How was the journey so far?
Athelei reviewed his memories for mistakes and ways to improve. He checked for any faults that might come back to bite him.
With his current understanding of the world, he felt like there could have been so many ways he could have lived better. If only he learned something faster, connected two points together, or guessed a certain secret earlier.
But there are no 'ifs' in the world.
Athelei understood that very well.
Even for beings who transcended Geometric Time, once an action was completed, it would be completed. No do-overs. Even if they could jump to different Time Lines, or backtrack to different Point Times to try doing an action again, there would still be a record for what they have done.
It's what the Denizens of Infinity did, after all. They were the observers of all and the observers of themselves.
Athelei started this journey from the burned ruins of Mist Pine.
He traversed the mountainsides and skirted cliffs with the merchant caravan until he reached Varis Village.
He spent the night inside the intimidating stone buildings of Varis before setting off through the forests and cliffsides once more. And with an addition to the merchant caravan: Lisa.
With every day they drew closer to Colsi, monster attacks grew in both intensity and number. When Athelei thought that the next attack would kill someone in the caravan, he caught sight of a naturally formed wall. On top of that mountain wall, looking like a huge battlement, was the village of Colsi where an obelisk gifted him a pair of fully-formed wings.
Now, Athelei could no longer experience the constant fears of the earth suddenly breaking and sending him to his doom, nor could he enjoy the mysterious feeling of being in the midst of tall trees.
It had been green plains and rolling hills after they left Colsi.
And when Athelei flew high enough under the illumination of a full moon, the city of Aren could be seen despite their distance.
It was different from the sudden emergence of a new human settlement when they traversed the edge of a mountain range. Now it was expectation after expectation with each passing hour, for each hill that they went over meant that the city of Aren would look bigger and bigger.
Beast attacks were still the norm, but the ferocities of each attack weakened with every step of the way.
And today, in the absence of an attack, the Knights still had their guards up while being filled to the brim with energy.
They decided to spar to rid themselves of all their excess strength. And as they fought in good fun, the silently observing Athelei was dragged into it all.
"Orien!" The knights grinned in a way Athelei knew all too well.
'Oh no—' Athelei was about to run away and hide behind Thallium Yan who was working hard in her ever-present tent.
Unfortunately, he had been picked up before he could even start fleeing.
"Come on, sir Mack! I'm too weak, you guys are just going to send me flying, I know it." Athelei whined as he glanced at the bruised bodies of the knights.
Knight Mack simply laughed off his complaints and then tossed him to the centre of the group, "Aren is almost upon us, Orien. You're younger than even our squires, so your uncles and brothers here want to make sure you can defend yourself."
"That's right, that's right!" A knight cheered and said, "We want to see how well Harley can teach. Don't embarrass him now, ya hear?"
A few whistles sounded out as laughter rippled through the knights. Athelei sighed in resignation, "Alright, alright guys! I'll try my best then!"
Athelei then grabbed a wooden dagger from the pile of training weapons. He glanced around and saw how the knights had formed a loose circle as they sat on the grass. The sun was setting in the west, and a faint breeze blew eastward.
The smell of flowers came with the breeze and it mixed with the mud that formed from all the sparring.
Athelei positioned himself in the northern part of the circle, letting the western setting sun make his dagger glow gold as he held it with his right hand.
One of the knights then stood up and positioned herself opposite Athelei.
"Ma'am Lydie," Athelei bowed and took on a position of attack.
"Orien," Knight Lydie did the same, brandishing a similar wooden dagger.
Athelei breathed as one of the knights flicked a coin into the air. He relaxed every muscle in his body as the coin rose, then slowly tensed his body as it fell. First, his toes dug into his iron-studded boots, then his calves, his thighs, his abdomen, his chest, neck, and then his forearm.
Ting!
When the coin rang as it hit a knight's armour, the battle began.
Athelei grabbed at the air with his hands, as if using the air as leverage to begin his dash. A subtle, white light trailed from his left hand as his dagger rushed to his opponent.
Fwhoop!
Athelei's first slash was dodged. A counter-attack then headed towards him, slicing like a karate chop towards his head.
Athelei bent down, almost hugging the ground, and the attack missed. He changed his direction twice to reposition and targeting Knight Lydie's knees and legs.
He slashed twice to miss twice. On his third slash, his attack was parried by a swing of Lydie's heel.
Athelei had to roll in response to the sudden change in his momentum. He quickly sprang away after his roll as a wooden knife missed him just barely. He kicked as he dodged, but his boots were easily blocked by the knife that missed him.
Athelei swiftly fell back as he lost the initiative. Lydie struck swiftly and gracefully but was always disadvantaged by Athelei's small stature and constant hugging of the ground. If she wanted to hit the kid successfully, she had to stomp or use a low-sweeping kick. Her dagger had too little reach, especially when considering their height difference.
After a second, Lydie quickly found an opportunity to break the stalemate, but white markings began to glow all around her.
Fwhip!
Athelei once more weaselled his way out of her attacks as a boost of strength and agility rushed through him.
The knights around clapped in admiration at Athelei's skilful display.
"Wonderfully done, Orien," Lydie narrowed her eyes as she gave the kid a compliment.
No reply came.
Lydie smiled, as a flash of blue light flickered around her joints and she sprang forth with frightening speed.
Thud!
Athelei had to hurriedly parry and redirect the strike. The bones in his hand were rattled after that short encounter. He primed himself once more, ready to dodge another strike but was surprised not to find any.
The circle of knights clapped.
"Good decision making, Orien." Knight Mack laughed, "Nice trick too with that Hunter pattern."
Lydie ruffled Athelei hair, "Great focus as well. You'll do great in the future."
"Hah," Athelei sighed, wiping off the cold sweat from his forehead, "Tangible Will and Battle Prowess is such a frightening combination, ma'am Lydie. I wouldn't dare split my focus to reply to you."
"Aha~" Lydie smiled and then picked Athelei up, "Smart, smart! I'm surprised you can differentiate and identify the two already."
.
.
.
The sparring sessions happened more and more, and even Lisa was dragged into it after a while. Sometimes, Athelei and Lisa sparred together while the knights and a few hired hands watched. Sometimes it was the two kids against the adults.
Lisa performed better, physicality-wise. She was more coordinated, and her strikes were a handful more threatening as well. Her Battle Prowess talent was showing despite only having a few weeks of training.
Athelei on the other hand was trickier to fight despite his physical shortcomings. The hired hands that were basically contracted bodyguards gave him a nickname: "Young Cobra" from Athelei's use of the poisonous and paralyzing Needle of Motionless, as well as the way he used his advantage of being short and small. Moreover, his planned movements to cast his patterns in the midst of a fight looked like he was slithering all over the battlefield.
Whenever Athelei finished his Hunter pattern in battle, they would all say, "He opened his hood! The fight has just started." It really helped that cobras were well known for the way they extended the skin around their necks.
Time passed by like this and then, one morning, Athelei was greeted by the walls of Aren City a few hundred meters away.