The sun was low in the afternoon now, casting long shadows over the narrow path to Havenbrook and filtering through the canopy above it. Kai adjusted his pack again, the weight settling comfortably on his shoulders. This trip was different from their last one: there would be no Eldrin or Aurelia to guide or protect them. It was only him and Lia, moving forward into an unknown in a place where only they knew what made them strong enough to take it.
Kai looked over to Lia, who walked ahead, steady in her concentration. She didn't glance back at him, though. "Sort of feels odd to be outside like this, all on our own, doesn't it?" he attempted to break the silence.
Lia turned. A small, soft smile played at the edge of her lips. "It does… but in a way, it also feels good. We're just ourselves now. There's no one to scold us for taking a wrong turn."
He smiled and nodded. "Well. But what will the Academy really be like? Nobility and elites everywhere…" And he just let his gaze drift, letting the thrum of excitement hang suspended.
But before Lia could respond, a series of shouts echoed from up the path, followed by the snarling growl of a beast.
They stopped for a moment, exchanging a glance. Kai instinctively rested his hand over his spear as they crept ahead. The sounds grew louder until they reached a clearing just off the road.
Crouching low, they peered around the trunk of a large tree and took in the scene before them.
Five young fighters, around the age of 13-14, were surrounded by a powerful Stage 1, middle-grade beast known as a Bladewolf. Its body was long and muscular, covered with dark, silver fur that sported sharp black ridges along its spine. Its Yellow eyes gleamed with hunger as it circled the group, its claws tearing at the ground as it advanced. Each movement was calculated in a fluid motion.
The young men were surely resisting with all their might, and each of them wielded a weapon—a sword, a spear, a staff, and two daggers. What Kai was really puzzled by, however, was their cultivation levels. He could feel their energy, and all of them were at least at the peak of Initial Connection Realm. The girl in the middle was even stronger, at the early Essence Calibration Realm. Yet, they seemed only barely able to keep the Bladewolf from getting past.
He could see as he watched their strikes. Every blow was a clumsy, offering an opening in defense, one that the Bladewolf used easily. He could feel the sheer brutish power pouring into each of those blows, not any technique, not any aim, simply raw essence applied without a care. The bandits they'd seen a few months prior—the powerful but untrained bunch—was what these nobles reminded him of, although they were supposed to be the elite of the kingdom.
Beside him, Lia's eyes narrowed as she watched the drama unfold. "They're barely managing," she whispered. "If they keep fighting like that, someone is going to get seriously hurt."
Then, without warning, the Bladewolf lunged, claws flashing down at a boy armed with a spear. He barely managed to parry the blow, stumbling back, face white with fear. The Essence Calibration girl standing at the front grabbed this opportunity to swing her sword with a dark glow around the edges. Strange, blackish energy pulsed within her aura—'bloodline ability,' Kai realized. It briefly increased her strength, allowing her to push back the beast just enough. The Bladewolf recovered quickly, baring its fangs as it prepared to attack once again.
'How can they be struggling so much?' Kai's brow furrowed. Although Kai had already reached the Willforce Projection realm, he knew if he were at the same level as them, he could've taken down a stage 1 middle grade beast on his own and yet so many of them couldn't even subdue it.
"They're going to get hurt," Lia whispered, fingers twitching as she gripped the hilt of her sword.
Kai sensed her frustration and moved to stop her, but she was already darting forward, a flash of determination in her eyes. She charged into the clearing, her voice carrying a firm command.
"Get back!"
The nobles froze in place, their faces twisted between shock and confusion as they instinctively moved back. The bladewolf shifted its focused on Lia, growling low in its throat as it prepared to lunge.
But Lia was quicker. She easily dodged the beast's claws, moving fluid and precise as her sword sliced across the wolf's flank in a perfect arc. The creature let out a deafening howl, blood sprayed from the wound, but it quickly regained its footing, its eyes ablaze with anger as it turned to attack her.
Lia watched intently as it lunged again. She turned around to avoid the strike easily. Her blade had a faint glow as she restrained her Willforce. She spun around in one smooth motion, cutting diagonally across the wolf's throat.
The Bladewolf fell with a final, strangled growl. Its body went limp.
The nobles are frozen looking at the defeated creature, then to Lia, as she wipes her blade clean and slides it into her sheath. She looks up to them; a tenderness smile curls across her lips as she regards her various injuries over their shoulders.
"Do you all feel okay?" She asks; in such sweet words the question that almost, would make her care.
One of the young men, tall, with an emblem over his chest, suddenly found his voice. "You… you killed it… like that?"
A girl with a stained sleeve stared at Lia as if speechless. "You're… pretty strong… for a commoner." Her tone both surprised and spoke to a sense of condescension, though she added immediately, "But we didn't need your help".
Lia's face went tight as her worry gave way to irritation. "Oh, really?" she shot back, crossing her arms. "Because from where I was standing, it looked like you were one strike away from being Bladewolf food."
The tall boy scoffed, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "We had it under control," he insisted, though his voice was defensive. "We don't need people like you interfering.".
Kai took a step back, his hand resting on the shoulder of Lia. Then he turned to face all of them, looking dead at Lia before looking again at the rest. "Let's go, Lia. No use hanging out here."
They began to walk away just in time, when one girl spoke up, "Hey! Wait! My name is Aveline Ravenspire." She said this almost with an air of confidence, as if expecting acknowledgement. "Thanks for rescuing us.".
Kai turned about and nodded to her courteously. "Oh, nothing. We were just passing by."
Aveline's eyes flashed briefly with irritation at his glib response, but she didn't say anything. She continued, her chin inching up a fraction as she sought a reaction. "I am a member of the house of Ravenspire."
Kai shrugged once again. "Sorry, not familiar," he said and went back on the way.
One of the boys stiffened, pacing forward resentfully. "Get some manners! You have to, at the bare minimum—"
By now, though, Kai and Lia had already gone a few feet down the dirt path and were heading toward the corner of a fence, disappearing from the remainder of the group.
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The atmosphere wasn't helping as they plodded along on their way down the trail; Lia was dark-faced in irritation and her paces were unusually heavy.
"Can you believe them?" she murmured finally, her voice tight with anger. "We save them, and they act like they are doing us a favor."
Kai sighed, glancing over at her. "They're nobles, Lia. They are used to thinking they are better than everyone else. Guess that includes us."
She shook her head, gritted her teeth, and stormed off angrily.
Beside her, Kai shook his head and followed her. He thought back at the fight. 'But it does not make sense. They were all at least peak Initial Connection Realm, maybe higher. And that girl with the Ravenspire crest was in the Essence Calibration Realm. They should have been able to handle a Bladewolf easily.'
Kai frowned, a strange unease settling over him as he recalled the fight. 'They had the power, but… they were just flinging it around without any actual technique.' He paused, thinking of the bandits they'd encountered a few months prior. Those men had been at a more advanced level of cultivation, but their moves had been wild and unrefined, just like these nobles. They'd been using their essence as blunt force, without any of the finesse or precision that Garrick had drummed into him and Lia.
"It's strange," he said, his voice thoughtful. "People are always talking about how nobles have these super powerful bloodlines, and how that gives them an edge over everyone else. But I'm not seeing it. If anything, they're weaker than I thought."
Lia's expression eased a little as she listened, the tension in her face easing. "Maybe it's just how they're trained," she suggested. "All strength, no control.".
Kai grunted, filing the thought away for later. But it left a nagging question in his mind. Was everything they'd heard about nobles' superiority just stories? Or was there something else they didn't know?
As they walked, the woods opened up and the road widened into Havenbrook City. There were more travelers on the path now, most close to their age, all of them walking with that same air of purpose and eagerness. Kai found that most of the young people sported insignia of noble houses, whose clothes bore intricate crests. Most of them only wore simple clothes with no insignias, like him and Lia.
Lia breathed low as she looked at the groups around them. "So that's what we're up against."
Kai nodded, his eyes roving over the crowd, his attention to the scorned looks from the noble youths. "Guess it's a good reminder of what we're walking into.".
But as he traveled down the road, he steeled himself. The nobles could trumpet their heritage and lineage if they wished, but for Kai, titles and blood names carried no value at all on a battlefield. He and Lia had many years of training to build up to this point; he aimed to prove his worth lay far beyond a symbol.
Lia caught his eye, a determined glint in her gaze. "Let's show them what we're made of, Kai."
He smiled, nodding. "Let's do it."