Asteria awoke before the sun managed to make its appearance on the horizon. She was used to getting up at this time ever since she was forced to adopt it on the preparatory knights' school. Over the years, she was forced to adapt to being able to sleep anywhere, from the coldest of surfaces to the most uncomfortable ones. Life had never been particularly kind to her.
Today, though, Asteria woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed. It was rare for her to feel like that, even after a good night's sleep. She tried to stretch her body, only to discover that her arm was hitting something... soft? Blinking exasperatedly, she recalled the events of the previous day, which had ended with her tuckered in with an unknown girl in an empty tent.
The woman almost wanted to bash her skull into the ground, though she didn't know if it was out of embarrassment or out of annoyance at her own carelessness. Still, thankfully, nothing had happened, and the two of them had spent the night peacefully sleeping on the medical tent.
She slowly stood, to not awake the girl still slumbering beside her. From experience, Asteria knew that most people don't react positively when woken up in unnecessarily early hours. Carefully, she unwrapped her arms from the girl, and, in the process, accidentally stealing another; closer peek at the sleeping beauty who kept her eyes closed as if there was nothing that could wake her up.
Even with the considerable amounts of grime, sweat and dried blood covering her face, the girl still struck Asteria as one of, if not the most beautiful person she had ever seen. The many, many stuck-up noble girl who drown themselves in rivers of make-up and beauty products would undoubtedly seethe until their hair fell off if they saw the girl.
Kary, as she had named herself. A peculiar name, that was for sure. She had said it to the girl herself before, but she had never seen someone with such a name. That only made the mystery that the pale girl was all the more interesting. Looking at her sleeping face, Asteria wanted nothing more to stay there, cuddling with her until she inevitably woke up. But duty called her, like it always did, and she would sadly need to part with Kary for the moment.
After all, she had brought an unknown girl without prior approval, so she needed to present to the rich and powerful people who had organized this expedition all the reasons why she had done such a thing. If she were to be honest, it had simply been a spur of the moment, but, should she present that, Asteria couldn't help but shudder at the future that would await her.
And so, she tiptoed her way out of the tent, expecting to be met with the usual buzz from the crazed researchers doing their usual stuff: trying to decipher the ancient language, studying the long-gone culture, or simply enjoying each other's company until morning. Regardless of the reason, it was a fact that there were always at least some people awake at this hour, including Asteria and the organizers, whom the woman still wasn't sure if they even slept at all.
Today, however, the encampment was utterly deserted. No, saying that would be simply wrong. There were plenty of people around the place, but none of them were in what could be called proper sleep positions. They were stirred on the ground, some of them even holding empty bottles in their hands. It would be a pitiful sight, were these people not known as the best of the best in their respective fields. Seeing everyone wasted like this, Asteria couldn't help but wonder what she could have possibly missed the day before.
Undeterred by the corpses, still probably living, lying on the ground, the woman made her way to the big tent in the middle of the camp, surrounding what once was a big well, though now it was nothing more than a pile of rubble. Inside, there were piles upon piles of books and scrolls, sprawled half-haphazardly on a few tables arranged such that they all surrounded the well while at the same time permitting whoever sat behind them full view of the entrance.
Sitting on the chairs, there were three men and two women, all of them showing clear signs of their advanced age, and yet, not one of them looking to be tired at all. That in and on itself spoke volumes about their respective strengths, which were enough that even kings had to mind their tongue around them.
Those were the very best their kingdom could offer, much more than mere masters on their respective fields, but practically living legends. Having the chance to meet even one of them was considered to be extremely fortunate, but seeing all of them gathered like this was almost unheard of outside of court business.
However, contrary to what one might have expected, the entire place was dead silent, with the only sounds being made were the harsh, uncomfortable scribbling of their pens, a noise so common in their day-to-day lives that the people inside had long since learned to ignore. Despite having their desks turned towards the tent's flap so that they could see any new arrivals, the elders seemed to be so fixated on their work that they seldom spared a glance at Asteria.
That only made the woman all the more curious about what it was that they had discovered last night while she was busy transporting and comforting an almost-dead girl. Still, she had her duty to uphold, and she had learned to take such matters with utmost seriousness.
She feigned a cough in order to gather the elders' attention, which mostly worked, though two of them remained silent, their head down and their pens still furiously scribbling on the parchment. They worked as if there was nothing worth their notice outside the domains of their desks, as if the world encompassed their desks and only their desks.
One of the ancient beings, a man so decrepit that he looked ready to plop right into a coffin, his bones showing through his stretched skin, wrinkles upon wrinkles adorning his tired face. With the dark bags under his eyes painfully apparent, signs of a sleepless night, he decided to break the awkward question with the question that surely plagued his colleagues just as it plagued his mind.
"Asteria, dear, might you be so kind as to explain why you abandoned your duties yesterday? At such a pivotal point of our exploration, you seemed to have forgotten your rules, escorting yourself to an unknown girl, taking with you one of our best fighters. So? Let us hear how you might explain this sudden shift in priorities" Hearing the belittling tone coming from the husky, paused voice of the elder, even the seasoned warrior couldn't help but shrink a little. Still, she refused to back down so easily.
"That girl presented an unknown threat to our group, so I volunteered myself and Tom to escort her back, since, while it would indeed be more convenient to simply end her on the spot, it would reflect badly on the knights' reputation should we preemptively uproot all possible problems through sheer, unadulterated violence. And so, I decided to keep watching her during this first moment, since, as expected, she was confused and tired, as well as hurt, as the records probably say"
"If your Excellencies are still unconvinced of my reasoning for abandoning my group to the authority of a seasoned scholar, then let me say that I also plan to take the girl — who named herself Kary — onto my protection, imparting onto her the knowledge I've acquired through my long years serving as a knight. But, last night, I came to the realization that my way of teaching might not be the most appropriate"
"What are you getting at?" Said a weak-looking woman with cascading gray hair, her impatience so clear it would be impossible to make it more obvious. Her restless eyes, darting between Asteria and the papers carefully lying on the table, her nervously tapping foot, incessantly hitting the ground like clockwork, the slight tremble of her hands, as she urged the woman to finish whatever it was that she meant to say at once, for she could not wait to return to her previous activity.
While the other elders also showed clear signs of wanting to simply ignore all formality and dismiss Asteria on the fly, their decades of public speaking experience refused to allow them to act with such recklessness. Seeing the clear, almost desperate urging for her to continue, the woman couldn't help but grow even more infatuated with the mystery that had been found without her knowledge. Even then, just like the elders, she was required to uphold a certain level of etiquette. Question could come later. For now, she only needed to make sure that nothing bad would befall her... or the girl.
"So, I come not only to explain the reasons that made me do what I did, but also to ask for permission to formally request from the most prominent adventurers we have employed here for assistance on the training of the girl when we start making our way back. Of course, should I be able to ask them for it, everything that would happen later would be done with their explicit consent and with a generous reward for the time on my name"
"Do as you please" Brazenly replied the granny who so clearly wanted to get back to work. The other elders, however, were not so quick to convince. Despite their unanimous want to be left alone, they couldn't exactly ditch their duties in favor of their desires. Living legends as they might be, nothing would save them from the ridicule of the court once the vultures caught note of their exceedingly unbecoming behavior.
"Why do you desire to train this youngster so much? You only met her yesterday, and yet, here you are, not even a full day later, begging to receive perdition to teach her, to run amok amidst our carefully laid out plans" With the oldest of the elders once more slicing Asteria thoroughly with his thin-veiled insults, the woman herself wanted nothing more than to disappear into the ground below, much like the half-decomposed remnant the brother and sister pair had encountered on that building. Undeterred by Asteria's darkening expression, the elder continued:
"However, as much as I would like to bar you from proceeding with your thoughtless plans, there is no particular reason for me to deny it. After all, what we found yesterday has proven to be such an important discovery that we will need to have our entire arsenal of tools to properly study it. With that in mind, we have been frankly wirting letters and records about it, sending out request after request to have our supplies at the ready once we return"
"To complement what this stubborn fool wants to say, we are planning to cut our time here short. Despite how pleasant the air here is, I am afraid that the records we did find, etched into sturdy stone in a language long forgotten, are most invaluable for us to properly understand the intricacies of the society that once inhabits these lands; And so, we have sent a formal request to his majesty the king on behalf of all the very excited scholars stationed here. As you may have seen, everyone has been quite eager to tackle on this incognita"
That... makes sense. If they managed to find such a precious thing among the rubble, then it wouldn’t be unreasonable to desire to learn more about it on a controlled environment. And what we have here is far from a 'controlled environment'.
Nodding her head, Asteria tried to hide the relieved smile that threated to ruin her entire persona. Thankfully, she was saved by the granny, who wordlessly shooed her away, so desiring to continue her work deciphering the ancient text that she had finally abandoned all pretense of decorum.
Once she had her back turned towards the congregation of elders, she finally allowed herself to grin from ear to ear. She could already hear the restless scribbling resuming once more, but, right now, that couldn't matter less for the woman. Not only had she escaped unscathed from the one-sided negotiation with the elders, she had managed to snatch much more than what she had originally desired. Even while thinking about the fortunate circumstances, she couldn't help but feel bad about the girl, who had just gotten enrolled into merciless training without the ability to say a word of protest.
Leaving the tent with slow and steady steps, the warrior felt the morning sunrays hitting her skin. She didn't know how much time she had spent inside the tent, but she didn't expect it to be long enough for the sun to show its hot face on the horizon. Though it was still only now shooing the night away, Asteria couldn't help but feel mesmerized every time she saw it slowly emerging from within the horizon. It wasn't a particularly rare sight, at least, not for her, but that didn't make the moments where she experienced it any less special.
If she could, she would've liked to have shown Kary this beautiful scenario, but she doubted the girl would react well to being woken up before dawn. Besides, the time it would take for her to return to the medic tent, get her to wake up, endure what would probably end up as a harsh reprimand and then, and only then be able to show her the beauty of life, was much, much longer than the time it would take the sun to fully rise up to the skies. And so, she enjoyed the leisurely walk, unperturbed by the near-dead corpses sprawled here and there.
In almost no time, Asteria was once more within the confines of the medical tent, its supposedly permanent resident nowhere to be found. Still, his patients, including Kary, were still sound asleep, blissfully unaware of the commotions from the night before or the state in which the people who had partaken in festivities were right now.
Careful not to make any unnecessary sounds, the woman walked towards Kary, her boots, which she had forgotten to take before plopping into the mattress with her new protégé, softly crunching the dry ground beneath their feet. Remembering the interaction she had with the girl just the other day, Asteria shook the girl as gently as she possibly could, all the while mumbling to herself about how hard it was to keep her strength in check all of the time.
Thankfully, this time it seemed that she had exerted proper control over her abilities, as the girl slowly opened her eyes, only to be greeted with the darkness. Confusion dawned on her as she tried to remember where she was and what had happened to her. She could feel her entire body aching for reasons still unknown, though it might just be because of the incessant shaking to which she was subjected. Strange... she felt as if she had been in this exact scenario before, but her memories were still a bit vague.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Memories were slowly returning as Kary's still sleepy brain began to properly process everything that was happening around her. She remembered the people, the absurdly strong people she had encountered yesterday, and that had taken her to some sort of camp to get her treated, although she wasn't quite sure about how that had turned out. She felt no pain, so whatever it was that they were trying to do must have been successful, right? Or maybe her
Regardless, what she did now know was that she had shamefully cried her eyes out on the shoulders of the same woman who was now probably shaking her awake. Honestly, she had no idea what that woman — Asteria, was it? — wanted to do with her, but, so far, it didn't seem to be anything horrible. And so, she resigned herself to finally wake up, pushing those last tidbits of sleepiness into a far corner of her soul.
"What... what time is it?"
"Morning, sleepyhead. Y'know, if you were on my platoon, you would be punished for such a glaring oversleeping with a regimen of water and hard bread for an entire week" Hearing the unexpectedly harsh words coming from Asteria, whom she thought to be quite the nice lady, albeit a little to strong for her own liking. Perhaps not noticing the subtle shaking of the girl still on her arms, the woman continued.
"Thankfully, though, you are not on my platoon, and it would do me no good to treat you like I would a fellow knight, so cutting you some slack is par with the course. What I cannot do, however, is letting you sleep for any longer, or allow you to laze all day long. Sicne I'm going to be your guardian from now on, you will have to go through rigorous physical training in order to develop some of the muscles on these skinny arms of yours"
Hearing that, Kary almost wanted to go wash her ears before making the tanned woman in front of her repeat herself. While she had lightly shivered at the thought of being subjected to the same treatment slacking knights would receive, knowing now that she would still be forced to do hard physical work on a daily basis was more than enough to make her quiver like a leaf inside a typhoon.
Of course, by that point, there was no was Asteria wouldn't notice that something was amiss. Worry colored her face as she hurriedly sat the girl down, before asking what was wrong. To that, Kary couldn't help but feel herself growing more and more exasperated the more she interacted with the knight. With a sigh, she began to explain herself as calmly as she could — that is to say, not calmly at all —.
"Umm... well... you see... if... if I may ask... why... why make me... strength... strengthen myself?" Hearing the almost comical question coming from the girl, Asteria let out a weak chuckle, before staring into the girl's eyes with a face completely devoid of any of is previous humor.
"The world, Kary, is not kind. You have witnessed it yourself, have you not? The fight against the remnant, I mean"
"How —"
"Shush, for now, and allow me to finish my train of thought. You see, I heard the report from that brother and sister pair about the condition they found the remnant in and, comparing it to the state in which we found you, while at the same time taking into consideration your impressive regenerative capabilities, I feel like it's safe to say that you almost died"
"Look, I won't pretend that I know you, or where you're from, but in one thing, and in one thing only, we must agree completely: this world is dangerous, much more than the average person realizes. Be it a peasant, going to and from their daily jobs tending to the plantations, or the annoying nobles, living their entire lives unable to care less from anything besides fattening their own belly. Most people don't know the true dangers of this world, and, thankfully, they most likely never will. But you, Kary, you saw it, haven't you? You have seen the horrors of this world and lived to tell the tale"
"We haven't talked much, I know, but I had the feeling that, with the meager strength you showed, you would never be able to accomplish whatever your objectives are" Kary shuddered at these words, knowing them to be much more factual than she wanted it to be. She didn't know whether to feel relieved that someone other than her somewhat understood her, or scared that said someone had been able to figure her out only by the very scarce interactions that had at this point.
Still, Kary found herself feeling oddly warm, though, at the same time, she was absolutely terrified of what the future had in hold for her. Considering that the woman in front of her was a bone fide knight, she could only imagine what kinds of grueling training she would have to go through. Though by the way things were going she wouldn't have to wonder no more.
"You... you're right... The way that I'm now, there's no way I would ever be able to reach the objective I set up for myself"
"Oh-ho? And what could this so hard objective possibly be? If you don't mind saying it to me, of course" Kary gulped down a lump of saliva that had been accumulating in her mouth, digesting her thoughts as she tried piecing together her words in order to properly convey what she wanted to do within her — possibly infinite — lifespan. Through the thunderous beatings of her heart, she found the courage to answer Asteria, her resolve clear in her big, ruby-red eyes.
"I want to explore the entire world, from the most well-known locations to the most dangerous. I want to see sights that have never been seen, be where no one else dared to go, explore places far removed from any notion of civilization, interact with races beyond my own comprehension. I want to explore, to see the world for what it truly is, set foot in the most beautiful of places, walk through enough land to be able to even determine what the most beautiful place even is. And you're right. To even get close to accomplishing this, I need strength, an overwhelming amount of it, enough so that I can focus entirely on the journey. Strength which I don't have in the moment"
Staring into Asteria with the same seriousness the woman had shown just a moment prior, the girl bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle, her expression hidden from the woman in front of her. With a trembling voice, impossible to distinguish whether it originated from excitement or embarrassment, she asked:
"Can I count on you to guide me? At least until we reach a settlement... then —"
"Shush! You can save your excuses to ditch me when the time is right. For now, let's get some breakfast on this hungry belly of yours, shall we? I can't bear to keep hearing it grumble" Seeing her weird stomach noises being pointed out, Kary could only let out a little embarrassed laugh, for she could not deny the words that left Asteria's mind. She truly was hungry, more than she had ever felt in both of her lives.
The woman extended her hand towards the still sitting Kary who, in turn, could only look confusedly at the extended limb. Darting her eyes between Asteria's expectant face and the outstretched hand, Kary eventually understood what she wanted to do, albeit not before some awkward moments passed between the two. Thankfully, no one was around to witness such a bizarre scene, and the only one who would ever tease about her lack of knowledge on such things would be Asteria herself.
She got up, holding onto Asteria's hand, and they both made their way out of the tent and into the sun-soaked plaza. What Kary saw, however, defied her very notions of what a professional camp composed of what she had assumed would be prim and proper scholars should be. Outside, what greeted them was a sea of unconscious people, some mumbling incoherent words in languages which only made sense to the speaker, some cradling in their arms half-empty bottles of alcohol
Kary felt something moving in to block her vision and, before she could comment on the sudden censoring, she heard Asteria's voice, filled with undisguised disgust and contempt. It made the girl shiver, though this time it was out of pity for the poor souls that would be banished to the shadow realm as soon as their consciousness returned to their bodies.
"Don't look at these unsightly people, Kary. It seemed that, just because they made a big discovery yesterday, they saw fit to ditch all their duties and responsibilities and party with the abandon of inexperienced children. Absolutely pathetic"
Kary wanted to protest, but, no matter what she said, Asteria continued to carefully guide her through the sea of (not) dead men, her left arm still firmly blocking her vision. Of course, the blockage wasn't absolute, and she was still able to see some of the floor from time to time, but the things she saw only served to make her all the more convinced of the truth behind Asteria's words.
In a few seconds, they had made their way to the center of the plaza, where an empty cart stood, abandoned by its owner, whoever her might be. Asteria, undisturbed by the lack of someone to talk to, simply reached behind the counter and picked a few strands of salted, dry meat, before handing them over to Kary.
Normally, she would shamelessly walk away after doing such a thing, but, considering that she was trying to be a good example to the girl, she decided to just this once leave some money on the counter, though she couldn't care less if it were to get robbed by some opportunistic junior.
With a slight chuckle, she handed the meat to Kary, who looked curiously at it, unsure if she was supposed to eat it or do something else. The context of the situation indicated that the correct option should be the former, but the strange appearance of the strips of meat made the girl all too hesitant to ingest it. Seeing Kary's indecision, Asteria let out a sigh before instructing her.
"I don't know from where you hail from, but usually we eat meat by putting it into our mouths and chewing it. I've never seen someone able to digest food with their stare, but who knows? You might just be that different"
Ignoring Asteria's snarky responses, Kary eyed the strange meat once more before nonchalantly throwing them at her mouth. She tried to chew it, just like the woman had instructed her to, only to find herself having difficulties making through its toughness. Even while fighting with the strips of dried meat, the girl couldn't help but notice its extreme levels of salt; enough to make her desperately want to drink gallons upon gallons of water, despite not even having finished the first bite.
Asteria, seeing her protégé struggling so much just to eat some pieces of dried meat, couldn't help but chuckle, an action that earned her a scornful look from the girl. Minutes passed by, the only sound besides the occasional groaning of extremely drunken scholars being the periodic chewing of the meat, which was managing to survive Kary's mandibular assault with impressive resilience.
However, all things ought to come to an end and, as everything that came before; the long, strenuous process of eating breakfast would, too, eventully end. Though it wasn't before some of the researchers woke up to the peculiar scene of one of the strongest, most ruthless monsters of the kingdom staring affectionately at a white girl draped in a very dirty white dress, slowly eating... something. Kary was so concentrated on her food that she completely failed to notice these stares, though they were reciprocated with an icy look from Asteria.
After what felt like an eternity, the girl finally managed to swallow the dreadful things, almost swearing to herself that she would never ever touch a strip of dried meat again. After realizing that this distasteful almost-food-but-not-quite might be the only thing she would be able to eat until she reached a town, though, she quickly dismissed her own ban. Just as she was looking forward to how she would spend the rest of the day, Asteria's voice reached her ears, its sweet, almost sickly tone not enough to distract the girl hearing it from the dreadful contents it contained.
"Now, with that out of the way, we shall start with your training regimen. My plan is to make you work from morning to night, until you pass out from exhaustion, every day, until we depart from this old place"
"Please... have mercy..." Kary said, once more slightly trembling.
"I'm not one of the gods, girl. Distributing mercy is amongst the last things I would do. Now get running, before I make you do! I want you to circle the plaza ten times, then do three sets of ten push up, then three sets of one minute each of abdominal exercise! While you do that, I will prepare a suitable bar in which you can do three sets of ten pull-ups! I will also attempt to get the doctor to heal you once you reach muscle failure, so that you can keep going until dinnertime. No lunch, of course, unless you can finish the first set of sets before lunchtime. NOW GO!!!"
Terrified, Kary began to run as if she was fleeing for her life. The girl wanted to cry all the way through, but, somehow, she finished running the laps before her legs gave up. She panted, her breathing difficult as she failed to find air to pump into her lungs. If she could, she would have begged for some time out, but, unfortunately, Asteria wasn't so kind. Immediately after finishing the run, she was forced to do the other exercises as well, without getting so much as a second of respite in between them.
In the end, she was on the ground, not even capable of lifting her head anymore. She could feel the sympathetic gazes of a few of the scholars who had been put into a similar regime before after angering the female knight. Despite her... less than ideal situation, though, not one soul moved in to help her, not one person presented with much desired lunch. Kary wanted to bark at them, to demand an explanation from their sudden lack of camaraderie, but she was so tired that not even that she could do.
For a few blissful minutes, she remained there, struggling to maintain her councioussness, until she saw her from the corner of her vision. The devil incarnate, the blasted being who had forced Kary into a hell worse than hell itself. Calmly, as if she could not feel the boring hole being dug in between her eyebrows by Kary's stare at all, she approached with bold steps. By her side was the plague-masked doctor, walking in a much strighter posture than when the girl had last seen him.
As understanding began to dawn on her, Kary quickly tried to make her escape, but she was completely unable to move, pinned to the ground like an injured prey staring right at the jaws of its predator. At this point, the girl regreted not telling Limo to simply allow her to die and be forever forgotten. This way, she wouldn't have to suffer whatever esoteric form of torture this was.
Wordlessly, the pair approached, until all Kary could see were their feet. They exchanged no words, and yet, the doctor, whose name she still didn't know, understood the task at hands perfectly. Away from Kary's eyes, her picked up the suitcase he was always carrying around, picking from within a long, gnarly staff that couldn't possibly fit in such a small case. Regardless of the spatial anomaly that his suitcase was, the man gently tapped the staff on the floor, concentrating on creating the spell.
Kary observed, amazed, as the lights seemed to dance all around them, green motes of lights, almost pixies in their own right, appearing and disappearing as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Before she realized it, her body had been restored to its best state and, with the restoration, came the promise of even more torture. She looked at Asteria, pleasing with her eyes for her to be allowed to rest, but the demon simply shook her head, that devilish never leaving her face.
And so, such was Kary's routine for the next thirteen days. While some partied and some diligent ones kept diving further and further form the center of Táfos, the girl kept training, earning the right to eat lunch on her fifth day. It was a grueling experience, but she couldn't help but feel immensely pleased with her developments. Of course, it was still far from what Asteria could do, but it was a small step towards her end goal.
Even with all the pain she had been forced to endure, all the bickering she had with her guardian, all the badmouthing about the doctor the both of them did behind his back, they were surprisingly fun five days. But, of course, time must run its course, forever forward, never in its march looking back. After the thirteen initial days had passed, a messenger arrived, relying the order to retreat on behalf of their ruler.
With the green light to return to the capital, the group began to arrange their things, packing the little stuff they had brought, organizing all the paper the elders had produced, and cleaning all the trash sprawled across the landscape. These were quite the busy two days, in which Kary was exempt from her usual practice, as she, too, was enlisted to help everyone. On the seventh day, though, it was time to depart.
With a strained smile, Kary bid farewell to the place where she had been originally brought to this world. She hadn't had the time to properly explore it, but she was grateful for the encounters she made here. Perhaps one day she would be back, stronger and more confident in her own abilities, ready to explore to her hearts content. For now, though, she simply accompanied the departing caravan, their destiny unknown.