"I can't believe he's really sending you out just for an errand like that," Kato muttered under his nose, the look of dissatisfaction a stark reminder that Theo's task wasn't something a man of his social position should be burdened with.
"You can't deny the truth of his words, though," Theo countered, dismissing Kato's grudge with a roll of his eyes and a wave of his hand. "I might be the youngest, but I'm still a heir to my house," he stated while stretching his hands out even though it would be his legs that would be doing most of the work. "And I would like to see any of those slimy merchants try to scam a royal."
Done swinging his arms to the sides, Theo interlaced his fingers before pushing both of his arms out to the front and then started a series of squats, finally giving his legs some well-deserved warm-up.
"While that might be true, it's still…" Kato's voice broke, "what the hell are you doing?"
"Warming up," Theo threw nonchalantly before turning his head and giving the man a quick look warmed up by a smirk, "and what was all that about a treatment befitting royals?"
By all means, Kato was just a sect member. A core disciple, sure, who has earned the rank of a lesser, unlanded noble in Narmidor's service.
In theory, there was absolutely no social link between him and Theo, a bona-fide royal. In practice, however, as one of the best fighters in the sect, he would often train with Theo, allowing the young prince to polish his martial skills to compensate for the societal ban over his cultivation.
It was through this connection that Kato got closer and closer to Theo, all the way to the point where he became his unofficial adjutant if not outright a squire within the sect, even though there was never a ceremony or a signature over a paper that would confirm his status.
All in all, in the eyes of those who knew him, he was simply Theo's friend, while in the eyes of those jealous of Kato's progress, position or considerable wealth he amassed within the sect, he was an abhorrent jumpstart who spent his days trying to curry favor with a royal descendant.
For Theo, however, none of it was of any importance. After all, he couldn't care less about his status as the youngest prince of the ruling dynasty when his plans already reached far beyond the limits of just one, petty kingdom!
"Are you for real now?" Kato protested, while his face notably sank, taking on a slightly darker tone. "It's so unlike you to be bothered by something as small as this!"
Hearing this, Theo only chuckled.
"Who said I'm bothered?" he countered while shaking his head as he finished up his warm-up and turned his face to the same direction from which the sun cast its rays down upon the sect. "I'm just having fun at your expense, man," he added with a grin, turning back to the man as he offered his hand.
For a moment, Kato stared at Theo with a tense look on his face before finally shaking his head and reaching out, grabbing Theo's arm a little bit above the wrist before both pulling him in while also pushing himself ahead, all the way until the two smashed their shoulders into each other.
"May your travels be safe, brother," Kato's face took on a serious look. "I know we are regularly purging all the monsters out in the outlands, but you can never be too careful, especially when you are to travel alone."
"Worry not," Theo replied, minding not the rather intimate way in which Kato referred to him, "they would only have themselves to blame if they dared to cross path with me!"
With that said, there was no further reason for Theo to stall any longer. And just like that, after saying his farewells, he started to run.
At first, while still within the area loosely belonging to the sect, he kept his speed low enough not to crash into anyone.
Upon reaching the farmlands beyond the limits of the sect's core, Theo sped up a little bit now that there were no further high-rise buildings obstructing his view of the road ahead. And by the time he escaped from the zone directly under the sect's protection, where no farmer dared to set up their fields, he could finally unleash the full speed of his mana-augmented body.
WHOOSH!
Theo had to take his sweet time speeding up, not because of the limits of his body but out of fear of screwing up his tempo instead. Already running around as fast as a horse would gallop during the last moment of a cavalry charge, he had no other choice but to gradually increase his speed all the way until he reached his peak performance, moving twice as fast as before.
At this rate, reaching Vistra, the closest city to the Slevian sect located directly down the east-bound highway from it, would take him around half of a day, half as long as the merchants would need to send whatever he would purchase back to the sect. Adding up the time necessary to actually go around the market and buy all that he needed…
'I should be done in two, three days tops,' Theo calculated, only for the corner of his mouth to twitch a little. 'Just in time for Narmidor to break through.'
With the formation Theo left him, the sect patriarch would still need some time to make proper use of it. Sure, it was capable of gathering enough mana to create a low-grade spirit stone in a matter of minutes… But that was only when it first activated. And as the mana in the air around the formation would grow thinner and thinner, it would take time for the mana winds from elsewhere to compensate for it.
'Taking everything into account, I have…' Theo's smile grew wider, only for him to suddenly jump and then stick his legs into the dirt road of the local highway, carving out a small ravine in his rapid deceleration attempt, 'just enough time for all that needs to be done!'