Luke was walking on an unmarked road up a hill.
The hill wasn't bare per se, but was close to it, as there was a small number of trees sitting atop it.
And on a relatively hot day like this, not having the shade of trees to provide some comfort while traveling proved to be a bit exhausting for Luke.
Luke wiped away the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead, and asked.
"Elli- No, Master, why aren't we using our elementals to get to our destination faster?"
A man with a ponytail, who was wearing an orange robe, turned around to look at Luke.
The man, Ellios, smirked at Luke.
"We aren't in a hurry. Let's enjoy the nature."
Luke's shoulders slumped down in resignation.
"…Alright."
Since they departed from Naiccos a few hours ago, Luke learned that there was no point in arguing with Ellios.
Whenever Luke complained, he would get shot down in a couple of words.
"Luke, I understand that you don't want to waste any time, but think of this as endurance training."
Anastasia, now back in her hag-like disguise, tried consoling Luke.
She quickly got over the fact that she hadn't fought a proper opponent in a long time, and has been getting friendlier with Luke bit by bit during the past couple of hours.
If there was someone who understood Ellios very well, it would probably be her.
From what Luke could tell, she had been accompanying him for quite a long time.
When they were in disguise, she didn't even bother addressing him as 'Your Majesty', but instead mostly treated him like she'd treat an old comrade or a friend.
The other three guards were nowhere to be seen, but that wasn't because they were left behind.
Instead, Anastasia had assigned them to scout the road ahead, and report back if they were to notice anything that seemed suspicious or dangerous.
Specifically, two of them were in front, and one of them was behind Luke's group, forming a triangular formation around the group.
They were making use of the few trees that were on the hill as cover, but it was still fairly difficult to stay hidden on such terrain. Evening was steadily approaching, so as time went on, their job would progressively get easier.
As far as Luke could tell, the three bodyguards weren't that far away from his group, distance wise. It was so that they could easily regroup in case of an emergency.
'They're pretty well trained, not only ability-wise, but when it comes to their tactics as well. Well, if you're guarding someone important, I'd assume that you wouldn't want to have any gaps in your defense if you could help it.'
After a while, Luke asked Ellios another question.
"Where are we even going?"
Without turning back to look at Luke, Ellios answered.
"You'll see when we arrive."
Luke let out a sigh.
This was the third time he asked this question, and it was also the third time he heard the same answer.
Ellios then continued talking, as if trying to curb Luke's rising exasperation.
"You want to earn some money, and I want to make you stronger. We'll be killing two birds with one stone."
Luke was surprised at this answer.
When he asked the previous two times, Ellios simply left it at 'You'll see when we arrive.', but this time around, he actually told him a bit more than before.
Satisfied with this answer, Luke kept quiet and continued walking with the group at a steady pace.
During the next hour, the hill progressively got less and less steep, until it became a relatively flat plain.
'That was quite a large hill to climb, especially without using the wind elemental…'
Nightfall was slowly approaching, so it wasn't as hot as it was when they had left Naiccos, making it a much more comfortable environment to be traveling in.
'I probably won't make it back to Naiccos today. Good thing I left a note at the Embassy just in case…'
Before Luke left, he dropped by the Embassy building, and left Lala a note that he'd be leaving the city for a bit, so that she wouldn't be worried about him.
Lala would probably inform Leon about this as well, so there wasn't a need to leave multiple notes.
Luke turned around from atop the hill.
In the valley below him, he could see Naiccos.
'This is the opposite direction than the one I first arrived in the city from.'
Seeing how far away they were, Luke's curiosity was once again reignited and so he asked.
"Master, are we close?"
Luke made sure not to stutter while saying 'Master', so that the chances of getting a proper answer would increase.
But even that had no effect.
Ellios once again answered without even turning around.
"Hmm, I wonder?"
Luke's expression turned sour.
'Where'd I go wrong with my life…'
After 30 more minutes of walking, Ellios stopped, prompting Luke and Anastasia behind him to stop as well.
Ellios spoke while not moving and using only his eyes to examine his surroundings.
His eyes narrowed.
"Anastasia."
Anastasia nodded.
"I felt it too."
Luke's expression turned tense at the atmosphere.
"What's happening?"
But before anyone could answer him, a round object flew towards Luke from an unknown direction.
Luke gathered wind around his hands, and made the object decelerate and float in front of him.
His eyes widened as he looked at the round object.
Red liquid was dripping from the object.
A chill ran down Luke's spine.
It was a human head.
In a bit of a panic, Luke blasted the head away to the direction where it came from.
After all, Luke wasn't used to seeing decapitated human body parts at all.
Sure, he witnessed a lot of gore, especially when killing all of those Gleems in the past, but that was different from this.
'…That was one of Ellios' bodyguards.'
The sun had set minutes ago, so there was still enough light to see a lone figure approaching Luke's group.
He was carrying a pair of balls in one of his hands.
No, not a pair of balls.
It was a pair of severed heads.
Those were the heads of the remaining two bodyguards.
'If that person was able to kill those three with such ease, it means that I wouldn't stand a chance…'
Luke glanced at Ellios and then at Anastasia.
He didn't know what kind of expression Ellios was making as he was standing behind him, but Anastasia, who was behind him, wore a very stiff expression.
The approaching figure threw the pair of heads away like they were trash, but only after making sure that the three people saw them first.
The person wore a hood over their head, obstructing their face almost completely, aside from their lips.
They also wore a loose black robe, and were slightly hunched over as they walked.
At around 50 meters away from Luke's group, the figure stopped walking.
The corners of their lips curled upwards into a sinister smile.
At that moment, something completely unexpected happened.
The unknown person's robe fluttered as they got down to the ground.
They were kneeling on one knee, with one hand behind their back, and the other formed into a fist pressing against the ground below. Their head hung low to the ground.
Anastasia's stiffened expression further contorted, while Luke was just looking at this scene in bewilderment.
Ellios was still standing at the head of the group, unmoving.
The kneeling figure then spoke.
"This servant greets Your Majesty."
It was a male voice.
Upon hearing it, Anastasia's eyes widened, and her mouth went slightly agape.
Luke was able to barely hear her mumble to herself.
"…No way."
The tone of her voice carried pure disbelief.
As if to confirm Anastasia's disbelief, the kneeling man raised his head towards the group and slowly removed his hood.
"-!!"
Mildly said, Luke was repulsed by the man's face.
His whole head could be described as one huge scar.
That is to say, his whole head was covered in scar tissue, from the top of his head, all the way around and down to his neck.
'Were those caused by some sort of a fire?'
Luke couldn't help but wonder.
The man's head looked like that of a ghoul.
Instead of a protruding nose, the man had two small, ellipse-shaped holes in the middle of his face.
His eyes were completely bloodshot, with his pupils being almost completely pitch black.
He didn't have even a strand of hair left on his head, be it his eyebrows, eyelashes or hair.
Luke turned to glance at Anastasia.
She seemed to still be very shocked, with her expression frozen in place.
But, Luke heard a sigh coming from the front, so he turned back around.
Ellios was the one who sighed.
After not moving or saying anything for a long time, he finally spoke.
"Nikolai."
When Ellios said that name, the ghoulish man's eyes sparkled with happiness.
"Yes!"
And, as if to crush all of his expectations and hopes, Ellios simply and coldly said one word.
"Leave."
Luke felt saliva get stuck in his throat as he felt the force of that one single word.
He couldn't even imagine what kind of face Ellios was currently making.
Even though it wasn't directed at him, Luke gulped the stuck saliva and calmed himself down.
That one single word carried the authority of a supreme ruler, whose family has reigned above millions of people for generations.
It was not something one could learn how to do, it was instead something one would need to earn over an enormous amount of time.
The kneeling man was left in a much worse state than Luke.
His pupils froze at the command, and he was rendered unable to even blink, let alone turn around and leave.
And not only that, but he felt as if he wasn't kneeling down low enough.
He tried saying something, but his mouth simply opened and closed without a sound coming out, as his tongue was flapping uncontrollably, akin to a fish left ashore.
But surprisingly, Nikolai's eyes cleared up and regained clarity moments later, and he shook his head.
He stood back up and spat down on the ground, after which he put his hood back on.
"Old man. So that's how it's going to be… I even got rid of the guards so we could talk in peace."
Even though Luke couldn't see Nikolai's eyes anymore, he could feel Nikolai staring at him.
"But it seems like I missed one."
Ellios and Anastasia obviously knew this man, but Luke had no idea what their history together was, nor how strong he exactly was.
He could only estimate his strength from the show he put on earlier.
'I'll die if we fight.'
Luke tensed up at such an outcome, but then remembered he wasn't alone.
He looked towards Ellios, only to notice that Ellios was already looking at him.
"Disciple."
Ellios raised a single finger.
"This will be your first lesson."
He then pointed at Nikolai.
"Defeat him."
Luke's eyes widened in shock.
He was simply perplexed at what Ellios, his new master, was telling him, no, commanding him, to do.
'The first lesson? What lesson is there to learn here?! I'll just die!'
And as if reading his mind, Ellios said.
"The goal of this lesson is to make you reach the second phase of soul cleansing. Surpass your limits and live with greater strength than ever before."
Ellios then grinned.
"Alternatively, fail and die. That would certainly be a shame, but in the end, it's all up to you."
Ellios patted Luke on the shoulder and gently smiled.
"I choose to believe in your potential. And so should you."
Ellios then waved at Luke, and disappeared along with Anastasia in an instant.
Luke couldn't follow their movements at all.
In front of him, the hooded Nikolai was grinning.
"Disciple, huh? Come on then, show me what you got!"
Luke couldn't help but spit out his honest reaction to this situation.
"Shit."