The Lilacs family has just arrived back at the place. It seems that all of the knights have prepared themselves to go.
Kairos said, "It seems that we're ready to go. The journey might not be that far, but throughout the journey, there will be a lot of monsters."
Wedgewood's eyes shone. He is really excited for his first adventure.
Mey replied, "Perfect. It will be a good experience for my apprentice. Let's go."
They got out of the forest and started to move. Kairos, Meyeri, and Wedge were riding the same horses. There is a display of Kairos blushing throughout the first day. They reached the shore of what's known as the edge of Cithrel's lake. Then they all agreed to stay there.
Kairos said, "We have reached nearly half of our travel. Let's take a rest here."
Then the knights were trying to set out camps before Mey interrupted them. She sniffed the air and closed her nose. "I think it's better for you guys to take a bath first."
Kairos and the other knights were left with a bit of shock and shame. Despite the knight's title, it seems that they don't care a lot about taking a bath. It's because of the nature of the work that they need to travel a lot and camp anywhere. They don't take care of their hygiene. They were basically landed upon a river, but trying to jump in right now would be suicide since it's basically freezing outside. Humans' and elves' habitats are a tad different in their climate. Elven Kingdom is placed at a higher altitude, which caused the temperature to drop.
But then Mey held her hand forward and said,
"By the power of the goddess of earth, Gaia, Earth Wall."
Mey instantly created a circling earth wall with a bottom that looked like a huge bowl. Then she looked at her boy,
"Could you do me a favor and fill in the bowl now, wedge?"
Wedgewood nodded, then clapped his hands and held both of his hands forward, pointing to the river and moving the water to the bowl that Mey had just created. He managed to fill the entirety of it. Then Mey cast another spell while opening her hand.
"By the power of the goddess of fire, Ifrit, Torching Flame."
Fire coming out from the bottom of the bowl upward; after that, it seems like hot springs just made out of nowhere. The Knights look very pleasant, including Kairos, and suddenly they all take off their clothes, catching Meyeri off guard and blushing.
Kairos said, "Let's jump in!"
Meyeri turned back and said, "I. I'll wait in the camp."
The boy then also took off his clothes and joined the knights in the bath. The knight was curious about the boy and, therefore, asked him questions.
One of the knights with the bowl-cut brown hair asked him, "Hi young wizard, my name is Dilan. How old are you?"
The boy answers with signs, "10."
One of the knights with spiky black hair said, "Oh, you can't talk, can't you? You seem like what the old tale said. Very different from the tale of the Laughing Witch. My name is Jake, by the way."
The boys got curious and looked closely at Jake. The knight saw the boy, looked at him with enthusiasm, and continued the story.
"So, there is an urban story saying that all the magicians were once gathered in a village. It's called Silent Village. All of the magicians there were not talking."
Dillan continued Jake's story. "It was a mystery that could never be resolved. Since we have never seen more than one magician come out into the world,
Then Kairos came in and smacked Jake's head, then said, "I know you were trying to make up a story so it could be interesting for the kid. But you have an oath to never lie as a knight."
Kairos then said, "We had confirmed ourselves since Mey's origin was not known as well. We're searching for that place called Silent Village, and it turns out it leads us to a place that's filled with flowers. Lilac precisely. But just maybe..."
Before Kairos could continue, Meyeri shouted.
"Hey! How long are you guys going to bathe? I want to dip in as well!"
Hearing that, all of the knights laughed awkwardly.
Dillan said, "Guess, we need to get out fast before the Laughing Witch becomes the Enraged Witch."
Then all of them were laughing. After that, it was shown precisely behind laughing Kairos, the enraged witch. All of the knights were sweating profusely. Then Mey flicked them all out of the bowl except Wedge, naked.
Then she redoes all the things with her magic and fills the bowl with new water from the river.
Mey said, "Boy, you want to come in again?"
Wedgewood nodded. They then dipped in side by side.
Mey then said, "Do you like the path of magic?"
Wedge replied by nodding quickly.
Mey laughed a little and said, "Haha, I see. I thought you liked wielding a sword more than doing magic. You keep trying to do training with that stick."
Wedge shook his head. But then he tried to explain what's in his head. Causing him to recall his past experience.
He saw a red-haired boy.
"Hi, my name is Arkan. Nice to meet you!"
The blue-haired boy shys away and gets back behind his adoptive mother.
"Sorry, Arkan, this boy couldn't talk." Miss Morty said
"Ah, I see. It's fine, mother." Arkan replied.
The next morning, the blue-haired boy was looking at the field a little bit far in front of the orphanage. Arkan was shown swinging a stick, making a downward strike, and repeating it almost for two hours straight. It was just child play, a normal adult might say, but from the boy perspective, Arkan was showing a lot of determination.
The boy asked Miss Morty with a hand sign, "What is Arkan doing?"
Miss Morty replied, "He is trying to mimic what is called sword training. He might have wanted to be a knight. You wanted to befriend him?"
The boy nodded.
Miss Morty said, "Then go!"
Miss Morty then left to do some laundry in the backyard. The boy then ran while waving towards Arkan. But in the middle of the running, a boar was coming out from the tree, aiming to take down the boy. The boy flinched and fell.
Arkan then notably threw the stick, hitting the boar in the head. The stick bounced and dropped in front of the blue-haired boy. The boar then got enraged and instead chased Arkan. Arkan said,
"Mate, throw the stick to me!"
The boy then threw the stick to Arkan. Arkan caught it, then fought the board head-on and made a downward strike to its head with the stick. After that, the boar fell to the side, signing its defeat. Then Arkan went to the boy and slapped his cheek.
"You are weak! Weaklings should train!"
After that, the boy was left shocked, then his adoptive mother came in and said, "Are you alright?"
The boys nodded.
Miss Morty then said, "Where is Arkan? Is he all right?"
The boys pointed to the hall. Then Miss Morty hurriedly went towards the hall. The boy got curious and followed her to the hall after a while. He peeped and saw Arkan's stomach get a really big bruise on the left side. It was an impact caused by fighting the boar head-on. The boar tusk seems to strike his body in a blunt manner. The next morning, the boy saw Arkan's still training with his stick. Then he approached him, but now in a careful manner.
Arkan looked at him and asked, "What do you want to do?"
The boy then found there were multiple sticks beside him and pointed at them.
Arkan said, "You wanted to train also?"
The boy nodded. Then after that, he continued to train with the stick every day with his not-blood-related brother, Arkan.
Hearing the story, the Laughing Witch turned into the Sobbing Witch.
Mey said, "So that was the reason, *sob sob*. From now on, I'll allow you to grab the stick. But don't neglect your magic training!"
Kairos then approached them and said, "Dinner is ready!"
Mey was enraged and said, "Who says you can come close while I'm taking a bath?"
Then she flicked her hand, and Kairos was thrown away comically.