《My Traveling Teacher》


 Prologue

    It was sunny. Summer had come but the weather was still on the cold side in the North. The town of Rihona was on the northern border of the Alethani Kingdom and the outskirts of the Malargo Forest. The forest was famous for its monsters. It was a dangerous place, and it attracted the ones who liked danger.


    Adventurers from all over the world were coming for the hunt. The southern gate of its wooden walls was always full of travelers who came with their equipment and supplies. There were all kinds of people. Strange ones were not unusual, as long as they didn''t cause any trouble, they were welcome. And today, two of those travelers stood out, but no one cared about them.


    First, a hooded figure passed the gates. A young woman dressed like who did not want to be recognized. She had the posture of a strong and cautious person. Her hand never released the grip on her sword. So, everyone left her alone.


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    A couple of hours later a middle-aged man with strange clothing appeared. He had some kind of loose clothing that looked like it was made of stripes of cloth. He did not seem to carry equipment or weapons, which was strange. The area was not the safest for traveling without them. And he was barefooted also. Some people at the gate thought he got robbed on the road. His long and tied hair and beard were also messy and that supported their thoughts. But he looked like he didn''t care one bit.


    People looked at them and turned their heads. They didn''t think of those two as threats or competitors for their hunt. There were a lot of young adventurers, as many as the veterans. They were the big trouble. They usually mess things up and die or seriously injure themselves.


    So, it was a normal day in the town. Everyone was living their lives to the fullest, open to everything the Gods planned for them. But their plans were not always for the people''s good.

 Chapter 1

    It was dark. Only some plants and mushrooms were lit giving the place dim lighting. The smell of moisture and rotten flesh covered all over the place. The party roaming the caves was close to their destination.


    The dungeon they were in was recently found and was on top of a mountain. They had to fight dozens of monsters just to get in here. Mostly Draconoids, but there were also some Slimes here and there, hiding from the bigger threats. It was a party of four, not that many but they were strong. The Band of Steel.


    Young warriors were dealing with three Draconoids at that moment. One of them was the alpha and its difference in strength was obvious. But although the warriors were young, they knew how to fight.


    First, the two smaller monsters attacked. The party separated into pairs. Korion the shielded warrior took one of them head on and Antrius the archer supported him from a distance. The leader of the party, Jacky the greatsword wielder, was distracting the other one for Milton the rogue to finish it off with a dual knife attack to the neck.


    They were young but also experienced. Monsters bigger than them with thick skin and sharp claws were dealt with in seconds. The alpha attacked them in rage. It was bigger than the other two combined.


    Korion charged in first, he was the tank of the party. His giant body was small compared to the beast, but he showed no fear. As he started to distract the alpha Antrius supported him with his arrows while the other two surrounded it. Milton attacked the throat this time because the scales on its neck were way thicker and it was easier for him with his smaller body. He couldn¡¯t finish it off in a single attack, but Jacky was waiting for the right moment. He swung his greatsword with precision and cut off the beast¡¯s head with one strike. Their teamwork was strong, but they were also strong individually.


    They had no magic user at the party, that¡¯s where the Band of Steel name came from. Who needs those smart-ass magic casters, they always said, they would only slow them down. They could butcher anything that came in front of them. Head on. They were fine until now and they would be fine from now on.


    "Collect their parts well, especially the alphas. That thing will earn us good money when we show its part to the guild. We can even rank up as a party.¡± The leader Jacky, loved to loot as always. And also, his reputation.


    After dozens of turns and dead ends in the cave system and countless monsters, they finally found the heart of the dungeon. It was big... Very big. So big that they almost couldn¡¯t see the light coming from the top of it. There was probably some exit at the peak of the mountain.


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    It was clear that something was living there but whatever it was, it was not there. Bone piles were everywhere and the rotten smell coming from them meant they had recently eaten.


    They didn¡¯t even notice their surroundings. All of them were focused on the thing in the middle of the room. A small mountain of treasure. And on top of it... a giant egg.


    ¡°Yesss!¡± They all yelled. ¡°We fucking did it!¡±


    They rushed to the treasure, like wild animals. They started taking everything they could carry that looked like gold and valuable.


    ¡°Hey boss,¡± Antrius the archer was talking, ¡°what kind of creature do you think lives here¡±.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said the leader of the party, ¡°Some kind of Wyvern maybe? There were a lot of Draconoids on the way here.¡±


    ¡°No, no. Wyverns do not horde treasures, they only horde bones. This must be a dragon lair, look at this huge place, a Stone Dragon if you ask me.¡± For a man who grew up in the streets, Milton had quite some knowledge about those things.


    ¡°A Stone Dragon? Doesn¡¯t that mean we are in trouble?¡± The young archer was worried, but the treasure was big enough to cast that feeling aside.


    ¡°Calm down Ant, we killed one before, remember? In Laitan Forest.¡± Korion, always the brave one.


    ¡°But wasn¡¯t that a Green one? I heard that Stone Dragons are much bigger and tougher than most.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we''ve come a long way since then, I think we can beat it.¡± Jacky was sure of himself as always. ¡°I can even fight a Demon Lord for this kind of a treasure. I mean, look at that egg, it''s almost the same size as me. Hey Milt, do you think we can sell this thing for a good price?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, for sure. This thing will make us rich, look at that thing it''s like a metallic gem. Kor, come on, try lifting it.¡±


    Korion went to the egg. He lifted the egg with a hug. ¡°It is heavy, but you know I am blessed with strength, I can handle it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s our boy Korion. The Gods knew you would do great things when they blessed you as you were born,¡± said Jacky, with a tap on his shoulder. ¡°Come on we took what we can, taking more could be deadly for us on the way back.¡±


    ¡°I am blessed for sure, but not as much as you do. Aren¡¯t your family one of the richest Lordships?¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it, I could change that old man of mine for anything. I don¡¯t even want to know what mischievous games he played to achieve his place in the royalty.¡± The games played within the Alethani Kingdom for rising among others were not rare and Jacky hated everything about them. That¡¯s why he was here, hunting monsters and looting treasure. Living as he liked.


    They all head back to the entrance, with silly smiles on their faces. It was a good adventure, they thought. None of them had any serious injuries and went back with bags full of treasure. They were thinking about the celebration they would have and how the town would welcome them as heroes.


    It was a good adventure, they thought.


    They didn¡¯t even see the scales that were scattered all over the giant cave. They mistook them as parts of the treasure. Who could blame them? They were shining like one¡ªthe shining silver scales of a giant creature.


    Hours later the owner of the cave was home. She couldn¡¯t find her egg, her precious baby where she left it. She looked all over for it but didn¡¯t see any sign of it. Only a smell. The smell of thieves.


    A terrifying roar shook the place all over. The whole mountain trembled under the wrath of an angry mother.

 Chapter 2

    It was loud. There was a tavern made of stone in the town of Rihona, the north-most town of the Alethani Kingdom. The inside was made of quality wood and had a big fireplace against the backside wall. The tavern was full of people. They were drinking and talking, most of them were roaming adventurers. This town was always attracting adventurers because of the wild Malargo Forest near the town. Strong and valuable monsters were lurking all over the forest. So, the town had its share of all that ¡®monster hunting tourism¡¯.


    There was an adventurer party in the middle of it, celebrating their successful dungeon clearing. The Band of Steel. They were showing off their loot and bragging about how they slew all those monsters in the dungeon. And they had a giant egg in the middle. They were saying it was a Stone Dragon egg. It was like a gem made of metal, shining like full-plate armor.


    And there was a young woman, way back at the tavern, sitting in the dark. The hood of her cloak was covering her face, like she didn¡¯t want to be seen. Some parts of her well-made armor were showing underneath her cloak. She had a keen pair of eyes, sparkling with the fire of youth, observing the tavern. And two things had caught her eye.


    First, there was the egg in the middle. She was sure it was a Dragon egg; she had seen one before in one of her father''s books. But how did they get one, she thought? They were bragging about how they slew the Stone Dragon in the dungeon and took her egg. But she was sure they were lying or at least exaggerating.


    Lots of adventurers, mostly newbies, seemed to believe and admire them. But some veterans were not giving them friendly looks. They knew something was off, no one could fight a Stone Dragon and come back without a scratch, especially with a party of four.


    Between the excited talks and questions among the newbies, she also heard the veterans¡¯ disapproving talks.


    ¡°What liars they are.¡± They were saying. ¡°I don¡¯t believe they slew any Dragon in that dungeon. No one can slay a Dragon without a serious scratch.¡± ¡°Look they even brought it here to show off. I don¡¯t know what it is, but it does not look like a Stone Dragon egg to me.¡± The young woman was trying to listen to everything around her.


    The second thing that caught her eye was the man sitting at the counter in front of the door. He was sitting alone and eating tavern owner Mama Millio¡¯s signature pumpkin pie with a drink. The season was Autumn, and it was the best season for these fruits, so the pie and juice were delicious. Now he was at the sixth plate. He sure liked them a lot.


    The young woman observed him with curiosity. He had long brown hair messily tied on top of his head and a messy short brown beard, both had red-yellowish parts in them. He looked middle-aged, maybe in his early thirties. His clothing was strange; it was like stripes made of ivory-colored rags layered on top of each other all over his body. Some parts were tight, wrapping around his body, but most were loose, almost like they were going to fall off. He also had loose pants of the same color but had no shoes. All looked messy but surprisingly clean.


    He didn¡¯t seem to carry any weapon or equipment with him, as far as the young woman could see, which was strange in a place like this. The town was safe but outside was full of monsters. A traveler without proper protection or equipment could die easily out there. That got her thinking, is he hiding things under his clothing? Maybe he was a magic user? But even a magic user needed equipment for some spells and rituals. Although her knowledge of magic was limited, only the things she read in her father''s library.


    The young woman was curious, there was something strange about this man. She couldn¡¯t take her eyes off him. She knew he wasn¡¯t from this town; no one knew anything about him. Everything about him was out of place and that got her adventurous side itching. She needed to know, she had to talk to him and learn about him. Who was he? How was he traveling like that? Where was he going? The questions were filling the young woman''s head.


    She got ready to stand up and talk to him. But then, one guy approached the counter. The leader of the Band of Steel, greatsword wielder Jacky. "Hey Millio! Honey mead to everyone, from me!" A cheer rose from the tavern except the man next to him.


    ¡°Hey, why are you not having fun old man?¡± Jacky approached the man. He was so drunk.


    ¡°I am having fun eating this delicious pie, thanks for your concern.¡± Said the man, with an empty tone. He didn¡¯t even look at the boy that approached him.


    ¡°Oh, come on, you don¡¯t look like you are having fun. You are only eating that shitty thing and chatting with that fat old lady. Come, have a drink, enjoy yourself!¡±


    ¡°Hey, who are you calling fat and old? And my pie is one of the best around here!¡± Mama Millio was not the thinnest person around but saying that to her face was a different thing. ¡°Didn¡¯t your mother teach you any manners boy?¡±


    ¡°Boy! Who are you calling boy!¡± Said the boy with an angry tone. ¡°I am a man! Me and my friends slayed thousands of monsters like flies.¡± He was so drunk. Other members of the Band started to gather around him. They were also drunk and ready to back their leader up.


    ¡°Taking lives is easy,¡± the man said, he didn¡¯t seem to be intimidated by the Band. ¡°The hard thing is sparing lives when you can. And you should learn some manners as the beautiful lady said. Boy.¡± The man¡¯s voice was a little joyful this time, almost like he was making fun of him. Maybe he was trying to taunt them, the young woman thought, if he was, it was a stupid idea. They were drunk and young, ready to fight.


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    If he was, it was working. The boy with the great sword tensed up. The young woman thought he was going to draw his weapon for sure. She got ready but hesitated, why was she even getting ready? She didn¡¯t know the man and had nothing to do with this situation. Did she only want to beat that annoying drunk guy? Maybe. But the boy didn¡¯t draw his sword. Instead, he got his other hand up, the one holding his beer, and started pouring the beer on the man¡¯s head.


    ¡°Oh, sorry my hand just slipped. I am deeply sorry for what I have done, it was an accident.¡± Said the boy, with that annoying smirk on his face. ¡°How was it, was it good enough manners for you?¡±


    A deep silence fell into the tavern slowly. People started to notice what was going on and waited for what was about to happen. Everyone was waiting for the man¡¯s answer. Was he going to get angry and attack or try to calm the situation? No matter who he was the Band was strong in numbers.


    And he gave the worst answer.


    The man just laughed and kept eating his pie. The beer that had just been poured on him left no trace of his robe or hair at all. But only the young woman had noticed that.


    ¡°Hey! Are you mocking me, old man?¡± His face twisted in anger. ¡°That¡¯s it, I am gonna wipe that smile off your face with my sword!¡± said the boy as he drew his sword.


    The man looked at the boy with careless eyes. He didn¡¯t look frightened from the sword in front of his nose. ¡°I see you are willing to blow off some steam before you die tonight, boy.¡± Even though these words did come out like a threat, the man''s voice and posture were not threatening at all. The boy who was blinded by the anger and alcohol was in no shape to notice that.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see who is gonna die tonight old man.¡± The boy was ready to kill. He took his stance to take action. ¡°Come on, draw your weapon!¡± The rest of the Band stood right behind him but didn¡¯t draw their weapons. Instead, they smiled and started to cheer for their boss.


    ¡°Come on boss, give him a good lesson. Teach him who we are.¡± The rogue of the Band was eager to see some blood.


    ¡°Oh, no, no. You got me wrong. I am not the one who is going to kill you tonight.¡± The old man turned his eyes to the giant egg in the middle of the tavern. ¡°That egg¡¯s mother is the one who is going to kill you.¡±


    Now that he turned his face to the crowd, the young woman could see his face more clearly. He had a strong chin and high cheekbones. Some could say he was handsome despite his messy appearance. He had small eyes, but those eyes had so much in them. Maybe not the man but his eyes were old, very old. Just one look was enough to understand that this man had been through a lot. The young woman couldn¡¯t figure out what color was his eyes, there was something odd about them.


    The boy seems to be irritated by the man¡¯s words. He was afraid his lies were going to be exposed. ¡°We killed that thing''s mother. Weren¡¯t you listening? Maybe you are too old to hear. We killed the Stone Dragon!¡± the boy yelled.


    ¡°It is not a Stone Dragon egg you idiot.¡± The man was having fun. ¡°That is a Silver Dragon egg.¡±


    The whole tavern was shocked by the statement. ¡°A Silver Dragon!¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t those some legend?¡± ¡°No one had ever seen one before.¡± ¡°They were only in some folk stories.¡± ¡°Has this man been trying to get out of the situation by lying?¡± But the young woman didn¡¯t think he was lying, his deep voice was serious.


    ¡°A Silver Dragon? What do you take us as? Some children live in fairy tales? Or did you already lose your mind because of your age, old man?¡±


    ¡°If you had someone with a proper education in your party, they would have known. Maybe you are not a child, but you are a fool, boy.¡± The man still didn¡¯t seem to care about the boy¡¯s anger towards him. ¡°A Silver Dragon usually lives away from most intelligent creatures; they like their privacy. But you disturbed the mother''s home and took her baby from her. Silver Dragons are clever. Not like their green or red cousins. They are ancient and strong. And you made her angry. You didn¡¯t only kill yourselves. You killed the whole town by coming here and bringing the egg with you.¡±


    The people in the tavern started whispering. They were afraid. The boy lost his standing against the crowd. And it made him angrier. He lost his cool. ¡°It is obvious that you are lying. If you already knew that, why didn¡¯t you warn us before?¡±


    The man turned back to continue his pie. ¡°You got into this trouble yourselves, it is not my concern. Mama Millio, is my package ready?¡± He already had lost his interest in the topic.


    ¡°I am not gonna wait here and listen to your nonsense. You are not going anywhere!¡± He swung his sword.


    Everyone held their breath. The young woman, on the other hand, acted. She dashed in with an insane speed to block his attack. But she was too slow, too late. Why didn¡¯t she get close? In that little moment of understanding, she got mad at herself. It was so obvious; the boy was drunk, and the man was too careless. Of course, a fight was going to start. She acted but couldn¡¯t reach it in time.


    But her help wasn¡¯t needed. The man¡¯s hand was holding the sword only moments before it landed on his neck, with only his index and middle fingers. Silence fell onto the tavern again. The young woman couldn¡¯t believe what happened. How? How did he stop a great sword attack from a strong warrior just with two fingers? Even her master couldn¡¯t make a move like that, it was too absurd.


    The whole tavern was in shock. Mostly the boy who swung the great sword. He didn¡¯t even understand what happened. He tried to pull back his sword, but he couldn¡¯t. The man was still holding it. Then, a shattering sound filled the place.


    With his two fingers, he broke the boy¡¯s great sword into pieces. It only took a little movement of his fingers. Just like that, the sword was broken. It was too easy for him. And at that moment, the young woman decided, she needed to know. Who was he? And how did he get this strong? She was going to persuade this man to take her as his apprentice and learn the secret of his strength.


    Everyone was looking at the scene with their open mouths. And then, another sound broke the silence. A wild roar was heard all over the town. And the town bells followed it.


    ¡°Ah, she is here.¡± The man reached the counter ¡°Thanks for the pie, Mama Millio. It was delicious.¡± He took the package the lady had prepared and left some silver coins on the counter. He was ready to leave.


    ¡°Give back the egg to her boy. Maybe she will forgive you.¡± He turned his head to the door. Screams started to come from outside. ¡°I doubt it though.¡± And he went outside.


    Everyone was terrified and couldn''t move for a couple of seconds. The young woman came to her senses before anyone and ran outside.


    It was hell.

 Chapter 3

    It was broken. The leader of the Band of Steel, Jacky, was standing in front of the counter, looking at his broken great sword. The whole tavern was in panic. Voices started to rise; people didn¡¯t know what to do. Some ran outside to pack their belongings and leave, some stayed inside in fear. But most of the people in the tavern were adventurers. They came to their senses quickly. The voices coming from outside got louder and the sound of a huge explosion woke up Jacky from his moment of mourning. Adventurers started to go outside to fight back against the Silver Dragon.


    ¡°Hey boss,¡± Korion was talking to him. ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Jacky turned to his friends. They were standing behind him, unsure of what to do. Only Mama Millio and her employees were inside. Jackie''s eyes turned to the egg that was in the middle of the tavern. He knew what the right thing was to do. But he couldn¡¯t do it. ¡°We leave this town. Now!¡±


    ¡°Boss, are you sure? Shouldn¡¯t we take this egg back to its mother?¡± Antrius always had a good heart, but he was too naive. They couldn¡¯t just show up in front of a Silver Dragon with an apology. They would be dead in no time. Jacky had made up his mind. He didn¡¯t want to die.


    ¡°No. If you want to live, we need to go. Now!¡±


    ¡°Hey, take this thing out of my tavern! I don''t want anything to do with it.¡± Mama Millio was looking outside from the window next to the counter. ¡°What if the Dragon came after her egg? What will I do if that happens?¡± She was scared for her tavern and employees.


    ¡°That is your problem now. Come on boys, we leave.¡± The Band knew they were doing something they shouldn¡¯t, but they also wanted to live. They followed their boss in shame and tried not to hear Mama Millio¡¯s complaints. Outside, the battle with the Dragon was going, and it was not going well. The whole town was on fire. The Band quickly headed towards their inn, and they didn¡¯t notice the man on top of the tavern roof at all.


    ***


    When the young woman came outside, the Dragon had already reached the town. She looked for the man who had just gone outside but saw no clue of him. The town had wooden walls and gates just enough to defend itself from the threats in the Malargo Forest, so it was nothing for a flying Dragon. The wooden walls were partly burned, and the Dragon was already flying on top of the town, breathing fire to the town. Its flames were white and looked denser than a fire should be, almost like rays of moonlight in the night sky. Deadly rays of moonlight.


    The young woman stood there for a second, looking at the disaster the creature caused. She was frightened, her mind had gone blank. Years of practice and studying were gone. The town was burning, people were screaming and running around to escape the wrath of the Dragon. Those screams helped her get herself together.


    "This is no time to stand and do nothing. I need to help the townsfolk to escape.¡± She ran towards the closest screams.


    The Silver Dragon was circling on top of the town and breathing its flames here and there. Some adventurers tried to group up to fight back the creature, but their arrows did break, and their magic disappeared against the Dragon¡¯s thick and magical silver scales. It was a massacre; the giant creature was showing no mercy.


    Only minutes had passed but it felt like hours for the ones who resisted the Dragon. Only screams and cries were echoing in the whole town. Most of the people tried to escape but only a few managed. The resisting adventurers gave so many casualties and finally, their will to fight broke and they started to run. Only the ones that were badly injured and unable to escape were remaining. And the one who tried to save them.


    The young woman did all she could to help the townsfolk escape, but there were too many and she was alone. Her mind became numb after seeing so many terrifying things. People were burned by the Dragon¡¯s flames, crushed by their house¡¯s wreck, and run over by the others who were escaping. The disgusting smell of burning flesh and blood was everywhere. Elise did all she could, but it was not enough. She was not strong enough.


    She was only 19 and left her home less than a year ago. She thought she was ready; she thought her father was wrong. Elise Vandenberg ran away from her home to travel and adventure. Leaving behind her responsibilities to her house, her family, and her father.


    She didn¡¯t realize but it had been hours now. The screams stopped after some time. Only cries were left. She was walking around in the dust and ash caused by burned and demolished buildings. The mist before morning had formed on the ground. It had a pink color in it because of the mix of blood and ashes.


    At that moment, memories started to flash before her eyes. Their family house, her father was a well-known lord, so it was a big mansion.


    A house crumbled next to her. She didn¡¯t even notice.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.She had never wanted to stay in that house, even though it was big, she never felt free in there.


    Her eyes shifted towards a pile of rubble. A bloody hand was sticking out, trying to reach outside. Covered in ashes and motionless.


    She always wanted to go outside and explore the grounds.


    She wandered around for some time; she didn¡¯t know how much. A couple of adventuring warriors were lying on the ground. Half burned. He probably tried to fight against the Dragon.


    When she got to the age that she could wield a sword she started training with the captain of their family guards. She had the talent for it and the captain was a great teacher and one the best swordsmen in the kingdom, so she kept practicing with him.


    Burned books were scattered here and there. She looked at them with sadness, she always liked reading books.


    When she stayed inside their family house, she read everything she could that was interesting in her father''s library. Memories kept coming as she walked.


    Her mind went blank after some time, she lost her sense of time. While she was roaming, she noticed that she had come back to the tavern where everything had started. But something strange caught her eye, the tavern was still standing and took no damage whatsoever. That woke her brain up and she noticed what was about to happen at the last moment. She jumped forward to dodge the incoming attack. A loud noise came from her behind and a big cloud of dust filled the air. She immediately got up with a roll and drew her sword.


    She saw the shadow of the giant beast in the dust cloud. It landed on the ground where Elise was standing a moment ago. With a strong beat of its wings the dust scattered around, and Elise almost fell from the force caused by it. But she stood her ground and held her sword with all her strength. Her sword was a thin longsword made for dualling mostly. It was a gift from her father, one of the best on the market. But she knew it was no match for a Silver Dragon.


    Elise thought the beast was bigger up close, almost half of the town was buried under its shadow. Elise knew there was no way she could beat that monster. But she got ready to fight and took an aggressive stance. The beast sensed her intention and got ready. But when things were about to get started, a voice came from the back.


    ¡°Back off!¡± A man was sitting on the roof of the tavern. The man who challenged the Band of Steel. He got the Dragon¡¯s egg with him on the roof. He stood up slowly and lifted the giant egg with his one hand.


    Elise was surprised, only seconds ago she was looking there and didn¡¯t see the man at all. How did he get up there so fast? And with that heavy-looking egg, it was impossible.


    The man looked at the Dragon with challenging eyes. ¡°Take your egg and leave, now!¡± He extended the egg toward the Dragon. The beast looked surprised at first, who was this disrespectful little creature? It got ready to attack and smash the man with its talons... But an uneasy feeling started to surround the area. The beast stopped and looked at the man with cautious eyes.


    The man was oozing the intention to kill. It was so intense it almost solidified around him. Elise couldn¡¯t see it, but she could feel it. She had never seen or felt something like that before. She froze in fear, her hands and knees were shaking.


    ¡°Take the egg and leave, that is your final chance¡± The man''s voice got serious and cold, he was ready to kill, and he was sure he could do it easily. His appearance was unnoticeable, almost weak before. But now he looked way stronger. How did nobody notice someone with that much power? The Dragon felt that too and started to bow down in understanding. The beast was clever; it knew when to back down. It took the egg slowly; trying not to do anything threatening. It placed the egg inside its talons and stretched its giant glowing silver wings to fly and dropped a dark shadow on the town''s west side. The man kept looking at the Dragon until it disappeared above the clouds.


    The sun started to show itself after a long night, and the man turned his face to the young woman. He had a slight smile on his face. Only then Elise did come to her senses and move again. He took a step out of the roof and descended slowly to the ground. His loose clothing flung with the wind, under the light of the rising sun his reddish bunches of hair glowed, and he landed smoothly. It was a magical sight.


    ¡°Sorry if I frightened you,¡± The man slowly approached the woman, he knew she was tense after what happened. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to kill the Dragon; she was only trying to avenge her stolen child.¡± He looked at the town, almost none of the buildings were standing. ¡°She looked satisfied at least.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it will be back?¡± Elise was still shaking from the encounter she experienced.


    ¡°No. Don¡¯t worry, she took what she wanted.¡±


    She turned her eyes towards the tavern. Mama Millio and her staff were in there and they don¡¯t seem to have any injuries. ¡°Did you protect them?¡± She asked the man.


    ¡°Of course! How could I let that pumpkin pie recipe die with that woman? It was one of the few wonders of this world.¡±


    Elise was shocked by this statement. ¡°You only saved them because of the pie they make? What kind of logic is that?¡± Her pent-up anger started to rise. While she was doing everything in her power to save the people of this town, the knowledge that this man had the strength to finish all of this at the beginning hit her harder than she thought.


    ¡°You could have ended this, from the start, and you didn¡¯t do anything. Hundreds, maybe thousands died out there and you just sat there and watched?¡± Her voice got higher and higher as she spoke.


    ¡°Listen, girl.¡± The man''s voice was colder this time. ¡°That group of idiots should have given back the egg, that was the right thing to do. If they were, the Dragon would have killed them, and I could persuade her to leave. But they choose to escape instead. Actions have consequences girl, never forget that, and I am not gonna pay someone else''s consequences. Direct your anger to the guilty ones, not me.¡±


    ¡°You are right. but that is not an excuse for not helping.¡± She thought the man had a point but the lack of empathy in his voice bothered her a lot.


    ¡°Don¡¯t force what is right to you to other people, girl. But you have a strong heart, I liked that.¡± He looked serious while saying that and that made Elise a little calmer.


    ¡°Sorry, my nerves are still tense, I didn¡¯t mean to snap at you. The things I witnessed there were just so...¡±


    ¡°I know. And I also know who is responsible and where they are now.¡± A naughty smile appeared on his face. ¡°So, tell me, girl. Do you want to have some fun?¡±


    ¡°Stop calling me girl, my name is Elise. And yes, I¡¯d like to.¡±

 Chapter 4

    It was cold. While the Dragon rampaged into the town the Band of Steel took their belongings at the inn and left as soon as possible. They ran into the Malargo Forest, the forest which the town had built on the outskirts. They saw some other adventurers escaping into the forest with them, but all went their separate ways. The party of four ran until they couldn''t hear the screams from the town anymore. But no matter how long they ran, the screams were there. In their heads, never to leave them again.


    After an hour of running, they decided to take a rest. They found an opening in the forest and just sat there in silence. The weight of their actions felt heavier with that dark silence. Back in town, they saw the Silver Dragon rampaging over the town and their will to fight broke in an instant, if there was any. For them, running was the only thing they could do. But it was still disturbing, their adventurer pride was damaged.


    "What are we going to do now?" Milton the Rogue hugged himself from the cold. It was past midnight, and they were in the northern regions. So, there was a freezing cold in the forest.


    "There is no way we can go back to the town." Antrius was still nervous, he kept looking around. "Can''t we like, start a fire or something?" He was also shivering from the cold.


    "We can''t. What if it finds us?" Milton was always cautious.


    "It is a fucking Silver Dragon; I don''t think it needs a fire to detect us." But Antrius was not.


    "He is right. If we don''t start a fire soon, we are going to freeze to death." Karion had more resilience to the cold, but he also had a limit. "What do you say, Boss?" He looked at Jacky.


    He was sitting silently on a log, hugging his backup sword. Under the moonlight, his face looked miserable. He didn''t answer, he was not even looking at them.


    "Hey, Boss? Are you okay?"


    "What is the difference? We are already dead. Word will go out if there are any survivors. Soon the whole world will know us. The idiots who stole a Silver Dragon egg and caused a town to ruin. They probably will put bounties on our heads. Our lives, everything we have done so far, is over now." They all knew that, but no one dared to say it. "Start a fire, do whatever you want. I don''t care anymore." He looked a lot more troubled than the rest. His companions left him be and started a fire.


    Within the campfire''s warmth, they slowly fell asleep. Of course, they left one for scouting, but he also fell asleep, the night was a long one after all. The forest was mostly silent because of the Silver Dragon''s appearance but life did return after a while. The sun started to rise slowly, and the residents of the forest got back to their routine.


    And one of them was not happy to see some humans sleeping in its home.


    ***


    ¡°So, I take it was your first Dragon encounter.¡± Elise and the Traveler were inside the Malargo Forest, heading towards their prey. The man said he saw where they headed and started to walk inside so, Elise followed. She asked his name after presenting hers, but he said, ¡°Just call me Traveler.¡± Elise got curious of course but left the topic alone for that moment.


    Her hood was now off, and her long straight black hair was pouring on top of her shoulders. She had put one hand on her sword, ready to draw it if any trouble occurred. Ashes and dust from the town''s remains were still on her. And blood... she could still smell it on herself. Not hers, but the people she tried to save.


    Her way of walking was elegant but also strong. Aware of her surroundings and ready to act. She was not that long but had a strong build that came from the training she had done ever since she was little. Her teacher always warned her to keep her presence strong so the people around her feel safe. And if they were planning something bad, they would think twice before acting.


    But the Traveler was a different story. Elise had been watching him since they left the town. Most of his body shape was hidden under his clothing. He was not standing straight; he was leaning forward a bit. He was not a long person so that made him look shorter than he was. He had no shoes but even in a forest he didn¡¯t look bothered at all.


    He was walking without caring about anything around him. His walk was negligent, but he never stumbled on a root or bush. Elise noticed he was silent. Too silent for a person who walks in a forest. He had almost no presence whatsoever. Some may even forget he was there if they weren¡¯t focused on him.


    After some time, Elise understood the situation. The man was acting, acting like he was weaker than he was. The question was why. Why was he doing that? She saw him challenging the Silver Dragon, he looked so powerful. Like, if he wanted, he could kill the Dragon without a sweat. She couldn¡¯t understand what his reasoning was for hiding this much power.


    If she had that much power, she would use it everywhere she could. To help people and defeat the enemies of Humanity. She suddenly felt an urge to learn his secrets. She needed to know, she needed to learn from this man. While she was deep in those questions, the man asked his own.


    ¡°Yes, it was my first. And hopefully last.¡± She knew she had a certain power but not enough to challenge that kind of beast.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Dragons are noble and smart creatures; you will like them as you know them. And they also hold great conversations. Very entertaining they are. Surprisingly intellectual.¡±


    Elise looked at him for a second, trying to understand if he was joking or not. ¡°Did you hold a conversation with a Dragon? How?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t have the same speaking instruments that humans use. But thoughts don¡¯t need any instruments. As long as they think, you can hold a conversation. But of course, you need them to respect you first, that''s the hard part. They appreciate power.¡± The man said those things like they were common knowledge, but Elise had no idea what he was talking about.


    ¡°So, you can talk to creatures with your thoughts. Are you a magic user?¡± If he was, that would explain some things, but she saw him hold a giant Dragon egg with one hand. Elise still couldn¡¯t figure out this man''s powers and that was bothering her a lot. So, she decided to ask directly.


    ¡°You could say that.¡± The man''s answer was simple and did not satisfy Elise one bit. She needed to learn more.


    ¡°But I saw you hold the Dragon egg with one hand, was that magic too?¡±


    ¡°Why? Can¡¯t I be both a magic user and physically strong? Some people could find that offensive, you know.¡±


    Again, simple and evasive answer. Elise was starting to get irritated. She opened her mouth to ask more questions, but the man spoke first.


    ¡°Let¡¯s save the questions for later. We are close, and it seems the party started without us.¡± He was looking deep into the forest. Elise looked there, ready to act, but she didn¡¯t see or hear anything.


    ¡°What is it?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Follow me and keep your voice down.¡± He hurried to the way he was looking. Even though he was walking faster than before, he still was not making any sound.


    Elise did all she could to keep pace with him, but as they went deeper into the forest the tree roots got thicker and the bushes got denser. She fell behind after a while, but then she heard some fighting noises and went that way as fast as she could. She got close but suddenly a hand grabbed her arm. The Traveler was standing behind a tree, watching the source of the noises.


    ¡°You are making too much noise. Keep your head down at least.¡± His voice was really low as he pushed her head down and hid her behind a bush.


    ¡°Look, someone got to our prey before us.¡±


    The Band of Steel were in bad shape, they were in a fight with a six-meter-long creature. It was not like any other creature Elise had seen before. It had thick black-purple skin with lots of scratches from its old fights. There was something odd about that monster. Its fangs and mouth were bigger than they should be. Its eyes also seemed quite larger than they should have. And they were burning red with magic. Its limbs and head had some sharp bones sticking out of them, but mostly from its long tail.


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    The shielded warrior was still standing against it, but his shield was broken, and he had a serious cut on his shoulder. Their leader Jacky had blood on his head and chest, and he was unconscious. The rogue was trying to pull him out of danger and the archer was protecting them with his shots. They were about to be wiped out.


    ¡°What do you think? Can you take that thing on?¡± The Traveler was still watching the scene.


    ¡°What even is that thing?¡±


    ¡°I have a guess but that is not the time for guessing.¡± He looked her in the eye this time. ¡°Do you want to help them?¡±


    Elise quickly made her mind up. He was right, it was no time to sit and talk. Someone needed her help, even though they were the ones who were responsible for destroying a town. She couldn¡¯t leave them to die in the claws of some monster.


    ¡°I see. Go on then, I¡¯ll assist you.¡± Even though she didn¡¯t answer he understood her decision from her eyes.


    Elise rushed out of the bushes without a second thought, straight to the monster. She hadn¡¯t drawn her sword yet, but the monster immediately noticed her and prepared for her charge. Elise was not expecting this kind of reaction. She thought that the monster would be focused on the Band, but instead, it sensed her hostile approach and realized she was the bigger threat.


    When she got close, the monster threw its head backward and its throat inflated suddenly. ¡°Be careful! It spits acid!¡± Antrius the archer warned her at the last moment. The monster swung its head forward and spit a purple mucus-like fluid from its mouth. Elise barely dodged the attack, the mucus hit the ground and splashed acid all around.


    Elise kept charging and drew her sword for a strong attack in melee range. But she couldn¡¯t make it. A giant claw was coming towards her. She had to dodge, or she would be dead. She tried to stay close and didn¡¯t give the creature space to attack her. But she forgot the tail.


    The monster turned around and swung its tail to her. There was no way to dodge the attack, so she got ready for impact. Her armor absorbed some of the damage, but the impact was far too strong. She flew and crashed into a tree far away. She felt a strong pain inside her chest and her sight went dark for a second. She tried to get back up quickly but her head spun, and she had to hold on to the tree she crashed into. The hit she took messed her up worse than she hoped.


    She noticed the monster charging at her but couldn¡¯t react in time. She closed her eyes and got ready for the inevitable. And... nothing happened.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t take hits from an opponent bigger than you if you don¡¯t have the strength to block it.¡±


    She opened her eyes and saw the Traveler in front of her. He was holding the monster''s claw with one hand without even looking at it. He pushed the creature back effortlessly. That giant monster flew way back and crashed into a cluster of trees. The trees fell onto it.


    ¡°Look at me.¡± The man pulled her chin towards himself and inspected her eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t have any brain damage, but two of your ribs cracked from the impact. So, you are fine and ready to go. Come on, get yourself together. You have a monster to slay!¡± He gently slapped her cheeks with two hands and squeezed her head. Surprisingly, that brought her to her senses.


    He pushed her from the back towards the monster. ¡°You misjudged your opponent. You thought it was a mindless beast and rushed in without a second thought. Always measure your opponent first, figure out its strengths and weaknesses, and act accordingly.¡±


    While he was talking the monster got up. It was more cautious now. The previous attack surprised it, and it was still trying to recover from it.


    ¡°Yes, I can do this! This time I will bring it down!¡± She made mistakes but learned from them too. This time she was sure she would be more cautious.


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit! I don¡¯t think you can beat it but show me what you got.¡±


    She turned her head toward him. ¡°Aren¡¯t you spouse to support me!¡± She got mad at him, for saying something like that in a time like this. ¡°So, what am I going to do?¡±


    The man shook his shoulders with a careless face. He stepped back a little and leaned on a tree. ¡°If I were you, I¡¯d keep my eyes on the opponent.¡±


    ¡°You are not going to help, right?¡±


    ¡°Nope. But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll protect the others.¡±


    She had completely forgotten about the Band. She looked at them for a second, they were lying low and were trying to go somewhere safe to tend their wounds. But that one second of looking almost cost her life.


    Another ball of acid was coming straight to her. She dodged it at the last moment and rolled behind a tree to take cover. She took a deep breath; she could do it. She just needed to fix her mind on it. She looked towards the monster while taking cover, but the monster was not there.


    She panicked for a second and tried to find the monster. She couldn¡¯t understand how a monster of that size could hide like that in such a short time. Then she heard something, a rustling came from her left. She took her stance as fast as she could and blocked the incoming attack. The monster was far stronger than she was. She couldn¡¯t stand her ground and slid away, but this time she had more control. At least she didn¡¯t hit her head anywhere this time.


    ¡°Never lose sight of the enemy.¡± The Travelers voice came from far away, he was not going to help her. Fine, she could do it by herself.


    The monster didn¡¯t stop after the first attack. It was bigger and stronger and had no reason to back down. It attacked relentlessly without giving her any space or time to breathe. Yes, it was bigger and stronger, but she was faster. She dodged every attack carefully; she had no intention of getting hit by one of its attacks again. So, she focused.


    She focused like she used to do when she was reading an interesting book. She focused and dodged everything. But the monster was not giving her any openings to her. They went like that for a while. The monster attacked, and Elise dodged it.


    Then, the monster stopped in place for a second. It was the opening she was looking for. She attacked... and missed. She missed because the monster slid back with an impossible motion, and she noticed the cause of it as it flew back. The traveler was there. The monster stopped because he grabbed its tail with one hand and threw it away from there like it was nothing.


    ¡°I liked your focus, but you are focusing on the wrong thing. If you keep that up, you will wear yourself out.¡± He started to give her a lecture as he got close. ¡°Don¡¯t focus on its claws or tail. Don¡¯t look at the weapon, look at the user. Focus on the monster and analyze its movements, learn its pattern, and let your body do the dodging.¡±


    ¡°Let my body? How should I do that?¡± What he said was the complete opposite of how she did things until now. She thought if she looked away from the attacks, she would get hit so she always focused on the attacks.


    The man put his hand on her back and pushed her towards the recovering monster. ¡°Come on, I know you can do it. Just read it like a book.¡±


    Read it like a book? How did he know she was approaching those things like reading? Did he guess? The monster got itself together and looked her in the eye. There was no time for questions. She discarded the thoughts and focused again. This time, as the Traveler said.


    She focused on the monster as it charged at her. And she almost got hit. The second attack came. And she almost got hit again. And again, and again, and again. At first, she thought she would die at any moment. But after a couple of attacks, they started to feel more... predictable. She watched the monster; it had a certain way of attacking, a pattern like the Traveler said. And before every attack, the monster was making a motion to get ready. That motion was giving away its intentions.


    It was hard at first, but Elise was always a fast learner. She was blessed with Learning. She didn''t realize it when she was little, but eventually, her parents noticed the difference and took her to a priest to check. She quickly adapted to the situation and started to react to the monster''s attacks with precision.


    Elise dodged the claws, dodged the tail, dodged the bites. And she found it, the opening she was looking for. She crawled under its incoming claw and swung her sword to its throat. Blood splashed all over the place. Elise barely dodged it, but some drops splashed on her cloak. She looked at the dying creature, it was crying in pain and throwing itself around. The blood it splashed during this time started to smoke. Elise looked at the drops on her cloak, they opened holes where they landed and some of them were still smoking. The smell of it was disgusting.


    She heard a clapping behind her. ¡°Well done.¡± the man said. ¡°It took a little longer than I thought, but it was not bad.¡± He was looking at the monster on the ground, with pitying eyes. It was still twitching while bleeding. ¡°But try not to make them suffer next time. They already suffered enough.¡± He didn¡¯t look sad, but his voice was telling the opposite.


    ¡°What was that thing?¡± Elise had never seen a monster like that before. It looked like a lizard but most of its parts seemed to belong to other creatures she knew. It was so extreme in many ways, almost like it was created artificially.


    ¡°This forest has all kinds of creatures inside. And most of them don¡¯t even belong here.¡± His voice was thoughtful. He put his bare foot on the monster''s belly and pushed it to turn it upside down. The monster was still oozing dark purple and sticky blood. Smoke was still coming from it. But it was more than it should be. While they were looking the monster¡¯s belly started to inflate.


    The Traveler didn¡¯t say a word but acted. He grabbed Elise from her wrist and before she realized it, they were far off from the monster''s corpse. The monster kept inflating. They watched it as it exploded like a ball of smoke and acidic blood. The explosion was not that big, but Elise was happy to be outside of it. The plants that were in the area started to melt with fireless smoke coming from them.


    Elise looked around and saw the Band behind them, and realized the Traveler brought her here in an instant. She stopped thinking about it, there was no point bothering herself about it every time he did something unreasonable. Instead, she focused on the Band of Steel. They were a wreck. They all had acid burns all over them. And two of them had some deep wounds, but the archer and the rogue were tending those.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I cleansed their wounds from that monster''s poisonous claws while you fight. As long as they stop the bleeding and keep the wounds clean, they should be fine.¡± Again, another almost impossible feat. Cleaning unknown poison was not an easy thing to do even for master healers. Again, she stopped thinking about it. She was going to travel with him and learn from him. There was no point asking now, the time would come.


    Their broken armor parts were taken out and something shiny caught Elise¡¯s eyes on their leader. It was a necklace hanging around his neck. Elise leaned forward to take a better look at it, the symbol was familiar to her. She turned her back to him as soon as she recognized the crest of Landa Family. She cursed to herself; how did she not realize who he was? If he saw her, it would cause so much trouble.


    She tried not to look at him, but while her mind was busy with it, she started to feel dizzy. Something was off and her mind was too numb to understand what was going on. Her vision started to blur, and she felt her head dropping down. After that, there was only darkness.

 Chapter 5

    A bright light fell on her eyes. Elise tried to cover her eyes from the light and opened them slowly to get used to the brightness. She was sitting on the ground and leaning on a tree. The noon-time sunshine was leaking through the thick forest.


    ¡°Ah, you are awake.¡± Elise turned towards the sound. The Traveler was sitting on a log with a short stick in his left hand. She tried to get up with the support of the tree she was leaning on. But she felt dizzy again, and the tree he was leaning on saved her from falling. That sudden movement painfully reminded her of the two cracked ribs Travel mentioned before.


    ¡°Slow down, you are still recovering.¡± He was looking at the tip of the stick in his hand, it was shaved to be pointier.


    She sat down and leaned back again. The sunlight was still pouring down on her, but it was not as irritating as before. ¡°What happened to me?¡±


    The man was still looking at the stick, he started to carve it and shave it with his fingernails. ¡°You collapsed.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You took a direct hit from that monster at the beginning, then you overexert yourself to beat it. And I think you breathe a bit too much of the smoke coming from its acid. The sharp turn you did at the end was the cherry on the top, I think.¡± He didn¡¯t take his eyes off the stick. ¡°Why did you react like that anyway? You looked like you were trying to hide something.¡±


    She closed her eyes to get her thoughts straight. ¡°What happened after I passed out?¡± She was hoping that Landa boy didn¡¯t realize who she was.


    ¡°They tended to the wounded, thanked us, and said sorry about what they did before. Promised me to reconsider their life decisions and hit the road towards to nearest settlement.¡± Elise took a deep relaxing breath. ¡°All dough one of them was quite interested in you. He kept looking at you with curious eyes. Were you acquainted with any of them?¡±


    ¡°Which one?¡± This could be bad.


    ¡°The one with the greatsword.¡±


    Oh, this was bad. She put her head between her knees and hugged her legs. She needed to get her head together. If he told someone who she was and where she was, the word would spread faster than the wind.


    ¡°Are you wanted or something?¡± He was still busy with the stick in his hand.


    She raised her head and looked at him. He was asking the question but didn¡¯t look curious at all. Could she trust him? If she told him who she was and who was after her, he could turn her in for the bounty. But he could also not do that. He looked like a person who wouldn¡¯t care about money or fame. She needed to tell someone eventually. Why that wouldn¡¯t be him?


    ¡°Mr. Traveler, can I trust you?¡± She wanted to try her luck with him.


    ¡°No.¡± The man said while looking at his stick. That was not the answer Elise was hoping to hear. ¡°Why should you? You don¡¯t even know me.¡±


    He was right. She didn¡¯t know a thing about him. But she had a feeling about him, and she always followed her feelings. They haven¡¯t let her down since.


    ¡°I chose to trust you anyway. I am from a noble family. I escaped from the home. They are probably still searching for me. But I had to run away, because...¡± He raised his hand to stop her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care why. You chose to start a journey to change your life, which I respect.¡± He stuck his stick into the ground, got up, and looked at her. ¡°You look fine now. I wish you luck on your journey.¡± He turned around and started to walk away.


    Elise couldn¡¯t understand the situation at first. Her mind was still numb, she looked at his back for a second, and then she realized. He was going. She needed to do something.


    ¡°Hey, wait!¡± She tried to get up again. This time was easier, but her head was still spinning a little. ¡°Take me with you.¡±


    The man stopped and after a pause, he turned his head slowly. ¡°Why? You are not that bad; you can find your way back.¡±


    ¡°Take me as your apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± He didn¡¯t even turn his back to answer.


    ¡°I want to learn. I will not be a burden to you, I can take care of myself.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to learn?¡±


    The question made Elise pause for a second. She never thought about what she wanted to learn. She just wanted to learn. Something, anything. She was always drawn to knowledge. If there was something new to learn, she wanted to learn that. That was the side effect of her blessing.


    She didn¡¯t know how to answer. First, she thought she should say the thing the man would approve. But she knew she had to tell the truth when the time came. The short time they spent together was telling her that lying to him could end up really bad for her. So, she decided to tell him the real reason.


    ¡°I am blessed with learning. I am good at it, and always craving to learn new things. And you are the most mysterious person I have ever met. I believe I can learn more with you than I could by myself. Take me as your travel companion, you will not be disappointed.¡±


    She looked at his back with hopeful eyes. He didn¡¯t move or answer for a second. She couldn¡¯t see the man''s face, so she didn¡¯t notice the excited smile on his face. And then, he started to turn towards her slowly.


    ¡°So, you are telling me, that I should take you with me, as an apprentice. Just because you want it too much.¡± He slowly walked towards her as he talked. The more he got close, the more he became intimidating. ¡°I travel to the most dangerous and cruel places, girl; do you think you can keep up with me?¡±


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    She once again thought not to lie to him was the right move. His posture was more intimidating now. The small and weak appearance he had before was nowhere to be found. She felt like if she said the wrong thing now, it could be the end of her. She knew there was no way to defeat him by herself. She couldn¡¯t run away too; she had seen his speed before.


    Then she realized something. Why was she thinking about fighting him or escaping? He was just asking a question; she didn¡¯t understand why she felt cornered. Was this the same thing he did to the Dragon? The intimidating presence of his was everywhere and she was being crushed by it.


    She got her thoughts together. There was nothing to fear. He was just standing before her. She discarded the uneasy thoughts and tried to stand strong. He was testing her, she knew it. She looked into his eyes and answered.


    ¡°I will do everything in my power to stand strong and move on.¡± These words came from her heart. And the Traveler noticed that too.


    The presence disappeared in an instant; he was just a messy and weak man again.


    ¡°Good, come along then. We have things to do.¡± He turned his back and started to walk.


    Elise was ready to press the matter more, but she was not ready to be accepted this fast. She stood there in shock for a second, then started to walk to catch up to him.


    ¡°Just like that? Are you just gonna accept me like that?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. But there is no better way to test you in the field, right?¡±


    They walked together for a while, without a word. The forest got denser and darker as they walked deeper into it. They didn¡¯t encounter any monsters on their way which was weird. Elise always thought this forest was full of them. When she mentioned this to the Traveler, he said; ¡°There are no strong monsters in the area, so I am keeping them away for us. I usually don¡¯t bother myself with them, but I have a feeling that you might want to fight every single one of them. I saw how you fight I don¡¯t need to see it again; I have something else in mind for a test.¡±


    Elise asked what he had in mind, but he kept it a secret. They walked for hours without a rest. She did all she could to keep up with him. Sun was already set, and the forest was getting colder and colder as they walked deeper. She walked without complaining, but the freezing cold on top of last night''s exhaustion did a number on her. The Traveler noticed that after a while and stopped walking for the first time.


    ¡°Sorry about that, it has been a while since I had a companion with me. Let¡¯s start a fire here, you are going to freeze.¡±


    She kept quiet all this time, but he was right. She needed to rest, but she also wanted to show him that she could keep up. She started to look around for the firewood.


    ¡°There is no need.¡± The man said as a ball of fire started to form in front of him. ¡°This will keep you warm. Get a good rest, this can be your last for a while. I¡¯ll keep watch through the night.¡±


    ¡°Are you not tired?¡± The fire was warm for sure. She felt its heat inside her bones. She got close to it and sat down on a soft spot.


    ¡°Not at all. I can walk for a long time if I need to. Don¡¯t bother yourself with me, you will understand everything in time. If you can pass my test, of course.¡±


    It was easier said than done. But the exhaustion got to her, and she left those thoughts for another time. She knew she should be sleeping with one eye open while traveling with a stranger, but this man was an exception. If he wanted to do something, he could do it anytime he wanted. Elise was like an ant compared to his strength; she knew that. So, she fell asleep in a nightmare full of screams and fire.


    ***


    She woke up to a touch from the Traveler¡¯s foot. ¡°Come on, rise and shine. We still have ways to go.¡±


    The fireball was gone. The slight chill of the dark forest was still around but at least the weather was not freezing anymore.


    ¡°Are we not gonna eat or drink anything? I drank my last water last night and didn¡¯t eat anything since the other night.¡± Last night she was tired enough to ignore them, but now the hunger started to show itself.


    He stared at her face for a while like she said something weird. Then he put his hand inside one of his layers of clothing. He took out a package and a strange transparent bottle filled with water from there.


    ¡°Here, these should hold you for a while.¡± He put those in her hands and turned his back to her. ¡°Come on, get moving. You can eat on the road.¡±


    Inside the package, there was Mama Millio¡¯s pumpkin pie. It sure was delicious, but she was not sure she could challenge a Dragon for it. It did satisfy her hunger and gave her the energy she needed. The bottle, on the other hand, had a strange lid on it. She realized she should turn it to open it after trying every possible way. She had never seen something like that before, but it was useful. She put the bottle in her bag and kept following the Traveler.


    They walked until noon, and at last, they stopped under a strange tree. It was wrapped around a big stone obelisk. But the stone had a smooth surface and a dark color. Elise had never seen a stone like that before. She walked forward to touch it and wanted to feel its smooth surface.


    The Traveler hit her hand before she could reach it. ¡°Do not touch it, if you don¡¯t want to materialize somewhere you don¡¯t know or disintegrate into the void.¡±


    ¡°What is this thing?¡± It had a strange beauty. The perfect rectangular shape and smooth surface of it looked like it was crafted by some genius craftsman. There was nothing on its surface. Not a single piece of dust or leaf from the forest.


    ¡°This is a Gate, girl. Tell me, do you know anything about the magic in this world?¡± He was looking at the obelisk as he spoke like he was trying to see something in it.


    ¡°I know some spells but never had time to get serious about them. The art of sword was always more tempting to me than the art of magic.¡± She was an energetic kid, sitting and practicing spells was not her thing at all.


    ¡°Okay then. I am going to show you a universe that you have never experienced before. But I am warning you for one last time.¡± He looked at Elise in the eyes and extended his hand to her with an inviting gesture. ¡°The Journey I am traveling is not an easy one. I am not guaranteeing you a safe return to your home. You could get seriously injured or even die horribly. But I can guarantee you, this will be more than an exciting journey. If you prove yourself to me in the next adventure, I will accept you as my apprentice and make you stronger than you can ever imagine. Now choose, this is your last chance to turn back.¡±


    He was excited, Elise could see it in his colorful eyes. And so was Elise. She didn¡¯t even think twice. This was what she wanted for all her lifetime. This was why she left the house she was born and raised in. This was what she was born for.


    She took his hand. And the man reached the obelisk with an approving smile on his face. As soon as he touched the stone the view changed. They were not in the forest anymore. The first thing she felt was a crushing force like it was trying to turn her inside out and take her soul from her.


    And the first thing she saw was a rocky wasteland. It was erupting with magical energy all over the place that lit up the darkness caused by the thick black-purple clouds.


    And the first thing she heard was the joyful voice of the Traveler.


    ¡°Now this is looking like a fun journey to me.¡±


    ***


    ¡°I finally found you.¡±


    The long figure''s voice was deep but cold. Even the excitement of the moment didn¡¯t make it lose its cool. It was looking at a floating vision in front of it. A female swordswoman in a cloak and a bearded man with white clothing was showing in that vision. They were standing in front of a long obsidian cylinder.


    The figure took a step back from the vision. Infinite visions of many different realms were filling the dark space in front of it. The figure turned its head slightly towards the left. Another figure appeared immediately inside the darkness.


    ¡°Take the best. Find him. And erase him from existence.¡±


    The figure disappeared as fast as it appeared. Left the long figure alone in the darkness, looking at its visions.

 Chapter 6

    It was purple. The ominous purple light was filling the giant room and lighting the device that was filling a third of the room. Thousands of cables and pipes were connecting the different pieces and holding the contraption together, and in the middle of it, there was a giant orb. Various shades of purple were dancing and forming chaotic shapes inside of it while it floated in the middle of the giant device.


    Under the dimly lit room, a man stood, his two small albeit strong-looking horns poking out of his head were casting a shadow behind him. The orb was lighting his sturdy light purple skin and giving his red pupils an ominous spark. But those eyes were filled with pride towards his creation.


    His figure was strong, and his high-quality tunic was not fully covering his muscular chest. His skin had a different colored pattern on it, almost like tattoos. That pattern was proof of his power and superiority among his race.


    So much time had passed in this god-forbidden wasteland, but it was finally bearing its fruits. And that giant orb was the sweetest of them all. The waves of energy were colliding and exploding, dancing inside the orb. It was changing. Changing under the will and intention of its future master.


    "Just a little more time. The calculations are almost done. Everything is progressing as planned. Then I, Morpheal, will stand at the top and show those bastards who is the superior one. I will not be looked down ever again." With a snap of his fingers, the main lights of the room lit the rows of books and research equipment inside the big stone room he was in.


    He went towards the double doors that led deep inside his castle. As soon as he passed the door one of his servants approached him. The servants in his castle were from a lesser race that he had been using as his slaves for quite a while. They reached up to his leg at most. Their skin was dark purple, but they were ordered to wear hooded robes to hide their disgusting features.


    The servant tensely presented him with a report about his growing army. He took it without even looking at the servant. Some of the test subjects were causing trouble and needed his direct attention to progress further. He was expecting something like that this time around because his next creations were made to be extra dangerous. He was already heading there to check the preparations, so the report didn''t bother him that much. The servant relaxed visibly and left his sight as quickly as possible without turning its back on him.


    He continued towards the underground, to the soldier creation facility but stopped for a second in front of a window to admire the view outside. The whole sky was covered with dark clouds and explosions and lightning of different shades of purple were lighting the rocky ground. The surroundings of the castle were flattened by him before he even built the castle there. And it was full of his different creations and test subjects. All of them had developed some unique physical attributes and characteristics.


    They had different types of skin and limbs. Some had horns, some had bone spikes poking out of their body. Some had wings like giant bats or feathers like griffons. Claws like lions and pincers like giant crabs; feet like humans or hooves like oxen. All were only made for his future plans. War and destruction.


    ***


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident."Ah sorry about that, something caught my eye." The Traveler turned to the suffering Elise. She was desperately trying to breathe and resist the wild environment. The feeling that captured her faded away and she could breathe and stand again on her own. She looked around thoroughly for the first time.


    "What is this place and what just happened to me?" She said while trying to catch her breath.


    "We are in a different realm. So, the air, gravity, and Energy density of this realm are different. And for your luck, it is quite harsher than yours. I put up a filter for you for now." He was looking around while talking. "You can train your body to adjust for gravity and energy, but the air is a different thing."


    Different realm! Even the thought of something like that is enough to excite Elise. She has traveled a lot since she left home and experienced a lot of things, but they were nowhere near this. It was a rocky wasteland as far as the eyes could see. And the sky itself was a different story. "Are all the places you travel to look like this?" asked Elise.


    "No. This seems like an incomplete and abandoned land. Energy is floating around freely, wildly even." He seemed to have no problem with the current situation. "This place will do."


    "What do you mean incomplete?"


    "I''ll explain it later. Come, let''s start." He started to walk towards the closest rocky hill.


    "Start to what?"


    "Your test of course!"


    "Are you really going to test me here? I can''t even properly breathe!"


    "It''s fine, don''t worry. We''ll start from the easy one." As he finished his sentence Elise felt the crushing pressure again. But this time the feeling that turned her insides out did not come with it. She fell on her knee once again. "I''ll release the gravity first, keep your armor on, and try to keep up to me."


    He kept on walking and left Elise there. She felt like her armor was betraying her and trying to crush her. Even standing straight was hard but walking was the hardest. Every step was a challenge but giving up was not an option. If she wanted to continue traveling and experience more things, she had to go beyond herself. So, she walked.


    She thought sword training with armor on was hard when she first started her training. Before, armor was making her movements a lot slower and at the end of the day every muscle in her body was screaming in pain. But this time the pain was a lot worse. Her legs tried to give up countless times on the way, but she forced herself to walk straight until the end. She was about to collapse when they finally stopped walking in front of a big pile of rock at the foot of a hill.


    "Well done! I thought you were going to collapse way back there. Get some rest, then we can start here." He started to inspect the pile of rocks while she dropped herself to the ground.


    "Wait! Start? Didn''t we start already?"


    "We just came here; how can we start?"


    "You are joking, right?" She was lying on the ground and trying to catch her breath.


    The Traveler didn''t answer her, and she was in no shape to chase an answer anyway. She lay there quietly and watched the magical explosions in the gray sky. She listened to the constant roaring sound of the sky, and she noticed the ground was also roaring alike. Those rumbling sounds combined with her exhaustion were enough to force her eyes to close. She fell asleep without even realizing it.

 Chapter 7

    A loud cracking sound woke Elise up. She tried to get up as fast as possible, but the strong gravity held her back. A strong earthquake started to shake the ground right after, and that did not help her attempt to get up. She quickly checked around while standing on her knee and saw the Traveler sitting on a rock and carelessly looking toward the source of the sound.


    "What is happening?" She shouted over the continuous sound of cracking.


    "The ground is unstable. It''s been changing rapidly since we arrived, but this one was closer than the others. Don''t worry, it shouldn''t bother us that much."


    "It shouldn''t? Are you not sure?"


    "I told you before, this place is incomplete. We can only guess what will happen. You look quite awake to me, shall we start?" The earthquake faded away as he spoke. He dropped down and approached her.


    Elise nodded and got up. Her legs were still sore, but it was not as painful as before. The Traveler stood in front of her and inspected her for a while. Normally she would be disturbed if someone was looking at her like that, but the Traveler''s gaze was not carrying any ill intentions. She stood straight and waited for him to finish.


    "Don¡¯t take your armor off. You should eat some before we start. I have things to explain to you while we eat." He moved towards a middle-sized rock. He took a breath in front of it and punched the rock. Elise watched him with curiosity, it was a gentle punch and looked like it did nothing to the rock.


    He put his hand on it and pushed gently. The rock crumbled into dust, but three shapes had formed from it. They looked like two chairs and one table. Elise looked at the three-piece set with an open mouth.


    "Just... How?"


    "Oh, come on. You saw me doing weirder things. Come and sit, I should have some nice food around here." He searched inside his layers of clothing and brought out different kinds of food from there. "Eat first, then we''ll talk."


    The food was delicious, but the Traveler only ate little pieces from each one of them. Some of the food was familiar to Elise, but they had different flavors mixed with them. She recognized the rice and chicken, but the others were completely new tastes to her. The strange noodle soup was especially delicious. That got her curious.


    "Where are these coming from? They are so delicious,¡± she asked with a full mouth.


    "I''m collecting them as I travel. They are unique flavors that you can''t find in any other realm. It is one of my hobbies."


    "So that''s why you protected Mama Millio''s tavern, for the pumpkin pie. Why don''t you eat them though." The food was fresh and hot like he made them on the spot. He must be quite a cook, Elise thought.


    "I don''t really need food; I just like to taste it. I am quite a foody you know. I just wish I knew how to cook." That statement shocked Elise. He has been traveling since God knows when, but he can''t cook. That did not make any sense to her.


    He saw her expression and chuckled. "Is it that shocking? Whenever I try to cook something, it goes wrong. I am just not talented enough for it, I guess." He was staring at the horizon with pensive eyes while talking. Elise never thought he was a small-talk type of person. Even the best of us had something they lacked, she thought.


    She ate the rest of the food in silence. It was a tasty and filling meal, maybe the best she had had since she left home. The containers of the food had different kinds of designs. Some were metal, some were paper, and some were the same material as the water bottle, he had given her before. The Traveler swung his hand on top of them, and they disappeared without a trace.


    "Okay then, tell me. What do you know about your realm''s ''magic'' system?"


    It was an unexpected question. "I read some of my father''s books for basics, but it was not my thing, I guess," Elise answered. "I can levitate small objects and start a small fire in my palm. Just some basic incantations."


    "Good. It will be easier to teach that way." He pointed one of his fingers up, and a dark veil formed on top of them, severing their connection from outside. A point of light appeared from that absolute darkness, and it started to shape as the Traveler spoke.


    "Magic is a form of use of ''mana'', as they call it in your realm. More commonly known as ''Energy''." The fluent shape of light started to diffuse all over the place. "Everything is a product of this Energy. No one knows where it came from, it was here before the ''Gods'', and it will be till the end."


    "Wait! Aren''t the Gods who created everything, including that mana, I mean ''Energy''?" That was what the Church of Lynia in her home country told the people since their existence.


    "People usually want to believe that. That their almighty creator created everything alongside them. They are partly right though, almost all materials are created by ''Gods''. But the ''Gods'' themself are quite the opposite." The diffused light started to get more condensed in certain places and formed brighter clusters. "Energy that was aimlessly roaming before formed its own consciousness."


    "The Gods?" This new knowledge was a bit hard to believe for Elise. It was not like the teachings of the Church in her region. Since her childhood, she thought the Gods were almighty beings that existed since the beginning of time. Everything was under the control of the six supreme Gods and Goddesses. They created and looked over everything so, everyone should be grateful to them.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "The ''First'' Gods. Their consciousness was not the same as ours, of course, it was more primordial. But they changed as they interacted with more Energy and of course each other. Some fought, and some cooperated. Some even fused with others or divided themselves." The light clusters moved as he described, creating a colorful dance of chaos. "And eventually, something happened that changed their whole dynamics."


    He stopped his sentence with a dramatic tone like he was telling a bonfire story. He looked at Elise like he was expecting something from her. She was captivated by the story and the light show she couldn''t answer at first.


    "Did they find balance?" She said the first reasonable thing that came to her mind. And got the reaction she least expected. The Traveler burst out laughing. But he got himself together quickly.


    "Sorry for that." He said while wiping his joyful tears with his fingers.


    "Was my answer that funny?" For Elise, her reaction was maybe not well thought but a reasonable one.


    "You''ll understand when we encounter some of them."


    "We will what now?"


    "Don''t bother yourself with that." He dodged the question with a hand gesture. "They did definitely not get balanced." He said while trying to hold his laugh in. "They got bored. Some of them stopped their meaningless dance and got themselves a new subject to play with." Some of the light clusters separated from the others and started to change their form. "They used their energy to create things."


    This new knowledge filled her head with more questions. "So, you are saying that everything is created from the Energy, and we can control it to do Magic." The endless possibilities of this thought were enough for her to get excited.


    "Exactly, but to sense or control the Energy you need to be either created that way or adapt to it. There is no one way to use it, I saw some similar methods here and there, but they are mostly different." The lights changed into different colored orbs and started to turn around them. "Some named it Aura, Ki, Curse... etcetera. Energy can manifest in different forms and can be used with different techniques."


    "So, are you going to teach me those?" She didn''t have any interest in these kinds of things but the way the Traveler explained them triggered her hunger for learning.


    "Of course not. Those techniques are lacking in a lot of areas. They have some good points here and there, but it is not worth learning the whole thing for them." The orbs flew towards the middle of them and got smaller as they came together. "I am not saying they are useless, don''t get me wrong. You can fuse them in your own technique by learning them, and I am gonna teach you the technique I created."


    Even the thought of learning something that amazing from a real master ramped up her excitement even more. But an important question popped into her head. "So, what will the test be about? Are you going to test me after you teach me that technique?"


    He made a little gesture with his hand like he was trying to get rid of something in the air. "Glad you asked that. I''ll not gonna test you after, I''m gonna test how well you can learn my teachings." The dark veil and the light orb disappeared. "Shall we start?"


    He stood up and Elise followed him after with a sparkling pair of eyes. Her excitement almost made her forget the gravity difference in this place, but as she stood up the weight of her armor fell on her again. It was not as bad as before, but it still limited her movements.


    "I see you are getting used to the gravity here. Good. Keep the armor on but give me your sword and bags."


    Elise gave him the bags she carried and kept close since the start of her journey. The bags had everything she needed for a comfortable trip. They were expendable. But her sword was a different story. It was her father''s gift and her only companion since her childhood. She always kept it close even if she took it out of her belt. It even had a name. Steel Freedom, she was calling it. She looked at the demanding hand of the Traveler, he had already put her bags into his back. She hesitated.


    "You''ll not need it as you train here with me. I''ll give it to you when we start training with a sword. Don''t worry, I''ll keep it close." His caring tone softened her a bit. She knew she needed to follow his words to achieve greater heights and eventually, she halfheartedly gave her sword in its scabbard to him. What could have happened, right?


    "Now, do you see that tall mountain over there?" He pointed out the pointy volcano seen on the horizon. It was filled with cracks and those cracks were glowing with an ominous light. Its peak was smoking continuously. "We will go there."


    "What are we going to do there?" That place seemed a little too unpleasant for her tastes.


    "It is the highest peak here. We will have a quick look around." He put Elise''s sword on his shoulder and started to walk a bit faster than normal. "Try to keep up with me."


    "Weren''t you going to teach me about Energy? Why are we moving again?"


    "That mountain has a high Energy output. It will be easier to sense but harder for you to control the Energy there. Perfect for learning." He looked back and smiled as he walked. "And we need to work on that skinny body of yours on the way. Higher Energy circulation inside the body demands a stronger vessel. Now stop whining and keep moving your body."


    Elise didn''t say a word after that, and the road to hell started for her.

 Chapter 8

    It was rough. The terrain was all rugged and bumpy, making it hard to walk. Her metal boots were not making it any easier either. Elise could have almost forgotten the weight of her armor if the Traveler had not kept walking even faster. It seemed that the terrain had no effect on him, and Elise was sure he was purposely walking on the harder terrain.


    They were walking for quite a while, but the mountain did not seem to be getting any closer. At the first break they took, Elise thought she was going to drop dead for sure. The Traveler was sitting on a rock and waiting for her to catch her breath. And at the exact moment she felt fine, he talked.


    ¡°A hundred push-ups, a hundred crunches, a hundred squats. Now!¡±


    Was he out of his mind? It was impossible. Even without the armor on, Elise was not sure she could do those moves a hundred times under this gravity. She looked at the Traveler with incredulous eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. You are already laying face on; you are halfway there. Start with the push-ups.¡± He pointed the sword in its scabbard to Elise and swung it at the rock next to him. The sword hit the rock with a strong ¡®SLAP!¡¯ sound. ¡°Now!¡± He shouted.


    Her eyes got bigger with shock. Her sword, her only friend. What was he thinking? ¡°Please don¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°Then move your ass!¡± He got ready to swing the sword again. He had a mischievous smile on his face.


    That caring middle-aged man was gone. For Elise, he was the definition of evil right now. ¡°Okay, okay. Just stop!¡± She forced her body to move and started the push-ups. But a hundred reps! It was impossible in her condition. Was he trying to kill her?


    Elise had done body training before with her sword master. Her body was not in that bad of a shape, but this was too much. She forced every bit of energy in her body out, but twenty reps were the most she could manage. Her arms couldn¡¯t handle more, and she collapsed.


    ¡°Good work! Catch your breath, then continue with the crunches.¡±


    ¡°But you said a hundred.¡±


    ¡°Ho hoh, so you still have enough energy to complain. Start the crunches now then.¡± That mischievous smile again. Yes, Elise was sure now. He was trying to kill her. Slowly, and painfully.


    She managed to force out twenty reps at most for the remaining two. Her body surrendered after the fifteenth reps but a little ¡®encouragement¡± from the Traveler in the form of her sword got her ramped up again.


    ¡°Let¡¯s rest a bit.¡± He reached inside the layers of his clothing again and threw her a bottle of water. ¡°Remember to stay hydrated. Drink it slowly.¡±


    What useful equipment, Elise thought. It was funny how she was thinking something like that in her condition. Her curiosity was taking control over her head sometimes¡ªa little side effect of her blessing.


    He let her rest a bit more than usual. She lay there without any motion, trying to breathe in a certain rhythm to normalize her heartbeat. Her old master had taught her this breathing technique. It was used for recovering one''s condition as fast as possible to keep on fighting.


    ¡°Nice breathing technique. But it isn¡¯t enough.¡± He raised his empty hand and drew a circle in the air with his index finger. A glowing ring formed in the air. ¡°This realm has a lot of wild Energy roaming around freely. You said you can do simple things like a small fire so; I assume you know how to feel the Energy. I want you to feel the Energy around you and absorb it as you breathe.¡±


    Elise closed her eyes like she always did before starting a fire with ¡®magic¡¯. She had not had that much experience, but she remembered the feeling it left in her hand and tried to replicate it in her surroundings.


    It was there. A lot of it in fact. She was shocked at how easy it was to feel it. How did she not notice it before? The Energy was whirling and waving around without even stopping, colliding and interacting with each other. But it was different than her past experiences.


    Although she was new to magic, she did not expect it to be this difficult. She was used to using her inner Energy if she needed something like a quick fire. The Energy that was floating around was like a naughty child, not listening to her at all. She concentrated as much as she could. Every time she thought she managed it; the Energy was finding a way to slip away.


    She was exhausted from her training and that was making her even more frustrated. Elise tried to breathe it in as the Traveler said and took a deep breath. It rushed inside her chest with her breath and filled her lungs. It was not refreshing like a normal breath, instead, it felt like she was burning from the inside.


    That feeling remained only for a moment. After that, Elise noticed her muscles were not as sore and her exhaustion was gone. It refreshed her body to the point that she could move again without any pain.


    "I made it!" She looked at the Traveler with glowing eyes. She was so excited.


    "Well done! You did better than I anticipated. I was expecting you to only feel it, but you managed to absorb it through your mouth." He also had an excited expression. There was a slight smile on his face. "It isn''t ideal, but it is a start. You look rested enough, let''s keep moving."


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.Elise stood up as she saw him doing the same, and they continued their journey toward the smoking volcano.


    ***


    It was a compliment, right?


    The terrain was getting harsher and harsher, and the Traveler was walking faster and faster as they kept walking. Elise was doing everything she could to keep up with him. They were taking occasional rests, with longer intervals between each one. Every time, it was resolved with Elise collapsing.


    But with every break, she managed to do more. She walked, ate, drank, slept, and walked again. Twenty-two, twenty-five, thirty... Every time she did more and more reps of her exercises. With every break, bit by bit, she became stronger.


    The Traveler was pushing her to her limits, but also allowing her to rest just enough to keep moving forward. He was harsh but kind at the same time, always praising her achievements and encouraging her.


    But her Energy training was another story. Elise was calling it the Energy Breathing, even though the Traveler was saying ''breathing'' was not the right term for it. It was not going well.


    "I''m the one at fault here. Don''t go too hard on yourself. I said absorb it as you breathe before, but I didn''t expect you to take it literally. I just hoped it would help you to imagine."


    They were resting next to a wide, pink-colored, glowing river. The riverside had a lot of colorful glowing crystals scattered around the terrain. He was sitting on a big rock as usual and he had Elise''s sword on his shoulder.


    "Let''s try this. Don''t breathe it, absorb it like a sponge." He looked at her as if he had said something easy to understand.


    "What do you mean like a sponge? I never absorbed anything like a sponge!" She had no problem with breathing the Energy. She had gotten used to it and was using it more efficiently than before. Was this not enough?


    "You got a point there. Using the Energy as you wish is all about imagination." His eyes drifted towards the glowing river. "Maybe you should try it in there."


    Elise got closer to the calmly flowing pink liquid and looked at it, hoping to see its bottom. The vivid glare of it was making it difficult to see anything through. "What even is this?"


    "I dunno. It is filled with Energy though. If you get into a liquid like this maybe you can imagine absorbing the Energy like a sponge." He also came closer as he spoke. They looked at the river for a short time.


    "Are you sure it is safe?"


    "Well, things are living inside it so... It should be safe, right."


    "Living things? You said this realm is incomplete."


    "It is but, haven''t you heard the saying; life finds a way?" He walked toward a rock with little glowing crystals sprouting on it and kicked it softly.


    The rock crumbled into pieces. At least that was what Elise first thought. Some parts of the rock that had crystals were separating from it slowly and started to crawl away from him. Elise realized they were not rocks but crustacean creatures.


    The Traveler reached and caught one of them. It had a head-sized shell and had dozens of little pointy feet underneath. He pointed his finger at its crystals. "Look, it absorbs and stores the Energy. That Energy solidifies and forms these crystals."


    Elise looked at her surroundings. There were a lot of different-sized rocks and crystals on top of them. They were blending the terrain perfectly so; she couldn''t tell which one was a creature and which one was a rock.


    "So, you are saying, those creatures are living inside this river? They look harmless enough." The Traveler was putting the creature back to its rock. It found itself a new hole in the rock and settled in it. It was kind of cute, Elise thought.


    "Don''t let them fool you. That thing tried to suck my Energy. If my control was weaker, it could drain me." He came near the river again. "As for the creatures in the river, they seem to be different. More fish like I can say."


    They shared a look for a moment. He was clearly expecting her to get into the river. Her resolve fell apart quicker than she hoped so. "Ok, whatever! Let''s get into the unknown glowing liquid. What could go wrong, right?" She got ready to get inside the river.


    "That''s the spirit! I knew you had it in you. Keep the armor on, by the way, you may need it."


    She slowly put her feet in first. Her metal-plated leather boots kept her feet from getting wet but only for a moment. It was warm, like the rest of this realm. But there was a tingly feeling where the liquid touched. It seemed to not be doing any harm to her.


    "Come on! Go a bit deeper. You should absorb it with your whole body." He came a little closer to her. "I can push you if you want."


    She ignored him and took a deep breath. Started to take little steps into the liquid. There was a faint smell coming from it, she noticed it as she went deeper. It was not pleasant, like some kind of wet animal. She tried not to mind that and kept walking.


    As her waist went in, the tingly feeling reached her upper body, and she recognized it. It was a faint version of the feeling that she experienced when she breathed Energy. That made her hopes go up. If she could feel it without even trying, she could succeed here, right? She kept on walking till her neck went in and took a deep breath.


    She dived right in. Her whole body was reacting to the liquid and tingling like crazy. She focused on that feeling and tried to absorb it, like a sponge. She was not expecting it to be this effective. She felt the Energy rush inside her and fill every cell of her body.


    It was painful at first. It was like something was trying to turn her inside out and rip her apart. She recognized the feeling. It was the same feeling she experienced the first time she came to this realm. The Traveler was shielding her from it as far as she knew.


    But she was not the same person. Her body was used to the Energy now. She calmed herself down and let her body distribute the Energy like her blood circulating her body. She felt all of her pores open with tiny explosions. The pain slowly faded away and left its place to the tingling again. But a bit more powerful this time. It was alive inside her.


    But the most surprising thing was the change in her senses. She could sense her surroundings like the pink liquid was a part of her. She could feel the currents inside the river. She stayed there for a moment and savored that priceless experience. If she knew using the Energy was this exciting, she would have loved to learn more back then.


    Elise was not sure how much time had passed since she dived in, but she was surprised by the fact that she did not need any air. So, this was what the Traveler was trying to do, she thought. He wanted her to not depend on him all the time and travel with her own effort.


    While she was deep in her thoughts, she noticed a change in the river. Three different Energies disturbed the currents of the river. And they were coming towards her directly at high speed.

 Chapter 9

    They were fast. Really fast. First, Elise couldn¡¯t understand what she was sensing. The river was flowing calmly, wrapping her body and moving on without any intention. But those three Energies had appeared out of nowhere and were coming straight towards her. They didn¡¯t have the same feeling that the river was giving; they felt wrong, out of place, and¡­ dirty.


    As they closed the distance, she realized she could feel their intentions. Their bloodlust. They were not only coming to kill her; they were coming to rip her body into pieces. To tear her skin while she was screaming in pain. Those feelings rushed inside and filled her head. She panicked.


    She got her head out of the river and looked towards the strange Energies. The river''s surface was inflating as they approached, and three fins with sets of pointy bones were showing on it. And unfortunately, they were closer than she thought. She hadn¡¯t had any time to think. She tried to react as if she were on solid ground. It was a stupid decision, but it was too late. She jumped backwards to dodge.


    She realized her mistake instantly and braced for their attack. But it never came. The next thing she knew she was in the air, flying towards the shore. She fell on her back and gasped due to the impact. She tried to get up quickly, but her body didn¡¯t respond. She could only crawl backward to escape. But her head bumped into something.


    ¡°Nice flight. But you need to practice on the landing.¡± The Traveler was standing behind her. "I guess you are not ready for them yet."


    He was looking at the river shore the three creatures were coming out. First, their heads popped up. They had unusually big eyes and mouths frogs, but their features were sharper. Lots of bony protrusions jutted out from their heads in strange places, except for a fin-like structure running down from the back of their head to their spine, made up of a series of bones. Their mouths were filled with hundreds of sharp teeth, drooling on their shiny purple scales with hunger.


    The rest of their bodies were not that different. Giant webbed claws and a strong, long tail with a fin on top for swimming. The same unnecessary bones were coming out here and there. They were not alike, each of them had some unique features. Even though their bodies resembled water-born creatures they had the structure of a humanoid. They came out of the river and stood up on their back claws. They were muscular and one-and-half human size. The rest of their body was not that different.


    Elise looked at them in fear. She could still feel their bloodlust towards her. How could she even fight against such terrifying creatures? Her mind and body had given up, she was ready to die. They charged at her with a scream. She closed her eyes and waited for what was coming.


    A strong wind hit her from the left. And then... nothing happened. She opened her eyes slightly. A purple volume of dust was flying in front of her. She looked up and saw the Traveler with her sword in his hand. The sword was still in its sheath. His arm was open to the side like he just swung it, but he was still relaxed like he always had been. He looked down at her with a questioning expression.


    "How long do you intend to stay on the ground?" He put her sword on his shoulder once again.


    Elise blushed in embarrassment. What was she doing? Cowering in fear was not something she would do. She could still feel the Energy inside her body, but the disturbing feelings that filled her head were gone with those creatures. She got up instantly. She was dripping wet and feeling dirty from the river. What was the last time she took a bath? She couldn''t remember.


    "Thanks for pulling me out. I thought I was dead for sure." She tried to squeeze out the access liquid from her hair.


    "I didn''t pull you. You jumped out." He pointed his finger at her and made a wavy motion. All of the liquid on her gathered in front of it. Even her clothes became dry. He threw the ball of ping liquid back into the river.


    "What do mean I jumped? I swear I was flying for a moment there." She tidied herself a little after drying. "Thank you by the way."


    "You filled yourself with Energy and your body used it to react to the situation you were in without you realizing it. Muscles are capable of using Energy that your body converts to operate, and they are insatiable. If you give them more than their capacity, they accept it and use it even if it causes major injuries."


    "Really?" She looked down at her legs. "But I feel fine."


    "You aren''t fine. You are high from Energy. Release it and see for yourself."


    "Release it? I almost died for it. Why do I have to release it now?" The Energy had a nice feeling to it. She was feeling powerful, like she could do anything she wanted.


    "Because using Energy without proper guidance could harm your body or kill you. Now release it or I''ll do it by force. I assure you it''ll not be pleasant." His eyes were saying he was not going to accept no for an answer.


    The almighty feeling she was feeling faded away as she looked into those eyes. She focused on the Energy inside her and imagined it was leaking out from her pores. The exact opposite of being a sponge. The Energy left her slowly and before she knew it, she was on the ground, lying on her back.


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    She looked at the dark clouded sky with surprise. She tried to get back up, but even though her upper body straightened a little, her legs were not responding. The pain slowly spread through her legs. It was much worse than the regular training pain.


    "What is happening?" she asked, between her teeth clenched in pain.


    The Traveler crouched next to her. "Do you know anything about human anatomy?"


    "Anatomy? Now? I am in pain right now if you didn''t notice." She was trying her best not to scream.


    "So, normally muscles have an emergency stopping system for situations like this. You can''t use your full strength unless something extreme happens. Like finding yourself in a life and death situation or filling them with Energy unnaturally."


    Why was he giving a lecture right now? Elise tried to focus on his words instead of the pain.


    "So, you just exploded your legs'' muscle fibers." Her eyes widened in fear by his words. "Don''t worry, it''s not something serious for an Energy user. I know it''s painful, but I want you to focus on your inner Energy. Try to feel its flow inside you and try to direct it to your legs."


    She stared at him for a moment. Was he really expecting her to focus right now? As an answer to her stare, he gave her an encouraging smile and kept looking at her in anticipation.


    "Ah, whatever." She tried to gather her last bit of focus. After encountering those three creatures, her mind was not in the best shape. Her legs were not making it any better either. She looked for the ''inner Energy'' the Traveler mentioned. It was easier than before since she knew what kind of feeling she was looking for.


    She ignored her pain and calmed her mind. One of the first things her master taught her was how to maintain her focus in combat. She was always a distracted child with endless questions on her mind. Teaching her something required a different approach.


    She could feel it. Her Energy was flowing inside every cell of her. But it seemed a little disturbing in her lower half. She gathered her focus on the disturbed parts and tried to fix their flow. Surprisingly the Energy reacted to her wish and started to flow towards her legs. But it was more exhausting than she thought.


    "Good. Using your inner Energy is easier but it burns you out as much quicker. Absorb some from outside and feed that current with it." He was speaking calmly and slowly, trying not to disturb her focus.


    She did as he said. She absorbed a little Energy and directed it towards her legs along with her inner Energy. They fused inside her and moved as she wished. The disturbance had been fixed and the Energy was flowing directly at her injured muscles.


    The pain faded away slowly. She could feel her muscles healing through her Energy. It was connecting with the rest of the Energy flow. She could feel her legs again. She tried to move one leg and it worked, but the Traveler laid his hand on her leg.


    "Let''s not go that far. You did good but you are still new to it. Your body needs to get used to it. Rest a bit, then we''ll keep moving." He stood up and went to sit on a rock close by.


    Elise lay back on the ground and closed her eyes. She needed some time to sort her mind.


    ***


    She thought about what she accomplished in such a short time. Her understanding of Energy got much deeper, and she even used it to heal herself successfully. But there were some things that she couldn''t figure out.


    ¡°I felt something there.¡± They were continuing their journey under the dark clouds. Endless lightning strikes were brightening them with their ever-changing colors. ¡°In the river, I could sense everything that was surrounding me. Almost like everything was connected with me through Energy. But then, those creatures came in. I could feel it. Their bloodlust, their hunger. Not for food, but destruction. They just wanted to kill for the sake of killing. They just wanted to see my shredded flesh and dripping blood.¡±


    She closed her eyes to deal with the flashbacks. ¡°Those feelings got into me, and I couldn¡¯t do anything. They overwhelmed me with fear.¡± Remembering it made her body shiver again. ¡°I don¡¯t want to feel something like that again. So, I want something from you.¡±


    The Traveler was taking the lead as usual but catching up to him was not as hard as before. He kept walking as she talked but Elise knew, he was listening. ¡°I want you to make me strong enough to never feel fear again.¡± Yes, that would be her resolve.


    He turned his head toward her slightly for a moment to look at her while walking. She caught a little something from that look. Sadness? Pity maybe? But why? She thought he would praise her resolve. He kept walking without saying anything for a while.


    When he decided to talk, the sadness in his voice was obvious. ¡°Fear is not about strength; it is about having something to lose. Having something to lose is not a bad thing, girl.¡±


    She opened her mouth to talk but got interrupted. ¡°I know what you meant. But trust me, not feeling your emotions is not the strength you are looking for. Even if it is only your fear, the rest will follow it before you even realize it. The real strength is to keep on moving with those emotions. Because without them you are just an empty shell.¡±


    He stopped and turned around. ¡°I will not be going to teach you how to be fearless. I will teach you how to keep fighting while in fear. In fear of losing what is precious to you, and how to protect it with all cost.¡±


    Elise had never seen him this serious before. His ever-changing colorful eyes were saying what needed to be said. Elise knew he was talking out of the experience, his or someone he cared about. She also knew this was not the time to ask about it.


    ¡°I understand. I trust your judgment and will entrust myself to you and your teachings.¡±


    He was not like the heroes in the stories she grew up with. She thought if she wanted to be a great person like them, she needed to be fearless like them. But what the Traveler said influenced her more than those stories. His words felt more¡­ realistic. She felt she was in the right hands. The hands that will shape her into a stronger person than she ever imagined.


    ¡°Good. About the other thing you mentioned.¡± His expression changed to normal before he turned around to keep walking. ¡°You said you felt a connection with the surrounding Energy when you absorbed it. Energy could easily be filled with ¡®intent¡¯. When you absorb it, you absorb those intentions too. They could harm your mental health and even corrupt your thoughts. But that is also how different uses of Energy are created. It shapes with your intentions.¡±


    ¡°So, what you are saying is, they were using some kind of technique to attack my mantel health?¡± She never thought such creatures could use Energy to that extent.


    ¡°Not exactly. They were magical creatures so, what you felt was their leaking Energy filled with their intent.¡±


    Energy was still a subject she couldn¡¯t grasp. But the more she knew the more exciting it got. She kept walking behind the Traveler as she fell silent and got lost in her thoughts. She didn¡¯t even notice his proud look and smile directed at her.

 Chapter 10

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 Chapter 11

    It was nervous. The little hooded creature next to the desk was shaking while presenting a report to its master. Morpheal was reviewing his final calculations about his biggest project ever, and those little lowlifes knew they should not bother him while he was studying. This report had better be something important.


    The little creature kept its eyes on the ground and started to back off as soon as he got the report in its hands. He quickly took a look at the report.


    ¡°Stay.¡±


    His cold but strong voice filled the room. A squeak came from the little creature, and it stood where it was, shaking in fear.


    The report was about the sudden increase in deaths in his army. Deaths were normal, they needed to fight in order to pick out the weak and form a hierarchy. An average of twenty percent of his products were dying of wastage in this process.


    But some disappearances occurred according to the report. A few did desert before, but this was nothing like that. Some strong products were disappearing in the middle of their ranks and their kin were sensing their deaths after a short time.


    The report burned in his hands with purple flames. Was someone messing with his army? This was not a serious matter; his army size was too massive for it to do any harm. But he was so close to concluding his plans and Morpheal was not someone who lets unexpected variables in his calculations.


    ¡°Send word to the captains. Tell them to gather their squads and search the land around our mining grounds. They may kill if they encounter anyone. Don¡¯t come back without results. You may go now.¡±


    The little lowlife left his presence. He could inform them of his connection with them through his Energy, but even thinking about it disgusted him. He was way above them; they did not deserve his direct attention.


    He turned back to his research notes and calculations. It was close to an end now; his life''s work was going to bear fruit soon. Then none of these little things were going to matter. Even the Gods themselves were going to think twice before messing with him.


    ***


    Exercise, drink, slash, eat, change location, sleep. Exercise, drink, slash, eat, change location, sleep. And repeat, again and again. It was harsh training, but Elise had no complaints. Using her sword made her feel alive more than anything else. She did her best to utilize everything she learned in her fights, but the Traveler was always raising the bar.


    First, he picked the agile ones. Every creature he brought was faster than the previous ones and used their speed differently. Some kept dodging and evading her attacks, and some were charging right at her with their muscular lower body, forcing her to dodge. Elise had to focus and distribute her Energy in different muscles with different strategies.


    Once she got the hang of it, the Traveler started to increase their numbers. Elise knew he was intentionally picking the worst combinations for her to keep her using not only her muscles but also her brain. He was not teaching her how to use her sword or Energy, he was teaching her how to stay alive. By getting beaten up. She was figuring out the rest by herself by experiments. She couldn¡¯t remember having this much fun before.


    Next was the armored ones. Everything she learned and developed was of no use to them. They were not fast, so dodging was pointless, but they were powerful and sturdy. The strength of her attacks was not enough to damage them, and if she tried to gather enough power for a strong attack she was going to be exposed to their attacks, which could lead to an early end of her traveling life.


    So, she learned how to add force to her quick attacks. The Traveler was keeping his word and was not getting involved except for some tips he was giving when she got stuck. His tips were always accurate, and no more than what was needed. He was insisting that she needed to figure things out herself without depending on him.


    Somewhere in the middle, her exercises reached their final state. A hundred repeats each. Then she kept doing the same till they were no longer wearing her out. But the next step was doing them without using Energy, and it was surprisingly easier than she thought. It took a while, but in the end, it was worth it. Her raw power significantly increased and that made her attacks even more effective.


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    ¡°How? They were just basic exercises. How could they be this effective?¡± She was holding her sword in her right hand and looking at the other. The hard-shelled purple creature was lying in front of her with a broken skull.


    ¡°They are making you use most of your major muscles, but that¡¯s not the reason.¡± He was sitting on a big rock as usual. Elise was getting suspicious that he was specifically picking the spots with the most comfortable rock to sit on. ¡°The real reason is, that we force your muscles to their limits with continuous use of Energy. In short, we break them to forge them again with Energy to make them stronger. Working with them without Energy after a long time was to get them out of their comfort zone for the same purpose.¡±


    She distanced herself from the dead creature before it exploded. Its shell scattered around like tiny blades, but she was used to it and dodged them without effort. She could see and feel herself improving with every fight. Her body was stronger than ever, and her grasp of Energy was also at another level. She knew following the Traveler was the right move.


    Her opponents¡¯ numbers kept increasing and their combinations kept getting more and more hard to deal with. But they always had an opening for her to notice and use to her advantage. The Traveler kept catching them and she kept killing them, until they decided to come themselves.


    They appeared on a hill close to where they were training and charged right at them. There were five, and Elise sliced all of them. One of them was quite challenging but it was nothing she couldn¡¯t handle after that much training.


    The Traveler got up from his rock. ¡°It is time then.¡±


    ¡°Time for what?¡± Elise asked while cleaning the blood from her sword.


    ¡°They finally noticed us and decided to look for us. These were probably one of the search teams that was supposed to find and kill us.¡±


    ¡°What are we going to do now?¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, some of them should be able to sense each other, through their Energy connection. So, they can feel where their kin died. That''s how they found us, and I''m sure their numbers will increase next time." He walked towards the hill that had an open view of the volcano as he spoke.


    "Let me guess. Are we going to take action before them?" Elise had no idea what they could do against such an army, but she was also curious about it. Maybe this was a chance to see how strong the Traveler really is.


    He looked at her with a mischievous smile and turned his head to the volcano. From the point they were standing, they could clearly see the dark castle in the distance. Elise had seen and had been inside castles before, but this one was smaller than most castles and had a different layout. It had three different sections, stacked on top of each other. Like a wedding cake, she thought. Half a cake actually, the other half seemed to be inside the volcano. Her face grimaced from the simile she made. Unwanted memories rushed through her head, but she quickly disposed of them.


    While she was inspecting the castle, the Traveler had walked next to a large house-sized rock. He kicked the rock sideways while still looking at the castle like he was calculating something. The rock cracked horizontally from the bottom and slid away from him a little.


    "Do you know what happens if you poke a beehive with a stick?" He buried his right hand inside the crack he made and lifted the giant stone with ease. After a quick weighing, he spun around with the rock in his one hand. "A rock in this case."


    Elise could only watch with eyes wide open while the rock flew towards the castle. No siege weapon she knew could launch a stone that far, especially one that size. She didn''t even notice any Energy from him. Did he really pull that stunt just with his raw strength?


    They watched the rock hit the middle section with a devastating impact. The hit part collapsed slowly on itself and some of the upper sections followed it after a while. That dark and ominous-looking castle had a hole in the middle now. Inside that hole, a purple light started to shine. Something glowing with the same color came out of inside and flew right towards them like a purple comet.


    "You anger every resident inside of it and make them come right to you."


    The Traveler answered his own question as the comet flew and landed with an impact in front of them.

 Chapter 13

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 Chapter 13

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 Chapter 14

    It was surprisingly crowded. Elise was not expecting the town of Rhiona to be this alive after that unfortunate event. The town was one with the ground when they left it, there were almost no buildings standing. She thought it would be a ghost town after that, but the town''s people had come back and started to rebuild it from scratch.


    They were walking on one of the newly built streets. The town was buzzing from the constructions everywhere and all the artisans and tradesmen trying to establish their businesses. Even though walking in this town once again reminded Elise of the disaster she witnessed, seeing that the people were patching their wounds and trying to live on was enough to soothe her heart.


    The sun was reaching the top. The way here from the Gate in the middle of the dense forest that took almost two days before didn''t even take half a day this time. She knew her mobility had improved but didn''t think it would be this much. The Traveler kept increasing their speed and she played along. They were almost flying in the forest. They even scared some lumberjacks on the way.


    "That''s why Humans are the most common species in most of the realms." The Traveler was walking next to her, looking around like Elise does.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Humans are one of the most adaptive species among the intelligent ones. They always find a way to live on." He drove off a salesman who was trying to sell him something on the road. "Do you remember the story I told you about the creation of realms?"


    "Yeah." How could she forget? It was the first time she developed an interest in Energy.


    "Humans are the first self-evolved intelligent species, unlike the Angels, Demons, and most of the Dragons that are handmade creations. They progressed beyond everyone''s imagination because they created everything they had with hardship and endurance, their ''Gods'' didn''t interfere with anything. The other ''Gods'' thought the Humans were the perfect species so, they copied them to their Realms out of jealousy."


    He stopped for a moment to look into a greengrocer''s cabbage shelf like he saw something interesting in there. Elise looked where he was looking. She was not a vegetable expert but even to her those cabbages were not looking healthy. The Traveler grabbed one with one hand and continued his lecture.


    "But they soon found out their conjecture was wrong. The Humans they copied were not the ultimate species. Most of them extinct instantly. They were adapted to their original environment and couldn''t adapt fast enough to their new Realms conditions." He turned the cabbage in his hand and showed the rotten parts. "Some lived on and evolved into something else. Some ''Gods'' even force-evolved their Humans or readjusted their realms to create the ultimate species. That''s how the other variant Humanoids created."


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    He dropped the cabbage back onto its shelf and kept walking while ignoring the greengrocer''s complaints. The creation story he just told was not even close to the one the Six God''s Church, the main religion in this continent, was telling. But she could see where it was coming from. She had never been a religious person, unlike her mother, but hearing those stories from someone like the Traveler was a different thing. He was telling those things like they were common knowledge and the absolute truth, and this made her curious about something.


    "How do you know this much? Perhaps... were you alive back then?" She asked timidly. It couldn''t be the case, right? She knew he was someone with a lot of mysteries around, but this was beyond her imagination.


    He stopped and looked at Elise with a disappointed expression on his face. "Do I look that old?"


    "That was not what I meant. You just... know too much, and I am just questioning where this much knowledge came from." She desperately tried to explain herself.


    "So, you''re calling me a liar."


    Her eyes widened when she realized the thing she said could easily be understood like that too. She tried to think of a way to apologize, then she saw the mischievous smile on his face.


    "I''m just messing with you. If you weren''t the questioning type, I wouldn''t take you as an apprentice. As for your answer, some organizations study the creation of Realms, and I have friends in some of them. Is this satisfying enough for you?"


    She wouldn''t believe if it was coming from anyone, but she saw what he was capable of. He had no reason to lie to boast about himself. She once again realized she was in the right hands and happily kept walking alongside him. The street they were walking on almost came to an end and only after that she realized they were being watched. She noticed two people''s gazes in the alleyway they passed and two more of them outside of the store ahead. She had no idea how she did it but she could pinpoint their exact locations. Was it because of the Energy sense she obtained?


    She immediately took a stance and got ready to take them on. "We are being watched."


    "I know." The Traveler said with a careless tone. "They''ve been after us almost since we entered this main street, and we are already surrounded. Now they''re going to act because you let them know they are discovered."


    He was right. Elise couldn''t help but react as soon as she felt threatened, and now the ones that were chasing them were closing on them from all directions. She recognized their uniforms under their cloaks, they were from the Investigation Bureau. Why them? She thought they were only sent after the ones that committed serious crimes. Why were they after her?


    She looked at the Traveler. He was standing still without a care like nothing was happening. "What are you doing? We need to get rid of them before they call for backup."


    "No. I don''t beat up government officials anymore."


    "What!? Whatever, we just escape then." She got ready to jump and get onto a rooftop. There were a lot of buildings under construction, and she could easily jump between them like it was a walk in the garden in her current condition. But she felt the Traveler''s hand on her shoulder.


    "I thought you were done running." He looked at her with his color-changing eyes, and she understood his intentions like he was fusing them into her brain with his eyes. She needed to clean up her past mistakes to have a cleaner future ahead. But, was he really planning to surrender to them? Who could have known what would happen if they went with them?


    "Come on, don''t think about it that badly. They will just give us a ride to the capital city. It''s not like you committed a serious crime, right?" While he carelessly said those words, eight officers surrounded them in an instant.


    "Under the name of the Royal Family of the Alethani kingdom, Elise Vandenberg, for insulting the Royal Family and the Royal Crown Heir himself through adultery, you and your lover are under arrest and will be delivered to the Royal Court. Please do not cause any unnecessary trouble and come with us quietly."


    She looked at the Traveler with eyes wide open. He was also looking at her with visible confusion. She turned her gaze back to the commanding officer.


    "My what!?"

 Chapter 15

    He was relaxed, unlike Elise on top of her horse with shackles on her hands. The Traveler was in a wheeled cage with a wooden floor and ceiling, and a metal fence around it. It was made for transporting medium-sized monsters, the ones who arrested them had bought it from a merchant in the town. He was lying in there without care since they set out, under the disapproving looks of the Investigation Bureau officers. There was a total of fifteen of them; four in the front, four in the back, and five of them had spread around the cage and Elise. All were on top of their horses, except their captain who was driving the cage. He had already sent one of them ahead to inform their arrival.


    They had lent a horse to Elise because she was still a noble, but she was under tight control. Two of the officers were at her sides all the time and her horse was tied to theirs. She could jump down and try to run for it. It would be a good opportunity for her to try out her current condition against the horses. Not like she would try to run, they were already halfway through the way, but there was no harm in thinking about it.


    The past two weeks were fast. Summer was about to end, the sun was still burning in the daytime but the nights were getting chilly. They were using the fastest route, and only stopping when it was necessary. Northern Region¡¯s mountains and forest roads were a bit harsh but they had finally reached the main road.


    After that, it was mostly the green moors of the inner lands. The road was filled with merchants and adventurers who were headed in the opposite direction. Every one of them was looking at the cage the Traveler was lying in. Thanks to him, no one was paying any attention to Elise. She was not expecting anyone to recognize her but there was always a possibility, like that Landa boy she rescued in Malargo forest.


    Even though they were arrested, the Investigation Bureau members treated them well. They treated Elise well at least. They took her equipment but offered her warm food and let her sleep around their campfire. But they never let the Traveler out of his cage. They didn¡¯t let them speak with each other for more than a few sentences. Their longest conversation was on the second day of their arrest.


    It was a cold morning in the forest. Their group was already on the road with the sunrise. Elise had not closed her eyes the whole night. She was still disturbed by the fact that they were arrested. She knew the Traveler was also awake, she had never seen him asleep before, but couldn¡¯t dare to speak with him in case of any misunderstanding. He must have also thought to same thing.


    ¡°Is something bothering you?¡± The Traveler had asked when they got on their way. He didn¡¯t even open his eyes to look at her. He was still lying on his back, hands behind his head and legs crossed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you noticed or not but, we are arrested!¡± How could he be this carefree?


    ¡°Come on! It¡¯s not that bad. Not like we are sentenced to death or something,¡± he opened his eyes and looked at one of the officers at his side ¡°Right?¡±


    The officer didn¡¯t meet his eyes but answered after a brief moment. ¡°You are accused of insulting the Royal Family so, you will be taken to the Royal Court and receive punishment as they see fit.¡±


    ¡°See!¡±


    Elise had a visible irritation on her face, but he didn¡¯t stop there. Of course, he had to drag it out.


    ¡°I thought your back story was something like a family drama, so I let you keep it to yourself. But dumping the ¡®Heir of the Kingdom¡¯ right after the engagement... I was not expecting that.¡± He laughed as hard as he could and drew some angry glances from their accompany. Ever since they got caught, he has been laughing about this topic occasionally.


    ¡°That is enough!¡± The captain of the Investigation Bureau hit the fence of the cage with his fist. ¡°I will not tolerate any more insults towards the Royal Family. Keep your mouth shut or I will have to execute your punishment myself before we arrive at the court.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± he said but it was obvious he was trying to hold himself. ¡°That aside, let¡¯s both use this free time to our advantage. How about a thousand reps a day for each this time, with Energy of course.¡±


    ¡°A tho... what!? How am I supposed to do that in this situation?¡± Was he out of his mind... again?


    ¡°You have mornings, noon breaks, and before sleep. You have plenty of time.¡± He seemed he had already set his mind. Elise knew there was no escape. She wanted to complain, but that was not the time for it.


    ¡°So, how will you spend your time to your advantage?¡± Elise asked while grinding her teeth.


    ¡°I will lay down and rest, of course.¡± He lay on his back and rested his head on his hands. That was the last drop.


    ¡°YOU...¡±


    ¡°DIDN¡¯T I SAY ENOUGH!?¡± Their captain had raised his voice again.


    After that, they didn¡¯t talk much for the two weeks they traveled, but she did what he said. At first, a thousand reps a day were looking doable. She had no equipment on her, only her gambeson and leather pants. The gravity was nothing compared to the other realm.


    The first hundred went fast, but when she got close to the two-hundreds her whole body started to burn from inside. She had never used Energy this frequently before. She used bursts of Energy to boost her movements and tried to finish every battle as fast as possible. Now she realized none of her battles lasted longer than a hundred reps. Maybe that was the whole purpose of her training. To set her body up for continuous usage of Energy.


    At noon she started burning after a hundred, and at night she couldn¡¯t even reach a hundred. It was embarrassing, especially while all the Bureau officers were around. She saw some of their disapproving glances, ¡®a Lady shouldn¡¯t be doing these kinds of things¡¯ they were saying with those looks. But the most disturbing thing was the fact that she felt inadequate. She thought she had improved a lot, but apparently, it was not enough.


    After the past two weeks of traveling and training, she managed to reach six hundred reps at the end of the day. Which was way below and way harder than what she expected. She still had a long way to go, and only ten days left to work with. After all that humiliation, she was not going to give in. It was not about her self-esteem, and definitely not about the approval of the Traveler. She needed to show everyone how strong she had become since she left. That was the whole point of her going back home. To convince her father and to shove it on her mother¡¯s face.


    Going back home was triggering all kinds of memories. The loving smile and kind eyes on his father¡¯s dignified face; and the disapproving looks of his beautiful mother¡¯s cold eyes. The relaxing training sessions with the house guards and their captain, her master; and the distant looks of gossiping housemaids, laughing after her every move.


    She shook her head and tried to focus on the road. It was empty, it had been a couple of hours since they last saw another group. Her eyes wandered on the Traveler in his cage and that made her think about her training. While she was at it the past two weeks, she sometimes questioned the routine. Why was she doing these moves? Even though he could be a bit annoying sometimes, there was no denying it. The Traveler¡¯s methods were working, that is why she never questioned and did what he said. But what exactly was behind her extraordinary growth? So, she decided to ask this time.


    They camped on top of a hill next to the main road. The area around them was filled with grassland hills. Their camp location made sure they could see anyone getting close. When it was time to do her training, she went next to the cage and asked the Traveler.


    ¡°What is the point of this training exactly?¡± When she got close, the guards who were stationed there tensed up and started to watch them closely. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, I am not complaining or anything, it works really well for me. But I just realized I never asked the reason for these specific moves.¡±


    The Traveler got up to sit and crawl on his buttocks to come close to the iron bars of the fence. He doesn¡¯t seem to be disturbed about the guards next to them. ¡°The main goal is to ready your body for the difficulties of ¡®Traveling¡¯. I needed to find the fastest way that would suit you at the same time.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a sword fighter, right? And an agile one at that. So, you need speed, mobility, and strength. The push-ups are for the upper body strength, to let you swing your sword with more power. The squats are for your leg strength, to let you run and dodge as long and fast as possible. Also, a sword''s strength comes from the legs too, not with only your arms and chest. Am I right, Luisey?¡± He turned towards one of the guards. He didn''t answer.


    ¡°Lastly, the crunches are for the lower body, the place where your body does all kinds of rotational movements. Again; speed, mobility, and strength. These attributes are essential for not only a sword fighter but anyone who goes against physical hardships.¡±


    He finished his lecture with a wide smile on his face. Once again, Elise was impressed by this mysterious man¡¯s knowledge. Does he know everything about the human body? Maybe she should ask for some lessons about the thing he called ¡®anatomy¡¯. But should she really do those things a thousand times every day? The continuous Energy use was burning her from the inside. If she stopped using it her muscles were giving up instantly.


    The Traveler continued like he heard her thoughts. ¡°You already have some basic sword skills. I wanted you to focus on continuous muscle and Energy usage. Your body is still unrefined, you need to get used to hard work and temper your body with Energy.¡±


    He looked to his right. ¡°And I think you will get to practice it sooner than you think.¡± Elise followed his gaze and looked to her left. There was nothing at first, then a man on his horse showed up on top of the closest hill in that direction. He had a crude half-armor on his muscular body and a helm that covered his face. More people followed him after. They were on foot and had one or two pieces of worn-out armor parts on some rags. Almost everything about them was screaming like bandits. She looked at the closest officer to warn but it was not necessary. The officer on watch was already alert.


    ¡°BANDITS!¡±

 Chapter 16

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 Chapter 17

    The Capital of the Alethani Kingdom was big. Bigger than Elise remembered. It had been years since the last time she visited the Capital, and they had hardly any time to look around. The Vandenberg territory was on the far West side of the Kingdom so, their Family was only coming to the Capital for important occasions.


    Their arrival was delayed for three days. They had to quickly hand over the bandit captives they had to the closest fort on their way because surprisingly, none of them had any serious injuries but passed out regardless. Fortunately, they did not wake up till they were handed over. None of the officers also had any injuries even though they had been outnumbered. These unusual situations attracted some suspicions but they didn¡¯t have any time to think about such things so, they concluded that they had been lucky. But Elise knew.


    When she confronted the Traveler about it, he said; ¡°No one had to die in that situation.¡± That made Elise proud of the decision she made about not killing them but, Traveler¡¯s following words quickly broke that pride.


    ¡°Your control is still sloppy, and your sword skills aren¡¯t matching your physique anymore, we need to work on that. You cut one of those guys¡¯ arterial, he was going to bleed to death and one of them was about to be crippled and couldn¡¯t walk again. Two of them would limp the rest of their lives because of their injuries. Your decision-making is good but you need to be more precise.¡±


    Another reminder of her incompetence. Even though she had improved a lot, there was always more to achieve. She felt like this should overwhelm her, but maybe because of her Blessing, this was only making her more excited. She had to learn more and work harder. This was her calling since birth. If she could only persuade her father.


    That was the first obstacle ahead. And of course, there were still the ones that tried to catch her. Elise looked at the man who was sitting in the same cage as the Traveler. His severed hand was treated but he still had a swollen face from the punch Elise threw two weeks ago. Not to mention his broken teeth. He woke up before the other bandits but whatever she or the officers tried, they couldn¡¯t take a single word out of his mouth. The officers took him with them to Capital for further questioning.


    Since the bandit incident, the Investigation Bureau officers have been acting a bit differently around her. When one of them tried to take her sword, their captain interfered and said it was fine. If something like that happened again, she needed to be able to protect herself. That was his reasoning. Elise could see the glimpse of approval towards her in their eyes then. But now the looks of the citizens around them were something else.


    They arrived at the Capital¡¯s outer walls at noon. The gate guards recognized the Investigation Bureau captain and didn¡¯t even stop them. The outer city was buzzing with people running their daily work. Their party was splitting the crowd like water on the narrow roads between the crude workplaces and houses of the people of the outer city. The buildings were crude compared to the inner city, of course. They were still a lot better than the ones in some of the remote villages. All the citizens recognized the officers and moved out of their way.


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    Their looks were mostly focused on the cage in the middle of them. A hefty but beaten guy and a casually sleeping man next to him. Who could they be? What have they done? All kinds of questions were filling the air. But Elise could feel the looks on her back too. She unintentionally filled herself with Energy as a defense mechanism. She felt some of the intent directed at her as a result. Even though she could not be able to hear them, she could tell what they were whispering about. Was she the one? The one who broke the engagement with the crown heir and ran away.


    She was used to these kinds of looks, filled with despise and disapproval. Thankfully, they were few. She wondered why. There were hundreds of people around, but she could only feel a few of them. Was it because of her incompetence, or something else? She should ask the Traveler about it sometime. If they could see each other again, of course. As the buildings around them became more well-made, they reached the inner walls after some time.


    As she thought, city guards along with four of the officers took the cage away in front of the inner city walls. They were probably taking them to the castle dungeons. The Traveler didn¡¯t even say a thing, just waved his hand to Elise from where he lay. Was he always this passive and careless? She expected him to do something, anything when they got to the city. She thought he was just playing along to avoid causing more trouble to her. But getting in a dungeon cell just for this... wasn¡¯t it a bit much? Did he have some other plan?


    The inner city was not as crowded but almost as lively as the outer city. But of course, she should have guessed that even the outer city had heard about her, the inner city would be a lot worse. It was almost like everyone knew about her and looked at her with judging eyes. How? How did the news spread this much?


    Elise was riding her horse in the middle of the remaining officers, led by their captain. She restrained herself this time and did not touch the Energy floating around. This way she avoided the harsh thoughts of the people around her. But this was not enough to suppress their noises. Inside the loud buzzing of the crowd, she heard a louder voice. Elise looked in the direction and saw two young girls, mostly at the same age as her. She couldn¡¯t understand what they were saying but... Were they cheering her?


    Between all those judgmental looks and whispers, they were so out of place. They kept waving their hands and calling out to her with broad smiles on their faces until they could no longer see her. What a weird bunch, Elise thought. What would their reasoning might be? That encounter kept her mind busy with all the other things that happened while they were heading to the royal palace. The fake accusation of an affair, the kidnap attempt, and the ridiculously fast-spreading rumors about her. There must be something else going on here.


    At the palace entrance, an attendant welcomed them and led them to the room where Elise would be held in custody. She was a noble after all, they could not put her in a dungeon cell. The captain of the officers accompanying her commended them to take her sword and left with the two others. She assumed they were going to lend a mission report and lend her sword unwillingly.


    The attendant was a bit tense along the way, with eight officers around them. He did not see what she could do, after all. They put her in a large and luxurious guest room with a young maid waiting inside. The attendant left and the officers stayed outside after a quick check in the room. One of them still had her sword, hanging on his back. She also needed to get her armor from the bags on the horses later.


    She stood in the middle of the room for a moment. It had been a long time since she had been in a room like that. This would have been her life if she stayed behind. In a luxurious castle, everything would be under her hands without any hardships. What a boring life.


    ¡°Do you need the bath ready, my lady?¡± The smooth voice of the young maid woke her up from her thoughts. Elise had forgotten she was there.


    ¡°Yes, please.¡±


    She got ready to undress but the door knocked before she could take anything off. The voice she heard from the other side was the most heartwarming thing she could ask for.

 Chapter 18

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