————————
"We'll be heading off to the Fire kingdom now! I and Sindre will set off to find great fights within the war and gain even more glory as warriors!"
Bjornulf said quite confidently, his warrior spirit shining through this cloudy day, as Sindre stood by his side, lifting his fist and giving a fragile yell of encouragement to himself and Bjornulf.
Bjornulf pats Sindre on the head, looking down at him with a hardy smile.
"You're getting there, friend! Just keep practicing."
Nao simply watched, smiling; she was pleased that they were able to save Sindre.
"Well, I wish you two luck, although I bet you both won't need it."
Bjornulf laughed, patting Sindre on the back even more, his pats making Sindre sway like losing balance on a bus, Sindre laughing nervously.
"Of course, luck would just spoil the battle." Bjornulf replied to Nao.
Bjornulf hated battles determined by luck; not knowing who would win always made a battle more exciting for him. Bjornulf's eyes then shifted to Slace, who was polishing his blade, with Vira watching with no real expression.
"So, my friend Ecals, have you finally decided to join me in the glory of battle?"
Slace didn't even spare Bjornulf a glance; he just spoke coldheartedly. He seemed annoyed, and for good reason.
"I'd rather not. Don't forget that you, wanting to save Sindre, gave us a bounty in the Knight kingdom. It's practically the reason we left in a hurry, idiot."
Slace didn't explain why, but since he needed to eventually get back into the knight kingdom for his revenge, Bjornulf basically made it all the harder.
Bjornulf didn't even seem upset by Slace's words; it was like he was expecting Slace to be annoyed at him. Bjornulf simply smiled and walked off with Sindre who seemed apologetic.
"Well, if you change your mind, you'll find me on the warfield! Bye, friends! Until we meet again!"
Bjornulf waved goodbye, leaving, with Nao responding by also waving goodbye, not saying anything but just having a slight smile on her face, although it seemed more sad than happy.
As Bjornulf disappeared into the distance, Nao walked over to Slace looking apologetic. Slace already knew what she was going to say.
"Don't bother apologizing for that big fool; what has happened already happened."
Nao didn't respond for a moment; she just stood there awkwardly before letting out a slight laugh that Slace ignored. She then smirked, teasing him.
"You know, Ecals, you're so bitter your personality is kind of predictable."
Slace sighed, saying nothing and just ignoring her; he already knew that, but his look seemed like he got insulted. Nao noticed this and responded back quickly, apologizing, a teasing smirk still plastered on her face.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."
Nao's smirk disappeared and changed into a genuine smile, her eyes gleaming with genuine care.
"Don't change, Ecals; having a personality like that will help you in this world more than you can imagine."
"Yeah, whatever." Slace simply replied, not caring in the slightest.
Nao walked off, leaving for the Ice Kingdom, taking a different path than Bjornulf. The world had corners, and within these kingdoms lay all the kingdoms. Still, the distance was the same (the Dwarf kingdom being furthest and the Knight kingdom being closest currently and when Slace was in the chambers, for example.)
Nao said one last thing before leaving.
"Oh, and make sure Herald wakes up soon; I wouldn't want him to get attacked by monsters."
Slace simply nodded hesitantly; he didn't really want to do it, but he felt he should.
As Nao left the scene, Slace looked over at Vira, who was still watching him polish his blade.
"What? Are you going to stare all day?"
Slace glared at her, irritated, sheathing his blade in defiance of her watching.
"Tell me, what did you mean back then, when you whispered in my ear?"
"When you said 'we were the same.'"
Now alone, Slace was skeptical of Vira and ready to kill her if he had to.
Vira then spoke, looking at Slace with those blank eyes, but underneath they showed a bit of fear, not for Slace but for something else. Now alone, she was able to explain, well, except for the sleeping Herald.
"Remember when you struck the capital of the nature kingdom when all the kings were having a meeting?"
Her voice was monotone, like a robot's, as a matter of fact, but there was still emotion behind it.
Slace instantly pointed his blade at her neck, the blade shining from being polished and completely cleaned. Slace didn't mind getting it stained again.
"How do you know about that…?"
Vira simply responded with no fear; even in the face of death, she wasn't scared.
"It's because… I'm a clone of you created by the Nature King Yoltzin."
Slace brings his blade back, sensing no hostility from Vira sitting back down but leaving his blade unsheathed just in case.
"So you're a female clone of me? Are you here to kill me or something?"
Vira shook her head almost instantly, explaining that even if Slace didn't ask for one, she was quite pushy.
"No, and the reason I'm female is so that you wouldn't catch on to me being a clone."
Slace sighed. I mean, the signs were there, and now it all makes sense. She looked the same, had the same hair colour, used the same magic, and even had the same fighting style. Vira continued on.
"I was created to stop you, and so the Nature King Yoltzin could figure out more about you."
"But I escaped. …"
When she spoke, there was a shred of emotion shown for a slight second; it was revulsion when she mentioned Yoltzin.
"I escaped because I wanted to help you rather than kill you…"
Her emotions started to form a bit more—hatred, revulsion, and disgust—but they weren't the same as Slace's; they were more somber, calm, and almost regretful.
"After finding out what the Nature king does to people, how he experiments on them and treats them like subjects instead of actual people …"
It was hard for Vira to speak out, hard for her to communicate these things, these feelings; they just naturally came, and her words were jumbled.
"It just makes me so… so… I don't know how to describe it…"
Slace spoke for her, getting up and sheathing his blade, looking her straight in the eyes.
"It's sympathy for those people… and regret that you didn't try to save them when you escaped."
Vira's eyes lit up as she found the words she was missing from Slace, slight tears going down her eyes; she was thankful to Slace even if he was just correcting her.
Vira began speaking, her voice having a hard time making the words come out, but she sounded sincere; she had never felt this way before.
"Thank you, Slace..."
Slace just ignored her, walking past her to look at the still sleeping Herald, seemingly impatient for him to wake up.
"You can join me, Vira, just don't get in my way and don't get too attached; if I die, that'll cost you greatly."
Vira nodded as an uncontrollable smile appeared on her face, happiness and relief rushing through her like a sudden but gentle breeze.
As soon as that smile came, it disappeared, Vira asking herself in her head if she, a clone, was allowed to feel this way, a deep-seated drama that will be explored later.
Either way, now Slace was poking Herald with his sheathed blade; Slace was acting like a child.
Herald yawned as he opened his eyes, waking up to see Slace's blurry face looking down at him.
"Oh… hey, Ecals... How's everything going?" He sounded rather tired and out of it.
Slace simply stood there looking down at him with no answer, just a bitter look as he put his blade at his side.
The tension was kind of awkward, but Herald didn't seem to notice it, being tired and all.
"So, could you explain what happened while I was out? Sorry if I don't understand; I'm still waking up." Herald put his glasses on and now saw Slace's face clearly.
"We're outside the Knight kingdom now; that's all you need to know." Slace didn't even bother summarizing anything.
Herald slowly got up, looking around, only seeing Vira and Slace, and assuming that Bjornulf and Nao had already left.
"They left already, didn't they?"
Slace simply nodded.
Herald, seeing that, grabbed his bow and bags, ready to leave as he fully woke up.
"Well then, I'm going to the Nature kingdom; it's hunting season there, and as my occupation calls, I kind of have to be there."
Herald left waving goodbye, walking in a different direction from Nao and Bjornulf.
Now Slace and Vira were left alone; Slace walked forward, Vira following behind.
"We're going to be making a stop before we hit the Fire kingdom, so don't complain."
Slace informed Vira bitterly as she nodded. Slace's expression then softened.
"We're meeting up with someone, a companion of sorts."