"I hope she'll forgive me." He thought somberly.
Within a few steps he had arrived at the front of the house, each of his steps being like three normal steps making his every movement look ethereal and have an air of mystery to them.
Knock Knock Knock
"I'm coming in!" He said opening the door.
Immediately after opening the door however a big shadow loomed over him like an abyss ready to swallow him whole, but to this he just smiled and pushed the flowers in front of him as a form of defense.
"I'm sorry!" He said, looking into the abyss and not breaking eye contact.
"Then I'll forgive you." The abyss said curtly, turning into a fidgety Sofy, taking the flowers and moving away.
A smile on his lips and his mind at ease he followed behind her silently and watched as she put the flowers in some water, placing them beside the bed on a night stand.
"So do you have anything to say about yourself?" Her face reddening again she spoke kicking at the air and looking down.
"I was wrong! I'm sorry oh great Queen Sofy!" Getting on one knee his brigandish behavior from his previous life started acting up as he started putting on a play.
This didn't help the situation at all, her face getting redder by the second, she looked straight at him and managed to just barley stutter a few words out, "Queen?... that's too fast... I couldn't possibly!"
"Sofy?" seeing her out of it Noctis moved close softening his steps to a near imperceptible level getting right in front of her face.
"Kyaaaa!" Zoning back in and seeing his face so close to hers she panicked and screamed, sending out a slap Noctis was knocked for a loop taking a few steps back his face blank for a second before regaining a smile.
"Ahhh! The pain it burns! I'm dying! How are you going to compensate me?" Grabbing onto his face he started rolling around the ground knocking things around, the clang of his sword hitting things ringing out incessantly.
"comp...compensation?" Barely managing to speak out a word her mind was suddenly brought back to before when he played with their connection, a sudden rage spilling our of her.
"You sleep outside!" Screaming at his sprawled figure she pointed at the door.
"Too late! You already accepted my flowers now you have to let me sleep in the bed! HAHAHA!" Suddenly as though catching a second wind Noctis threw himself across the room landing in the bed perfectly, and skillfully getting under the sheets a moment later.
"Good night!" Closing his eyes Noctis was out like a light, snoring a moment later, leaving Sofy dumbfounded by his ability to sleep almost instantly.
"You bandit!" Fumming silently Sofy's eyes softened quiet a bit looking at his sleeping figure, noticing the flowers out of the corner of her eye, silently walking out of the hut and letting him get some rest.
"That's a very nice flower you have their Miss." Marcus coming out at some point said while looking at her hair, a big grin plastered on his cheap skate like face.
"I don't have any flo..." Touching her head with her hand she picked out a flower, to be specific a rose, unlike the ones Noctis gave her this one was more special its aroma especially delightful to the nose, it's color white.
"Truly a bandit."
"Miss? Your orders?" Seeing the miss whispering to herself Marcus called out.
"Hm? oh yeah, fortify the village and train the new souls with the different formation as well as divide them up amongst your units, now go." Glancing around she said each word quickly, she turned around and headed back into the house carefully holding the white rose in her palm.
Once inside she made a b-line for a container, putting water inside she put in the rose, giving it its own space and container on the night stand.
Quietly taking a moment to look at Noctis, her eyes clouded over before making a decision and getting into bed behind him, wrapping one arm under his she closed her eyes.
Knock Knock Knock
"A group of people have been spotted in the woods near the village, please direct us!" Marcus' voice soon broke the silence within the house, his voice sounding urgent.
Gathering every ounce of will power he could Noctis wrenched himself from Sofy's embrace, feeling a tad bit angry at having to leave it.
"On my way, and quit shouting, Sofy's sleeping you idiot." Opening the door Noctis flicked Marcus right inbetween the eye brows using force.
"y...yes, I will keep that in mind next time." Rubbing his head Marcus motioned for Noctis to follow.
A short time later the rest of the knights were now standing in front of him, their steeds beside each of them, one of the knights coming up and handing Marcus his own horse.
"Would you like one of us to fetch your horse?" One of the knights, Marx, asked his voice slightly quaking at the mention of his horse.
"Don't sweat it, I'll get him." Looking at the his knights collectively seeming to relax his eyebrows furrowed.
Closing his eyes he looked at his soul fire and all of the connections, picking out the connection to Exitum's soul brand, tugging at it slightly, trying to send the intent for him to come here through the connection.
"Neigh!" From across the village the stomping from Exitum's heavy foot steps came barreling down the street, its figure slowing down.
"Now let's go." Swinging onto Exitum, Noctis nudged him forward with his heel, bursting forward with speed in the next second they were off.
"Lord! LORD! Your going the wrong way!" A few seconds later however the screaming of his subordinates came from behind him, coming to a complete stop he turned around.
"I knew that, I was just testing you, so give me the full report about whats happened while I was asleep." Turning his horse around and galloping back into the village Noctis asked Marcus who was riding beside him.
"..." However to his surprise no one answered, and Exitum had slowed to a complete stop, looking forward only now did he understand, looking at the blood shot pair of eyes shining from the darkness in front of him.
"Sofy-" Closing in on him like a phantom Sofy jumped up and raised one arm, barreling forward like an Asura.
"Where you go I go, this is the last time you try and go somewhere without me." Swinging down he suddenly found himself locked tight in her embrace, her head buried in his chest.
In a split second his fearful attitude disappeared and within his eyes a kind of softness took its place, patting her head with his rough hands, "Don't worry, this is the last time, so be warned even if your having a great dream I'll still wake you up!"
Waving around his hands he put on his best threatening face, trying to look scary, but still smiling in the end.
"Neigh!" At some point, Farsi, her horse had showed up, getting her face out of his chest she darted onto her, Noctis just barely catching the glimpse of a satisfied smile on her face.
"Let's go." Putting a little bit of power into his legs Exitum started trotting, crossing the village the massive pile of supplies from the previous village came into vision catching Noctis' eye.
Noticing this Marcus spoke, "Lord, those are the supplies we brought from the previous village, we haven't had enough time to organize and put it away but it should be done by the grunts within the hour."
At this Noctis' eyes suddenly sharped greatly, looking forward torches started to light up the darkness, "Gather the troops and position them well." Nudging Exitum slightly he headed forward with Sofy following close in behind.
Waiting at the gate more and more lights started to brighten the darkness from the road ahead of them, glancing back for a second Noctis' noticed that Sofy was gone and Farsi had also disappeared at some point, not leaving a trace of sound.
Feeling for her presence he noticed she was in the forest somewhere near the lights, her ability to mask her presence having grown greatly.
The knights at attention their hands laying lightly on their weapons released their auras once the group of lights got closer, the soldiers positioned around the village doing the same.
Soon the lights came close enough to show the faces of those who carried them, "Who are all of you and why have you been spying on my village?" A sharp glint in his eyes Noctis' dropped his hand lightly onto his sword releasing his sword Qi.
"Lord!!! Please save us!!!" Dropping onto their knees the people under the lights began to please, tears filling their eyes.
"Wha...?" Completely dumbfounded by the sudden begging Noctis' aura fluctuated for a fraction of a second causing his sword qi to disperse, flustered and not knowing what to do he just stared.
Suddenly from the darkness behind the group Sofy's voice came, "Then come into the village and explain your situation, if we can help I'm sure Noctis' won't mind, right?"
Feeling her piercing stare from the darkness he replied, "Yes, please come in and have a chat with me, everyone disperse and prepare a feast for our guests!"
Getting off Exitum and sending him away Noctis walked forward, Sofy appearing behind him in perfect sync with his own steps making for an uncanny seen.
"Rise, tell me about your situation while we walk." Grabbing the leading elders arm Noctis brought him up from the ground, signaling for everyone to rise.
Walking away with everyone in tow the elder began to speak, "I am terribly sorry for spying on you, I am Xin, the head of Xin village, we were pillaged not two nights ago by a local warlord and forced from our homes, we have wandered in these two days, our women have run out of milk for the children and we have started starving, so I wished to ask if, perhaps, you could take us in!" Once again the elder, Xin, dropped to his knees pleading, the other elders behind him following suit.
Raising him up once more Noctis said nothing, looking to Sofy she suddenly started speaking, "Where is this Xin village?" her voice oddly sympathetic.
"Just north of here not a few days march, that is why I think that we should join forces to defend from this warlord, his army numbers in the thousands!" His voice shrill the elder started sweating.
"And whats the warlords name?" Continuing with the questioning Sofy's voice dropped a few degree's, taking this as a hint Noctis send his intent to battle through the connections from his soul fire, telling his men to get ready.
The elder now shifty eyes drops to his knee's for the third time, "We were truly thrown out by a warlord, his name is Malekai! He killed my wife and children!"
"I see, well that's good enough of an explanation I guess, then please sit, drink and eat!" Her voice regaining its previous charm Sofy motioned for the elders to rise and sit near the fire in the middle of the village.
"I'm sorry about her, but i'm sure you can understand our concern about letting wanderers into the village in the dead of night." Saying so Noctis sat down as well and began to eat and drink while talking to the wanderers about everything gathering as much information as possible.
Several hours into the night the knights had been drunken to unconsciousness, while the elders laughed and drank in more moderation than the others.
Standing behind the head elder Sofy leaned on his shoulder her breathe full of liquor, her feet swaying from side to side, "So where did you say Xin village wwath?"
Perking his ears Noctis took another drink, "We are to the west of here just a little ways out."
"Ahahaha, I see, I thee, west was it, ahhh...." Going on her drunken rant Sofy wandered off towards the house, staggering into the house.
Noctis then too stood up, grabbing his sword, "Then I think it's time we get a good nights sleep, please choose any of the empty houses you find." Nodding slightly the Xin elder stood up, the rest of his group doing the same.
Walking over to Noctis the Xin elder reached out his hand.
"Thank y...!" Grabbing the Xin elders hand Noctis suddenly released his sword qi into the elders body, at that exact moment from all around the elders released their auras, each not a bit weaker than his own.
But it was already too late, "What mistakes did I make?"
Looking at the dying elder in his arms Noctis released his killing intent into the surroundings and spoke, "You have no children with you and yet you spoke of not having enough milk to feed them, you then spoke of having a wife and children who were killed but did not sound sad, and finally what put the nail in the coffin, you said Xin village was to the north when we first met, and then you said it was to the west."
With a sudden burst of speed the dying elder reached into his pocket and in the next second had teleported thirty centimeters away, breaking Noctis grip, "Hahaha, I see, such smart young lings."
Dusting himself off the elder reached into his robes, pulling out a wand and aiming it at Noctis, "Too bad, your sword qi could have killed me if I didn't have this trinket from the real Xin el...!!!"
From the darkness the gleam of a blade being swung startled the elder, retreating explosively he looked at Noctis now standing where he once was, a small drop of blood dropping from the tip of his blade.
Suddenly the elder's eyes dilated and tried to dive away, "Too late."
Sofy's voice broke through the darkness as a dagger pierced the elders heart from behind, "Y...you, slippery... bastards!"
Just like this the elder died, then looking towards the other elders, Noctis set his sword in front of himself ready to attack or defend, Sofy melting into the darkness once more.
It was then that Marcus' voice broke through the dead lock, "Charge!"
The elders then all looked towards Marcus in the distance leading a massive group of people behind himself.
At this precise moment that they had their concentration broken Noctis struck forward releasing a wave of sword qi from his sword, slicing forward the slash travelled another two meters in less than a second cleaving two unfortunate elders in half.
"Basta...!" Another elder than tried to say something but was cut off by Sofy's dagger striking him through the chest, twisting the blade around inside she quickly disappeared into the shadows once more.
"Kill them!" At this point both Noctis and Sofy retreated while the militia charged at the remaining six elders, with the now woken knights commanding their respective units.
To the elders credit, the militia could not handle them at all even with superior numbers the six elders did not carry close combat weapons but rather had wands, launching spells into the crowds of militia.
Seeing this Marcus' spoke, "Spread out your units! Their spells can only do mass damage if they are clumped together, assume skirmish formation!" Without a moments delay the entire force of militia retreated hastily then taking six steps away from each other and charging in once again.
At this moment when all of their attention was forward again Sofy struck from the shadows swiftly dispatching one of the elders, "One."
Seeing one of their own being killed so easily the elders started sweating and became even more cautious and reserved with their spell usage giving the militia more leeway in the fight.
Eventually after accumulating several injuries Marcus took down one of the elders, sacrificing his weapon in the process being forced to block a fire ball with his sword.
With the amount of damage taken it would take a day to completely heal to peak state, "I, Marcus, leader of the first division have taken the head of one of the elders!" Shouting at the top of his lungs Marcus raised the head of the elder high, ten troops behind him raising a riot of noise.
Looking over at him Noctis smiled from his head atop a house, looking at them all battling, "Well done Marcus! Now theirs only four heads left to take! Who will be the lucky four?"
At Noctis' words the entire battle got even more heated up, the knights throwing themselves forward in a vicious tide to take the enemies heads, Sofy now sitting beside him with her head lying on his shoulder.
"You did that on purpose didn't you?" Her eyes glued to the battle Sofy spoke in a knowing voice like a child who had caught an adult in a lie.
At this Noctis simply smiled and looked at his soldiers all fired up, also seeing the elders morale plummet even lower.
The weight lifted from his shoulders Sofy disappeared and reappeared on the battlefield taking another elders head, "I, Sofy Avram, leader of the intelligence division have taken my fourth head!"
The entire army then shouted out, their eyes ablaze looking to take heads seeing another slip away.
Feeling her presence creeping on him Noctis started talking, "Sofy, why is everyone saying things like, leader of the first division and things like that?"
Sitting beside him once more Sofy looked at him happily, "We are deciding ranks for the future, Marcus has quiet the presence among the knights and so was elected as the knight leader and head of the first division, I am the only stealth type and I also get along with everyone very well so I decided to be the intelligence leader."
Bewildered he looked at her, his mind swirling with different thoughts, "Then what rank are you now after killing so many of them, each of them are at least middle intermediate blue rank."
Smiling even more brightly she spoke, "I'm now at the peak intermediate blue rank so now i'm stronger than you!"
Feeling embarrassed Noctis looked at the remaining elders, doing the calculation in his mind he stayed his hand, just enjoying the feeling of Sofy's head on his shoulder, "Indeed, your realm is now higher than mine, but don't rely on your realm advantage too much, because though it might make you faster and stronger, it doesn't mean the enemies blades will grow dull or move any slower, remember to always balance your pride with your wisdom." ruffling her hair he looked at the battle now coming to a close.
"Lord! We have won, we took a total of fifty casualties at the start of the battle, our total number now stands at seventy three including the knights." The knights all lined up behind him Marcus bowed speaking in a solemn tone.
Looking at the now smaller force Noctis sighed somberly, "Make tombstones for them and bury their bones and blades within, as the last thing left of them, we will hold a funeral service at sunrise."
Standing up and stretching his body Noctis jumped off the roof and opened the door to the house heading straight for the bedroom his mind alight with a plethora of different thoughts.
Getting into bed Sofy's worried voice broke the somber silence, "What's wrong, your acting strange."
"It's just, I don't know if what I did was right, though the force is now more experienced after fighting against those elders without too much of our help, we also lost almost half our force because of that decision with the rest injured and their weapons damaged." His voice low Noctis pulled up the cover just to his neck lying on his side.
"Wha...?"
Wrapping her arms around him Sofy spoke, "Though they may have died because of your decision, it will forge them stronger, and fewer will die next time, you cannot forge steel without iron, and you cannot make strong soldiers without good foundations, the lessons they've learned today was costly but the more they bleed now the less they'll bleed later."
Holding her hand he closed his eyes, soon falling asleep, "Yeah, I guess so."
Just like this the long night finished and true slumber swept them away till morning.