After the last training battle, and my first defeat at the hands of Baha, I go to my room and throw myself on the bed.
Even though I want to sleep, my mind is still too agitated for me to fall asleep.
'And the old monster will probably ask for a report on today's match as soon as I wake up.' Tomorrow hasn't even begun and it's already scary.
Maybe I'll calm down if I take a shower.
The residential floor has both two communal and individual baths in each resident's room.
And the Master Stargazer still dares to describe this place as humble.
Blatant liar.
Unless in his mind you can only call it luxury if it is at the level of an imperial palace.
I hope not, but he calls Kaz his friend so... maybe he doesn't have common sense anymore?
Despite the insolent words that spread through my mind, I still respect their abilities, so no more distracting myself from the problems with this nonsense. It's time to throw myself under the water.
After a water bath at a temperature slightly colder than room temperature, while taking my time, I made a point of losing track of time until my mind understood that my body was exhausted.
I lie down in bed and close my eyes waiting for the dreams to welcome me, or not, anything goes as long as I sleep well.
Apparently the dreams welcomed me, when I woke up I had memories of priests dying in the mud and becoming cadaverous monsters, then the monsters died and the mud ate the flesh of the carcasses and returned to the bodies. The corpses became animals and plants, and devoured each other according to their position in the food chain, The animals that survived the longest competed for what little food was left. And in the final moments of my dream, from the corpses bathed in the mud from which they emerged and the blood of those who were hunted, another type of creature rose: Humans.
"That was strange, even for the inherent surrealism of a dream." I mumbled to the air as he stretched my arms to wake me up.
And instead of trying to understand where the images of this dream that I'm already starting to forget the details came from, I blame it all on a single word, no, two might be better: trauma and stress.
"Knock, knock." Baha for some reason beyond human comprehension accompanied the knocking on the door with his own sound effects.
"If you're awake, go down to Kaz's office." After a short pause "Oh, and good morning."
"Good morning and I'll be right there." How can he still wake up so early?
Now the first thing I have to face in the morning is a staircase.
How refreshing.
After fifteen minutes to get ready, with the last step being to equip myself with the saber.
Unfortunately, I don't think the old monster is patient enough to wait for me to have breakfast, even a light one.
After having to deal with too many steps, to the point where I started to consider jumping into the gap in the center of the stairs and testing the security system that supposedly exists on the bottom floor. I reach the seventh floor.
Without giving in to the temptation of jumping into the abyss.
"What's the next step in our training?" I open the door to the gallon drinker's room and announce my arrival.
"First I want an evaluation of your last fights, and as usual you will evaluate each other." Despite the lack of any greeting, Kaz is unfazed and simply responds to me.
Not even a provocation?
Could the liquor thief finally have a hangover?
Not that the fact that the old monster is calmer bothers me, it's just strange.
"Well, since I was already here reviewing our fights, I'll start"
Since I have yet to fully wake up, I silently thank Baha.
"In my case I think all I have to say is that it was apparent that Mingten has no experience with heavy weapons or with juggling, or rotating, multiple attributes in sync." Baha says while pretending to juggle in the air near the end of his answer.
"In general, it's correct, but I want an answer with a little more specificity for each aspect you pointed out." Kaz gives his opinion when Baha finishes speaking "Still today if possible, understood?"
"...."
It seems that Baha was going to say something but chose to remain silent and just signaled his agreement with a nod.
"And you?" The gallon drinker asks as he stares at me.
"Baha, and I too in some cases, are still very hesitant when attacking for fear of a counterattack." Since Kaz didn't interrupt me I imagine he's waiting to see if I have more to add.
"I honestly think this could be remedied if he learned to use feints properly, so he would guide opponents into what would essentially be ambushes mid-fight."
"What about handling different weapons and using skills like Synchroner?" Kaz asks with one eyebrow slightly raised. Okay, this is the main objective of this part of the training, to familiarize ourselves with our new arsenal. The saber and its lapis in my case and Synchro for Baha since he only became a Synchroner a few days ago.
"He understands the advantages of a 'filter' and is using it effectively, I'm not sure he understands the disadvantages as he has never experienced what it's like to have his sixth sense overloaded." After remembering the reason for the training I find a focal point for my answer.
"Continue." Kaz insists that I flesh out my report further.
As Baha is not yet capable of other forms of control besides overlapping, mirroring has few practical uses before the second stage, Kaz is awaiting my opinion on Baha's weapons of choice and their handling.
Before I continue with my report Baha looks at me with question marks in his eyes.
'Hold your curiosity a little, juggler' I add this silent comment in my mind.
"As we had two days to get used to the new weapons it is difficult to say anything conclusive, especially in the case of Baha who was forced to switch weapons constantly without the chance to familiarize himself with how to fight with them."
Kaz opens his palm in a signal asking me to stop for a moment.
"No problem, what I really wanted from our rookie is for him to get used to facing armed opponents." And as soon as I stop the report he starts talking. "And that he developed awareness of the basics of battle such as a sense of distance and the ability to distinguish and take advantage of openings."
"And the verdict is?" Baha, who has remained mute until now, asks anxiously.
"In that case? A success." I respond reflexively.
"A small success." Kaz corrects me immediately.
Whether he really thinks so or is just trying to keep Baha from becoming arrogant is not something I dare ask.
"You can continue now." And so Kaz ends the interlude in the middle of my report.
Um, can reports have interludes?
I don't think so.
Anyway.
"In this case what we have to consider is the situation we will be in and how long Baha might take to get used to handling weapons." I take a brief break, to breathe and organize my thoughts a little better.
And also to see if the old monster interrupts me again.
"We will find ourselves in constant movement so being something easy to transport is a mandatory requirement. Plus we'll be moving in and out of cities and other accommodations frequently, so we can't look like we're going to war."
Kaz once again stops me in my tracks with my explanation.
"Based on these conditions" The liquor thief says looking directly at Baha "you choose which weapons you will take on our expedition. The second point that Mingten raised is not as serious as it seems, most people have seen another Synchroner or travelers carrying at least one weapon for self-defense."
"Basically, just don't carry an arsenal around." I ended up not being able to resist the temptation of provoking the airhead.
Which in return gave me some very funny expressions from him.
"We're leaving in an hour, on the way I want a better-constructed report Baha." Kaz completely ignores my verbal slip-up.
Or maybe he really thinks Baha needs that reminder.
"On the way we will follow the tracks of the beasts that laid siege to the Tower and check their territories, then we will check the nearby cities." Ignoring my doubts, Kaz begins to describe a general idea of our trip's itinerary. "Since we cannot ignore that the commotion around the Tower has scared some of the surrounding creatures causing them to flee beyond the forest to the cities."
From a life as a fugitive to a life as a tracker, I can see it as an improvement.
"Of course during this break you two will continue with normal training plus lessons in hunting, tracking and survival." Kaz finishes what he had to say and gestures for us to leave the room.
As I walk out of Kaz's office I can tell just by the look that Baha is terrified because of Kaz's last sentence, well, so am I.
Normal training plus all that?
Maybe living as a fugitive really is easier.
------
"How are negotiations going with the Yuan Dynasty?" Asked a middle-aged man with long gray hair tied in a ponytail.
"Everything is proceeding as normal, Lord Asgadius, the Yuan dynasty and the Pendragon kingdom have not yet noticed the changes in the five clans, much less those that have occurred in the Order." One of the three subordinates following him responded as the man named Asgadius walked through multiple fully functioning facilities, such as military training centers and forges.
"What about the escapee from the core?" Asgadius asked as he stopped in front of a barrel in which blacksmiths place their newly finished weapons when they need to return to work immediately, making it impossible to separate and store them in an organized way, at least at the moment.
"We lost track of her." Another of Asgadius' subordinates responded, trembling.
"If you only have that to say, you shouldn't have come back. Assuming you're smart enough to understand that, I imagine you came back because you have some more information. Tell me, what else do you know?" Asgadius spoke without turning his blue eyes towards his subordinates, instead throughout the conversation he was checking the quality of different weapons.
The subordinate dressed in the red clothes that Mingten had seen many times in his nightmares spoke again.
"Recently an ash priest approached one of my team members offering information about the fugitive in exchange for our cooperation, or two favors."
"Answer in order: did they ask for an immediate response or did they give a deadline? Are they aware of the existence of the Order? What is the rank of the member responsible for this agreement?" Not one of the three followers was intimidated or surprised by the barrage of questions.
"We have two weeks to respond. They suspect that some of the families that form the Order are in some type of alliance but they do not know the nature of the alliance and whether all the families are part of the alliance. The person who offered this agreement is an Flame envoy, but preliminary investigations indicate that he has connections with a Blessed One." The same subordinate who informed about the deal responds orderly.
"Ask for information on what exactly they want us to do, if it's not outrageous arrange for one of the family leader's doubles to accept this arrangement."
"Yes sir. Are there any further orders?" The three followers responded in unison.
"In the event that you suspect interference from a Blessed One, retreat to the fragment of the divine realm immediately! These are your orders, dismissed." Asgadius instructs with an authoritative tone.
After the three followers left, Asgadius returned to his private quarters and let out a light murmur.
"Let that lunatic not have his eyes on this matter, the order has not regained enough strength to deal with the terror of a heavenly demon."