Chronos stood still for nearly five minutes, but Uncle Bruar never looked away from where he was hiding.
Deciding that hiding was useless Chronos revealed himself.
"How did you know where I was hiding?"
Chuckling Uncle Bruar said "Who do you think invented the Guardians Steel breathing method? I could hear you breathing from almost 30 meters away. Besides with how weird you were acting during training it was rather obvious that you were going to try something. It wasn't hard to know where the final steps of your escape would be."
He was right. This was the only weak spot in the wall that Chronos could take advantage of at this point in time.
Lifting his twin axes Chronos prepared for a fight.
"Are you going to stop me?"
Uncle Bruar stared at Chronos and started to emit a pressure that felt like he was pressing Chronos into the ground.
"The first rank of aura is trainee." He took a step and the pressure increased. "The second rank of aura is soldier." Another step. "The third rank of aura is knight." Once more he stepped forward and now Chronos started to fight back with his own aura.
"The fourth rank of aura is lord. The fifth rank of aura is royal."
Now standing in front of him, Uncle Bruar spoke as the pressure continued to increase to the weight of a house.
Chronos was also confused why Uncle Bruar was bringing up the ranks of power in the world of Faengsel right now. But Uncle Bruar rarely did things that were useless, so he waited to hear him out while resisting the pressure with difficulty.
"Outside these walls you will not be protected by me, your father, or your mother. You will face threats from people stronger and older than you. You may even face those above these five ranks."
Now Chronos was struggling to stand under the pressure of Uncle Bruar's aura. He remembered his father once mentioning that Uncle Bruar was stronger than most people thought. Most people thought he was in the third rank, but this pressure was definitely greater than a third rank knight could emit.
"Once you step outside you will not be allowed back into the clan's territory until you prove you can stand on your own or you are broken by the outside world. I will only ask you once."
Chronos was having difficulty breathing as a thought crossed his mind, "Is this really the strength of a fourth rank expert? It feels too strong but it's definitely not a fifth rank expert. I wouldn't be able to even stand in front of a fifth rank."
In a loud voice that seemed to rattle in Chronos's mind Uncle Bruar asked. "Are you certain you wish to leave and risk everything in such a dangerous world as this?"
Chronos could barely breathe as he gathered all his strength and courage to reply."I want to see the world…To travel to distant places and see all the lands…that I have been told stories about…I want to fight strong opponents and enemies. Even if I lose or am captured tonight, I will not stop! Sooner or later…I will escape these lands to fulfill my wish of seeing this world!"
For a few long seconds Uncle Bruar just looked at Chronos...Then he laughed. Harder and harder he laughed, until he was almost doubled over.
The pressure disappeared as he spoke. "I told Margaret and Mathew that you would never stay here but your parents are just as hardheaded and stubborn as you are."
As he calmed down Uncle Bruar reached behind him to pull out a maul with strange writing on it. A runic maul! That was an expensive weapon, but this one was too small for Uncle Bruar?
"Here, take it. I had it made for your birthday. This maul is called Echoforge. It has the ability to create and hold echoes of blunt aura techniques. The penetrating spike on the back can also bypass most armor to deliver the blow right inside your enemy's body. In theory there is no upper limit to how many echoes you can create, however the more echoes you create the harder it will be to contain and direct those echoes. If you lose control of it the backlash will cripple or kill you in one attack."
The maul was gorgeous. The head was a golden orange like a forges fire and had blue runes across the length of the head. Looking at it you could see a soft glow, as if the smithies flame was still burning inside it. One side of the head was shaped like a war hammer but the back and top both had a spike on them. It had a long shaft measuring 160 cm (coming up to Chronos' chin) which had been reinforced with bands of dark gold metal and runic symbols. The bottom was tipped with a large, hooked pommel the same color as the bands on the shaft.
As Chronos reached for it, Uncle Bruar pulled back slightly then took out a cleansing solution.
"Use this to clean your hands and feet first. I don't want that stench getting on Echoforge."
"Ah...sorry. I forgot about that."
Chronos took the cleansing solution and cleaned his hands and feet.
"You should know that while ruebane infusion can hide your scent and dissuade creatures from following you some trackers are trained to follow such scents."
"Thank you for the warning."
As Chronos picked up Echoforge it glowed slightly brighter, as if in anticipation.
"You won't want to stay around for very long. It would be better to charge the maul and break through in one blow." Said Uncle Bruar
As he walked away Chronos gave him one last deep bow before turning to the work at hand.
"Let's see, the best technique for breaking down a wall would be Shatter. It deals heavy damage to armor and carapaces so it should deal the same damage to walls."
Thinking this, Chronos began charging Echoforge. It took 2-3 seconds for each echo to be formed. The echos looked like a mirage right on and around the mauls head.
One..
Two...
Three....
Four.
"That's my limit." Thought Chronos as he held the maul with difficulty.
11 seconds after starting the charge Chronos swung at the wall, hitting it with his full strength.
BOOOOOOOMMM.
An explosion rocked the wall and left a three-meter hole right where Chronos struck it. Rocks were thrown nearly ten meters from the point of impact.
Stunned Chronos just stood there for a few seconds then the alarm bells reminded him that he should be running now.
Placing Echoforge on his back the armory amulet grabbed a hold of it. Then he shifted into his wolf form and bolted through the hole as fast as possible while enhancing his body with aura as much as he could.
As he ran, he thought "You could have warned me about the amount of destruction it would cause. Maybe Uncle Bruar didn't know that stacking a technique would amplify its power by that much. The wall didn't have any magic protection either. I'll have to test it later."
…..
Thirty minutes passed as he ran.
"No one has stopped me. I can see the lightning struck tree where Gregory should be waiting for me."
As he approached, he could see three people waiting under its branches.
"Hold on, three? There should only be two people waiting for me. Don't tell me one of the trackers got ahead of me."
Slowing down, he observed them carefully.
One had black hair with a homely face, his dark eyes showed caution for his surroundings. He was only 5' 9 ", slightly shorter than Chronos. He was dressed in leather armor and had multiple throwing knives strapped to his thighs. There were also two short swords on his waist.
That one is Gregory.
The second was sturdy and warm-faced, with weather-worn skin and an ever-present smirk. He was dressed in a patchwork coat covered in pockets, belts, and stitched with runes from foreign lands. A pair of bright hazel eyes hinted at his wit and cunning.
Chronos recognized him as Brynn Harthrow. A somewhat well-known merchant who was rumored to make shady deals.
"Lucky for me those rumors were true."
The third person was dressed in a long robe with silver embellishments symbolizing the Silver Dragon God, the God of magic in the dragon church. Her hair was a striking platinum silver with emerald eyes that sparkled with curiosity and knowledge. She was only 4' 10" and, while clearly trying to hide her figure with the baggy robes, they did little to hide the fact that she was well endowed.
It took him a minute to recognize her. She was a friend of Gregory's and had grown up in the same orphanage. Her name was Sariah.
Feeling secure, he revealed himself as he changed to his human form. He was greeted by a question from Sariah before he could speak.
"What was that sound earlier? We could hear it even from this far away."
"That was me knocking down a section of the southern wall."
"Are you serious? Your dad's not going to be happy about that." Said Gregory.
"Don't worry. It wasn't built right and needed to be rebuilt."
Cutting into the conversation Brynn spoke up. "As much as I would like to stand here and talk, I think it is best if we get moving. If what you say is true, the normal rules of escape might not apply anymore."
"That's true. Let's get moving. I don't want to be caught after everything I did to escape."
As the group left the lightning struck tree none of them noticed a wolf like shadow head back towards the city.
After moving down the road for 20 minutes a small caravan came into sight.
"That's my caravan. The wagon at the back is for you three, don't cause problems while we travel."
"Alright. What path are we going to take?" Chronos asked as the acting leader of his party of three.
"We will go towards the south to Dracon fen and follow the road east from there. We'll need to cross the eastern side of the Caldrian plains to reach the capital city. After that you will go your own way. We're only being paid to take you that far."
"I had enough to pay them till the capital, but I wouldn't trust them beyond that." Gregory whispered to Chronos.
"Thank you for taking us to the Leighla kingdom's capital."
"That's what we're paid for. Now you should get some rest. We'll be on the move before sunrise."
After this discussion Gregory took out two bedrolls from the prepared carriage. Tossing one to Chronos he said.
"We sleep outside, Sariah sleeps inside. Even though I'm paying them we should still be cautious."
"Agreed."
While Chronos was setting out his bedroll he saw Sariah set up an alarm spell around their carriage and sleeping area. She then set a barrier spell on the carriage itself before casting a glare at Gregory and entering.
"Isn't she a little too cautious? Or did you do something to annoy her, Greg?"
"I don't want to talk about it. Just get to sleep."
Chuckling, Chronos started to enter a trance that would leave him in a half-awake state allowing him to watch the surroundings even when sleeping. He wouldn't be perfectly aware of those around him but if someone approached with even the slightest ill intent he would wake up instantly.
…..
At four am, as the camp woke up, the merchants heard the swishing of a sword coming from the newest addition to the caravan. Some of the members looked over, and were surprised to see a werewolf or wolfkin practicing his morning swings before anyone else was awake. It was a bit hard for outsiders to tell the difference as they looked the same when in human form.
"You're up early." Brynn called out.
"Training begins at three am for all members of my clan."
"That's fine but be ready to leave in half an hour. I don't want to be here when your clan arrives."
"If they wanted to take me back, we would already be surrounded. We are in the clear now."
"Even still I don't want to be here any longer. Wake your friends and eat, only half an hour before the rest of the caravan leaves."
With that curt statement Brynn walked off.
Turning to the carriage Chronos walked over and woke Gregory. Sariah was harder to wake, due to the barrier, but a little shouting and banging on the barrier jolted her awake.
After a quick breakfast Gregory took over the reins of the carriage and guided the horses onto the road. With their carriage at the end, the entire caravan was now underway.
As Chronos settled into the carriage, he couldn't help but be excited for this new adventure he had embarked upon.