The sound of birds chirping reached Jack's ears as he opened his eyes slowly. It was 8 AM. Jack woke up from his bed which was in the opposite corner of the door. The sound was coming from the balcony which was in the adjacent corner of the bed. He stood up and went to the balcony from where the whole city of Beauford was visible. After standing there for a while, Jack proceeds to wear his coat first and wore his sword holster around his coat, and sheathed his sword in it. He walked out of the palace and crossed the bridge. Upon reaching the end, He saw on his left three large buildings: ADL's Dorm, Military Arms' Dorm, Military Police's Dorm. On his Right, was the training grounds where he could see a duel happening between an ADL's one of the three 1st Lieutenant, and May Swann. She wore a blue tank top and black track pants. The match got over with May winning the Lieutenant.
"You are good at sword fighting, Miss Swann"
"Sword fighting is what I did for the most of my life, Master Eclair."
"I guess we'll practice later then, Captain Swann.", said Lt. Cortis.
"Captain?" asked Jack
"Yes, Master Eclair. I'm the Captain of Beauford Garrison Regiment."
"I thought you were King's secretaire personnelle."
"That I do too."
"Huge responsibilities I see."
"I heard you're a Captain yourself, Master Eclair.", Said May holding her sword towards the ground and one of the sharp edges looking towards Jack.
"A Duel Challenge, Huh? This will be interesting."
"The first one to step out of the circle will lose." said the Lieutenant
The Fight began with both of them using a wooden sword and with May taking an Offensive stance and Jack taking a Defensive. May went for fast blows and jack managed to block all of them with a few counters. May was fast but lacked the strength to break through Jack's defensive stance.
"You got some really good moves. How long have you been practicing?"
"Since the day I was able to hold a wooden sword"
The fight continued with both of them interchanging their stance between offense and defense. However, May noticed Jack rarely took offense.
"Why are you holding back, Master Eclair? Do you think I'm not worthy to fight you?"
"No, it's because I always hold back when it comes to training."
"Unfortunately, Master Eclair, This isn't training, at least not anymore."
"I sense a storm brewing," said Lt Cortis with a scary voice.
"Fine, We'll have it your way, Miss Swann"
The fight got so intense that May could barely hold herself from moving backward and within a few seconds, the match got over with May being pushed out of the circle. When it comes to sword fighting, A epidellum user can be classified into two categories: Strength, Speed. Men usually perfected strength and women perfected speed, and rarely do people perfect both. Jack was one of the very few to perfect it at the young age of 20. May was able to keep up with Jack's speed but lacked the strength to endure the shockwave from Jack's attacks and thus May was defeated. Jack held out his hand to help May get up. "You did well out there, Miss Swann".
"You don't have to sugarcoat it, Master Eclair. I know I couldn't even hold my position. I need to practice more." May said with a determined tone
"Don't beat yourself too hard. I indeed sugarcoated it to a certain extent but you fought well compared to all the other captains I fought during my Captain Selection Exam. I mean it."
"Thanks for the pep talk but that isn't going to change the fact I need to practice more. Anyways, the connection is not stabilized yet, Pentagon told me it would take another 6 hrs."
"I guess I got time to pay a visit to Kambe village."
"I'll inform the gates for your departure, Master Eclair"
May placed the wooden sword in its holster and walked out of the training ground
"Hey Lieut, Is there any reason behind her being so rough on herself? Besides, she appears too young to be a captain"
"It's her father. It happened 6 years ago when she was just 15. He was assigned to an extraction mission that was on Tier-1 ExCON alert. He tried so hard but the demons overpowered and outnumbered him. It must've made a huge impact on her."
"Thanks for sharing, Lt Cortis"
"No problem, sir. I think it's getting late for your departure."
"I better be going then."
Jack left the training grounds and walked towards the southern gates. After reaching the bike station, He found his bike in a clean state.
"Wow, It looks just like anew."
"It's been repainted, the engines are well oiled, the guards are repaired and it is now more efficient on using aatral." said the station master.
"Job well done, Master"
"It is my duty, Prince Eclair"
"Time to hit the road again, Matheou"
[Jack reached Kambe Valley by 1:30 PM]
Jack parked matheou near the gates of the village and entered it. The village was half burned and most of the villagers are already evacuated by the Snebolig regiment. Jack continued towards the river bank. On the opposite side of the river, He saw the Chief's family packing their stuff. He crossed the river and approached Feliks.
"Someone's been busy"
"Prince Eclair, you're back"
"Yup, I have an investigation to lead"
"Oh right, I almost forgot, Follow me, sir. I'll take you to where the elders are"
"Alright, Lead on"
Jack followed Feliks to an old gathering hall that was made out of cement. It appeared like a dining room for the entire village. There was a gathering of five elders.
"I've assembled them here for you to investigate, Sir"
"Nice job, Feliks. What I'm about to enquire is state secret so please stay outside"
"Sure, Take your time."
Feliks left the building and stood in front of the closed-door but his mischievous brain told him otherwise.
"Maybe I can hear what they sa-"
"Don't even think about it, Feliks" Jack's voice came from the closed door. Feliks rushed and reached his family to help them pack.
"Now, I want you all to tell me, what exactly did they ask you after you were taken away."
"After we were taken away from the rest of the villagers, they made us sit on a chair in a row. There was this unusual demon with skeletal armor which was around 6 feet, who showed us a diagram of a certain seal and enquired us about its location but none of us knew what it was or where it is now"
"A seal, huh? Interesting, Very interesting."
"Did he say anything else about this seal?"
"No, but he did say it is somewhere in the snebolig mountain."
"Ok, Thank you for your cooperation, you all may leave."
All elders left the dining building and left for the Garrison fort by the wagon where they will stay until the village is fixed and perimeters are secured. Jack decides to head back to Beauford. All of a sudden,
"Prince Jack!, It's my brother, You must help him!", Feliks said as he ran towards him with a worried face.
TO BE CONTINUED…..