Gradually the acolytes and Noone grew closer to their destinations. Five months passed with relative ease – uneventfully.
Noone's sense of time was at a standstill, constantly making progress in his climbing he lacked any reference for how close he was to Tapestry. The clouds beneath him stretched out into the infinite distance and offered him no perspective to how far he had climbed. Only the passage of time could be counted.
"Five months" He thought as he easily maneuvered across the extremely thin handholds on the cliffs face. His shoulders ached since he had climbed for multiple days without rest. The closer he came, the more anxious he was to be back in Tapestry.
Finally, though he found a thin shelf just wide enough for him to lay down on, and he quickly collapsed onto it. When the days and nights stop meaning anything, the only thing telling Noone when to stop and rest was his inability to climb farther. In the past few months he had pushed himself past his limits a number of times, usually resulting in a sprain or ache which would last a few days.
Even when he wasn't climbing, Noone refused to be idle. He ate a little, drank some water, took just enough time to recover to around ten percent of his peak condition. Finally, when he felt ready Noone sat up and backed himself against the wall, sitting straight against the stone he stared out into the distance.
His legs crossed stiffly, and his shoulders relaxed. His breathing steadied, the air that passed through his lungs was noticeably a bit dryer than the humid air thousands of meters down.
Like Elder Azelle before, Noone began to practice his breathing and mindfulness while becoming still to the nature of the universe around him.
I am the stone. He thought, remaining steadfast and stalwart. His posture straight and sturdy. I am the stream.
He felt the world brush up against him, the wind and the sounds and the lights which made it through his eyelids. Everything blurred together into a soup like mix of energy and elements. Noone continuously fought his own mind, looking for a balance between being strong, and flexible. If he was too much like the stone, it would disrupt the subtle flow of the energy around him. If he was too flexible, he would lose himself to it and not be able to feel it accurately.
Noone had begun practicing this every time he took a rest. Ever since the moment he felt something resonate inside of him, he attempted to recreate that feeling.
He sat quietly for hours, through the sunset and into the night.
Soon. He wasn't sure how he knew, merely assuming it had something to do with his increased senses. Noone could tell, in these moments of tranquility, that he would be back at Tapestry soon. Home. After making no progress, he laid back onto the shelf and stared up at the stars like usual. He was excited to be home. It was a weird feeling. Before he jumped down to complete his coming of age, Noone always felt Tapestry to be extremely silent. But despite this, in his memories now he couldn't help but feel it was incredibly lively.
Quietly he slept, waiting for the morning to resume his climb.
…
The group from Burian and the two acolytes walked through the night, letting the soft patter of their feet lull them into silence. The crunch of the wagon could not be heard, neither was there a horse in their ranks.
Apart from a few wild creatures they would engage with in combat, the last 5 months had existed in peace. Weapons training for the two acolytes continued daily, and they made leaps and bounds of progress not the least of which having to do with having very competent teachers.
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Sarah walked smoothly in near silence with her pole-mace strapped comfortably on her back, and Feylin walked towards the front falling next to Tobias. He kept pace and always stood an exact distance away from Tobias to his right side. His left hand did not rest on the hilt of his sword but instead hung naturally by his side. Both his sword and shield shifted smoothly with his gait.
A month prior, the three from Burian all worked together to sneak an attack against the two acolytes. Of course they lowered their ability to that just above Sarah and Feylin. They wanted to challenge them, not demoralize them.
Much to their pleasure, both acolytes worked exceedingly well together. Over the months, they had become exceptionally familiar with their own and each-others fighting styles.
Sarah wielded her pole-mace with strength and stability.
In the beginning, seeing it as a similar weapon to Raelith's spear, she attempted to fight using jabs and quick sweeps. After a few days of this though, she realized this was the wrong approach. She asked Sally and Raelith about it and both were very happy to see that she had come to the realization herself without needing them to tell her.
Sally spent the next week teaching Sarah the methods of using weapons that required enough strength to support a strong offence and defense.
"Large well calculated movements are your best friend. You won't get any momentum built up if you try to do quick sweeps the way Rae can do with her spear. You must calculate the right moment to wind up and attack – you must think three or even four steps ahead. Otherwise you will be stuck trying to react to people faster and more experienced than you. Also, you always have your jab, it is extremely useful for catching assailants off guard." Sally lectured continuously.
Feylin too, grew to become quite adept at his sword. Striking a good balance between finesse and shielding technique.
Since reaching a plateau in their physical strengths, both acolytes began receiving short lessons on the miracles within the order. Sarah and Feylin had come a long way in their study of second level magic.
"According to the charts we received from the grand-priest, we should be approaching the cliff within the month." Sally said, looking across the barren landscape in front of them and comparing it to her maps.
The location towards the last stretch before they cliffs were a barren stone landscape. Boulders stacked high across the entire plateau created a never-ending network of paths which they navigated with the help of the necklace.
The only wildlife in this area were small shrubberies, rodents and reptiles which could withstand the environment.
It wasn't particularly hot which Sarah felt odd about. If you were to only see how it looked, one would imagine it to be like the deserts of the north. However, it was actually rather temperate. The only thing which did fit her expectations was how dry the air was.
They left their cart a month back planning to return to it later. They could carry more than enough provisions with them over the few months they had left, Tobias explained.
From his perspective the cart was a convenient burden. Especially since they were unsure what they would find when they get to their destination. The cart was just one more hassle to worry about if they were attacked.
They walked through the night, keeping close to the boulders and being very careful to spot any epoch tribesman before the tribesman could spot them.
So far, they hadn't seen even a single one. However, Tobias was always quick to remind the acolytes that all it took was one wrong step for mishaps to occur.
The rest of the night passed in silence.
And the nights after that.
And the days and nights continued ceaselessly and mercilessly.
…
After a few more weeks Noone's blood began to boil in excitement. His heart beat like a drum - sending blood pounding through his body and creating a thrumming in his ears. A smile spread on his face and he somehow found the resolve to recklessly double his speed
It had been a number of days since Noone had slept, but at this moment he felt like he never needed to sleep again.
Above him - several hundred meters - Noone could see a very distinct and long outcropping in the cliff. It stuck well out of the cliffs face, rounding towards the end like a platform.
Indeed.
It was to balcony to the conclave of Tapestry.
With strength and Finesse Noone scaled the stone as easy as one would walk to the market, only with much more vigor.
His hand gripped the edge of the platform and with a single movement, he swung his pack and himself up over the side, landing ceremoniously on his feet.
Standing up straight, he looked into the balcony of Tapestry.
"I'm home." He thought to himself. Grinning from ear to ear.