthur hopes to unlock some of that latent magical potential within his sister. Eleanor accompanies Arthur and his party when they enter the Relictombs in Volume 11 to join up with Seris and her rebellion, as not only has she unlocked her own distinct form of Djinn magic but she has been chosen by [[ForgedByTheGods Silverlight]] to wield it after the death of its former wielder Aldir]].

** In an original scene in the {{Webcomic}} version, Arthur, Sylvie, Elijah, and Vincent are making their way to the announcement in the plaza when they stumble across a group of racist students beating up a dwarf. After Elijah gets beaten up when he tries to intervene, Arthur decides to step in. In spite of Vincent trying to resolve the situation peacefully without anyone getting hurt (given how he knows just ''how'' powerful Arthur is at this age), the students mock him as well, which causes him to allow Arthur to do what he pleases with them. Naturally, Arthur proceeds to beat up all of them. To add insult to injury, Prince Curtis and Princess Kathyln show up as well to reprimand them for their actions, followed by Arthur getting Director Goodsky on a communication scroll to get them expelled from Xyrus Academy.
** After the orientation at Xyrus Academy, Arthur and Elijah come across a racist human student defeating a dwarf in a duel. Before the human student can KickThemWhileTheyAreDown, Arthur tries to stop the fight, followed by Tessia, Clive, and Lilia showing up. After the human student is let off with a warning, Tessia calls out Arthur for trying to break up the fight on his own to which Arthur replies that if he hadn’t, the dwarf would have been severely injured. When Arthur and Elijah take their leave, Clive attempts to reprimand Arthur for the manner he talked back to Tessia, to which she pleads with Clive to stop as she knows how powerful Arthur is. What follows is Arthur tossing Clive straight into the air as he and Elijah return to their dorm.

** In Volume 10, [[spoiler:during the Siege of Vildorial, Arthur ends up using the tempus warp the Wraiths had brought with them to prevent the Destruction Godrune from overtaking him and thus killing everyone around him, which takes him to an Alacryan military facility somewhere in Vechor. He is immediately surrounded by a force of Alacryan soldiers led by Janus Graeme, a professor at Central Academy who had tried to frame Arthur during his time in Alacrya. Graeme tells his troops that they have nothing to fear as Arthur appears to barely be clinging to life, only to be proven horribly wrong as Arthur proceeds to let the power of Destruction loose, obliterating the camp and everyone within it before he returns back to Vildorialn]].

** He is only reincarnated in the first place [[spoiler:because Agrona was seeking to summon an entity known as the Legacy, who as it turns out is Cecilia, the childhood friend of Arthur's past life King Grey. In order to summon her, he had to summon two anchor points to manifest her potential in this world - which in this case are Grey and his other childhood friend-turned-nemesis Nico. However, due to the intervention of his temporally-displaced bond Sylvie (herself being the daughter of Agrona whom Arthur has raised his entire life which has brought her into opposition with her biological father), Grey ended up reincarnating outside of Agrona's domain and thus outside of his control. Coupled with Agrona launching an invasion of Arthur's homeland of Dicathen, one that not only killed many of his friends and family but also led to his LoveInterest Tessia [[GrandTheftMe being kidnapped and turned into the vessel for the Legacy]], and it is safe to say that the man who would have been one of Agrona's greatest pawns has instead become his greatest mortal nemesis]].
** As for [[spoiler:Kezess's]] involvement in Arthur's genesis, a long time ago [[spoiler:he orchestrated the genocide of the ancient Djinn race out of jealousy for their ability to control aether. Not only was this atrocity the reason why [[CreateYourOwnVillain the aforementioned Agrona]] [[StartOfDarkness became evil in the first place]] (as his fascination with the ruins the Djinn left behind led to him uncovering the truth and being exiled for it), but the Djinn had [[GenocideSurvivor descendants who originate from those who survived the genocide]] and Arthur's family are among those descendants. Arthur only finds out about all of this courtesy of Kezess's own daughter Sylvia (herself being the aforementioned Sylvie’s mother). Coupled with Kezess orchestrating the destruction of Elenoir in a futile attempt to prevent the Legacy from being summoned and attempting to purge of what was left of Arthur's friends and family after the war for going against his plans and stinging his pride, an attempt that Arthur foils himself, and Kezess has no one to blame but himself for inadvertently creating a man who has devoted his entire being to making him and the rest of the Asuras pay for their crimes]].

* TheAce: In his past life, King Grey was unparalleled in all forms of combat, which was essential to maintaining his status and reputation as king given how his world revolved around AsskickingLeadsToLeadership. This status carried over into his reincarnation, as Arthur is extremely talented in both physical and magical combat thanks to his retention of his past self’s maturity and expertise. He is able to control all four elements, the deviant forms of two of them, and the ElementNumberFive of aether. His prowess earns him a spot among the Lances, the most powerful mages of Dicathen. He becomes even more inspirational after [[spoiler:he returns to an occupied Dicathen a year after the end of the war, not only wielding godlike powers but also single-handedly retaking his continent]].

* BargainWithHeaven: In Volume 10, [[spoiler:Arthur makes a deal with Kezess in securing Epheotus’s protection of his homeland of Dicathen from the Vritra in return for sharing with him what he has learned about aether. Considering Epheotus is inhabited by JerkassGods and Kezess is a genocidal tyrant, this deal is far less benign than what it would normally be. Sure enough, Arthur gets a MagicallyBindingContract imposed on him by Kezess to ensure he fulfills his end of the bargain, of which he is barely able to avoid the worst effects]].

** In another original scene to the {{Webcomic}}, Arthur is confronted by Lucas and his cronies. One of said cronies, Marcois, ends up attacking Arthur in a fit of blind rage. Even though he is more than capable of subduing him at full power, Arthur notes that Marcois is abnormally strong and he experiences difficulty in subduing him without breaking his PowerLimiter. It takes Sylvie turning into her dragon form to take him down. Once Marcois is incapacitated, Arthur and his superior Claire uncover that he has a set of bloody PowerTattoos engraved along his spine which are the reason for his abnormal condition, which are connected to the Radical faction on campus.

** In Volume 10, [[spoiler:during the Siege of Vildorial, Arthur ends up using the tempus warp the Wraiths had brought with them to prevent the Destruction Godrune from overtaking him and thus killing everyone around him, which takes him to an Alacryan military facility somewhere in Vechor. He is immediately surrounded by a force of Alacryan soldiers led by Janus Graeme, a professor at Central Academy who had tried to frame Arthur during his time in Alacrya. Graeme tells his troops that they have nothing to fear as Arthur appears to barely be clinging to life, only to be proven horribly wrong as Arthur proceeds to let the power of Destruction loose, obliterating the camp and everyone within it before he returns back to Vildorial. He intimidates the Scythes Melzri and Viessa into retreating, ending the battle in favor of Dicathen]].

* CharacterDevelopment: In his past life, he is a lonely, vengeful king who eventually isolated himself from all of the people that he cared about if not having gotten them killed. This is one of the major reasons for his desire to keep everyone he loves safe in his reincarnation. He breaks from his emotional shell by confessing his feelings for Tessia and [[spoiler:after Sylvie's sacrifice, he becomes more calmer so he can think more clearly. After spending time in both the Relictombs and Alacrya living among the Alacryans, in particular Caera, Alaric, and his students at Central Academy, Arthur comes to the realization that they are as much victims of the DivineConflict as the Dicathians are. He resolves to liberate both continents and their inhabitants from the tyranny of the Asuras]].

** At the climax of Volume 7, [[spoiler:Arthur is forced to fight a losing battle against not only the Alacryan army but also the Scythes Cadell and Nico. In order to buy time for the rest of the Dicathians - including Tessia - to escape, Arthur is forced to overexert his not only his mana core but also his beast will, in the process slowly tearing his body apart. It takes a HeroicSacrifice from his bond Sylvie to not only spirit him away to safety, but to keep his body together. In the aftermath, Arthur not only finds out his mana core has been damaged beyond recovery, but that to restore his body Sylvie had sacrificed her own physical form which has made his body part dragon]].

* InvincibleHero: Not only is he born in his new life with all the memories and knowledge of the previous one, he also proves to be incredibly gifted as a mage, being a rare quadra-elemental augmenter with two deviancies, and he inherits the beast will of a dragon, one of the most powerful beings in existence as in the setting DragonsAreDivine, which allows him to enhance his physical capabilities, regenerate his wounds, and even briefly tap into aether. To give an idea, the only thing that even comes close to killing him is the Elderwood Guardian, a gigantic S-class mana beast, and that is only because Arthur was previously injured by Lucas’ surprise attack. To complement that, he is also smart enough to wrap anyone he needs around his little finger. And that is only before getting into what he becomes after his RePower...

* RePower: Arthur [[spoiler:goes from being a quadra-elemental prodigy to an aether-powered demigod. After surviving a losing battle against the Scythes Cadell and Nico along with the rest of the Alacryan army thanks to Sylvie pulling a HeroicSacrifice to save him from a HeroicRROD and to preserve his body, Arthur ends up all alone in the Relictombs with his mana core damaged beyond recognition. He finds out that Sylvie’s sacrifice had made his body part-Asura, which increased his affinity for aether. Through developing an aether core to replace his destroyed mana core and increasing his own understanding of aether in the process, Arthur becomes a straight case of CameBackStrong as he become exponentially more powerful than ever thanks to gaining knowledge regarding aether exceeding that of the Asuras from the Relictombs]].

* StockLightNovelHero: Arthur fits the criteria for an {{Isekai}} protagonist in that he reincarnates as a child in a fantasy world and becomes a prodigal mage and adventurer. He is a MagicKnight able to control the four classical elements and his power accumulates over the course of the story. To illustrate how quickly his power grows, he unlocked his mana core at a much younger age than usual which grants him a considerable head start compared to others his physical age. He also has a dragon for a familiar and can take on the powers of one, which combined with his magical prowess grants him unique abilities such as being able to manipulate ElementNumberFive. In short, he effectively won the SuperpowerLottery in his new life.

* SplitAndReunion: During the WarArc, Arthur tended to not see eye to eye with the other Lances as they were "pretty self-absorbed and insufficient" in his own words. In particular, Bairon maintained his heavy animosity towards him for killing his brother Lucas. After the end of the war [[spoiler:the Lances are split up in the aftermath of the Alacryan conquest, with Arthur finding himself marooned in the Relictombs and Alacrya for a year. By the time he is able to return to Dicathen, the Lances are forced to fight a losing battle against the Asura Taci with Aya getting killed and Mica and Varay getting maimed. In the aftermath, Arthur makes up with the remaining Lances, Bairon in particular (who has become the WhiteSheep of his corrupt house at this point and finally apologizes to him over Lucas’s death), and they all resolve to be better than they used to be. Not only do they work better as a team from this point onward, but Arthur uses his newfound knowledge to break the PowerLimiter[=s=] Kezess put on their [[ArtifactOfPower Artifacts of Power]] to make them much more stronger]].

** Interestingly, while Arthur is modeled after [[Literature/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation Rudeus Greyrat]], as the story goes on he takes on elements of the other TropeCodifier, [[Literature/SwordArtOnline Kirito]].
* StoicWoobie: During his time in [[spoiler:both the Relictombs and Alacyra, Arthur is forced to hide the emotions he is feeling from the TraumaCongaLine he went through after the end of the war, especially since he is far away from home and in the company of the people who had just conquered his homeland. To the Alacryans who become his associates, he comes off as emotionally withdrawn and reclusive. Even after returning home to Dicathen, Arthur has to put on a front of strength in order as he has now become the BigGood for the Dicathians]].

* TechnologyUplift: Arthur ends up becoming a one-man example. When he visits Gideon in order to get some artifacts that he needs for himself and his family, he shows Gideon the blueprints for a steam engine which the artificer could use to power the Dicatheous. However, Arthur begins having reservations about giving Gideon any more pieces of advanced technology from his past life as he is afraid of the potential threat it could pose to his homeland. He ends up being proven horribly right as he learns years later that the Alacryans reverse-engineered the Dicatheous to create an armada of steamships to transport their army to Dicathen.

* YinYangBomb: Arthur and his family [[spoiler:are descended from the long-gone Djinn race. Then thanks to Sylvie’s HeroicSacrifice to preserve his body, Arthur becomes part-Asura, specifically dragon and basilisk considering Sylvie’s own WarringNatures as the descendant of both the Indrath and Vritra Clans respectively. The "Yin Yang" part is that the Indrath committed genocide upon the Djinn out of jealousy for the latter's ability to control aether, which the former believed was exclusively theirs to control. This is on top of the atrocities both clans have committed upon Arthur’s homeland of Dicathen in the midst of their DivineConflict. It is worth noting that Sylvie having Vritra blood has had no bearing in the novel so far. The bottom line being that Arthur now exhibits the same enhanced physiology that both the Indrath and Vritra have as Asuras]].

* DragonKnight: Arthur was given his beast will by the dragon Sylvia, which allows him to borrow her abilities in combat. Not only that, but before she died she entrusted him with her daughter Sylvie, who becomes his bond and serves as his mount in battle. Later on, he becomes one of the Lances, the most powerful MagicKnight[=s=] in Dicathen. Post-Volume 7, [[spoiler:his body has become draconic in nature thanks to Sylvie's HeroicSacrifice and he later acquires an ancient suit of PoweredArmor. In an ironic twist, at the same time he learns that the dragons committed genocide on the Djinn, the ancestors of his family]].

* MagneticHero: Arthur has this as one of his strengths. While he is not especially charismatic, it is moreso due to his feats that he ends up attracting allies to his cause, even from among his own enemies. This is especially apparent once [[spoiler:he takes up the role of BigGood from both Virion and Seris. Due to being one of the Lances during the Alacryan invasion, he ended up becoming a recognizable figure throughout Dicathen, especially since he had been singled out by the Asuras of Epheotus for training and had wielded unique powers of his own. As such, him returning to Dicathen after having disappeared since the end of the war is a major source of inspiration for the Dicathians, especially since he had CameBackStrong as a borderline demigod. His influence extends to Alacrya thanks to Seris's interest in him, which led her to covertly support him and provide him sanctuary during his time in Alacrya. This pays off later on when she launches a revolt against the Vritra who rule over Alacrya, as having to deal with two fronts causes the Vritra to lose ground. In addition, during Arthur's time in Alacrya he posed as a professor in the prestigious Central Academy which led to him becoming a mentor figure to the next generation of Alacryan nobility. After he returned to Dicathen, Arthur's students began pushing for their families to either withdraw from the war or to pledge their support towards Seris's rebellion. Even among the Asuras who instigated the conflict has Arthur attained allies. He attracts the attention of Mordain, the ruler of an enclave of Asuras that were exiled from Epheotus. Not only does it lead to him resurrecting his bond Sylvie, but he brings back to Dicathen some Asuran allies who are willing to stand up against the rest of their kind. What is clear is that in order to defeat both Agrona and Kezess, Arthur will have to find a way to get all of his allies to work together in spite of past grievances]].

** Case in point, when Arthur [[spoiler:uses the tempus warp the Wraiths had left behind and ends up in a military facility in Vechor, the commander of the Alacryan troops stationed there tries to get them to calm down by pointing out how Arthur is barely clinging on to life. He is proven horribly wrong as he and his troops get a front row seat to Arthur unleashing the full power of the Destruction Godrune and obliterating the camp and everyone inside it]].

* NayTheist: In his past life, Grey never believed in the existence of God, viewing that in the CrapsackWorld dominated by AsskickingLeadsToLeadership that he lived in there was no god, and even if there was, said god "wasn’t very merciful or loving, let alone fair" to allow such a cruel and unjust world to exist. In his current life, Arthur views the Asuras with apprehension at first, especially since he learns Sylvia and Sylvie are among them. Even after he accepts them as allies, he does not worship them as Virion tells him that the gods of this world are defined less as beings to be worshipped and moreso as beings that are able to transcend their bodies and fully harmonize with mana. After [[spoiler:learning the truth of how the DivineConflict started and seeing the Asuras for the genocidal JerkassGods that they are, Arthur goes from not wanting to worship them to wanting to bring them down]].

* ParentChildTeam: Him and his bond Sylvie form this dynamic, especially once [[spoiler:Sylvie assumes both human form and his surname over either of her biological parents. Sure enough, shortly after he resurrects her Sylvie accompanies her adoptive father and his companions when they enter the Relictombs to relieve Seris’s rebellion]].
* ParentalSubstitute: He and Tessia are Sylvie’s surrogate parents, though given how Sylvie isn’t able to [[spoiler:assume human form]] until much later on, they treat her more as a pet at first. Once she does, [[spoiler:people begin mistaking Sylvie for Arthur and Tessia’s OurPhlebotinumChild and they begin to see her as their daughter instead]].

* StockLightNovelHero: Arthur fits several of the criteria for an {{Isekai}} protagonist by virtue of being comparable to the TropeCodifier for the ReincarnateInAnotherWorld variant, [[Literature/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation Rudeus Greyrat]], in that he reincarnates as a child into a fantasy world and becomes a prodigal mage and adventurer. He is a MagicKnight able to control the four classical elements and his power gradually accumulates over the course of the story through either his own past life experiences or via the aid of various mentors whom a normal person would not have been able to earn the attention of which includes a dragon, the royal family of the elves, a band of famed adventurers, a MagicalAcademy, the race of gods from which said dragon originated from, [[spoiler: and even the VirtualGhost[=s=] of his ancestors]]. To illustrate how quickly his power grows, he unlocked his mana core at a much younger age than usual in his universe which grants him a considerable head start compared to others his physical age. He also has a powerful familiar in the offspring of said dragon, which combined with his existing magical prowess grants him a share of unique abilities including some which are only useable by the highest of the gods such as being able to partially manipulate ElementNumberFive. In short, he effectively won the SuperpowerLottery in his new life.
** However, he does play with the trope in a few areas. Rather than having been an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent, {{Otaku}}, or {{Salaryman}} in his past life like most versions of the trope, he used to be a monarch named King Grey and as such him being a GeniusBruiser and InstantExpert even in his youth originates from him drawing on his past experiences on the battlefield and applying the know-how to his new life. While does attract a harem of his own, he shuns every girl who shows interest in him due to being aware of the mental age gap and having been a CelibateHero in his past life. In addition, in spite of his power [[spoiler:Arthur is not an InvincibleHero and suffers his fair share of failures and tragedies courtesy of the BigBad. After a major WhamEpisode, Arthur ends up getting DePower[=ed=] and thus BroughtDownToNormal, which forces him to look for a way to RePower himself while fighting to survive in an alien land. He does so through increasing his understanding of and affinity towards said ElementNumberFive, and in the process of winning the SuperpowerLottery yet again ends up [[CameBackStrong Coming Back Strong]] in a form that matches if not outright surpasses that of his previous powerset]].

** With Tessia. After rescuing her from slave traders, he spends three years living with her family in Elenoir until he is able to reunite with his family. Their shared childhood together leaves a growing infatuation on Tessia’s part, and when they reunite years later in Xyrus Academy she attempts to trigger a RelationshipUpgrade between the two of them. Arthur, knowing that he is mentally much older than Tessia, asks her to hold off their relationship until they are adults to which she reluctantly agrees. Later on during the WarArc, their relationship does advance a little with them promising each other to get together after the end of the war.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: [[spoiler:After Tessa kisses him, he isn't shocked by that but the belief he is now a criminal for kissing an underage girl. This despite her being biologically a year older than him]].

* DragonKnight: Arthur is a legacy beast tamer who was given his beast will by the dragon Sylvia, which allows him to borrow her abilities in combat. Not only that, but before she died she entrusted him with caring for her daughter Sylvie, who becomes his bond and frequently serves as his mount in battle. Later on, he becomes one of the Lances, the most powerful MagicKnight[=s=] in Dicathen. In Volume 8, [[spoiler:his mana core is damaged beyond recovery due to him overexerting his beast will in the climax of the previous volume, which in turn prevents him from using it. However, thanks to Sylvie performing a HeroicSacrifice to keep him from tearing himself apart in the process, his body has become partially draconic in nature. From that point onward he eventually finds a way to RePower himself through mastering aether, and he even gets access to an ancient suit of PoweredArmor. In an ironic twist, at the same time he learns that the dragons were responsible for committing genocide on the ancient Djinn, who he later finds out are the ancestors of his family]].

* TheDreaded: Was this as General Leywin to the Alacryan army, as the only Lance capable of consistently defeating Retainers. Post-Volume 9, he becomes this to them again for different reasons. [[spoiler:His new reputation began at the Victoriad, where he came out of nowhere to defeat two Scythes before promptly escaping Agrona and the Legacy with impunity. Then, he shows up in Dicathen and retakes the entire continent in a matter of days all while routing whole Alacryan armies with his godlike powers. He even managed to show up in Alacrya again and blow up a whole military facility witha FantasticNuke]].

** In Volume 10, at the end of the [[spoiler:Siege of Vildorial, Arthur collapses after getting the Alacryans to lift the siege and retreat. Beforehand, he had fought off a squad of Wraiths and had used their tempus warp to end up in a military facility in Vechor, wherein he unleashed the full power of the Destruction Godrune to obliterate the facility and everyone in it. As he could barely fight anymore at that point, Arthur had to hold aloft one of the Wraiths’ severed heads while uttering a BlasphemousBoast against Agrona as a bluff to get the Alacryans to retreat. Arthur remains incapacitated for a day and a half, and even then once he does wake up he has still not recovered from his injuries in spite of his aether powers allowing him to heal faster than normal]].

* HidingYourHeritage: During his time in [[spoiler:both the Relictombs and Alacrya, Arthur hides the fact that he is a Dicathian from his Alacryan compatriots. He goes by his past name of Grey during this period, as due to having been one of the Lances his name would have been known among the Alacryans let alone Agrona and the Scythes. Only Seris, who recognizes his description when Caera describes him, is aware of who he really is as they had encountered each other during the war and she keeps it secret from her protégé. Caera and the others only put two and two together when reports of a man similar to Grey’s description leading the Dicathians in retaking their homeland start circulating among Alacryan troops suddenly returning from Dicathen in defeat]].

* InevitableMutualBetrayal: [[spoiler:After Arthur retakes Etisin and secures the surrender of the remaining Alacryan forces on Dicathen, he is summoned back to Epheotus by Kezess, who wishes to negotiate with him regarding his place in the DivineConflict. Even though Arthur knows by now that Kezess is a genocidal tyrant responsible for his fair share of atrocities, he begrudgingly agrees to negotiate with him. Given how Arthur was outmaneuvered by Agrona in the past on top of not knowing just how powerful Kezess and Agrona are in a physical confrontation, he knows it would be more beneficial for the time being to strike an EnemyMine deal with Kezess given their mutual enemy. In return for Arthur telling him all that he has learned about aether, Kezess would guarantee Epheotus’s protection should the Vritra invade. To seal the deal, Kezess attempts to use a MagicallyBindingContract so that Arthur would have to hold up his end of the bargain immediately, but Arthur is able to reverse the bindings so that he does not have to. Both parties know that once Agrona and the Vritra are dealt with that hostilities are bound to resume between them. After all, Kezess is not going to let Arthur’s slights against him off that easily, while Arthur intends to bring Kezess and all of Epheotus to justice for their crimes]].

** During the Helstea Auction, the Glayders’ court conjurer Sebastian covets Arthur’s bond Sylvie. When he tries to kidnap her while no one is looking, Arthur is able to catch him in the act and force him to back off with his intent. However, everyone in the room senses his intent, and it is only thanks to Arthur’s father Reynolds apprehending an intruder that Arthur is let off the hook. At the end of the auction, Sebastian manipulates King Glayder into getting him Sylvie. After refusing Glayder’s offer thrice and delivering an ArmorPiercingResponse the third time, one of the royal guards attacks Arthur. Thanks to Sylvia’s beast will, Arthur is able to neutralize the guard, followed by him breaking Sebastian’s leg and reminding him with his intent to know his place.

* TheAce: In his past life, King Grey was unparalleled in all forms of combat, which was essential to maintaining his status and reputation as king given how his world revolved around AsskickingLeadsToLeadership. This status carried over into his reincarnation, as Arthur is extremely talented in both physical and magical combat thanks to his retention of his past self’s maturity and expertise. He is able to control all four elements, the deviant forms of two of them, and the ElementNumberFive of aether when most mages are only able to harness two elements at most. His prowess earns him a spot among the Lances, the most powerful mages of Dicathen whom themselves are inspirational figures to the populace. Even before, Arthur was respected and looked up to by his peers, especially during his time in Xyrus Academy. He becomes even more inspirational after [[spoiler:he returns to an occupied Dicathen a year after the end of the war, not only wielding godlike powers but also single-handedly leading the populace into retaking their homeland]].

* ArrestedForHeroism: After Arthur puts an end to the attack on Xyrus by executing Lucas, he and his bond Sylvie are immediately arrested by the Lances at the behest of the council. In spite of the protests of the survivors, in particular the Glayder siblings whose parents are a third of the council, Arthur and Sylvie are taken away to stand trial. Not helping matters is that one of the Lances apprehending him is Bairon, Lucas’s older brother, who has nothing but hatred for him not just for killing his brother but also for the slight against his family. As it turns out, this was part of a gambit by Agrona to manipulate the Council into handing Arthur and Sylvie over to him.

** Even in his reincarnation, Arthur still finds himself in positions of leadership thanks to his own strength and powers. At the start of the WarArc, Arthur becomes one of the Lances, the elite MagicKnight[=s=] of the Council who act as generals in the war. Arthur’s unparalleled magical capabilities, the connections he has with the Council and the Asuras of Epheotus, and his own prior feats in combat are what earn him the position.

* AtLeastIAdmitIt: There are quite a few moments when Arthur admits he was in the wrong. He admits he was hypocritical when he tried to keep his parents away from the war when he himself was on the frontlines as one of the Lances. [[spoiler:He also regrets not being kind to Seth who has nothing to do with his sister's actions in the war, He also acknowledges that his execution of Lucas was rather extreme when he reconciles with Bairon]].

** During his time in [[spoiler:Alacrya, Arthur is able to secure a position at the prestigious Central Academy. He becomes the professor of a Melee Enhancement Tactics class, wherein he gets the chance to tutor the next generation of Alacryan nobility in combat. Said students get a front row seat to his feats in the Victoriad wherein they watch their seemingly emotionally withdrawn professor display his true power as he humiliates one Scythe, kills another Scythe, and escapes the High Sovereign Agrona and the Legacy with impunity. His time with these students pays off as when Seris launches her rebellion, Arthur’s students remain sympathetic to him and either convince their families to either abstain from supporting the Vritra or throw in their lot with the rebellion]].
* BargainWithHeaven: In Volume 10, [[spoiler:Arthur makes a deal with Kezess in securing Epheotus’s protection of his homeland of Dicathen from the Vritra in return for sharing with him what he has learned about aether. Considering Epheotus is inhabited by JerkassGods and Kezess is a tyrannical ruler willing to commit genocide out of petty jealousy, this deal is far less benign than what it would normally be. Sure enough, Arthur gets a MagicallyBindingContract imposed on him by Kezess to ensure he fulfills his end of the bargain, one which he is barely able to avoid the worst effects of by merely delaying when he would tell Kezess what he knows]].

** After the orientation at Xyrus Academy, Arthur and Elijah stumble across a racist human student challenging and defeating a dwarf in a duel. Before the human student can KickThemWhileTheyAreDown, Arthur attempts to put a stop to the fight, followed by Tessia, Clive, and Lilia showing up to reprimand said student for his actions. After the human student is let off with a severe warning not to do it again, Tessia calls out Arthur for trying to break up the fight on his own to which Arthur replies that if he hadn’t, the dwarf would have far more severely injured. When Arthur and Elijah take their leave, Clive attempts to reprimand Arthur for the manner he talked back to Tessia, to which she pleads with Clive to stop as she knows how powerful Arthur is. What follows is Arthur tossing Clive straight into the air as he and Elijah return to their dorm.
** In another original scene to the {{Webcomic}} version, Arthur is confronted by Lucas and his cronies. One of said cronies, Marcois, ends up attacking Arthur in a fit of blind rage. Even though he is more than capable of subduing him at full power, Arthur notes that Marcois is abnormally stronger than expected and he experiences difficulty in subduing him without breaking his PowerLimiter (which he has to prevent Lucas from recognizing him as Note). It takes Sylvie turning into her dragon form to take him down. Once Marcois is incapacitated, Arthur and his superior Claire uncover that he has a set of bloody PowerTattoos engraved along his spine which are the reason for his abnormal condition, which are connected to the Radical faction on campus.

* TheDreaded: Was this as General Leywin to the Alacryan army, as the only Lance capable of consistently defeating Retainers. Post-Volume 9, he becomes this to them again for different reasons this time. [[spoiler:His new reputation began at the Victoriad, where he came out of nowhere to kill a top Scythe and cripple another Scythe in a SingleStrokeBattle, before promptly escaping the High Sovereign Agrona and the Legacy with impunity in front of all of Alacrya. Then, ships arrive back from Dicathen, carrying Alacryan soldiers and collaborators who have surrendered (an outcome in Alacryan society [[YouHaveFailedMe which would lead to execution]]) to a man in terrifying ebon armor with MysticalWhiteHair and SupernaturalGoldEyes who conjures purple flames and has a monstrous spectral wolf at his beck and call, a man whose appearance matches that of the mysterious challenger at the Victoriad. Not only that, but said man has been single-handedly undoing the Alacryan conquest of Dicathen in one fell swoop, as the terror of facing the man who slew the top Scythe has driven many soldiers to surrender. Even Alacrya itself isn't safe, as at one point he randomly showed up in a military facility in the Alacryan heartland - having killed a squad of god-killers Agrona sent after him beforehand - and immediately destroyed the camp and everyone in it, which in turn triggered a rebellion on Alacryan soil against the Vritra. The only respite the Alacryans have is that Arthur would rather have them surrendering instead of killing them on sight, though he's not afraid to induce a MookHorrorShow on those who do not. After all, from Arthur's perspective it is not the people of Alacrya who are his enemies (after all, he lived among them for a year), but rather their Vritra overlords and the rest of the Asuras who are]].

** In Volume 4, Arthur and Sylvie’s arrival is what puts an end to the attack on Xyrus Academy. He manages to cower Lucas, who had been causing most of the carnage, into submission with his KillingIntent. This is followed by him subjecting Lucas to a CruelAndUnusualDeath through unleashing the full display of his powers.

* BigGood: From Volume 10 onward, Arthur takes up the role from both Virion [[spoiler:(who had been put through the emotional wringer thanks to the loss of his family, the complete desolation of his homeland and near-extermination of his race, and Kezess’s manipulations), and Seris (who takes advantage of Arthur’s endeavors in Dicathen to launch her rebellion in Alacrya before being forced to go into hiding in the Relictombs until Arthur relieves her in the next volume) as the main leader in the war against the Asuras. In the process, he becomes a sort of indirect MagneticHero to not just all of Dicathen but to even some among their enemies. Not only is he viewed as an inspirational figure by the Dicathians, but he manages to undo the Alacryan conquest of Dicathen in only a matter of days. His feats and reputation do not just stop with his own people. To the Alacryans, he quickly becomes TheDreaded not only because of what he did during the Victoriad but also due to his own actions afterward during the retaking of Dicathen. The mere prospect of facing him has driven many Alacryans to surrender to him, an action that in Alacryan society is [[YouHaveFailedMe normally punishable by death]], as they have become more fearful of him than their own Vritra overlords. In addition, thanks to Seris's manipulations Arthur was able to become a professor at Central Academy during his time in Alacrya wherein he was able to influence the next generation of Alacryan nobility. In turn, when Seris launched her rebellion, Arthur's students convinced their families to either abstain from supporting the Vritra or to throw in their lot with the rebellion itself. Even among the Asuras themselves has Arthur developed a reputation. The turmoil from him slaying an Asura in the climax of Volume 9 has caused considerable dissent in Epheotus, among which include Aldir and Wren departing from it. In turn, they eventually find their way to the Hearth, the secret enclave of the Lost Prince Mordain, which Arthur himself is eventually summoned to at the end of Volume 10]].

* HumbleHero: Despite his power, in both his past life and his current one all Arthur wants the most is for him and his loved ones to live in peace. In his past life, he retired from his position as king due to all that he has endured and due to growing tired of leadership. Upon [[spoiler:returning to Dicathen and saving the resistance from Taci, Arthur admits that he can't fight the Asuras on his own and will need their help to do so]]. Later on when [[spoiler:Kezess sends down his forces to occupy Dicathen and its leaders worry about him manipulating the populace into accepting his rule]], Arthur reaffirms that even though he does not desire to rule Dicathen, he is willing to act as a leader to give the people of Dicathen the strength to believe in themselves and the hope for a better future.

** Arthur wants his parents as far away from the fighting as humanely possible. His father calls him out on the hypocrisy of this, when Arthur himself is at the forefront of virtually every engagement. Later, he gets better.

** During the Helstea Auction, the Glayders’ court conjurer Sebastian covets Arthur’s bond Sylvie. When he tries to kidnap her while no one is looking, Arthur is able to catch him in the act and force him to back off with his intent. However, everyone in the room senses his intent, and it is only thanks to Arthur’s father Reynolds apprehending an intruder that Arthur is let off the hook. At the end of the auction, Sebastian manipulates King Glayder into getting him Sylvie. After refusing Glayder’s offer thrice and delivering an ArmorPiercingResponse the third time wherein he asks Glayder if he would be willing to sell Arthur his children just to get Sylvie, one of the royal guards attacks Arthur. Thanks to Sylvia’s beast will, Arthur is able to neutralize the guard, followed by him breaking Sebastian’s leg and reminding him with his intent to know his place.

* KlingonPromotion: Non-fatal example. Arthur manages to become a professor at Xyrus Academy by defeating the professor in charge of his Practical Mana Manipulation class after the initial demonstration went awry and threatened the students in attendance. The {{Webcomic}} version expands on this by revealing the whole reason the demonstration went wrong was that Arthur had gotten on the professor’s bad side in an incident that occurred before he entered the academy, and so upon noticing Arthur was in his class said professor sought to humiliate him. This backfired as Kathyln (who was on the receiving end of the professor’s misconduct as in his bid to get back at Arthur he singled out Arthur’s fellow Disciplinary Committee members which included her and Feyrith) ended up reporting the situation to Director Goodsky, opening the door for Arthur to become his replacement.

* MookHorrorShow: During the [[spoiler:reconquest of Dicathen, Arthur delivers a string of crippling defeats onto the Alacryan forces. If they haven’t already given up due to knowing Arthur’s reputation as TheDreaded, then they get to witness him unleash the full display of his newfound powers with entire armies being routed with ease. Case in point, when Arthur uses the tempus warp the Wraiths had left behind and ends up in a secret military facility in Vechor, the commander of the Alacryan troops stationed there tries to get his troops to calm down by pointing out how Arthur is barely clinging on to life. He is proven horribly wrong as he and his troops get a front row seat to Arthur unleashing the full power of the Destruction Godrune and obliterating the camp and everyone inside it. There are notably a few times where the Alacryans have some common sense and try to avert this from happening. When Arthur arrives in Xyrus, an Alacryan soldier tells him that none of them want to cross swords with the man who slew Cadell (though this does not stop the Alacryan governor from pitting a force of Dicathian LesCollaborateurs against him to get Arthur to give up retaking the city by thinking he would not be willing to spill the blood of his countrymen, which also fails). It pays off in the end, as when Arthur arrives in Etisin, the regent Lyra Dreide is more than willing to surrender on behalf of all of the remaining Alacryan forces on the continent]].

* PokeInTheThirdEye: A somewhat literal instance of this trope. When he witnesses [[spoiler:Aldir (who himself has his EyesAlwaysShut except for his ThirdEye) using the World Eater technique to destroy Elenoir via the Scrying artifact, Aldir is able to sense him observing him. Aldir does not recognize that it is Arthur, but when Seris informs him that Arthur survived, he puts two and two together. In turn, this leads to Aldir becoming a DefectorFromDecadence as he realizes Arthur’s survival could upend the DivineConflict and, given his own disillusionment with Kezess for forcing him to commit another genocide, is willing to throw in his lot with Arthur]].

** After discovering the dying Lance Alea Triscan in Widow’s Crypt, Arthur brings her dog tags back to Director Goodsky as proof of her demise. Other than the Council and the other Lances, Arthur is the only other person who knows that a Lance has been killed at that point, and Goodsky keeps the fact that he was the one who discovered her body secret from the others who are supposed to know. Arthur eventually reveals he was the one who found her body to the Council shortly after being freed from his wrongful imprisonment thanks to Windsom and Aldir.

** The end of Volume 7 is a major one for Arthur [[spoiler:as he loses not just the war but several of his loved ones. First, his father Reynolds is killed while defending the Wall from the horde of Alacryan mana beasts which causes a rift between Arthur and his mother and sister. Then, the Council Castle, which was thought to be impregnable, is suddenly infiltrated by the Alacryans. During the fighting, Arthur is forced to face Cadell, the Scythe who killed his ParentalSubstitute Sylvia many years ago, which reignites his childhood trauma. In the aftermath, Arthur learns from that this all happened because the beast will he had given to Tessia had given Agrona control over her life, and so he [[TheCommiesMadeMeDoIt blackmailed her parents]] into letting his forces into the castle. Then Tessia sets out on her own to try to rescue her parents, only to find out once she arrives that both they and the Glayders have already been executed to mark the end of the Alacryan conquest. If that weren't enough, in the ensuing battle Arthur and Tessia come face to face with Elijah, who has seemingly been ReforgedIntoAMinion as one the Scythes after having been kidnapped during the attack on Xyrus years ago. Elijah then reveals to Arthur that he is in fact Nico Sever, his former childhood friend from his past life as King Grey, and that he has been working with Agrona willingly out of a desire to exact revenge on Arthur for killing his fiancée and their shared ChildhoodFriendLoveInterest Cecilia. What follows is Arthur and Sylvie being forced to hold back Cadell, Nico, and the Alacryan army in order to buy time for the Dicathians to escape. In the process, Arthur overexerts himself using Sylvia's beast will which nearly tears himself apart and it is only through Sylvie performing a HeroicSacrifice to save him that prevents him from either dying or being captured]].

%% In addition, this page would also include Regis (who currently doesn't have a folder and I am currently in the process of working on his folder) as he is Arthur's Acclorite and is bonded to him. Feedback on page layout and formatting would be appreciated as this is my first time creating a Character Specific Page>

[-[[Characters/TheBeginningAfterTheEndDicathians Dicathians]] (Arthur Leywin) |[[Characters/TheBeginningAfterTheEndAlacryans Alacryans]] | [[Characters/TheBeginningAfterTheEndAsuras Asuras]]-]]]

->"''I never saw myself as some righteous hero out to save the world. My reason to fight has always been to protect the few I held dear. But now, after all that's happened...I have another reason. To right my wrong''"

* TheDreaded: Was this as General Leywin to the Alacryan army, as the only Lance capable of consistently defeating Retainers. Post-Volume 9, he becomes this to them again for different reasons this time. [[spoiler:His new reputation began at the Victoriad, where he came out of nowhere to kill a top Scythe and cripple another Scythe in a SingleStrokeBattle, before promptly escaping the High Sovereign Agrona and the Legacy with impunity in front of all of Alacrya. Then, ships arrive back from Dicathen, carrying Alacryan soldiers and collaborators who have surrendered (an outcome in Alacryan society [[YouHaveFailedMe which would lead to execution]]) to a man in terrifying ebon armor with MysticalWhiteHair hair and SupernaturalGoldEyes who conjures purple flames and has a monstrous spectral wolf at his beck and call, a man whose appearance matches that of the mysterious challenger at the Victoriad. Not only that, but said man has been single-handedly undoing the Alacryan conquest of Dicathen in one fell swoop, as the terror of facing the man who slew the top Scythe has driven many soldiers to surrender. Even Alacrya itself isn't safe, as at one point he randomly showed up in a military facility in the Alacryan heartland - having killed a squad of god-killers Agrona sent after him beforehand - and immediately destroyed the camp and everyone in it, which in turn triggered a rebellion on Alacryan soil against the Vritra. The only respite the Alacryans have is that Arthur would rather have them surrendering instead of killing them on sight, though he's not afraid to induce a MookHorrorShow on those who do not. After all, from Arthur's perspective it is not the people of Alacrya who are his enemies (after all, he lived among them for a year), but rather their Vritra overlords and the rest of the Asuras who are]].

* FireForgedFriends: Several of Arthur’s allies came to his side in the first place thanks to fighting alongside him. These include Tessia, Elijah, Curtis and Kathyln (and to an extent the rest of the Disciplinary Committee), [[spoiler:Caera, and Chul]].
* FirstLove: Cecilia was this to him as Grey, who reciprocates his feelings. Seeing himself as unworthy of her, proceeds to push her in the arms of Nico, who is also in love with her.

* PoweredArmor: In Volume 9, Arthur acquires [[spoiler:a relic suit of Djinn armor that is far stronger than most armors and enhances his own physical capabilities]].

* YoungerThanTheyLook: He is an A-Rank Adventurer, a orange core mage, and an ace swordsman by the age of 12. After [[spoiler:becoming part-Asura, he appears to be in the beginning of 20s, however he is 16 years old.]]

[[folder:Regis (Unmarked spoilers for Volume 8 onward)]]

* DarkIsNotEvil: Regis appears as a black wolf with red eyes. However, in spite of his terrifying appearance, Regis is not only one of the good guys and is loyal to Arthur, but he is actually rather comical in demeanor.

* EmpathicWeapon: All Asuran weapons are this, but Regis takes it a step further as not only is he a living weapon, but he manifests as an animal.

!! Grey Willbeck/Arthur Leywin
!!!Godspell, Ascender Grey

[[folder:A to E]]

* CameBackStrong: [[spoiler:And with an Aether core no less. Though it takes him a while to get back up to speed. In the climax of volume 9 he have a rematch with Cadell and Nico, killing one then crippling the other before escaping Agrona and the legacy in front of all Alacrya returning to Dicathen then he kills Taci and in volume 10 he retakes Dicathen in a matter of days killing a squad of Agrona's wraiths and burning a military camp in Vechor.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:F to L]]

[[folder:M to Z]]

** In Volume 8, [[spoiler:Arthur finds out that after overexerting his beast will at the end of the war, his mana core had been damaged beyond recovery. From there, he finds a way to RePower himself and CameBackStrong. He learns that thanks to Sylvie's HeroicSacrifice to keep his body from tearing itself apart from using his beast will, his physiology has become part-Asura which not only enhances his physical capabilities beyond most mortals but also allows him to regenerate serious injuries. He develops an aether core to replace his destroyed mana core and gains a more comprehensive understanding of it that exceeds that of the Asuras thanks to studying the artifacts and ruins left behind by the ancient Djinn from whom he is descended from. He acquires game-changing spells known as Godrunes such as Destruction and Aroa's Requiem as well as a suit of ancient PoweredArmor only the Djinn and their descendants could wear. He also awakens the Acclorite Wren gave him before the war, which manifests as a spectral wolf called Regis who acts as a shapeshifting FightingSpirit and can also act as a conduit for the Godrunes. Thanks to his own insight into aether and the power of his bonds, Arthur becomes poised to become master of all three paths of aether, with him wielding spacium, Regis wielding vivum, and Sylvie wielding aevum, which in turn could lead to him mastering the final form of aether, fate, the very power sought by Agrona himself]].

* {{Foil}}: To Sylvie. Both are of Asuran origin and end up being bonded to Arthur.

* PurpleIsPowerful: He is a powerful Asuran weapon able to use aether like his master.

%% In addition, this page would also include Regis (who currently doesn't have a folder and I am currently in the process of working on his folder) as he is Arthur's Acclorite and is bonded to him. Feedback on page layout and formatting would be appreciated as this is my first time creating a Character Specific Page.