"You're sure we're heading the right way?" Marte asked, taking yet another look at the map Thorsen had provided them with before their departure from the castle. "For the hundredth time: yes, I'm sure we're going in the right direction. Haven't you ever heard of an elf's sense of direction?" Neko asked with a heavy sigh.
"You mean half-elf, and no, I haven't," she replied with a huff, prompting him to frown just enough to let her know she'd hurt his feelings. "S-Sorry, I just…" she stopped herself and sighed. "It's fine. I've heard worse things from people I cared far less about," he replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Marte looked at him expectantly, as if preparing for a long-winded explanation, but when none came, she shook her head and averted her gaze, dismissing her desire to apologize. When she lifted her head again, the wind caught the tops of the trees, causing the sunlight to gently dance on the ground around them.
"Y-You know, if you ever want or need to talk about things, I-I'd be more than happy to listen," she finally said, prompting Neko to turn his torso from atop his horse and stare at her with utter surprise written on his features.
"That's probably one of the kindest things you've ever said to me," he chuckled and turned back around, just missing the fact that her face had flushed entirely. "Thank you," he said without turning to look at her.
If only you knew how much that actually meant to me, he thought privately, doing his best to maintain the barrier around his thoughts.
They continued on in silence for the better part of half an hour before Codrean's walls came into view. "Is this where Thoma grew up? It doesn't seem like a bad place to do so. Better than what I had growing up," Marte said with an upturned bottom lip. "Except you weren't getting your ass kicked every day with a seal on your core," Neko retorted with a curled eyebrow.
"Fair enough. Let's go knock on their do-..." she began, but the moment the words left her mouth, Garett appeared from behind a tree with a nocked arrow in his bow and a cowl over his head, looking like a spriggan would if it came out of its tree.
"You two are louder than a collusion of ochelons fucking. State your business and mind your answers; they could be your last," he said gruffly. "Wait, wait, wait! Don't shoot," the two raised their hands defensively, but the moment they did so, Garett noticed their widened eyes were filled with mana.
It can't be, he gave them a scrutinizing look, taking a step or two closer to make sure his eyes hadn't betrayed him.
"Fifth-stagers? At your ages, you shouldn't be anything higher than the third, unless you're somehow prodigies like Bernar? How is this even possible?" he asked, slowly lowering his bow, which caused the tension between them to lessen.
"Ah, right. About that…" Neko began nervously, but Marte urged her horse forward to take over the conversation. "We can tell you all about it on the way back to the castle. Leona said it might take some convincing to get you all to come, so she sent us as emissaries," she said, lowering her head a little, prompting Garett's eyes to widen.
"You mean Queen Leona?" he corrected her, removing the arrow from his bow and stowing it in the quiver at his waist. "Y-Yes," she replied with a mental slap to her own face. "New bloods these days, I swear," he shook his head and sighed. "Very well, then. I suspect Master Pyle will be glad to hear what you have to say. I'd have your names before we go trudging in there," he said, shifting his gaze between them quickly.
"My name is Neko; this is Marte. We're Ser Thorsen's underlings, if that name rings a bell to you at all," he began nervously. "Ah, Thorsen. He's a good man. A little tall for my liking; makes him too easy a target to hit with an arrow," he chuckled, catching the other two off guard entirely.
"Come along then. I'll lead you in and make sure another situation like this doesn't come up," Garett said, motioning for them to follow. "P-Pardon me, sir, but what's your name?" Neko asked, realizing the man hadn't given him his.
"You can call me Master Garett or sir; nothing more, nothing less. You might not have been trained in the formalities of Synners, but around here, it's best to tread lightly and address everyone properly," Garett said with a half-smirk from over his shoulder.
I'm not sure I liked the look on his face, Marte thought as she gave Neko a glance that would have suggested as much.
They approached the fortress walls soon after, and the faint sounds of training weapons clashing against others, or the dull thwacks of them hitting dummies, could be heard. One of the guards atop the ramparts noticed the three of them approaching and signaled to the others to open the gate.
Marte and Neko's eyes widened as they saw countless spells and other such advanced maneuvers being thrown around almost carelessly, but with a precision that clearly depicted otherwise. One of the Synners who caught their eyes was Roburn, as he was undergoing a tense training session with Master Pyle.
After ducking beneath a blow aimed at his neck, Roburn quickly shifted his weight to his left and gave an uppercut that nearly missed Pyle's cheek, forcing him back a step and prompting him to counter with another downward slice. Roburn raised his blade to deflect the incoming strike off to his left, using the momentum of his blade to carry him into another series of strikes aimed at his opponent's neck, torso, and upper thigh.
Naturally, Pyle deflected all of these with expert precision, even adding in a bit of reinforcing mana to his arms to help match Roburn's speed. "Not bad for an old man," Roburn snickered as he took a step back to readjust his stance, prompting Pyle to grin and launch into his next attack.
Another diagonal slice from his right flowed immediately into a thrust, then another slice coming down from his left. Roburn felt the slicing air from the tip of Pyle's sword graze his cheek, while the blow itself nearly knocked the blade from his hand. Catching it in a reverse grip with his left and gathering mana in his right, Roburn quickly counterattacked, though the blow was swiftly caught in a bind, one that Pyle won in the time it took to blink.
Holy shit, that was incredible! Neko thought with an expression that matched his astonishment, prompting Garett to chuckle and shake his head.
"What was that again, boy?" Pyle said with a cheeky grin as he held his blade to his opponent's neck. "Nothing," Roburn returned the grin, conceding his loss by raising both his hands. Pyle raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but dashed back a moment later to avoid a blast of air aimed at his chin.
That was close. He's a crafty one, alright, Pyle thought as he prepared for the next incoming spell.
Roburn let out a handful of small fireballs that weren't big enough to kill, but their lack of size meant he could project them at a rate that would make them difficult for anyone to dodge.
Well, for anyone below the fifth stage, that is.
Pyle seemed to flash from one point on the ground to the next, each step covering a few meters in a zigzag pattern to close the distance. Just before he reached his target, he stepped extra hard, launching a spell into the ground that sent the earth Roburn high into the air, taking him along with it.
Shit, Roburn thought as he struggled to regain his balance midair, but it was too late.
By the time he'd gotten his bearings, however, Pyle had already created multiple other earthen platforms and launched them into the air, creating points from which he could bound from one to another. As if a beam of light had been reflected through mirrors, Pyle leaped from platform to platform with a speed that might have rivaled Bernar's if it had been on flat ground.
The moment he reached Roburn's height, he gave him a wink before kicking him in the gut and sending his sparring partner careening toward the ground. There was a crack in the air, shortly followed by the resounding boom coming from Roburn's impact into the dirt.
"Are you alright?" Pyle asked with a smirk as he deftly landed beside him. "Yep. Never been better," Roburn wheezed from beneath a cloud of dust. "And what did we learn?" Pyle asked in a sing-song voice. "Don't fuck with Master Pyle?" Roburn asked with a weak smirk, causing his instructor to chuckle lightly and outstretched his hand to help him to his feet.
"You have fantastic control over most elemental spells, but your sensitivity to earth mana is still a little flawed. We should work on that during our next bout," Pyle said, dusting Roburn off with a few pats on the back and thigh. "Duly noted, but I think you might have broken something," he replied as he poured mana into the directly impacted region of his ribcage.
"I'd be surprised if I hadn't. Hopefully, that will be a lesson for you to be more mindful of your surroundings; one I hope our two new visitors will also share in learning," he said with a nod in their direction.
What. The. Fuck? Neko and Marte's faces expressed without needing to say the words aloud.
You think they're newcomers? After all, Garett's the one standing next to them, Roburn sent Pyle with a glance. No, they're far too old for that. They're probably just some strays he picked u-... Wait a minute, he replied, pouring mana into his eyes to enhance his vision even further, noticing an aura of mana they hadn't quite gotten under control.
Ohooo, I think we might be in for something interesting, Pyle smirked, flicking the back of his hand against Roburn's chest, which caused him to wince. "Sorry," he said as he sucked air through his teeth awkwardly. "It's fine. I'm fine," Roburn wheezed again with a hand raised placatingly. "Let's go see what they want first," he continued.
As the pair walked over, it became increasingly evident that the newcomers were, in fact, too stunned to speak. "Ah, sorry you had to see that. Sometimes these young ones need some more hands-on instruction," Pyle grinned awkwardly, sending an immediate chill down Marte and Neko's spines.
"But where are my manners? My name is Master Pyle, and I have taken over for the real Master of Codrean. And who might you two be?" he asked plaintively, putting his best smile on display. "I'm Marte; this is Neko. We've come as emissaries from Queen Leona," she said, remembering at the last moment to use her proper title.
"Emissaries from Her Majesty? She could have just sent a raven. What's the real reason, then?" Pyle's smile immediately faded as his face shifted into one of concern, causing Marte to shift a little.
"She sent us here to request your aid, as there are forces far beyond the capabilities of the Warrior's Guild to handle that will almost certainly be coming to our doorstep," she replied, halting for a moment to give Neko a glance. "Well, that, and because we would need your help, Master Pyle," she said, lowering her head deferentially.
I still don't fully understand how these two reached the fifth stage without proper training. Are they druids in training, perhaps? Pyle wondered momentarily as he weighed her words.
"Before I answer, there's something I need to know," he began, taking another few steps forward. He was still nearly a head taller than Marte, but the sheer weight of his presence alone nearly made her flinch, though Neko had long-since begun to feel his nervousness take over.
"We were never made aware that Leona had a section of her guard that could use mana outside of Thorsen or Gwili, let alone that there were any fifth stagers among them. So, how have you two come to reach such a high level of mana manipulation?" he asked bluntly, forcing the two of them to bite their lower lips in uncertainty.