Lohan stared at Reoloy, waving him over from the field.
He immediately noticed her dishevelled state even before reaching her and winced at the implications of the challenges she had faced.
"It was that bad," he asked, eyeing the wounds scattered across her body. "I thought he would at least hold back against a teenage girl."
Lohan shook her head.
"I only fought him once," she explained. "After I lost, he made me spar against his student..."
She paused, frustration tightening her expression.
"That's how I ended up like this."
Reoloy nodded in understanding.
Before his own recent struggles, he had sent Lohan off to meet the captain of the militia. The reasoning he'd given her was that the man could help her get stronger as a more advanced ki practitioner.
Three generations before the current timeline, Cardanians had transitioned from being predominantly ki users to primarily mana users. The exact reason was unclear, but the narrative shown in RON hinted it had been out of necessity.
The only remaining prominent ki wielders wound up being the militia captain and the Chieftain. Whether by personal choice or some informal tradition, their successors carried on that legacy.
'Though in the current generation there's Gordoi too...' Reoloy thought, his eyes absently drifting to the blond in the field. 'Why is that?'
He remembered just how much he needed to get things moving for his own sake. He would be able to get more answers then.
"So you fought Red Scale?" he asked casually, sitting on the porch. "How much stronger than you was he?"
Lohan looked at him, confused, but sat right next to him, raising her knee to her face.
"Red Scale?" she asked, giving a weak acknowledgement to Amali's wave.
"That's his nickname," Reoloy responded. "The future captain you sparred with."
"Oh," she said, burying her face in her knee. The memory clearly didn't sit well. "I don't think I've met anyone our age that was stronger... not even the old you."
That tracked. In the game, he was so freakishly strong that it spurred complaints about why he wasn't a permanently recruitable character. He had sidelined meeting him now because he figured the guy wouldn't be anywhere near his prime yet. Plus, he had more important things to attend to.
"Why would Meyer make you fight his protégé, though?" Reoloy asked. "It's so random."
Lohan scowled.
"I couldn't land a hit on him—even with him not using his arms..." she started. "Then he randomly said some bullshit about me having potential."
---
"Not bad, child," a red-haired man in casual clothes said, stepping into the massive plume of settling dust in the training field. "My assessment of you in the court hall wasn't wrong. You can go far."
As her vision cleared, Lohan stared up at the man—Meyer Friedrick, he'd introduced himself as.
She had predicted a massive gap in strength from their previous encounter, where he had held her back with just one hand, but this was far beyond her expectations.
She was considered a promising prospect for the researchers at Cube, and that meant she often exceeded even adults. But now...
"Don't be too ashamed," Meyer said plainly, his expression apathetic. "You're as strong as you believed yourself to be."
He looked over to a brunette man, who nodded and ran out of the space to carry out the silent order.
"I'm special, so it was an unfair matchup."
"Special?" Lohan spat, forcing herself up to her feet. "So what—aside from you, I can beat anyone?"
"Don't be stupid," Meyer replied with a scoff. "You're upset, but don't let that make you twist my words."
He turned toward the only entrance/exit, already sensing his subordinate's return with an additional presence.
"You want to learn?" he asked as they came into view. "Then humble yourself and welcome everything as a lesson."
Lohan watched as a raven-haired boy stepped past Meyer and moved toward her. Upon closer inspection, there were subtle red tints on the tips of his hair, and there was an unusual presence about him.
Coming to a halt a few metres away, he nodded at her with clear disinterest. That ticked the lavender-haired teen off, immediately looking to Meyer for clarification.
Seeing her look, Meyer leaned against the wall, eyes closing.
"There's nothing you can gain from fighting me right now," he explained. "So instead, spar with him."
He looked toward the boy, high regard visible in his eyes.
"His name is Roy," the redhead said, tone as dry as ever. "He's my student, and he's at a pivotal stage in his training."
"He means that no one else can challenge me," Roy added lazily, annoying Lohan further.
"The two of you have a lot to gain from facing off," Meyer continued, completely ignoring his successor. "Do so without restraint. Learn as much as you can and grow."
He paused, raising a hand.
"Don't kill each other."
And with that, two flares of vibrant ki filled the room—one an airy silver and the other a menacing indigo.
Ten minutes later, Lohan was laid out on the ground, and Roy stood over her staring down with mild interest as blood trailed from a cut on his cheek.
He turned around, walking toward his teacher with his hands in his pockets.
"You're better than I gave you credit for," he said flippantly. "I'm sorry about that. But if this is it..."
Roy didn't even bother looking back at her.
"There's nothing to learn from you."
Lohan grit her teeth, fists clenching at her side.
Meyer stared at the approaching teen with disapproval.
"What do I always tell you about your attitude?"
"It will get me killed one day," Roy replied uncaringly. "It hasn't yet, so I'm good to go."
Meyer sighed, though his straight face never faltered much.
"You're not done," he declared, addressing both of the kids. "You go again after a brief period of rest."
---
"After that," Lohan said, "I fought him twelve times that day."
She glanced at Reoloy, noticing him carefully choosing his words.
"It's fine," she said, raising her head and sighing. "You don't have to sugarcoat it."
She looked toward the field, where Gordoi chased the others, forcing them to run faster.
"I lost," she admitted. Her voice wavered, but her eyes burned with resolution. "So I'll just have to work harder."
Reoloy smiled. 'It seems I have a really dependable comrade.'
"What?" Lohan asked, puzzled by the boy's expression.
"Nothing," he replied, playfully ruffling her hair. "I'm just proud of you."
For reasons she couldn't explain, Lohan felt a warmth well up from the words. It reminded her of her childhood before Cube. When she had been free to roam and run along the wheat fields of her home village, much to her parents' and the villagers' chagrin.
"You sound like an older brother," she mumbled indignantly under her breath, but he heard it.
"Hmm. I was older before this," he said thoughtfully. "So I guess I could be."
Lohan was taken aback, turning to him slowly and staring.
"For real?"
"Why not?"
She snorted and then burst into loud laughter that drew everyone's attention.
While the others stared in confusion, Gordoi smiled. He had seen the dark cloud that hung over the girl when she first arrived. And due to his advancement as a ki user, he could hear everything they spoke about. Though he didn't mean to actively pry into their conversation. Regardless, he was happy to see such a drastic reversal in her demeanour.
'With the current schedule, he should be physically acceptable soon,' the blacksmith thought. 'That leaves the other thing... Meyer and Roy, huh?'
Gordoi turned his attention back to the teens he was training, barking out instructions as whips of his ki swung at them violently to get them back in motion.
'It's time I cash in a favour from an old friend.'
Reoloy turned from the spectacle with minor amusement, his attention falling back on Lohan. She was slowly putting herself together after her bout of uncontrollable laughter.
"Okay then," she suddenly said. "As my brother, when will you tell me about yourself?"
He winced, recalling his promise.
"I will soon," he said. "When everything settles."
She nodded, immediately moving on, appreciative of the mood lift.
"So how's it been for you?"
"Good," he responded lightly, omitting the near-death experiences. "I couldn't get all the possible benefits because of the methods, but my stamina, durability, and mobility, among other things, have improved for sure."
"So the plan's still on," she said. "Should I still go into the mountains early?"
Reoloy hesitated before shaking his head.
"You're still training, yeah?" he asked, receiving a nod. "You keep doing that for the next four days and then head out."
He paused, watching Gordoi approach.
"You should give yourself enough time to rest after doing what you need to do out there."
Lohan's brow furrowed. "Are you even sure she's out there?"
"Well, accidents could have happened," he said flatly. "But my faith is holding out for the person who made me a promise."
Before she could press further, Gordoi sat on Reoloy's other side.
"What do you want, old man?" the boy asked with a hint of sharpness.
The lavender-haired girl regarded the slight resentment with a large amount of interest, but chose to keep it to herself for the time being.
Gordoi chuckled. "I thought we were good?"
"After I get the relic, maybe," Reoloy said dryly. "Until then, deal with my ire."
The blacksmith rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, having nothing to respond with other than acceptance.
"Anyway, about the last thing you need to do to pass," he started. "I've come up with an idea to help speed it along."
He stared off in contemplation for a moment.
"It should be ready to go in two days," he added, smiling. "That's enough time for you to complete the physical requirement aspect of my trial, too."
Reoloy nodded in agreement with the estimate, ignoring Lohan's confused look at what they were talking about.
"And?" he said impatiently. "What is this idea?"
Gordoi's smile widened into a grin.
---
~ Two Days Later ~
Reoloy listened to the inhuman sounds echoing through the forest surrounding them.
That being the least of his worries made him want to jump off a cliff, but he reminded himself that this was the exciting new life that he had been afforded through miraculous phenomena and the death of the poor soul that should've been here instead of him.
"I still don't get why you let him be in charge," Avron grumbled from his left.
'There goes headache number one,' Reoloy mused.
It hadn't been a secret to him over the duration of their time training together that the orange-haired boy didn't like him. It was just easy to overlook when it didn't really matter.
"Can you let it go already?" Amali chimed, frowning in minor annoyance at Avron's constant complaints. "Say something, Lav-lav. He'll probably listen if you threaten him."
Lavere stared onward in the direction they were headed, mostly tuning out the discourse.
"I doubt it would work," she replied coolly, watching her breathing and pacing herself for the rest of the hike. "His main issue is with them, after all."
Reoloy cursed Gordoi under his breath.
"Take these lot plus one extra with you and clear out a den of sabre wolves," the blond man said brightly, laughing at his expression. "Bring me the alpha's head, and you pass."
"I told you," a voice said from the reincarnator's right. "I'm not interested in leading anything."
'Aaand headache number two,' Reoloy thought, pinching the bridge of his nose.
He scanned the extra Gordoi had patched onto their impromptu expedition. Without his senses being unlocked, he would have probably overlooked him as a random, lazy guy—especially since the boy hadn't grown into the appearance he recognised.
But now, he could feel it.
'So this is Roy Graven...' he thought. 'Freak of nature was an accurate way to put it.'
Reoloy was reminded that there was a wide world he was yet to see, full of other monsters he couldn't even comprehend outside of his game knowledge—and that had its limits.
"You're the other outsider," Roy said, studying Reoloy as he took his time with his stride. "You're much less impressive than the angry girl."
He frowned, his face scrunching in what seemed to be confusion.
"So why do I feel much more depth from you?"
Avron and the others stopped walking, staring between the two in silence and curiosity. The only sound that persisted was that of Reoloy and Roy's steps crunching the grass.
"My name is Reoloy, not the other outsider," Reoloy spoke, a smile forming. "You weren't there, right?"
Roy's frown fell, and his brow rose.
"Wasn't where exactly?"
"When I first met some of these guys," Reoloy clarified, visibly amused.
"No," Roy started slowly. "I wasn't."
Some of the others who also hadn't been among the sixteen to find him and Lohan began chiming in to point out their absence during the encounter.
"Why does it matter?" Roy asked, much to the others' alarm at how engaged he was. "Did something happen then?"
Reoloy stopped, turning to look at everyone. He took a big breath, puffing his chest a little.
"I told them that they should watch, and I'll show them something interesting."
The teens all deflated, disappointed that that was all he had to say.
"I'll clarify on that now," he continued, recapturing their attention. "As you know, after this I'll enter the ruins..."
He paused.
"The Regalia has never been conquered before, right?" he asked, raising his index finger. "One day."
Roy's eyes widened before a shaky smile stretched across his face.
"What?" Avron asked, annoyance bleeding into his voice.
"You still don't get it?" Reoloy asked dryly. "Do I really have to spell it out for you?"
Before the orange-haired teen could lash out, Roy pulled him back. His right hand covered his face as he laughed quietly.
"I take it back. You're more insane than I could have ever imagined," he said, excited.
"You need to be at least this crazy to try," Reoloy responded with a shrug.
The others—except Lavere, who smiled—looked on, completely lost in the exchange.
"I don't know much, but with the way you are... you'll die," Roy said lightheartedly.
The blue-black-haired boy walked up to his face, staring defiantly.
"Like I said, watch," he declared confidently. "By the end of my time here, I'll be leaving as the King of the Sky and Sea."