During the last few days, Chris, Guilian and Tsubaki face off day and night against the monsters of the forest, without a single moment to stop. The ravages that the elves of the village and the villages around the forest would have lived, all of them, face them without doubt, covering their backs. During each confrontation, Tsubaki is observing the smallest detail of the power she uses to hunt, every arrow shot, every jump between trees, every stab, always with Chris' words in his mind.
—«How long have I had these powers? » —Tsubaki thinks as she can only do that on the subject, in addition to concentrating on the task at hand, but she cannot overlook the true nature of her being.
Most of the beasts they faced were not so big, but they made up for it with the quantity and ferocity due to the circumstances. From goblins armed with stone axes to orcs attempting to kidnap women from the elf village, Tsubaki's ear detected and identified the monsters and gave Chris and Guilian advice to defeat them in as few attacks as possible.
Guilian adapted the fire of his blows to concentrate it completely on the point of impact of the blow, trying only to burn the corpses of the monsters he attacks. Meanwhile, Chris moves quickly among the orcs surrounded by small flashes of his sword.
The movements are fast and precise, the huge bodies of the orcs collapse from cuts on the legs and when trying to writh in pain their arms do not respond, as they were also mutilated. Shortly after falling to the ground, each orc is beheaded with Chris's sword, leaving the forest covered in blood and Tsubaki and Guilian intimidated by the scene that leaves his mastery of the sword.
Only one type of monster managed to go unnoticed to the hearing of the archer, the harpies, its stealth flight is one of its best predation characteristics and taking advantage of the blood smell of the other monsters, the barrier of protective trees was reduced to almost nothing. The claws are so sharp that they manage to easily cut the trunk of the leafy trees. Jumping through the trees, Tsubaki intercepts the flock of harpies, leaving the two outsiders surprised with her great speed.
—«Considering the difference in thickness between the upper and lower parts of her body, it is to be expected that she will focus on speed. » —Chris deduces when he sees the figure of Tsubaki in combat.
With her archery, Tsubaki pierces their wings and lets the harpies be bait for attracting more monsters. Chris and Guilian take advantage of the lure to kill the hordes of monsters who are very distracted fighting each other, but they can't overlook Tsubaki's experience to hunt the monsters.
She confirms that she has been exterminating monsters since she was a child because the elf village has been isolated for centuries.
—Someday I want to get out of this doomed forest and see all that the world has to offer. —says Tsubaki as the three of them hide to ambush the next horde of monsters —Life in the village is tedious, I want to leave anyway, even if I must kill each monster myself.
The continuing frenzy and the few opportunities they have for exchanging dialogues are becoming more and more scarce. When they finally finish, after a week, they collapse in the house where Chris woke up at the beginning of his stay and talk after a well-deserved nap. Tsubaki asks Chris and Guilian about the power that comes out of her weapons taking advantage of the tranquility after finishing their duties.
She channels the power in one shot and the pair of adepts confirm one hundred percent that she used elemental power. More specifically, the power of the Air element, the rarest of the four elements.
As far as the two outsiders can tell, elf weapons channel her elemental power to enhance the capabilities of each attack. Guilian begins to understand the situation in which he has been included without any context but decides to stay on the sidelines and let Chris handle it.
—«I don't know what's going on, but she's a bundle of nerves. I better not do any stupidity. » —Guilian thinks as he lies on the bed where he slept and starts eating of the meat he carried in his provisions.
—«Disgusting, to eat meat in a completely vegetarian village. Is it your habit to eat out of stress? » —Tsubaki thinks as she stares at Guilian with disdain.
Chris notices the tension in his two companions and resumes the conversation. Confused and at the same time dismayed, Tsubaki begins to have more and more questions about her powers and asking the villagers is not an option because of so much discrimination she has received from them during her lifetime.
This is how she decides to ask Chris to teach her how to use this power that she had never heard in her life, elemental power, which he accesses with some discomfort. The next day, Chris takes Tsubaki to the village training camp for privacy and they start immediately.
This would be the first time Chris was going to be the teacher and not the student, so he would teach her what he learned in his old home.
—There are four elements: Water, Earth, Fire and Air. Each of them represents an aspect of nature, life and everything that exists in our world. As the elements are the foundations of the world, the elemental power of an adept is the expression of the force of nature through the adept and at the same time the adept expresses themself through how they interact with the world.
Tsubaki pays close attention to Chris's words but gets lost in the abstract and even philosophical things. Even so, she follows his explanation to the end.
—The way to express oneself is through ideas, with which one comes to create words and actions that shape the world in which we live. It all starts with that, an idea, a thought. The sharper the mental image, the greater the effect the idea will have on elemental power.
Tsubaki, being an experienced hunter, clears her mind and concentrates on a particular mental image. The wind begins to blow, the leaves of the trees make noise in the surroundings by the movement. Tsubaki began to generate wind through the forest and Chris was amazed at how quickly she had learned to activate elemental power.
Chris perceives that the wind is different from when they met, even the aroma is different.
—You awakened the power, but now comes the most crucial part, you must express your inner self through your elemental power. —Chris explains, because he knows that the answer is not easy, but he can't do anything else. After all, each adept is a unique world.
—«Express my inner self? How do you want me to do that? Do you want me to think about something in particular? » —Tsubaki thinks as her mind wanders through questions that become heavier and heavier in his mind and the wind expresses turbulence.
—«You can do it, don't give up » —Chris looks at Tsubaki as he begins to remember one of his friends. —«Fanny made it look very simple, she was always a prodigy after all»
Some voices begin to be heard in the distance; the wind is altering the villagers by the unusual atmosphere. The concentration of Tsubaki begins to falter more and the wind turns into a gale that hits the houses and everyone remains on alert. Chris advises her to take a break, as starting to use elemental power tires the mind and the performance will be worse.
—«After so many years using these devices, it's expected that her container is very developed. She'd better take it very cautiously or it could lead to disaster. » —Chris remains alert so that Tsubaki will not lose control —The last lesson of today: Always remain calm, because the slightest sign of fragility can cause our powers to explode and cause disaster.
The last lesson leaves Tsubaki more worried about her powers. After an afternoon of training, Tsubaki was able to learn to activate her powers and generate a gust of wind strong enough to push somewhat heavy objects. The tiredness of all the training together with the success of having made significant progress put her in a verygood mood.
—Hey Chris, what's the world like out there? —asks Tsubaki very curiously, though with some discomfort.
—I have no idea, I just finished training with my teacher and the next day I almost died with that centipede we killed that night. —Chris replies thoughtfully —«What have I been doing? Four years in constant danger of death with the master and almost died in one night? »
—So, what if I go with you? No one can stand me in this village for as long as I can remember. Surely no one will be bothered by me going with you. —Tsubaki is determined to leave the forest, her eyes full of brightness trying to reach the outside world.
Motivated after a day of training, she goes to the village chief's house to ask him questions.
—Sir, I need answers. What am I really? I can control the air, I don't see much immediate utility, but now my world has expanded too much. Please, I just want honesty.
—I knew this day would come. —says the village chief on the air as he turns his back on the two adepts —Sure you want to know the truth?
—«This scent, he is very tense. » —Tsubaki perceives with his developed sense of smell.
She nods and her mentor, although he continues to turn his back on her, knows perfectly well what answer he has given her.
—On a cold and windy night, from among the autumn leaves appeared a silhouette, a woman carrying a sleeping baby. The woman handed me over the infant with an amulet and asked me to take care of her, who would eventually grow into a powerful warrior. A strong breeze lifted the leaves and disappeared without a trace.
Tsubaki in other circumstances would have thought that "powerful warrior" means she would be a monster hunter, but after fighting alongside Chris and Guilian she realized that there is something more, there is a purpose for which she ended up isolated in the village of elves.
—I knew you couldn't learn like everyone else, so I handed you my old equipment. —says the chief of the elves quite seriously —You know that since I received the wound on my shoulder, I could never make a proper shot again.
Chris opens his eyes and mouth in surprise that he has found his target. But he can only restrain himself by watching the scene unfold in front of him.
—The whole village has treated you badly and I apologize, the air is very vitiated when we all live isolated here for so many centuries. You were the breath of fresh air we so badly needed, but it's time for you to take flight.
Tsubaki's voice begins to break, all her buried feelings come to the surface.
—Of course, you took care of me, raised me and trained me, no matter how harsh you were with me, you will always be my family. —tears fall like a river as she hugs the elf from behind and he can no longer maintain his facade.
The two-stay crying for several minutes until they calm down, the two feel completely liberated. After finishing hugging, they realize that Chris is still in the room, he witnessed everything and can't look more uncomfortable.
After resuming the conversation about fate and stuff, there is only one last matter left.
—Where is the amulet with which I was given? —Tsubaki asks and the boss hands her the amulet that hung from his neck for so many years and gives it to her in her hands. A small semicircular amulet with strange symbols and an elongated dragon twisting, as if a part was missing.
—I don't know what plans destiny has for you, but it will be better that every step you take, you do it with all the security in the world. —now the chief says goodbye to his student with a smile full of affection.
—These symbols are very unusual, surely somewhere in the world you will find someone who can translate them for you. —Chris mentions when he sees the amulet in Tsubaki's hands —What do you plan to do now?
—Well, of course I'm going on a trip, does it bother you if I go with you? It would be better to start traveling with someone you know. —Tsubaki asks, being a little embarrassed for asking the first boy she met for a very big favor.
—Do what you want. —Chris responds by looking away when he is uncomfortable with such a request.
With a clear goal and two new friends, Tsubaki decides to start her journey into the outside world. Now Chris, Guilian and Tsubaki get together to travel the world.
Chris remembering his original goal to enter that forest, he asks the chief if he remembers that he saved the tailor's life and indeed remembers it, although it is somewhat bittersweet. Chris immediately asks him to go to the village so that he can thank him after more than 50 years of what happened and after a period of disagreement and being persuaded by Tsubaki, he agrees.
Once they reach the village, Tsubaki and the chief will part ways and she begin to say goodbye to everyone in the village. It is not a goodbye, but a see you later, because it is certain that one day she will return, not permanently but she will tell you all kinds of stories from the outside world.
The departure of the chief and the extermination of the monsters were incentives to open a direct passage to the village to open to the world and trade, because surely the place is more accessible and safer.
As he is touring the new step, the chief mentions how intrigued he is about the outside world. It has been 400 years since the village was locked up by the sorcery of one of their own.
—The elves were alwaysa noble and proud race, but an internal conflict led Alipheese to take revenge against us for expelling her from our community. —the chief mentions of the story before he was even born.
—Well, now is a good time for the elves to know the world. It will surely be different from that time they remember. —Chris replies seriously.
Once arriving at the village from which Chris and Guilian were initially kicked out, Tsubaki and the chief separate, but the farewell is interrupted by a scandal on the outskirts, bringing bittersweet memories to the two guys.
A group of travelers are expelled from the village in the same way as the two of them and end up approaching the party. It turns out that these travelers are also adepts and after a moment to catch their breath, they begin to talk as they move further away from the town.
Chris and his friends don't have a fixed destination so anywhere is a good start. The travelers tell them that they are heading to a nation of adepts, and it immediately catches their attention. It turns out that they are close to a series of mountains that protect a nation of adepts, each one of its inhabitants has powers just like them and it is the best option to live quietly in such a hostile world.
This place is a few days away and they immediately choose it as their next destination. There will most likely be more resources to guide Tsubaki in her training and it will be an interesting place for Guilian and Chris.
During the night, travelers tell them about their experiences at the hands of humans from their homelands. Chris and Guilian understand their words and have a few drinks with them to swallow the sorrows.
Tsubaki only watches them while having dinner, she is disgusted by the rabbit stew while Guilian approaches her from behind and spoonfuls in her mouth. At first it burns her mouth and palate a little, but she begins to feel the taste of rabbit meat, which absorbed the flavor of the vegetables and edible herbs they used as spices.
She only manages to hold back a little but begins to almost dance to how delicious the dinner was. Tsubaki had never tasted something so rich, because elf gastronomy does not have great variety due to it's based on ingredients such as plants, fruits and vegetables.
—I helped in the temple kitchen since I was a kid, so I know some secrets if you want to include meat in your diet. —Chris says when he sees Tsubaki so pleased with the food.
—Really?! —Tsubaki asks with glowing eyes and high expectations.
—Sure, I cook for two girls for years, I'm sure you'll like it too. —Chris replies with an air of pride.
The days pass, as the caravan moves forward Chris teaches Tsubaki some tricks with kicks and pirouettes, while Guilian watches them bored. He teaches her about the center of gravity, synchronizing the contortions of the abdomen and spine with kicks to ensure effectiveness.
—Why do you teach me kicks if I've always used my bowing?" asks Tsubaki as she catches her breath.
—You should always assume that your main fighting style will not always be the best option, your bow can be broken, you run out of arrows, you are ambushed despite your incredible smell and hearing. —Chris explains to his partner —You should always have a backup plan.
—Do you have a backup plan? —Tsubaki interrogates Chris.
—Of course, if my increased strength and sword are not enough, then I will use the earth, and if that doesn't work, you two can cover me.
—«Do you trust us so much? If we've only known each other for a few days. » —Tsubaki thinks touched.
—Sure, that last one is unlikely to happen, it's very likely that, if a situation I can't handle, I'll probably run away to find a more viable option —Chris explains, breaking Tsubaki's illusions, but hinting her his degree of honesty, which makes it easier for her to trust his words even more.
In the daily routine, Guilian gets used to hanging around the vicinity of the camp to hunt creatures for Chris to cook. Because of this, Tsubaki began to compete with him in hunting, by the time sunset came the two returned and counted the number and size of the prey obtained.
During the evenings, Tsubaki enthusiastically helped Chris in the cooking of the food and Guilian played pranks on her, so Chris puts him to prepare the ingredients, season, cut, take advantage of all that energy to spare in something productive.
—Hey, peel the vegetables well! We need them to have no piece of skin. —Tsubaki says in judging Guilian's performance in the kitchen.
—Yes, yes, I'm doing it, I'm doing it. —Guilian replies to the rebuke, being a little stunned by Tsubaki's ability to raise her voice —God, you scream even more than my grandma.
Chris sees how animated his two companions were and can't help but remain self-absorbed whenever he sees them interact. He almost takes a small step towards them but decides to concentrate on continuing to cook.
Everyone gets used to the routine, Chris always judges the meat that Guilian and Tsubaki bring them excited about what food he is going to prepare, their eyes shining with expectation make him strive to cook.
—Chris, I caught a deer, can you cook it? —asks Tsubaki, drooling with hunger.
—Ah, yes, I can roast its legs with... —Chris tries to reply.
—Chris! I caught a black bear; can you cook it? —asks Guilian with fire in his eyes.
—Oh yes, I can smoke his flesh and... —Chris explains, always drawing on the repertoire of food he collected during his training years.
Every night they have a big feast due to the performance of the pair of hunters, they end up sleeping peacefully with full bellies. Chris watches them sleep while he fights daily fatigue.
—«It would be much easier just to cook for myself. » —Chris thinks as he continues to see his two companions —«Although it's comforting the noise they make during the day. The silence I spent these last years, eating alone, had enough of it. I guess I'll keep cooking for them. »
Not disappointing his two companions is his daily struggle.
Once they reach the first mountains that surround it, they find a doubt, how to get into it. There are no signs of lookouts, roads or anything resembling an entrance or exit from the territory. Chris immediately decides to inspect the place as they enter the mountain.
After a few hours climbing the mountain Chris detects some constructions inside the stone. It would be imperceptible to non-Earth adepts, and immediately Chris moves the earth to dig into the mountain. Can't see much from the outside because of the change of light so Chris and one of the travelers decide to come in to look.
As soon as they enter, they are pointed by spears of some men in armor and they decide to tell the truth, that they only want to enter the territory because they are adepts and show them their powers. The others enter and proceed to do the same and one of the guards guides them through the premises.
It turns out that they entered the tunnels restricted to civilians through which they watch the outside and the way to the territory and finally understand the behavior of the beginning.
—«How many attacks will they have received in the territory to need to make a surveillance network inside the mountains? » —Chris thinks as they move forward and begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel and immediately begin to accelerate the pace.
When they reach the outside, they realize that they are right in the place they had been promised, the nation of adepts, Vodheim. The citadel they see from the top of one of the inner mountains looks like nothing they imagined, perfectly aligned paths, buildings much taller than any construction in any town and village connected by bridges.
In the distance, more mountains that surround the territory and look completely green and when they move away from the mountain through which they arrived from they realize that the surface is worked to have crops throughout its surface. Feats like that are impossible if you are a farmer without powers.
When they arrive at the entrance of the citadel the guard who led them tells them that they must "register", create an identity with which to live within the territory. The registration is not very demanding, name, element to which you are related, alternative skills, but the curious thing is that, in a totally optional way, you are asked your origin.
Once the registration is finished, they are given a small letter with the information they gave, something called a "credential" and that they must always carry with them. Something curious are the symbols that are in the upper corners, the one on the right is the Vodheim badge.
—«A dew drop surrounded by mountains, making a clear allusion to the mountains that surround the territory, but the drop in the center, what does it represent? » —Chris is puzzled as he keeps thinking. In the upper left corner, there are six circles of different sets of colors, one of them with the colors of Vodheim, blue and gray green.
After looking at the credential, they are directed into the citadel and suddenly the sky lights up for a few moments and they hear a rumble. Something happened, just entering the territory and following the noise to its origin. A crowd of people are surrounding a strange man, carrying a huge sword and armor and around him are some fallen guards and civilians, the damage in the area indicating that there was combat.
A single young man is barely standing up, with all his strength he concentrates the last of his elemental power in his fist and throws a blow at him. The mysterious man deflects the attack with his sword and lashes out at what is left of his life. In less than a blink a metallic sound is heard, Chris unsheathed his sword and blocked the attack on the young man.
The increased strength and his sword are barely enough to stop the sword of the mysterious man, in a single crossing of glances it is clear, both retreat and announce that they are now in a duel, and as is the custom of warriors, they exchange a few words. The mysterious man is introduced, Caellach, the Tiger's Eye and Imperial General, some civilians confirm that their villages were attacked by people in those armors and uniforms, so his presentation is more than reliable.
—My name is Chris, a man lost and with no clear future. —he kicks the body of the badly wounded young man back from him and falls to a girl with long dark hair and tells her to take him immediately to some healer.
Immediately Guilian carries the young man and Tsubaki asks the girl to guide them, and she starts talking tremblingly and starts running, and they end up following her.
Chris puts a posture with his sword and receives the attack of Caellach, the sound of the clash is enough to know that both have the same strength. One, two and even three more blows and all of them are blocked by Chris, he does not deflect them, he stops them head-on. One more clash and they keep pushing the swords to destabilize the other, a misstep and it would be defeat.
Caellach stops putting strength and makes Chris lose his balance, in that single instant he lashes his sword directly to his chest, but Chris also had planned to pretend to lose, because he turns his body face up, passing Caellach's sword a few centimeters in front of him, hits his sword with such force that he ends up breaking it and falling to the ground on his back.
Immediately Caellach retreats and tries to assimilate what happened, while the crowd around is stunned. Chris stands up and tells him that the fight is over, as he no longer has a weapon with which to fight his sword. Caellach only smiles, with a very clear expression, because his whole face said that he wants to continue fighting, but he agrees with him.
Caellach takes out of his armor a small circular object and throws it to the ground, this generates a circle with symbols that releases a column of light that goes far to the sky and gives the order to his men to retreat. These are introduced to the column of light and address a few last words to his new rival:
—It's a pity that I didn't bring my real sword, the Dragon Fang, but rest assured that next time we will fight until only one is left standing and wielding his sword. Until then, Chris.
—Do what you want, Caellach. —Chris beckons his sword to him, implying that he accepts the challenge where and when they meet again.
It is said that when two people fight, they are expressing their true interior, without any lie, therefore, regardless of gender, age or culture, in a duel there are only two people in their exclusive world, and it is inevitable to develop some sympathy, so both warriors usually become rivals.
With a new rival in the world and marking a before and after in Vodheim on their first day, Chris and his friends could never imagine that this meeting would only be the beginning towards a series of events that would change the world to an uncertain and excessive future.