With the small changes to the plan agreed we started to move towards the exit of the city which has a name that starts with... c? Screw it I forgot.
Honestly I kind of want to check out a few more places to see if I can get any information, even simple rumors would do.
But getting to the old star is my top priority, as far as information goes, considering the progress his organization was making when I left, he must have his own information network.
Despite the scale that the Tower has reached as an organization, it won't be very useful in a frontal battle, the place is dedicated to research, there are some elites in the tower to defend the place, the old star included, and considering his personality the place should have become almost impossible to capture.
Which to me means even if we slip a little here and there on the run, when we get to the tower at least eighty percent of my worries are gone.
We arrived at the city gate, which the security guards got even more sloppy. Is this possible?
We get out of town without a hitch and Baha starts to glare at me.
"If you have something to ask, ask." I try to encourage him to say "But before that, a word of advice, don't let your thoughts be practically plastered on your face in front of strangers, mental synchrony is only difficult because you can't really read minds." And then I scold him, I'll ignore that I just used this on him while he burned.
"You didn't need to remind me, once in your mind was bad enough." ditto "What I want to know is which tower are you talking about?"
"Stargazing Tower, why?" I answer with another question.
"Because since I'm traveling with you, I want to know where we're going and why."
Baha still sounds like a sensible person, but he always seems to forget details.
"Before that shouldn't you think about what situation you got yourself into?" He doesn't realize he's traveling with two strangers over a bet, one that could have ended his life. What makes him think the rest of the trip will be any less dangerous?
"What situation are you talking about?" Baha, smart, but a surreal airhead.
"The brat over there" I say pointing at Mingten "is basically a live target, and for whoever's after her one more or less corpse doesn't make any difference."
"What? Why?" Just as I said, airhead. "Wait, you guys are traveling together, Kaz are you some kind of super bodyguard?"
I know the brat was bossy, unlike the silence of now, when they first met but mistake me for a bodyguard, hehhehheeehee, hold back Kaz don't let your face spoil the surprise.
"You think I'm the brat's subordinate? HAHAhaaahaaaha" I start laughing at what I can only see as a joke, bad, what makes me laugh is how absurd this idea is for me. I wipe the tears that have built up in the corner of one of my eyes and go back to saying "No, it's the opposite actually, and the best part is that I have no obligation to protect you."
"On the contrary? No need to protect? just what the hell is going on?"
It seems that the airhead is finally understanding the situation, I'm going to enjoy his panic a little.
"It's not as bad as he makes it out to be, at least not yet."
And the brat finally breaks the vow of silence that was never taken, she sure took her time.
"Not yet? Can someone clearly explain to me what's going on here?"
Poor Baha, will he run away from us when he fully understands the situation we find ourselves in?
"Okay, I'll explain from the beginning then you decide if it's still worth following us." Mingten starts recounting how we met, and it's a pretty short story, so far.
"So to sum it up, you're just protecting her until you've trained her as your assistant and reached a decent level of mastery in the techniques this Order gave you, and I'm just an extra she dragged into this mess?" Baha sums up, pointing his fingers at Mingten several times, our situation.
"Yep, if you try to sum it up any more is meaningless" I reply, half joking.
"Damn it." It finally hit the spot, huh?
"It's not the worst of situations." For you Mingten, that life was already a deadly mess maybe not but drag someone normal into it? What a poorly thought out move.
"So, are you still going with us to the Stargazing Tower?" I ask his decision now that he is aware of how deep the pit we are in.
"First explain to me what this tower is?"
And back to the beginning, um, where do I start?
"You've both experienced what it's like to perceive the world through your sixth sense, but how much did you understand what you saw?" I begin with the objective of the Tower.
"Isn't it just another way of perceiving the reality around us?" Mintten, responds and asks with what most Synchroners believe is the correct explanation.
If that were all Mingten, my life would be a lot easier, and I could just think of this bunch of memories from another life as a lucid dream and the Six Paths that connected my soul as a legacy from the Divine Realm, but no that's how things work.
"It's not wrong, but it's much more than that. The tower was founded to research all the phenomena related to power that we call Synchro, it's basically an independent research center focused on Synchroners. And I'm one of the founders of the place." Off the record, because of the notoriety I had gained at the time.
"So we're going to the Tower because of the resources that a place full of Synchroners and Synchro-related items can offer us?" Baha, smart, except when making decisions.
"That, and the place has contacts with almost every faction but still maintains its independence and generally doesn't get involved in power struggles." I explain the reason why we are going to the Tower.
"Okay and when are you going to train us?"
Did he not hear anything I said?
"I know what you're thinking, you don't have any obligation to train us, but you would certainly have less problems if at least the basics were at a level that you consider acceptable."
He's right, but I feel like I'm being tripped, as expected of someone who lives on the streets, he learned to talk like a charlatan without even realizing it.
I have to remember that he's as smart as he is airhead
"Mingten, looks like the first lesson is going to be free." I express my agreement with Baha's opinion while teasing Mingten lightly.
"What?"
I don't even need to ask if she expected something like this.
"First let me see the general level you are on."
"How do you intend to test us?" Mingten, asks with an expression that makes it clear that her fugitive days have created a great sense of danger, especially when coming from humans.
Ah, I need to re-train my poker face, I think about that when I feel the corners of my lips lifting in a smile, which is probably not the nicest.
Years as a civilian blacksmith improved my storytelling skills but destroyed what little I could hide from my emotions. In hindsight being a hypersensitive empath half a day must have contributed to the last one, and in hindsight I've been rambling on this tangent long enough.
"Sparring, obviously." I reply, still with a smile on my face, which I'm pretty sure is giving these two fools the chills.
"Wait a minute I literally became a Synchroner a little over an hour ago, isn't that kind of unfair?"
"Baha, even tournaments can't be completely fair, and opponents who try to be are usually just following a self-serving sense of honor, now for real battles, where no one has the luxury of thinking about the moral implications of how you cut someone down, do you think anyone in this kind of battle cares about fairness?"
"Still why a test that relies on battle prowess? It's not just because I'm a Synchroner that I have to fight like the others."
"You're a bit naive aren't you, Baha?" Mingten takes the words out of my mouth, a little kinder than I would have said, but in essence it's the same.
"Naive? How exactly?" Baha asks us visibly dissatisfied, after all it must be strange the notion that someone who lived on the streets from city to city interacting with all kinds of people maintains some kind of naivety in the way he sees the world.
But when it comes to the guy who followed two strangers down a deserted alley, it's weirder not to question it.
"Just because you don't want to fight doesn't mean you won't, what makes you think every Synchroner will respect your wish?" Mingten easily points out the flaw in this kind of logic.
"The brat already told you the problems this can bring so I don't think you're going to complain anymore and we can go for good old fashioned brawling."
"Actually" raising her hand, are we back to school? Mingten interrupts my momentum, again "I want to know if there's any prize for the winner?"
"Isn't me willing to train you two a prize already? Besides what would be the point of making you compete with a total rookie?" I ask back.
"Weren't you the one who said that there is always an outlier?" with a mischievous smile she answers me almost immediately.
Touché.
"Okay, but on one condition I'm going to give advice for whoever is doing the worst in the fight, pointers just for this specific fight, do you want to continue with this?"
"Yes" she answers without hesitation despite her expression of dissatisfaction when I mentioned the pointers.
"Hi and my opinion, is my vote worthless?" Baha asks, afraid his presence will be overshadowed? I think not.
"Two against one, you've already lost. Just prepare yourself, as in this discussion you are at an absolute disadvantage." I talk trying to get them to start the fight, this chat is making me sick already.
"And the reward?"
Forget reincarnation of a CEO, the brat was a mercenary in her past life.
"Agh, do I make a weapon for the winner, satisfied?"
"Yea." Baha;
"No." Mingten;
"Yea." I;
"Two against one, again." Baha speaks with a mocking smile towards Mingten, who is serving as a scapegoat for his dissatisfaction with this situation as he is well aware that there is nothing he can do to me.
"Hmm, Okay." Mingten finally agrees, a little disappointed that she can't negotiate for a better prize, finally. With the almost opposite reaction Baha starts to get scared, has he finally remembered that he doesn't have the experience or training to fight Synchroners?
Airhead.
"Alright, stand facing each other ten meters from each other, Baha you will remain unarmed, Mingten use your sword without removing the scabbard, understood?" I asked the two participants in the impromptu duel.
"Yes."