Kairos wasn't sure of how long the ship had been sailing but he was sure it had been for quite a long while and was finally happy to hear one of the ship's sailors announce their close arrival to the Verdant's Faction Harbor.
After a while the ship had stopped moving and Kairos had noticed the sailors quickly try to anchor the boat to the an anchorage before the hatch to the boat was finally dropped open with which the other passengers lined up on a queue and slowly left the ship.
Soon the ship was almost empty with just some sailors and passengers struggling to get some goods off the boat and at a corner Kairos, who's expression looked pale and breathing also sounded heavy as he stared at nothing in particular.
"I guess there's no turning back now eh?" Kairos muttered to no one in particular. Slowly standing up his feet, he heaved a long heavy sigh, shuffled through his leather bag and took out two daggers with with he shoved into his clothes before hanging his leather bag over his shoulder while using one his hands to hold it down and walking out from the hatch to the ship.
Immediately Kairos left the ship, he got bumped into numerous times by several random passersby that to a point he had even almost lost his balance and fell down. While most of them rained curses on him, some calling him blind and others calling him retard, a few had in fact outright ignored him as though they hadn't bumped into a human or as though he wasn't even worth the speech or glance.
Kairos didn't give much thought to that and began walking again with no actual idea of where he was actually walking to. Although he was very much aware he was to be escorted to the Verdant Military Training Center by someone he unfortunately didn't know where to meet this someone or who this person was and also ruled out the option of just standing close to the dock and waiting for him considering what happened earlier.
He had attempted asking a couple of people for help, but most didn't even spare him a sight, while the ones that did try to listen to him finally scoffed while calling him a strange word, maybe a slang 'Casper'.
Eventually Kairos had gotten frustrated from the lack of success from his efforts and without even realizing it was now swirling around in a confused manner while staring at the crowded harbor with it's people who all busied themselves with their various activities than even what transpired around them and with a sigh murmured to himself:
"I might not be much of a believer, but mum says there are higher beings out there watching us…if there truly is a higher being…a good one maybe, please an assistance in any way would be appreciated."
While Kairos still stood frustrated and in confusion, he suddenly felt a tight grip on his shoulder and a voice from behind.
"It's expressions like this that attracts the muggers around the harbor."
Immediately Kairos heard the voice, out of instinct he quickly disarmed the hand on his shoulder and in a matter of a split second drew out one of the daggers he had hidden in his clothes and immediately turned around with his face directed towards the sudden odd figure and his dagger pointed at his throat.
His gaze currently fixed on the sudden figure, he had realized that the figure was cladded in an armor with the Verdant Faction's emblem and that the figure didn't also seem to be much older than him, on his face a slightly impressed but at the same time calm expression could be seen.
"Quite a sharp reflex I must commend, but that should be expected from the child of the Blue Fire Lord, Leander Eros." The figure simply responded, with no sign of intimidation or trepidation despite the current threat he was in.
Immediately Kairos heard him, he flinched slightly and narrowed his gaze as he asked slowly and in a skeptical tone:
"Are you the-"
"Yes." The figure quickly replied without letting Kairos complete his question. "Nathan Colton, normal trooper under Squad captain Liam Orc's green spike squad.
After Kairos had heard him introduce himself, he slowly lowered the dagger he had pointed on his throat despite his expression still looking quite skeptical; it was less tense now than earlier.
"I'm Kairos." He simply said, as he put the dagger back in his clothes.
"Oh Kairos, that's quite unique. Well Kairos I can see you've packed up some extra clothes and that's good cause we might not be able to make it to the Faction's capital and the military training center today for the trials tomorrow due to my bad timing. I had some other duties to finish off before I head over here and I apologize for the inconvenience my tardiness might have caused you."
"...But the good news is, as long as we are able to at least reach the moonrich region before nightfall today then the chances of getting to the capital city and military training center by tomorrow before the trials are very high…which means the earlier we start the better right?" Nathan asked, his expression still calm with a sudden smile forming on his face.
"mm-hmm." Kairos muttered in agreement.
"Nice, so we can finally begin then. Stone cutter would have grown tired of waiting." Nathan said before he began walking, causing Kairos to follow behind him.
"Who's stone cutter?" Kairos asked, his gaze focused on the moving back of Nathan.
"Oh...stone, he's just our ride to the capital." Nathan said in a casual tone as they both continued walking.
"I'm sorry for what happened earlier, the dagger incident, mistook you for a mugger." Kairos said in an apologetic tone causing the latter to simple chuckle and in an indifferent tone replied:
"I didn't see it as offensive at all. It's actually normal to be very security conscious in places like the harbor that is very crowded and busy especially if you are new as crowded and busy also means more goons and mischief. In Fact reports have been made that some even act like strangers or lost people grabbing their unsuspecting victims into their deceitful plan.
"Oh." Kairos replied in an audible tone and then in a lower tone said to himself: "Explains why most of the people kept ignoring me and why some repeatedly called me a 'Casper'."
Immediately his attention was drawn to Nathan as he could hear him chuckling again.
"Casper does mean a suspicious figure but it's totally a different kind of suspicious, it's a slang popular amongst residents in the Verdant region, it means a foreigner who acts in a suspicious way like spy suspicious or mentally ailed suspicious." Nathan replied, causing Kairos to immediately choke and almost fall crashing to the floor while Nathan burst into full fledged laughter.
The duo finally came to a stop at a spot where a couple of horses and bulls all with saddles were tied to various big sturdy woods and seemed to have been kept there till their distinct riders came back for them.
"So which is stone cutter?" Kairos asked as they kept passing by various pack animals that were either resting or just constantly making animal noises.
"Oh stone cutter… well I had to tie him up somewhere a little far from the other travel animals for reasons emmm… you would understand when you get to see him." Nathan simply replied to Kairos causing him to grow some sort of curiosity towards this seemingly odd animal.
The duo had walked for a while and then finally stopped at a spot far from all the other animals that had been tied, where just one lone large looking figure laid with its body rounded up and resting.
Immediately the duo approached the figure it immediately opened up its eyes to reveal its ferocious gaze causing Kairos to pause and stare at Nathan who seemed indifferent despite what was before lying a few steps before them.
"That's…that's a…that's a." Kairos tried saying something, but no matter how much he forced himself to, he could not just bring himself to say it.
"That's stone cutter, he gets a little grumpy with new people but as long as you don't try to harm it, it won't either." Nathan said with a smile and indifferent tone as he walked over to the lying beast and slowly pet it on its head.
Kairos's mouth dropped open after Nathan's gesture and stared at the beast being petted by the trooper a few steps away.
The beast had the shape and body of a mouse except it was many times larger, its hairs looked more like quills, its teeth and eyes were long, sharp and ferocious looking, its gaze hinted at danger and its aura was heavy and suppressing.
Kairos remained rigid and refused to get any closer to the beast than he already had, although this was the first time he saw a beast of this kind alive, the small visible red glowing stone on the beast's chest hinted on what type of beast it was.
Although just a common grade beast, Kairos knew this wasn't an acceptable reason to play down the threat this beast posed, he knew it was capable of shattering and killing even a well trained element manipulator if the manipulator was unlucky or carefree in the battle with it, and this wasn't just a notion as there had even been cases in the island were a couple of comrades in Leander's squad had been killed in terrifying ways by common grade monsters just like the one lying few steps away.
Nathan suddenly stopped petting the beast and stared back at the stiff body of Kairos and with a smile said in an indifferent tone.
"Well if you just keep standing there frozen, then we should as well just kiss our chances of getting to moonrich before nightfall good-bye." Nathan said with a smile and in a playful tone causing Kairos to flinch slightly before regaining composure.
"...You might already know of the Mana outbreak and the effects it had on Humans and some animals and objects. Well turns out these animals despite the buff received from the surrounding mana did not actually become ferocious and bloodthirsty because of this sudden buff rather the opposite is the case.
The excessive mana in their bodies had actually made them even more smarter that in terms of intelligence these beasts could be compared to an average human, so their ferocity is more of a quest for superiority and recognition than just animal instinct and blood thirst."
Kairos simply shook his head slowly and narrowed his gaze as he tried to understand Nathan's explanation and with a sigh Nathan continued with his explanation:
"Fortunately humanity by chance had been able to realize this peculiar characteristic of the Mana beasts and decided to use it to our favor. The beast are still hunted and injured till close death but this time instead of simply killing them off, the beasts are carried back and are treated and fed until they are back to a good shape, but these beasts are now very intelligent and is also aware their opponent's had spared them for a reason and that their resistance would lead to immediate death so they are eventually willing to cooperate.
…It's at this point that the people decide to train these captured beasts for whatever purpose they had captured them for in the first place…although common grade beasts are the ones mostly captured as the other higher grade beasts have higher resistance to this method.
Kairos seemed to have understood what Nathan tried explaining but still bore a stiff expression as he asked in a skeptical tone:
"So what guarantee do you the captors have that these beasts won't turn ferocious again when released into the public like stone cutter here?"
Nathan simply chuckled at his question and jumped over the lying beast landing on a saddle placed on its back before refocusing his gaze at the stiff Kairos and replying:
"Well I guess sometimes we have to ignore the risks of certain things for the rewards…you should have at least an idea or understanding of this notion right?" Nathan asked with a grin.
Kairos simply stood motionless staring back at Nathan who was seated comfortably on the beast's back and then the beast who seemed impassive to Kairos presence and with a deep sigh walked over to the lying beast who immediately stared at him with it's a piercing gaze causing Kairos to stop moving and then with indifference the beast turned his head away again from Kairos giving him the opportunity to climb up the back of the beast quickly.
Immediately Kairos sat on its back, he felt quite strange as he could feel an unusual chilling sensation run through his whole body causing him to shiver slightly.
The beast seemed to have somehow understood its riders were now well seated and without wasting much time slowly stood up his feet and began moving, its direction as though it knew very well the route they were to follow.
Soon they had left the premises of the harbor and were now travelling through the town, and what Kairos saw immediately they entered the town caused his mouth to drop wide open.
When he planned on coming to a region under the Verdant Faction, he had always expected them to be lands filled with overgrown trees…plants and wild animals because of the severe love and respect the Faction had been believed to have for plants and nature.
…But what he saw at the moment completely countered his previous idea about the place. The streets and surroundings did have plants but these plants weren't overgrown or looked unkempt, instead they added some sort of unique natural aesthetic feature to the whole place causing Kairos who was currently lost in breath by this to continuously stare uncontrollably at these trees and plants.
What made these trees and plants even more breathtaking was their other mystic attributes solidifying Kairos suspicions of the the trees being affected by mana themselves. Some of them seemed to float a little above the ground, others had leaves that glowed and some, Kairos could swear he saw them move slightly.
Nathan seemed to have noticed his interest in the beguiling trees and then with a interested tone said:
"Hmm, I guess we who were brought and groomed in regions under the Verdant Faction fail to appreciate sights like this eventually, maybe because we got to see them everyday of our lives. You know, up to 203 new species of trees were discovered after the Mana outbreak and out of those 203 trees, 202 of them could be found here in different regions of the Verdant Faction."
"203 new species of trees and plants is pretty vast and amazing" Kairos commended and then immediately asked Nathan in a curious tone "What then happened to the last plant…is it located only in another faction's region or..?" Kairos asked back with curiosity."
"Oh that…it's extinct. The plant was known as the 'seed of wholeness' or simply nephlom.
Stories say this tree was already extremely rare and was highly sought after by every faction and powerful figure because it was believed that the fruit of this tree could revitalize anyone from any kind of ailment or injury whether mental or physical, no matter it severeness and not only that but it was also believed to give the one whom eats from it greater strength and durability than their former self. Some even said the great Adonis Eros had eaten one of the nephlom fruits which was why he suddenly had the ability to manipulate three elements.
It was also believed that only three of these trees existed at the time and they were all discovered in different regions under the Verdant Faction, Aidre Faction and Mellontilogist Faction respectively but with such great opportunity to power also comes great calamity and greed.
The tree of wholeness only bore a single fruit after every ten years but this output was deemed deficient by the various Factions and powerhouses as this could barely satiate their wallowing crave for power. Unfortunately these various Factions sunk in their greed were believed to have carried out uncanny experiments on these trees in order to buff its production or reproduce a replica of its type. These experiments unfortunately led to the impulsive extermination of these trees.
For many years, the search for another nephlom would be unsuccessful and eventually the different factions would come to accept that the tree was finally extinct…that was until one of its kind was discovered again in a region under the Verdant Faction.
The then leader of the Verdant Faction had tried keeping this discovery a secret but somehow word still manage to get out to the other Factions of their rival's recent discovery and this immediately changed the tides of the then war as the other Factions now all shared one main purpose, to utterly destroy the Verdant and take over it's lands but that wasn't even the end of the rising plight as even within the Verdant Faction an ongoing struggle was going on, the then generals and power holding officials were in a squabble for who had the right to the fruit after the leader of the Faction.
With all these rising tides, the then Leader knew it was only a matter of time before the Verdant eventually fell, so he took a drastic step that might have changed humanity's chances in terms of power. Picking a handful of his most trusted soldier men, they went over to where the tree was currently blooming and burned it down, not only that but he also banned the possession and use of the Nephlom fruit by anyone as this offense would be met with immediate death. That would be the last Nephlom tree ever discovered…well at least in the Verdant Faction."
"Oh." Kairos simply muttered before going quiet again as he took the opportunity to also observe the towns people. The townspeople too were not any less Intriguing. Observing each town they passed by, Kairos could simply define them as a superior version of the Island in terms of the townscape and build up.
The population at least was twice that of the Island and although the towns settings all seemed to a have slight differences from each other, there also similarities Kairos had observed in each of them that they passed by that wasn't actually prevalent in the Island, things like the general and rampard use of animals for transportation, military men just like Nathan stationed in every nook and cranny of the towns and the use of wood in making almost all the town's materials.
It was almost noon and the duo's long journey seemed to be coming to an end for the day. It had been quite a stressful one as none had rested during the journey except the quick stops they had made to eat.
The sun was slowly setting and the sky getting dim, luckily the luminous trees around served as an efficient source of light making it less stressful to see. Stone cutter's pace seemed to have decreased and Nathan seemed more relaxed.
"So we finally made it to the moonrich region?" Kairos asked with a slight yawn.
"Mm…just got to find an inn were we could spend the night in before our journey to the capital tomorrow." Nathan replied, his tone also sounding somewhat tired.
"We're here." Nathan announced and immediately the beast came to a stop quite close to a broad wooden building of about two stories. Nathan and Kairos got off the beast with Nathan tieing up the beast at a corner and feeding him a chunk of raw meat they had bought on their way before both him and Kairos walked into the inn.
Inside the inn looked quite quiet with just a middle-aged lady seated behind a wooden counter and focused on a book.
Nathan immediately approached the lady and made payments for a two for one bedroom with which the middle-aged lady directed them to a room upstairs afterwards.
Immediately both Kairos and Nathan got into the room they both fell powerlessly to their various bed in silence, as they seemed to savour the comfort of the beds they were currently on. The journey had been a long one and this had not only exhausted them physically but also mentally, so the eerie quietness of both parties seemed quite normal.
Kairos seemed to have recovered a little from his fatigue, as he tiredly turned over to check on Nathan who laid down on a bed a couple of steps in the opposite direction, his eyes shut tight and faced up the ceiling with his hands interlocked with each other and resting on his chest like he was meditating.
"Hey Kairos." Nathan called out, his eyes still shut tight.
"Mm." Kairos responded now also casually lying faced up the ceiling.
"During my briefing in conjunction to my excursion with you to the capital for your trial, I was told you…eh…em, you are a…vulgar?" Nathan asked, his shut eyes now wide open and focused on Kairos.
Kairos had already expected his excurts know about his condition, considering they were the ones registering him up for the trial after all so with a sudden grin, he stared back at Nathan and with indifference gave a reply:
"Yeah it's true."
Nathan immediately flinched slightly after Kairos reply before recomposing, his gaze seemed to get more intense as he said with a serious tone:
"Not like I'm trying to discourage you or anything but you do know it'll be harder for you to get into the Verdant Military Training Center and even if you somehow miraculously manage to, your tribulations will only begin as you still have one full year of torture and predicaments, six months a freshman slogger and six months an advanced foot slogger, that's if you're still alive or enrolled in the Center…like it's already hard as a manipulator then what fate awaits a Vulgar?"
Kairos grin grew wider and with indifference replied:
Do you think I would take such a precarious journey, a long distance from home on just pure hope with no source of assurance if I didn't know it'll be hard…besides if I fail this year I could always try next year right?...and even if I can't get into the Verdant Military Section there are still like three more factions to go right?."
Nathan immediately stared at the Kairos who laid casually on a bed with shock in his eyes, but he eventually tried to compose himself as he replied in a countering manner:
"Well honestly apart from probably the Aidre Faction, the others are a bunch of crazed fellows…those prideful peacock Mellontilogists look down on anyone who wasn't given birth to in their shitty Faction, the bastards literally segregated themselves from the rest of the world few years after the peace treaty and then the Sect of Light, those crazies are on another whole new level, to be honest…I feel they are just some bunch of demented bloodthirsty and mad group only concerned with creepy and weird fairytales and beliefs, to be honest if the great war had lasted any longer they might have been the next faction to fall."
Kairos expression had tightened up for a brief moment before a weird smile enveloped his face once more
"Well I guess I'll just have to make it past the trial here then by any means possible right?" Kairos replied with his smile growing wider and wider.
Nathan simply shook his head slightly and with a yawn relaxed himself once more with his face focused on the ceiling.
"Well I hadn't expected any less of such a response from the son of the 'Blue Fire Lord' of the West…after all his blood runs in your vein, I just had to be sure." Nathan replied in a seemingly tired tone.
Kairos's expression that had been relaxed all through suddenly tightened up and his smile replaced by a stern look.
"This makes it twice you address him by his alias instead of his real name, Leander Eros…seems you both are kind of acquaintances?" Kairos immediately asked with curiosity causing Nathan to immediately burst into laughter.
"Hm…acquaintances? I wish…it's more like a legend and worshiper situation. Your father Leander Eros had always been like an idol to me and his feats like wonderful tales in my ear, when I was younger I would always wish to achieve similar feats but I guess I still have a long way to go myself after all i'm just still a common trooper….besides it's only ethical I include respect to his name considering he is also one the reason the Verdant Faction is still exists as Faction.
Kairos was visibly shocked by the reply but then realization dawned on him as he asked in a slow tone:
"Was that why your military easily accepted-"
"Mm." Nathan quickly replied, cutting Kairos short of his words. "What idea did you have before?" Nathan continued.
"Ehmm…I guess I had assumed his relationship with the Faction would only be based on the mutual relationship the Island had with the Verdant Faction considering he was the chief of the Island after all." Kairos replied, his expression showing interest and focus and his gaze locked on Nathan as he anticipated answers.
Nathan immediately burst into laughter again, only this time it lasted for a long while before he managed to give a reply to the agitated looking Kairos.
"Honestly, I had only discovered recently that he was the chief of the Island…all my life I had known him only as The Blue Fire Lord' Leander Eros."
Kairos was immediately thrown into deep thoughts as he wondered what his father would have done to win over a whole Faction and the real situation of his relationship with the Faction.
Kairos had grown up knowing him as a former Captain under the Aidre Faction which as far as he knows has been a rival Faction to the Verdant during the war and might still be despite the peace treaty…had whatever he had done to help the Verdant been after the war or did he betray his Faction for the Verdant was that how he lost his role as Captain, what situation had the Verdant really been in that none in the Faction could solve and needed the help of someone from another Faction.
There were so many thoughts and questions he had but probably might never get an answer to…at least for now.
Nathan seemed to have noticed his blank expression and seemed to have a theory for its cause.
"You know I could always tell you the story of how he had helped the Verdant Faction, although it had happened many years back when I didn't even have any correlation with the military, my squad captain would always talk about it as he had witnessed the incident in person…he was a trooper at the time." Nathan said after a long yawn causing Kairos expression to lighten up.
"But that'll maybe have to wait till tomorrow or next time we have the chance cause… (yawn)...cause right now I can barely keep my eyes even half open, tomorrow is the big day after all so I'll I need a long rest…and so would you." Nathan said after a long yawn before going outright quiet.
Kairos stared silently at Nathan who was fully engrossed in his slumber and with a sigh, stared at the ceiling, his sparkling blue eyes looking distant and in his expression traces of worry. Slowly his eyes closed up despite him trying to keep them open before eventually giving in to his tired body.
With the duo asleep all that could be heard was the repeating snuffling sound and the whoozing sound of the evening cool breeze.