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“Start from the beginning... what happened in the mine?” Elrick leaned back in his throne waiting for the boy to begin.

Riou told the king the same story he told Eileen and Therese.

Both knights puffed and moved around irritated by every word he said.

They looked at Ursula hoping she’d stop or contradict that nonsense. But she remained silent, neither agreeing nor rejecting the boy’s story.

The King expression on the other hand, was deadly serious.

Max’s words on the boy had an even deeper meaning now that the king was able to put Riou’s abilities into a better perspective. He made a troubled expression and looked to Ursula.

“What do you know of this mage named Callas?” he asked.

Ursula pondered for a moment “The Undying, was the name given to a mage that used to live in Iris before learning the dark arts. It is said that he became proficient at Argos’ Death magic and even was able to complete the first Dark Ritual to extend his life by consuming children’s souls… his stories are from over a century ago, nothing was heard about him since then. Nowadays it’s just an old story, told by some of the teachers in the academy” She answered.

“I see,” Said the king, turning to the knights, “Rottcher, he was from your city, what can you tell us?”

The fat bearded man shook his head “Callas the Undying is a children’s story my lord, mothers tell it to scare them into proper behavior. The boy clearly heard it somewhere and is trying to use it to diverge our attention from his… miraculous feats at that mine, your highness”

The king took a few moments to think “Miraculous or not, the fact that these enemies have powerful people backing their plan, that was more than proven by their attacks, so we must consider every possibility if we wish to not be taken by surprise again, even this threat now in Brigantium could be their doing” Said the angered king.

“Is it that unusual for these orcs and goblins to attack like this?” Riou looked at Ursula.

“Yes, they all live in different villages inside the forest to the north of Brigantium, for so many of them to have gathered together and orderly march towards the city... a powerful hand must be behind them” Confirmed Ursula.

The king took a more comfortable position on his chair “This conference has gone long enough, the fact that the enemy approaches the city won’t change” he paused for a moment “Ursula and Rodrick, you will go immediately to Brigantium to warn and reinforce our forces there, consider that enemy mages are behind this assault and will most likely support it. Prepare accordingly to defend the city while preventing unnecessary losses. This move against Brigantium is clearly intended to further weaken our military force and resources.”

Both lowered their heads respectfully, acknowledging the order.

“Go now, everyone is dismissed… All but you Riou, I wish a word with you”

The two knights were clear to demonstrate to the king that they didn’t like the preferential treatment that the boy was receiving, over and over again.

“You too Eileen, leave” said the king to his daughter's surprise.

Once all were gone, the king stood up and called Riou to approach him “Walk with me” he said slowly moving to the exit that led to the royal wing.

“Do you know why I turned a blind eye to your tantrums so far?” asked the king normally while walking.

Riou smiled “Probably for the same reason you prevented most of the information about me to be disclosed… I mean, by the knights reaction I can tell they didn’t believe in anything I did. Which can only mean you ordered everyone to keep it on the low” Riou said calmly while looking forward, then continuing “Also, there is a chance that Max said something to you about me”

The king also smiled “He was right… You are far too clever for your age. Is that why you were so quiet during the dispute with Askjell? You expected me to intervene in your favor in the end? Didn’t you?”

Riou smiled as well “Not really. The nobles and knights are on edge because of me and to be honest, I was curious to how you would handle the situation today”

The king made a serious expression “Even so, what were you planning with all that? Injuring a noble, defying him like that. If it wasn’t for Eileen...”

Riou nodded with a smirk “It seemed that justice was in my favor in the end.”

The king contemplated those words for a few moments, he understood its meaning but still could not comprehend why the boy acted so calmly on such a serious issue.

They kept walking towards the Study room. “I remember what you said to me, about the castle's defense on the cliff side, the prediction of enemies targeting Allard and the Norse relationship”

The boy nodded also remembering that conversation.

“Despite your age, you proved wise, even when pushed unjustly. You were recognized by the first army soldiers, Bhalrom sees you in high regard and even Eileen who hates be around men seems to have taken a like to you… even Ursula took your side today, but that was to be expected as she felt indebted to you” the king took another brief pause

“But what most intrigued me was that great Magus himself vowed in your favor with such conviction that I...” The king paused.

“Well, enough to say that in usual circumstances I’d have made a hero of you. But you have no family name and not even have age to join the army. But, perhaps if I had chosen a different path, none of this would have happened as well” The king looked at the boy with a contemplative expression.

Riou just listened with a smirk.

The king nodded as he seemed to start to grasp a bit more about the boy “But it seems that you as well prefer to stay in the shadows. Anyone else on your shoes would have been all over the 4 winds sprouting their accomplishments and demanding renown and rewards from the kingdom… but the fact is that you didn’t. Which implies that you have your mind set on something else”

Thinking back now, Riou realized a mistake, he was so unconcerned about it that it slipped through the cracks and the king seemed to have caught on. It was really as he said, Riou didn’t really mind any of that. As he wanted to leave that place, there was no reason to demand anything.

It was never his goal to be known or rich, there was nothing he needed to buy than food, the weapons and armors were shit and he had a room in the tavern if he needed to. There was nothing he could do with money or prestige. Differently than everyone else, fame and glory would bring him nothing but trouble. It was much easier to be a simple boy amidst the population.

The prince and Askjell’s personality made much more sense now to Riou. And with it, the reason why the boy was perceived as a fraud by them.

The king sighed “If it weren’t for Max's, Bhalrom and Ursula’s words I’d have trouble believing it myself… still, you survived that damn mine and even brought back Ursula from a certain death. Don’t get me wrong, she is powerful, but there is so much a mage can do given the circumstances.” A brief pause before he continued

“The moment I saw Askjell and he complained that someone attacked him, I knew you were back. But still, when I saw you entering the throne room... completely unharmed after what happened to the others in the incursion… even I doubted their story for a moment.”

They arrived in the studies room on the top floor of the castle.

“Also, I understood there were more to the events of today, but I will not ask any more about it… if you wanted to, you’d have told me what really happened by now” said the king sitting down in the chair in front of the chess board.

Riou followed, silently agreeing and taking the chair in front of him.

The king smirked “I’ve been trying all this time to understand you and your goal here.” The king looked at the boy with inquisitive eyes “As I said, too much happened… and still you don’t demand anything as we already discussed. You could have requested to marry my daughter and become royalty… none in your place would let that chance pass. Instead you chose a damn bathhouse.” He said letting out a small laugh to hide his frustration in failing to understand it all.

The king seemed to be thinking out loud while talking to him.

“If fame and riches don’t move you. Why are you so eager to help?” The king looked incisively at the boy trying to conclude his thoughts “It’s almost as if…” the king paused and froze in place for a moment, his eyes squinted as he looked sideways at the boy.

Riou didn’t know how to respond to that “As if?” he asked, curious to the king’s conclusion.

The king was still searching for answers in his mind.

Elrick seemed taken aback for a moment after some sudden realization. He stood up and went to prepare a drink. “I was… just thinking out loud” he added, dismissively, clearly changing the subject.

“Did you know Allard was founded by Arthur Strongheart, over a thousand years ago? He was a hero chosen by the elements. With his power he united the people, created allegiance with the north and ended a war with the beastmen. It was way before Argos appeared from the South. Everything you see today came from his reign, all our customs and traditions. Unfortunately few of the events of that time were recorded. There were no cities like today nor scholars. So most of the written documents came much later. Written based on the legends that were told from generation to generation.”

The king got back to his chair and handed Riou a cup of some spirit with a strong scent of wood and berries.

Riou listened to his story unsure where the king was going with it.

He sipped on the drink and continued “As you might have noticed by the name, he was my ancestor, the Strongheart have ruled Allard since then.”

The boy nodded understanding the history, but not why he was telling him it.

“So you can understand why I’m particularly interested in his legend. Would you like to hear about him?”

Riou nodded “Sure”

The king smirked “It was said that he was the fiercest warrior and the wisest sage, with a magic power that rivalled the best Mages of that era together… he was invincible.” The king took another sip “But you know how legends go, they tend to grow and stray away from the truth as they are stretched over the years.”

“But the curious part, and the one that I’m still trying to figure out is how he appeared in history. Because from what we have gathered so far… it seems like he had suddenly appeared amidst the war at that time. There were no references of him or his family anywhere before it” The king paused once again drinking his cup in one go.

“What’s curious, is that about the same time I imagined he had appeared, the most famous Brine’s legend came to be. When the element herself emerged from the Lake of Tears bringing an unconscious man from the bottom of the waters. The legend says that she saved him from the drowning and brought him to the land, gently laying him on the ground. There was a small village that used the lake waters, and many witnessed the event.

The story then evolved, saying that the elemental mother brought the man from the spirit world and back to the realm of the living.

Touched by her words and blessed by her presence, the villagers became priests and priestesses of Brine, the village became a temple in her honor and to this day they vow to help the sick and injured.”

The king paused and put the cup to the side.

Riou leaned in interested where the conversation was going.

“Could this Arthur have come from another world?” thought the boy.

“I have reasons to believe that this man was Arthur… actually, Maximilian came up with this theory, he has lots of old documents that confirm the time. He even tried to access the temple’s library to see if they had records of the fact.” Said the king observing the boy’s reaction.

“Why bring this up?” thoughts rushed Riou’s mind. “Why are you telling me this?” he asked intrigued.

“No reason, just thought you’d like to hear this story” said the king with a smirk.

Their attention changed, as the queen appeared by the door and entered the room. Riou noticed they probably wanted some privacy and got up immediately.

“Should I leave?” he asked the king. Elrik looked at Hanna and nodded. He knew when his wife wanted to talk.

Riou lowered his head greeting the queen and began to move out the room, when he was near the door he heard from the king.

“Give Max my regards… tell him I’m looking forward to our next meeting. I believe we will have much to discuss by then”

Riou stopped in his tracks, frozen by the sudden statement. He smiled to himself “What an old fox, was that a bluff or did he actually figure that out?”

“A word of advice, be wary of the yellow banner”

The king nodded as if that was not something new for him.

The queen was very intrigued by that strange conversation, and addressed the king as the boy left.

“What was that all about Elrick? Did they find Maximilian?” asked the queen surprised.

Elrick shook his head denying that he was found, but he had a smirk on his face.

The queen squinted her eyes “Then why did you say that? It sounded like the boy was leaving to meet him”

“I believe he is… the boy didn’t mention him once since his return. I’m sure they already met and knowing Max, they probably have a plan on their own and went into hiding to outwit the enemy”

“And the boy is going to meet him? Now?”

The king nodded “I believe Riou is planning on leaving to meet him, they probably had planned this while he was missing these couple days. But you came here to ask something, what was it?”

“I heard Eileen herself challenged Arkjell. She did it to protect the boy?”

The king smiled “Yes… and he was as surprised as we were. But the thing is, that damn boy was never preoccupied, even if she didn’t step up to save him” he said calmly to the puzzled queen. Suddenly her thoughts jumped elsewhere.

She quickly thought of her daughter, if she was aware of the fact the boy was leaving.

“If he is leaving, what about Eileen?” Asked the queen preoccupied.

The king thought for a moment “What about her?”

“I don’t think she knows he is leaving or I think she’d be here by now asking to go with him”

The king didn’t seem to be bothered by that remark. Hanna instantly became intrigued by the calm demeanor of her husband, and got very suspicious “What happened?”

The king smiled and nodded to himself “I think I realized something about the boy… Max tried to tell me, in his strange way, but I was not paying enough attention at the time.”

“And what was it?”

“The great Magus said to me to treat the boy as if he was the old mage himself, I think I begin to understand what he really meant by it”

The queen was surprised, the old man was indeed difficult to impress. But still that was not enough to trigger such a sudden change in her husband's attitude.

But before she questioned further, the queen remembered another subject she had brought up to the king. “We have guests. The Lioness is on Longart and came to the castle to pay her respects.”

The king just nodded, his mind seemed elsewhere, completely unimpressed by the news.

The queen frowned by his reaction, such a visit should have brought surprise. It was a very rare event to have the great Lioness as a guest.

“Ask the guards to summon her” he said calmly.

She wondered what could possibly have happened to cast such a shadow at the great Lioness arrival.

-----------------------------------------------

Riou went to the training hall where he knew he would find Eileen. On the way he passed by the construction of the bathhouse, it was just missing the metalwork. A shame he wouldn’t be able to enjoy it before leaving.

“Perhaps another time” he thought, looking at it and finally going to the training hall.

She was waiting for him in the training hall, practicing some movements with the Rapier, very similar to the ones she used in the duel earlier. Riou entered quietly and walked towards the longsword she left leaned on a pillar.

He picked it up and looked at the blade one more time.

Eileen watched him in silence.

“Congratulations on the duel, you were great on both attack and defense. He had no chance of winning.” Said Riou sheathing the sword.

He scratched his head thinking on how to say his next words.

“I will be gone for a while. I don’t know when I will be able to return. SoI I will be taking this back” He said showing the steel sword “There is a person desperately looking for one of these, Syldis asked me to help them… and I can’t say no to her after all her help..”

Eileen looked surprised “Why are you leaving? Wouldn’t you stay until we found Maximilian?” she asked, trying to make sense of the sudden news.

Riou nodded “I think I know where he is, so I will go after him”

“Won’t you wait until the conflict in Brigantium ends? It might be dangerous to travel” She questioned trying to get him to stay a while longer.

“Yeah… I can’t wait that long, Max is probably waiting for me by now” he quickly replied.

Eileen seemed a bit shaken, it was too sudden. She wanted him to stay, but she acknowledged his resolve.

She sheathed the Rapier and handed it to the boy.

Riou looked at it for a moment. “You know what... keep it, think of it as a graduation gift. After all, I’m not a good teacher anyways.”

She shook her head “No, I learned a not… fighting Askjell I’ve seen it. Have trained with you, made me realize how much I have improved since we met.” She was unsure if she should accept the rapier. It was a remarkable sword made of a legendary metal. Receiving it like that seemed too much.

But she looked at his genuine smile and realized “That’s just like him...” she thought, recognizing how different he was. He didn’t approach her by her status, nor showered her with compliments trying to get into her good graces. He always treated her as a normal person, not a princess, not royalty.

“Now that I think about it, his only praise to me was on training and fighting…” something suddenly sparked on her mind.

The gift made her happy nonetheless. Still it was not enough to stir away the sense of sadness and loss she was feeling now she knew he would be gone.

Eileen smiled “I’m sorry if I was harsh earlier at the arena… I’m not used to someone fighting in my place.” She said a little embarrassed, she clearly appreciated his actions.

“Then we are even, you fought in my place as well”

She nodded, squinting her eyes “The circumstances were a bit different don’t you think? You were threatened, they would want your death… I felt that I had to intervene”

“Ok, that’s true… but you too were threatened by marriage with that Askjell guy” he said pondering and weighing both “And to me, the risk you took was far worse than mine.” he said jokingly. “I mean, I knew you would win, but why take that chance right?”

The princess had to laugh at such a remark.

Riou smiled seeing her happy once again “But I know you just wanted to wipe the floor with him yourself.”

She was still recovering from the laugh before answering “You may be right, I really wanted to show him and everyone that he was not a real challenge to me, not really, even when using mana enhancement.”

Riou nodded and became more serious “See? I knew it.” He paused for a moment “And sorry again if I got myself in the middle of your thing… I don’t know what got into me and I get it why you wanted to be the one to fight”

She nodded and smiled slowly entering a more serious and sad mood “So, when are you leaving?”

“Today, I feel we the council will not bother the capital so soon. So I will stop by the tavern and then will be on my way. I have a long road ahead.”

“Today? What about Therese and Leona… Syldis asked you to help them, right?”

RIou were surprised “You know them?”

He showed the sword in his hand and the one in his belt “I will leave these with Syldis for them, so they can go on their own way as well” He said smiling once again “And hopefully leave me alone, they are too troublesome to deal with”

“Well… I will be going then” Riou said awkwardly, turning around and going towards the door.

Eileen watched Riou leaving, a strong resolve emerged from within her.

“You still owe me a duel! A real one, once I’m strong enough” She yelled.

Riou turned his head back, a smile could be seen in his face, he nodded and waved his right hand to the princess.

The resolve quickly transformed into fear, seeing him leaving like that brought the sensation that she’d be alone once again. It hit her hard, she felt as if they’d never meet again if she let him go like that, and it was almost unbearable feeling.

On impulse she quickly followed after him outside on another attempt to talk to him, to wait a few more days so she could persuade her father and maybe go with him.

The thought of living the free life of an adventurer pleased her now if she’d be traveling with a friend like him. Maybe she’d be able to persuade her parents into allowing her some time to do that.

Once she got outside the training hall again to her surprise, the boy was already gone “How does he do that!?” she asked herself looking around, not finding him, she rushed inside to talk to her parents.

------------------------------------------------------ Studies Room few moments later

Eileen entered the study room in a hurry.

“Eileen… it’s not polite to barge in while we have guests” Said Hanna showing Therese was present.

“I’m sorry mother, but I believe Therese will want to hear this as well” Said Eileen to the surprise of both of her parents.

“Do you know Therese?” The king asked intrigued.

Therese nodded “We met today and talked for a while” both King and Queen were impressed as they have no knowledge of such an event.

Eileen seemed restless and quickly addressed the matter, she looked at Therese “Riou is leaving, he already went to the tavern and said he’d left the swords for you there.”

Therese’s eyes widened as she began to move towards the door “Forgive me King Elrick, but I must tend to this matter with urgency.”

The king smiled and nodded, expecting as much after the boy was mentioned.

Therese lowered her head in deference to the king and queen and left the room.

Eileen turned to her father.

But before she could say anything, the king spoke “If you don’t find him at the tavern, I suspect he will make a stop at Brigantium and then continue north, all the way to Thanes. There is a tavern there called the Flying Dragon. The boy is probably going there to find the Magus.” He said smiling at his confused daughter.

The kings sighed “Go, or you will miss him at the tavern”

The princess looked surprised at her mother but the queen was as confused as her, she smiled and nodded as well.

The princess smiled brightly and immediately left after Therese.

Hanna turned at Elrick “What was this? Are you sure?”

He nodded “Even the famous Lioness seems to be after that boy now. She will be in safer hands out there than inside the castle walls.” He smiled at Hanna “Some experience on the outside world will do good for her, she will need it if she ever want to become a queen”

Hanna was very surprised to hear that “Who is the one throwing her at the boy now? Why this sudden change of heart, Elrik? This is not like you”

Elrick raised his eyebrows at his wife and smiled “Like I said, she will be safer that way”

------------------------------------------------------- Drinking Bear Tavern

Eileen, Therese and Leona, met as they were reaching the tavern. The wolf girl was carrying two bags full of yellow fruits.

Without losing time they went for Syldis inside the tavern.

When the big woman was surprised to see the three so soon “Did you come to get the swords already?”

Therese was intrigued “Where is he?”

“The boy is upstairs preparing his things” Said Syldis.

Eileen and Leona rushed inside, but he was not in his room, the window was open.

They returned empty handed.

Therese turned to Syldis “How long was that you saw him?”

“Did he leave ? I didn’t see him getting back from the room”

Therese looked at Eileen searching for clues.

“My father said he is probably going to Brigantium and then Thanes” Said the princess to Syldis’ surprise.

“He went after Max…” The big woman felt light headed for a moment “But why would he leave during an attack? A young boy like him should know better... if I knew I’d never let him out of my sight!” She was furious with him.

Leona complemented “Perhaps he is in a hurry to find the enemy army before it gets to the city?” Syldis by hearing such words had to hold herself to not fall down, she couldn’t understand why such a weak and fragile boy liked to put himself in danger that much.

“Did he say anything else?” Asked Therese to the big woman.

Syldis nodded and went behind the counter. She pulled the 2 swords and handed them to Therese. They recognized the metal immediately.

“He said that he was sorry but he didn’t know how long it would take to create the metal again. We didn’t tell you the whole truth, we know that Max is alive and he went to Thanes” She said looking at Eileen and then showing them the swords “He told me to deliver these to you”.

Eileen nodded “My father knew that the magus was alive and that Riou was going to meet him”

Therese looked at the swords in awe before turning at Leona. The wolf looked expectantly at her master.

The lioness took a deep breath and glanced at Eileen and then back to the swords. Her eyes flared showing her vertical pupils once again.

“I knew I couldn’t take my eyes off him, I knew he’d vanish on the first opportunity he had, and yet...” She seemed mad at the boy that had left her behind. Her pride suffered a heavy blow, the mighty lioness was not used to being treated so dismissively.

She took a moment to calm down.

“But I don’t understand, how can he give away these legendary swords to someone he just met?” Said Therese still angered “I’ve spent my whole life in search of something like this, how can he regard it so little... how can he give it away so easily?” asked the warrior with doubt in her eyes unable to understand.

Was the first time the calm lioness seemed angered and speaking her mind freely.

Eileen smiled “That’s the way he is…”

Therese turned to her not understanding the meaning of such words.

The princess tried to explain “Did you know he had a chance to request anything from the royal family? He had been challenged by my brother and won the fight... Do you know what he chose?” Said Eileen, trying to explain her view of Riou’s personality.

Therese puzzled as it seemed a trick question “Usually in this position one would choose lands, fortune and titles to ensure their future”

Eileen smiled and shook her head “He asked for a bath house in the castle, that he didn’t even get the chance to use” she said casually for Therese and Leona astonishment.

Syldis stood there nodding confirming it.

Therese pondered “What a strange man he is” she said looking at the swords.

Eileen smiled “more than strange I’d say… I never met anyone like him”

Syldis added to the conversation “And you don’t know the half of it… he even insisted on paying on top of Max’s request to rent his room indefinitely, he asked that no one else use it until he is back” she said noticing Leona’s bag, she peeked inside curiously.

Therese was suspicious “Did he leave anything in the room?”

“Just some clothes and a broken crystal… nothing much” she said looking further inside the bag “Are you going to tame some wild animal? Why so many soothing fruits?”

Leona looked at the big woman and answered directly “It was for Riou, in case he was with the youngsters fever”

Syldis face became bright red “Humans don’t have that, you don’t need to worry about it Leona! Humans don’t lose control of their actions like the beastmen do… besides he is too young for that! He is just a boy” she said, taking one of the bags from her.

Leona shrugged “Are you sure? I thought the age was right..” she said looking at Therese who seemed unsure as well. The lioness leaned towards her apprentice and whispered “Save the other bag… just in case”

“So? What do you intend to do now you have the swords?” Leona and Syldis looked at the princess surprised by the question and turned to Therese with expectation.

Therese took one of the swords and fixed it on her belt, she picked the other one and handed it to Leona.

“I asked the boy for metal to make great swords, something worthy of the legends. I say he is still bound to his promise, especially now for leaving without telling us.” Therese said looking to Syldis, knowing all too well that the big woman wanted them to go after the boy.

The princess smiled as well.

Noticing Eileen’s intentions, Syldis turned to the princess with a frown.

“Are you intending to go as well Princess? Does your father know about this?”

The princess nodded “Yes, my father allowed it. Besides, I need to find him, Riou still owes me a duel”

Syldis raised her eyebrows in surprise. But that wouldn’t be enough to convince the mother bear. Knowing her all too well, Therese intervened in their conversation. She quickly glanced at Eileen and Leona then she looked towards the door.

“We have to go, we gave him too much of a head start already.”

Eileen and Leona immediately complied and moved out. Therese approached Syldis “The girl is young but she has good instincts for a human” Said Therese with a smile.

“But she is a princess, she shouldn’t be going, her place is on the castle, protected”

“She is a woman before she is a princess. And for what I saw so far, I think she wishes to court him, that’s why she is so determined, and she can’t do that from the castle, don’t you agree?”

The big woman was taken by surprise yet again, she didn’t expect Therese to say such a thing and reddened her face.

But Syldis ended up smiling at the Lioness, “You will look after both of them, right?” She complemented glancing at Eileen at the door.

Therese nodded with a smile, bidding her goodbye and leaving the tavern.

Syldis watched as they moved away “At least they will be in good hands”

Ready to start their journey, the trio decided to go for the stables at the south gate. Horses would speed their travel to Brigantium and hopefully reach the boy before he got there.

---------------------------------------------------- Riou perspective

After saying his goodbyes to the princess he left the training hall with a heavy heart. Time was of essence if he intended to escape the lioness and reach Brigantium before the orc army.

If he could deal with it quickly enough, he would be free to continue on his way towards Thanes as promised.

The bad feeling on his body was returning as he left the training hall. “Shit, not this again, what’s going on with me today. But I need to get out of here before Therese sees me, she most definitely came with Eileen to the castle.”

Riou used his mana to speed up towards the walls reaching them very quickly. As he approached the very edge of the high cliff above the wall a sharp pain attacked his muscles.

Unable to control himself he fell down towards the city.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit… nothing is working, why can’t I control my mana!

His speed increased as he free fell from the high cliff. He braced himself for impact in a last desperate attempt forcing all he could.

Such was his effort that his mana rushed through, like a wave over a dam, in the last moment allowing him to protect himself from the direct impact.

*TUFF* he fell on the dirt ground near the cliff.

He stood up looking at himself, nothing was broken nor was he bleeding.

He looked up, somehow the bad feeling was gone, the pain and the mana problems seemed to have vanished once again. He stretched his arms and legs and couldn’t find signs of the sharp pain anywhere. The strange sensation that accompanied him the whole day was completely gone and he finally felt back to normal.

“I need to talk to Max about this… something is not right, this must be mana related. Some kind of mana sickness or something”

Back in the city, Riou bought a hooded cape and a piece of cloth along with some food for the trip and headed to the Tavern.

“Syldis!” Called Riou

The big woman was cleaning the place preparing for the business of the night.

“I want to buy out the room in the tavern, no one will stay there but me. Is that possible?” Riou pulled the pouch full of coins.

“Sure… but Max already rented it for a long time”

“I want to extend it for much longer, since I got the coin for it, you wouldn’t mind right?”

The woman nodded and they agreed upon a reasonable price.

“I will go up and prepare something… I will let these swords with you, please give them to Therese”

Syldis was surprised “Are you sure? You will give them these swords?”

“Yeah, you wanted me to help them, right? So this is the best I can do at the moment. You know we won’t find Max so quickly, so this is the best way to help them”

Syldis smiled “If you insist, but I will make sure she is in your debt afterwards”

Riou shook his head vehemently “Please don’t! That won’t be necessary”

She looked confused at him.

“I will go up and sort some things out”

After preparing his room with the Crystal, Riou promptly escaped through the window and began his way to Brigantium.

He didn’t know how long the trip to Brigantium would take, but he intended to speed it up. Now he was feeling better, he decided to try to use some magic and test his body limits. He thought it would be a good experience to see if it was him using mana that could be triggering that condition

Riou put on the cloak covering his head and back, folding the cloth in a triangular shape he wrapped it around his neck. He intended to use it to mask his face if necessary. He didn’t want to be seen using magic.

Applying his mana to his body without restraints this time, he reinforced his muscles and legs and began his testing. He ran east, following the road towards Brigantium.

Soon the night came, the moon was not full, but it shined enough to light the path on the road.

The time passed and Riou began to regret his decision. His lack of experience using the method, brought up dire after effects. It did not trigger his condition but he did tire his muscles completely.

It sure was a fast way to travel but at the expense of exhausting his muscles, his legs were burning with heat and he could not feel his feet anymore. Not to mention that he drenched his clothes in sweat and was thirsty even after drinking all the water he had in one gulp.

He rested for a few hours to recover his strengths, he needed to improve that spell if he wished to use it in a fight.

With some ideas, he began his testing to adapt it to reduce the undesirable effects and resumed his travel.

-------------------

Almost a day after leaving Longart, he reached Brigantium.

The roads near the city were empty, they clearly expected an attack soon.

Brigantium had high white walls as the capital, but was definitely not as big or sturdy. The city was a third of the capital size and Riou noticed it seemed more agricultural oriented than the capital.

He saw lots of livestock and grain farms nearby the city walls. In the center of the city Riou could see the castle’s towers. There was also a mine, not too far from the city, on the foot of a hill.

It was getting dark and there was no sign of the enemy yet. So he planned to find an inn to rest and clean himself.

On the new day he would go towards the forest in the north and figure out a way to deal with the enemy army so nobody would know what happened.

Brigantium streets and houses were much simpler than the ones at the capital, the masonry was similar but the materials seemed more crude, unpolished. He saw very little comercial shops and most of the inhabitants seemed to be either farmers, miners or soldiers.

The sun was about to set when he found an inn, he could not read the sign but the noise and movement inside told him enough. It had the image of a Boar with its back on the ground and its tusks up.

As he entered, Riou quickly put his hood up and covered his face with the white cloth. The tavern was full of soldiers of the First Army, so he cautiously approached the counter without bringing too much attention to himself.

A man with a white apron was there to receive him “Welcome to the Laughing Boar” he said politely.

Riou pulled his coin pouch and put it on the counter, it was not nearly as filled as when he received it, but had enough to show plenty of wealth. The men on the counter widened his eyes as if he had hit a jackpot.

Riou took a few gold coins and dropped on the counter “A room, bathtub, warm meal and lots of drinking water” Said the boy to the innkeeper who asked no questions.

“By all means my lord!” he said, clapping his hands. Suddenly a woman also wearing an apron came from behind him “Please take the young master to our best room, the one with the bathtub. Master, please make yourself comfortable as soon as the meal is ready we will bring it over”

Riou was impressed by the 5 star treatment.

“Thank you” he said following the woman to the room.

It was a big room with a big bed, a couple of chairs around a table and an exclusive bathtub on the corner, and for his surprise it could comfortably fit an adult inside.

“I like this place, by far the best room I’ve been, and this city may lack political power, but clearly is prospering” he thought impressively.

The woman said before leaving “I will request water for the bath and the dinner will come as soon as possible. Please make yourself comfortable”

Riou stretched his arms and legs and put his dagger and 2 shorts words on a table. “Finally some relaxing time… tomorrow I will search for the enemy and I will be done with Allard.”

He clenched his fist pondering “I learned a lot today about mana and the body, I managed to improve this skill a lot. But I still think there is a way to refine the mana a bit further… maybe if I go one step deeper, into the cells themselves instead, that might work… But first, some sleep”

--------------------------------------- The Trio perspective

Eileen, Therese and Leona traveled quickly by horse on the only road to Brigantium, only stopping for the animals to rest. They wanted to catch up to him on the way there.

But to their surprise, that didn’t happen, they moved for a while and there was no sign of him.

“Do you think he went by another way? We should have found him by now if he was on foot.” Said Leona to the other two.

“No, this is the only way… the reason to not have found him yet must be that he went at a similar speed.” Answered Therese.

“Do you think he wants to reach the city before the enemy army does?” Asked Eileen.

Therese nodded “It’s possible… you said your father was certain he’d stop by Brigantium, right? That can only mean one thing”

“But why? Does he think he can turn the tide of war on his own?” questioned the princess.

Therese smiled “I’m certain that he thinks he can”

The princess seemed confused and tried to make sense of those words. But it was just like him to think that way, but it was too reckless, like everything he does.

Leona suddenly raised her hand and Therese immediately stopped.

The wolf stopped and got out of her horse. She walked to the side of the road to an open field.

“He laid down here to rest…” said Leona with conviction.

Therese smiled “This was his first rest spot. We are on the right track then, let’s move”

The travel continued and they heard a resounding thunder echoing in the distance, a storm suddenly formed far away in the horizon in the direction of the city.

“That’s strange,” said Leona, turning to Therese.

Eileen seemed confused “The storm? What’s strange about it?”

“There was no signs of storm until a while ago… and just now that thunder didn’t seemed natural”

“Do you think something is happening in Brigantium already? How far are we?”

“About a day away…” answered Therese.

The day passed and a beautiful morning greeted them as they finally sighted in the city of Brigantium. The horses were tired from the constant push and so their pace was slow.

Still, no sight of the boy on the road..

The trio was going through a small grove that led to the city gates not too far in the distance.

The wind was blowing strong while they were crossing those woods, the road was good and they had a straight path towards the city.

Therese and Leona seemed awfully quiet for some reason.

The lioness carefully turned towards the princess. Her voice came out as a whisper “Scouts of the orc army, 3 to our right, 2 on our left. Be ready to fight”

Eileen cautiously searched her sides, but she couldn’t see anything at first glance.

She forced her attention until she finally noticed something between the trees, expertly moving without notice. They seemed to be approaching the group and preparing to attack.

Eileen reached for the rapier and prepared to withdraw it.

As they got into position,, 5 green individuals jumped from the bushes to the road surrounding them. They were not very tall, but definitely were very bulky, big muscular arms and legs with a proportional big torso. The few that had hair, tied it in a small dark ponytail on the back of the head. They all had big under jaws with big teeth. They wore fangs and bone collars while having only a small rag of leather around their waist to cover themselves.

“Orcs” Eileen was surprised as it was the first time seeing such creatures.

They carried thick dented swords that looked more like machetes.

Eileen noticed that Therese didn’t react. Finding it strange, she searched for Leona at her horse, but to her surprise, the apprentice was already engaging the enemies in the front.

As soon as they appeared Leona moved in a single movement, she drew her two handed sword while jumping off the horse towards them. Without losing momentum she landed on top of one of the orcs burying her sword in the skull of the enemy and continuing her attack with an horizontal swing, decapitating the other one beside it before it could even react to her.

The other 3 Orcs became enraged and rushed towards her ignoring the rest of the group on their horses.

Leona holding the great sword with a single hand, quickly turned towards the approaching enemy swinging her sword to the first that approached. The orc noticing the attack tried to block it with his sword.

The strength of the blow was so powerful that the orc was unable to withstand it. The impact was violent and his own weapon was pushed against his own flesh, lodging itself deeply in his jaw and chest.

Eileen watched in awe, Leona’s movements were precise and extremely powerful. And above all, she did them effortlessly.

Leona after recovering from the swing rushed forward to intercept the other 2 incoming orcs.

She raised her sword seeing that the enemy stopped in place when they saw her approaching. Leona twisted her wrists and prepared a long swing.

She aimed to get both of the orcs simultaneously as they were near each other.

They even tried to dodge the incoming attack, but it was just too fast for them to react to it and both of them ended up cut clean and fell down to the ground.

“If they have scouts this far away, the main army is not far behind” Said Therese looking to the city.

Eileen looked at Leona amazed “I always heard about the absurd physical prowess of the beastmen… but seeing it at first hand, the stories do you no justice.”

Leona smiled while cleaning her sword with a quick swing downwards “This is nothing, you should see Therese when she is serious”

Eileen looked at them both with newfound respect. “I envy you, Riou told me about physical reinforcement through mana, but I’m still unable to do it”

Therese’s ear twitched and she turned towards Eileen “He taught you what?”

Eileen nodded. “Mana enhancement, he knows a lot of things”

The lioness seemed extremely interested “Tell me, what did he teach you about body enhancement techniques.”

As they continued their way to the city, Eileen tried to explain his teachings as she remembered it. That she should concentrate the mana in the body to help improve the muscles.

Therese and Leona listened with attention, but after a while Leona was just puzzled.

“Is that right?” Asked Leona to her master that was thinking about it.

“I don’t know… It’s a very different approach, I never heard about it before. Does it really work?”

Eileen seemed confident enough and nodded “Well, he showed me and then told me this explanation to achieve it.”

“Maybe that’s why you were not able to learn it, maybe you lack some other fundamentals that he forgot to mention. If you want, we can show you how we do it. Perhaps it could help you understand it better and achieve these fundamentals you are missing” said Therese. “But in the meanwhile let’s get to the city, the attack might begin soon.”

Eileen's eyes sparkled “Can you teach me? Isn’t that some taboo in the clans?”

Therese smiled faintly at her “Before I left the plains I had completed the lioness training, I can teach whoever I deem worthy”