[Name: Edith Wane]
[The First Marker of a successful Ritual.]
[Age: 15]
[Stage: 2 (Progress: 10%)]
[Complete the Ritual as the First Marker]
By now, Edith had figured out how the scroll worked, atleast some parts of it.
His Name and Age aside, he had no clue about the description just below his name. He had to figure that out, that's what he had been travelling for, after all.
The Progress though, seemed to speed up the advancement process. Not only did it tell exactly how much longer it would take to advance to the next stage, but it also made the way there easy.
In the past one month which Edith had spent with the caravan, he had seen himself becoming more agile and dexterous bit by bit. He had not participated in any duels yet the speed at which he was progressing was too fast.
There was also his stamina to talk about. In the past one month, he had not become tired at all. Not even once. Despite all the luggage he carried and the work he did in the caravan, he still found himself capable of doing more.
His wounds also healed fast. He had noticed that whenever he was hurt to the extent of bleeding, the blood would turn into the familiar mist and rush to the wound to heal it.
Clearing his thoughts, Edith looked at his companions. The caravan had accepted the two siblings. They found it hard to believe that an entire village had left two children all alone and disappeared to somewhere.
Still, it weighed heavy on their conscience to just leave the two siblings be. They had no choice but to take the pair along.
Edith managed to sell three bags of grain and two heaps of straw for a total of 50 silver coins. He gave a bag of grain and heap of straw as his travelling expenses.
Additionally, at some point Edith had offered to join the caravan guards for a price of 5 silver per day. The caravan head had been reluctant at first but after a duel with one of the guards, he was accepted and well recieved. His pay however, was set at 3 silver per day.
It was almost night time and they were about to make camp. He was waiting for the head-guard to make mention of stopping for a camp.
He looked around and saw Selena. She was the merchant's daughter and had striking appearance. Her long green hair flew down like a waterfall over her shoulders, shimmering like emeralds in the sun.
Her round glasses rested on her nose giving her an air of intelligence that contrasted with the mischievous grin her green eyes hid.
The girl was soft spoken which betrayed her appearance. Still, though, she was kind to the pair of siblings. She talked softly to Ren, already aware of the pair's situation.
As he was thinking about the girl, he heard the captain's voice.
"Everyone, we're gonna make a stop here. The city is only 2 days away, we have no need to rush!"
...
Edith propped up a large piece of cloth with a large wooden pole tha caravan often carried with itself. The cloth had been stoked to the ground at its ends.
What resulted was a small makeshift tent where two to three people could stay for the night.
It had been night already but he could still see as good as day. Stretching his back, Edith stood still. Turning to look at the forest around him.
All around, there were tall trees with thin fern-like leaves, casting the dark sky above in a greenish tinge of color.
Their branches were sparse, stretching not more than a meter far from the tree. On them, Edith could see many birds sitting, looking at fire that burnt in the middle of the camp.
"Helix, help me with another camp."
The brown-haired and black-eyed boy nodded. He grabbed a corner of another cloth, staking it to the ground.
"Ed, you alright now? How about another spar?"
"Yeah, I'm much better. I cannot change what happened and I can't stay at one place either. I have to keep moving forward. If not for myself, then atleast for Ren's sake."
He turned his head to look at his sister sitting next to the fireplace. The girl had been happily chatting with Selena, no trace of worry on her face. Looking at her, Edith smiled as he gave a sigh of relief.
He turned his head to look at the brown-haired and black-eyed boy. The two were similar in age and therefore, had developed good friendship over the course of the last month.
"And yes, let's have a spar. That'll clear up my mind. I need something to distract me."
"Heh, let's fight to our heart's content then. We're almost to the city and might not get the chance again."
"Yeah, we'll do just that."
Edith pulled on the other side of the cloth, erecting a tent on the pole it was supported on and continued.
"The food will taste good after a good fight, heh."
...
After they were done, they saw the other guards help with setting up the hearth near the fireplace. Edith looked towards Ren and smiled to see her help Selena and others with the food.
She was handing over ingredients with curiosity and keenly observing how they made things.
Edith turned away as he was reminded of his mother again. A frown appeared on his face which was noticed by the captain of the guards.
The man drew close to Edith and with am encouring pat and a big smile on his face, he said, "Hah, Little Ed, ready to fight my son, huh?"
The man, Helix's father, was quite an amiable guy. He continued with an affectionate but loud tone,
"Just fight it out, little Ed. The food's gonna taste delicious afterwards."
"Helix, be gentle on our Ed today, okay? We don't want him too tired to even eat, do we? Heh!"
"But Dad, he just never gets tired!"
Helix retorted. With a pause, he muttered,
"Also, we're both Stage 2. So not much difference between us."
The boy walked confidently to an open space. The guards and the caravan members started surrounding him as they realised what was happening.
Raising his hand, Helix gestured for Eidth to step forward. Edith couldn't help but smile at the taunt. And he couldn't help but...remember Horus.
Looking at the commotion, Ren and Selena both turned their heads in Edith's direction. A spark of joy appeared in Ren's eyes as she saw a familiar eagerness in Edith's walk.
She inwardly wished him good luck.