As Veritas and Jade got out of there fast, they panted as their hearts beat quickly due to the intensity of the situation, especially Jade.
Veritas acted the part but he knew that the threat was already gone, well.. of course, he scared Bello away. He knew that one glimpse of his undisguised self would make him back off immediately.
He still used the wolves to chase for a couple of seconds to keep up with the act but ultimately gave up in the end.
"Are you okay?" Veritas, donning the Line disguise, walked up to Jade and checked up on her.
"Yeah. Yeah. I just need to.... catch up on my breath, hah.." Her hands were on her knees and she breathed heavily.
Veritas stared at her with an indifferent expression on his face.
'She's really not that athletic is she?'
He wondered how she was even eligible to participate in the tournament. Her Path was only useful in team battles for scouting and recon, but that too has its problems.
One, her senses didn't quite match with what she saw - simply put, she can't react that fast to a sudden ambush or attack.
Two, her Path was not perfect, even Veritas sneaked around and hid himself among the branches. But even he wasn't noticed by her scouting Path!
He sighed, thinking of her as incapable of battle. He wondered if the original Line could've protected her from assailants but that too seemed very far off.
He didn't want to be too mean to her though and judge her capabilities, she was a great scout of course but she was not the best.
Veritas sheathed his steel blade and walked towards a hill nearby, using it as a leverage to see their next destination.
In this landscape filled with trees and bushes, there was nothing else to be really found. But, that was not Veritas' main purpose at all!
His purpose was to spread the Winds all over the surroundings and being in a high place assisted him to do it more efficiently. He wanted to scout further in the distance, and look for any individuals to be taken care of.
Seeing as Jade would be useless for a while, Veritas wanted to take some actions of his own and this time.. as the Prince.
He needed merit of course! And he wanted to be shown on the big screen!
So, upon scouting for a couple of seconds, he found an unsuspecting duo hiding atop a Hyperion tree's branch.
He went back to Jade's direction and spoke to her:
"We'd be staying here for a long time, I think we should conserve our energy properly."
"I'm fine really.."
"No, I insist. You stay here while I go hunt for some food alright? Let me see.." Veritas looked around to find a suitable place to stay, "Ah- there!"
Upon doing so, he saw a hole formed inside a Hyperion tree. It was small enough to fit a single person but its insides were also quite spacious.
"Come with me."
Jade followed Veritas as he led the way towards the hole and upon reaching there he made a pointing gesture to it.
"Get in."
"Eh- what.." Jade slowly backed off.
"Ah! I didn't mean it that way, I meant that you should stay here in the meantime while I find some food for us."
"Oh.."
She got closer to the hole and inspected it, "Are you sure that I could fit in this? It is quite small after all.."
Veritas walked towards it and showed himself getting inside the small hole and eventually making it to the spacious space inside. It smelled like acorns and woods, and a little touch of sweetness.
Then, after showing the possibility of getting inside, he went out once more and smiled at Jade.
"You'll be safe there, trust me."
"Why can't I just come and hunt with you? My scouting would be really useful."
"Really? Then tell me where the nearest boar is?"
Her eyes pulled back and the winds shifted for a second.
"There should be one a few meters from the east. It is staying near a bush and finding truffle mushrooms on the ground. Actually, its on the verge of finding one. If you make it in time, then we could eat the truffle along with the boar!"
"Okay then, thanks for the tip. I'll go now."
"H-hey!"
Veritas walked towards the east where she pointed and then waved his hands back to her.
"Get some rest! We travel after filling our bellies!"
Deep inside her, Jade wanted to be with Line and travel with him because it was much better than staying alone but in reality.. she knew that she was a liability.
Although she can scout ahead, her inability to fight was a major component on why she saw herself as a liability.
She even wondered why she was chosen as a participant for the For Honor Tournament, but alas, even after racking her brain, she could not find out the true purpose of her Professor's choice.
"If only I knew how to fight.."
She sighed and sat down the hollowed Hyperion tree, looking up and seeing its vast greatness.
*
Veritas ran through the trees quickly, jumping from branch to branch at a hasty pace. Once he was out of sight, his figure immediately vanished and was replaced by his white-haired identity.
He was on his way South, towards the unsuspecting duo hiding atop a tree branch.
Veritas was in fact... not going for the boar that he explicitly requested from Jade.
Actually, he already knew where the boar was but there were even more important things to handle.
The purpose of his search for battle is not only to keep himself afloat by shining in the large screen but also to divert the attention towards him.
As warned by Shin Morteza, in this stage, there were going to be dire repercussions to be met. So, in order to confuse the perpetrator or whoever's going to attack him, Veritas needed to cause some sort of diversion, disguising his real intentions as Line.
He rushed like the Winds, acting as a fast gale that passed by in an instant!
One second, he was standing atop of a branch, but in another.. he was already gone!
Veritas was that quick!
With this speed, he guessed all the focus was already upon him.
He felt many gazes coming from somewhere but he could not quite discern where.
Yet he dismissed that feeling and focused on his main task.
He was pacing closer and closer to the duo!
In a few seconds, they were mere trees away from Veritas. His goal was to cause a surprise attack and prolong the battle, but not long enough to make Jade become suspicious.
Thus, he conjured a Wind Blade on his hands and held it tightly.
Compared to his new weapon, Nihility, which seemed to perfectly fit itself to his hands, the Wind Blade seemed subpar..
Wind Blade still suited him and was comfortable to utilize. It was one of the many weapons that he actually liked and was perfectly comfortable to use.
But Nihility is on a different level!
Not only did it possess great strength but it also aligned itself within Veritas' Soul, making it perfect at every situation!
He wasn't going to use it right now though, it will serve as his trump card whenever things go south.
That said, Veritas reached the tree where the duo had sat down upon and he stayed a couple of meters above them.
He could hear their conversation due to his affinity to the Winds, bringing their voices to his very ears.
"I've defeated 3 people so far, we're doing pretty good!"
"Right. I've only defeated 2 people, but we should make it to the top 16 if we kept up the pace.
The two talked to each other, one having a woody brown hair and the other having a plain jet black hair.
They wore different clothing which showcased their uniqueness.
The brown-haired individual wore heavy chainmail armor and was wearing a unique chain helmet that looked very durable.
While the other was comfortable in his leather strapped boots, metal greaves, and leather tunic which was layered by a protective vest.
On their waists were a greataxe and a shortsword, respectively.
They talked about their plans for the second stage and what strategies they needed to come up with.
But all of that was soon going to be futile.
Suddenly, a gust of wind enveloped the two, flaying the leaves and small branches along with it.
Sensing that something's wrong, the brown-haired individual stood up and carried his greataxe.
Suddenly! In the air in front of them, a figure with white-hair, wearing a marble-white armor, suddenly appeared. He held a sword that seemed to be made out of the Winds, and his facial expression was calm and serene.
This immediately sent the two in a state of battle right away!
However.. the calm presence of the white-haired individual seemed peculiar!
He said:
"I'm sorry.."
Suddenly, a high-pitched noise rang in the horizon and everything went black for the two of them.