"Petty, suspicious woman!"
Duke clicked his tongue as he watched Hualuo leave with Quinn. Turning back, his gaze fell on Ciceria, who was crouched before the Beast Cage.
"Staring at it won't help. No matter how long you look, the cage isn't going to release your companion early."
"It feels… just like when I was a child, waiting for Dawnlight to break free from her shell."
Ciceria's eyes remained fixed on the Beast Cage, dazed and unblinking. Duke walked over, resting a hand on her shoulder. At the same time, he quietly planted his magic seed within her, offering comfort as he said,
"Enough. Three days from now, your Dawnlight will be reborn. Don't torment yourself."
"It's getting late. Try to get some rest."
"…Alright."
Struggling, Ciceria hugged the heavy Beast Cage to her chest and carried it toward Duke's tent.
Duke rubbed his fingers together, watching her with a glint of amusement in his eyes.
So, the girl's a mage, huh.
The next morning, at dawn.
Duke crawled out from his tent, stretching his arms high above his head.
"Ahh… now that was a good night's sleep!"
"How about you, Ciceria?"
"Terrible."
Ciceria emerged from a tiny tent by the campfire, her face clouded with irritation. Last night, she had been forced to sleep there because Duke insisted "men and women must have boundaries", claiming it was to protect her reputation.
So he had tossed her a knee-high tent, along with a sleeping bag, and left her to guard the fire all night.
And right now, the northern wind was at its sharpest, cutting to the bone.
Ciceria wasn't the pampered type, back when she trained as a Dragon-Bird Knight, she had endured harsher trials and harder toil.
But still, this man couldn't even show her the courtesy of pretending to be polite?
She seethed silently as she packed away her sleeping bag and tent. Duke, meanwhile, busied himself preparing breakfast.
By the time she was done, he handed her a portion.
"Next, we'll be heading toward Fosbairo. Think you can keep up?"
Ciceria lifted her head from the tin can she was eating from, oil glistening around her mouth. Trying to maintain some dignity, she answered,
"Of course. I may be a Dragon-Bird Knight, but when it comes to physical training or cross-country endurance, I've always been among the best."
"I'll manage."
"Good. Just don't fall behind."
Duke nodded. Ciceria glanced at her canned rations, then suddenly asked,
"Aren't you worried I'll change my mind?"
"The eldest daughter of House Buvir? If you truly betrayed your word, your family's reputation would reek across the continent."
He shot her a sidelong glance, his lips curling.
"Besides, I won't give you the chance to regret it."
The playful gleam in Duke's eyes made Ciceria stiffen. For an instant, she felt as though he had stripped away all her defenses, her thoughts, her secrets, her very being, laid bare under his gaze.
"Enough talk. Eat up."
Duke tossed his empty tin into a trash sack, rising to tidy the campsite.
"If you're not full, you won't keep pace with me."
"Don't underestimate me!" Ciceria snapped, speeding up her meal.
An hour later.
"Slow down!!"
Burdened by the Beast Cage on her back, Ciceria shouted up at Duke, who stood balanced on the branch of a towering tree. Her face twisted with exhaustion.
"You're too fast, I can't keep up!"
Snapping the strand of web he had just fired, Duke turned back toward her.
"Didn't you say you could?"
Ciceria's mouth twitched. Sure, under normal conditions she could. But she hadn't known he'd move like some oversized spider, swinging from tree to tree!
She had pushed herself to the limit, following desperately in his wake, just barely keeping up.
At first, Duke had walked alongside her across flat terrain. But the moment they reached cliffs and rugged slopes, he had used the device strapped to his wrist, launching webs and soaring ahead with ease.
The forests of Demacia were filled with colossal trees, each towering over fifty meters high. In this landscape, with his web-shooters, Duke moved as if he were in his natural element.
Even Tarzan would look sluggish in comparison.
"I didn't know…"
Her face flushed as she trailed behind. Duke landed gracefully before her, pulling out two more web-shooters.
"Here. I'll teach you. It's simple: curl your middle and ring fingers into your palm to trigger the switch. That'll fire the web. Don't worry, its tensile strength is enough to haul a cargo ship. It won't snap on you."
"The trick is learning to swing with the rebound force."
"Line your shot with your hips, aim at your target, and keep your shoulders relaxed."
He fastened the web-shooters to her wrists, steadying her with his hands on her shoulders, his palm brushing her waist.
"When your weight's on your back foot, don't fire."
Raising his arm, Duke curled his fingers. A white strand shot forth, latching to a tree trunk. With a light kick off the ground, he soared through the air.
Using the pull of the web, he arced forward, landing on a thick branch.
"Tap twice to release. As you drop, fire again at the right moment. Easy, anyone with decent reflexes can do it."
Ciceria eyed the web-shooters nervously, then tried firing. The strand stuck to a trunk, and the recoil yanked her off the ground.
"Wahhh!"
Step by step, following Duke's instructions, she began to get the hang of it.
One tap to fire. Two taps to release. Another shot. Keep the momentum going.
"I did it!"
She swung past Duke, grinning proudly. He only pointed ahead.
A heartbeat later,
Smack!
Ciceria slammed straight into a tree. Duke's voice drifted over lazily,
"And watch where you're going. Crashing into a trunk hurts."
Two and a half hours later, they rested atop a hillside.
"This thing's amazing. So much better than grappling hooks!"
Ciceria studied the device strapped to her wrist. For a moment, a greedy thought flickered through her mind, she wanted to keep it. But she quickly crushed the impulse.
If someone gifts you something, you may accept. But if not, you can't just steal it.
"The web-shooter itself isn't the secret," Duke said, pulling out a slim cartridge, no thicker than his finger. "It's this."
"The web-fluid. Without it, that contraption on your wrist is just scrap metal."
He tossed her a few vials.
"Take them. If you run out, just ask me for more."
Cradling the cartridges with care, Ciceria looked at him intently.
"Who are you, really? You're not just some wandering traveler, are you?"
"Don't ask. When the time comes, you'll know."
He patted her shoulder, but before he could say more, a savage roar split the air.
"Hm?"
Duke turned toward the sound. Ciceria's face paled.
"Wyverns!"
"What?"
"The apex predators of mountain jungles, and they live in clans. If one finds you, expect the whole family to follow."
"Who's the poor soul unlucky enough to run into them…"
"Let's go around."
Duke had no desire to pick a fight. Even if killing a wyvern was as easy as snapping his fingers, trouble was trouble. Best avoided.
But the looming shadows overhead crushed that plan.
Three wyverns descended from the sky. Two veered toward the direction of the earlier roar, but one fixed its gaze on Duke and Ciceria.
"You've got to be kidding me."
The beast dove at them. Duke sighed, exasperated.
"Seriously? I stop for a break, and this happens? Guess Demacia and I are cursed to clash."
"Save the complaining, run!"
Ciceria knew all too well how terrifying these beasts were. With the Beast Cage strapped to her back, she fired a web and swung forward, trying to escape.
Duke followed reluctantly.
Their web-shooters carried them swiftly through the trees, but the wyvern refused to relent. Its jaws gaped, spewing not flame, but a spray of greenish bile.
Wyverns lacked a dragon's breath, but they could regurgitate digestive acid as a weapon.
As the liquid hurtled toward him, Duke flicked a wrist, hurling a web-bomb. It zipped past the acid, detonating midair. Threads of silk exploded outward, wrapping the wyvern in layer after layer until it plummeted like a stone.
Branches shattered beneath its bulk as it hit the ground with a thunderous crash. But such a beast was too tough to die from a mere fall. It only roared in pain, dazed.
"Graaaahhh!"
Its cries echoed across the forest, drawing answering roars from its kin.
"This day just keeps getting better," Duke muttered, weary.
Then, BOOM!
The ground trembled under the strike of a colossal hammer. From the forest ahead, the rocks themselves seemed to rise, and a golden phantom of a mighty warhammer slammed skyward, striking a wyvern in mid-flight.
"Oh-ho. A hammer-wielding Yordle."
End of chapter....
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