"Both of you should go and rest, it's been a long journey, you must be exhausted," Lylia said gently.
"You'll be staying in Eleiithiya for a while," She added, "so make yourself comfortable here."
"We're…not returning?"
Kristen folded his arms, "For the time being, Lylia and I will be overseeing your training from now on alongside Asher."
"Asher is skilled and experienced in combat," He continued, his tone soft. "he can teach you how to fight, how to defend yourself, and survive. However, strength isn't measured by blades alone. "
"There are other aspects you must learn and master," Lylia replied, "That is where we'll help you."
"Other aspects?"
"Let me ask you, Rayne, Zei. Do you know what the greatest strength of Runic sorcery is?" she questioned.
I thought about it for a moment. Runic sorcery was limitless, some might even say it's unfathomable. A singular mind could never truly master it, such knowledge was too immense for it to be contained all at once. So people mastered fragments of it, some specialised in combat like Asher, others in healing, and some devoted themselves to the art of rune inscribing and researching ancient runes, like Lylia.
"Unbound," Zei answered quietly.
"Runic sorcery isn't tethered to anything, you can bend it however you please, unlike Aether, which requires divine blood as a medium to channel it. Ember doesn't require any medium as it's the very essence of Yggdrasil."
"Indeed, you are correct," Lylia said, applauding her.
"Runic sorcery is infinitely vast, which means you can utilize it in several ways. Asher is only teaching you to use it in battle, but I will teach you much more than that and show that runic sorcery can extend far beyond just combat."
"We're…very thankful for that."
"Don't think Lylia will go easy on you. If anything, she is even more ruthless than Asher."
"We won't back down if it aids us in the pursuit of gaining strength."
"Let's see how long you can keep that enthusiasm," Kristen chuckled before heading to his room.
After a while, we both returned to our room as well, and I buried myself on the soft mattress.
"Finally, a moment of relief," I murmured, sinking into the bed when a hand flicked my forehead.
"Ow, what's the problem?" I cried
"Go wash up and change your clothes,"
"I'll do it later,"
"Did you say something?" she muttered, her eyes staring menacingly into my soul.
"...N-No "
"Good."
After showering and changing our clothes, we sat on the bed, inspecting the scroll that Icarus gave us.
"It looks expensive," Zei muttered, brushing her fingers on the gold engravings on the scroll. Countless runes were inscribed on the parchment, but I couldn't decipher them.
"What do you think it does?" she asked.
"I don't know," I sighed, "perhaps we should ask Kristen or Lylia tomorrow."
"Yeah, let's leave that for tomorrow."
After a pause, I asked. "What do you think of everyone we met today?
She paused for a moment before replying, "They're….strong, far stronger than us."
"You could tell?"
She nodded, "After awakening both my Ember core and Aerith blood, it lets me perceive things that lie beyond ordinary sight."
"So, what did you see?" I asked, piqued with curiosity.
"It's hard to put into words," She exhaled slowly. "Veriana was by far the strongest of them all, her presence was like a raging storm. Alina had a strong presence like a sharp and lethal blade, both of them are very strong. If we were to go against them, we would lose miserably."
"That just means we train harder," I said. "What about Icarus?"
"I don't know," she hesitated, "It was like staring into a bottomless well, it was eerie and unsettling. Perhaps he was deliberately concealing his presence. Either way, it's better to be careful around him."
She stretched her hand toward the ceiling, moonlight pouring between her fingers.
"We have to become strong," she said with ambition raging in her eyes.
"If the Erelim spoke the truth and something disastrous is indeed coming in the foreseeable future, then we must grow stronger to survive."
"You're right," I said, lying beside her in silence, moonlight pouring from the window.
"Zei"
"Hm?"
"What do you want to do once we get into the academy?"
She pondered for a moment before replying, "Let's see, I want to explore this world, travel to various places, eat lots of delicacies, befriend new people, and become someone whom people could trust and rely on."
"That's…a lot ambitious, don't you think?"
"It's good to be ambitious, you know." She replied with a smile painted on her face.
After chatting for a while, we both fell asleep.
"Good night, Rayne." Zei's mellow voice echoed in my ear as I drifted into the world of dreams.
I opened my eyes to find myself in a familiar, beautiful space.
"How have you been?" A familiar voice greeted me.
"Alright, what about you?"
"Fine, there is not much to do here anyway." He glanced at me, his expression turning stern
"I saw what happened at the ball. I suppose you must have questions."
"Yeah," I sighed, "Care for an explanation?"
"You don't seem much rattled by what happened," He muttered, amused
After going through so many occurrences that transcend human logic, I think I'm used to anomalies by now.
"You do have a point," he nodded.
"Care for an explanation then? About what happened at the ball."
"Your blood reacted to the Erelim's blood of the divine." He explained."Forcefully awakening. I have witnessed such a strange phenomenon before."
My stomach tightened.
"The artifact you were wearing suppressed your blood fast enough for anyone to notice. However, due to the sudden awakening, the barrier I had conjured was cracked, leading the voices of the profane to you."
"...Do you think that Erelim suspected anything?"
"That's highly unlikely."
"...There is just one thing I just can't comprehend."
"What is it?"
"That girl, I can't just figure her out."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
"She seemed completely fine while only your blood reacted, that doesn't make any sense. She never mentioned the voices to you either, and her blood is just strange."
"Strange"
"...Forget it"
"Hey, don't leave me hanging. What do you mean by strange?"
"I might just be overthinking it, don't worry about it, everyone has a secret or two of their own, don't they? You're the same."
A lump formed in my throat, and I couldn't answer. An uneasy feeling settled in my heart. Was she hiding something?.
"Tell me about your vision," Azier asked, trying to change the topic of conversation.
"I saw the Nightreaver in my vision, a man wielding it, standing amidst corpses. The ground was soaked with blood and severed limbs. He muttered something under his breath, but I couldn't understand it."
"A moment later, the scene collapsed, and I was standing in front of an enormous vile structure, with countless horrifying creatures surrounding it. The man wielding Nightreaver charged towards the horde of profane creatures, all alone. That was where the vision ended."
"That's a peculiar vision indeed."
"I wonder who that person was. Whether the vision showed me a glimpse of a distant future or the past."
"That's the strange thing about visions, you never know what or where they indicate until it's too late."
"Let's get back to our training, we don't have all day afterall"
"...Do we really have to do it today?"
"Your foes won't be waiting for you to get stronger, so pick up your blade".
I sighed and unsheathed my blade, as always, Azier went rampage on me however, this time around, something changed. I was able to trace his moves much more clearly.
The first strike came from the front, a clean vertical strike. I managed to dodge it at the last second, the blade barely scraping past my shoulder.
"Not bad," He remarked, "Looks like you're finally learning." A moment later he disappeared from my sight.
I felt a presence beside me. I raised my sword in an attempt to deflect it, but failed, his blade struck mine and sent me skidding backwards.
"Recall the First phase of the night. Construct a passage between your arm and the blade, let the Ember flow into the blade from your body, make it an extension of yourself."
I let out a heavy breath, letting the ember flow from my arm to the blade. A strange sensation enveloped my entire arm.
"At last," I had practiced this method for days now, failing more times than I could count, but today I was finally able to achieve it. The image of the first phase formed clearly in my mind.
A singular lethal strike. A strike destructive enough to pierce through countless enemies at once.
"The first phase of the night, Duskfall." The runes on the black blade shimmered faintly, matching the rhythm of my heartbeat.
A curved smile formed on Azier's face, "Come at me."
I dashed forward, pouring everything into a singular, decisive strike. The Ember surged violently.
Azier stood there with a smile on his face, ready to take the strike head-on. I didn't hesitate, I was going to fail, I already knew that, but I didn't back down. The blade clashed against Azier's blade, resulting in a huge explosion that threw me several meters backward.
"Cough, cough," I gasped for air. My dominant hand was mangled beyond recognition.
My gaze fell onto Azier, as expected, he didn't budge from his position.
"You did well," He praised, a hint of pride in his tone.
"It was far from perfect and very reckless, however, you succeeded."
"Thank…." Before I could complete, he added
"But in a real battle, such recklessness will only result in your death. If the enemy survives after the attack, you have no other way to win, just look at what happened to your arm, in the real world, it might be even worse."
"I...understand"
"Then get up. Let's start again, just because you have learned an imperfect version of the first phase doesn't mean we are done."
I sighed and got up. My injuries began to heal as Azier dashed forward with a barrage of strikes aimed at me.
"...Crap."