Kelric was lying on the floor. Holding tightly to his flaming sword. A content face lay on the hard rocky surface of the cave. The sword’s bright flame illuminated the area, and the sword’s heat accompanied Kelric. The sword could be key to winning Geus’ challenge.
If he had more time to train with it then it would be the key. Sadly he didn’t have much time left. Only one full day remained. Meaning he had spent 4 days with his mind floating in the void. It wasn’t short but also not long. It could’ve been shorter with the help of someone.
An unsettling wind blew around the cave.
“Found you.” Geus suddenly appeared. “I’m here to talk, witch.” He grinned. “Or should I say Iv… Ah? What was I going to say?”
|Memory wipe was successful, sir.|
||Good, such information shouldn’t be revealed yet.||
“What do you want to talk about Geus?” The witch said annoyed.
“My challenge, what else would I ask about? Your favorite food?”
“You’re still the same as ever. Aren’t you? So what about the challenge?”
“You see, I’m getting a bit impatient. I'd like to change the challenge date from tomorrow to two hours from now.”
“Does the kid look alright to you? I don’t think he’ll even wake up in two hours. I’ll have to refuse.”
“Well, I can wake the kid up if you want. Also, I’ll give my challenger a small handicap. How about that?”
“That’s a bit more reasonable. Could you be a bit more specific with the ‘small’ handicap?”
“Oh. Sure, I thought of him just not using a weapon.”
“Uh? That’s more than a ‘small’ handicap, I’m sure that the kid would easily win then.”
“I have high trust in my challenger. Soooo? Do you accept?”
“Sure, why not. I’ve already disconnected from the kid, so I won’t die even if he dies.”
“Argh. You should’ve told me that earlier. I thought I was going to be able to kill one of the…”
“Alright, I get it. Just shut up and go. I’ll see you again in two hours, we’ll talk again then.”
Geus walked into the darkness, while silently looking at Kelric. A small smile appeared on Geus’ face right as he disappeared.
The flaming sword in Kelric’s hand flickered and lost its powers. It became quiet, dark, and cold. After all, the sword wasn’t on fire anymore.
At that moment the witch realised she forgot something.
“GEUS!” The witch screamed and her voice echoed through the whole cave. A man quickly appeared.
“I thought we would talk later.”
“You didn’t wake the kid up.”
“Well, you didn’t ask me to. No… it was a part of the agreement, so I’ll wake him up. You happy now?”
The witch didn’t answer, and Geus poured something into Kelric’s mouth.
“It’s done, He’ll wake up shortly. See ya later witch!”
Again Geus disappeared into the darkness.
Kelric woke up a few minutes later. He let out a pained groan as he opened his eyes. The glowing rocks around him reassured him, but also didn’t. He wasn’t dead, but he was also still in the cave. He stood up using his sword as support.
The witch spoke to Kelric “Did you sleep well? I hope you did since we only have two hours left until the challenge.”
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A sudden burst of energy caused Kelric to regain his senses and talk back to the witch.
“Eh? Only two hours? How long was I out for?”
“A long time, so let’s get back to training immediately.”
“No?” Kelric walked over to the stone table at the other side of his training area. He sat down on it and ate and drank something. “Let me rest a few more minutes.”
The witch was stunned, Kelric didn’t listen to her. She didn’t know what to do. Kelric had listened to her every time so far. Why not this time? She thought for a bit longer, long enough that Kelric stood up and said.
“My break’s over.” He did a little stretch and continued. “What should we do in these two hours?”
The witch was still thinking and didn’t answer.
“Hello? Witch? Are you there?”
“Eh? Ah! We... uhm. We should train a sword technique. Because… I don’t want you to sleep for four days again.”
Kelric nodded with a slight laugh. “Do you have an easy technique for me to learn?”
“No. No, I do not. The last one I gave you was the easiest I knew. I Cannot give you any easier one”
“So… what do you want me to do?”
“Find your own technique. I trust you on this.”
Kelric looked stupified at the witch. Actually, he just looked into the darkness since she didn’t have a body.
Kelric grabbed his new Alkadine sword and swung it a few times. Horizontal swing, vertical swing, stab. He experimented around with ways to attack.
He swung it around some more, now combining foot movement with it. Horizontal swing, right foot step. Vertical swing, twist. He toyed around with as many combinations as he could find.
In the two hours he had left he had to find a set of usable combinations he would use in Geus’ challenge.
***
Horses tugged on a carriage. They neighed as they ran over a rough path. Inside the carriage sat Ragnel and Flykra. They didn’t talk much during the ride. Even though Ragnel is usually energetic, he looked outside for most of the ride.
As they started slowing down Flykra spoke up. “We’re taking a short break here in
Alastras. About an hour? Is that enough?”
“Ah, sure. One hour will be enough.”
Ragnel was about to jump out of the carriage when Flykra called him.
“Wait! I haven’t given you your money yet.”
“You’re giving me money? I can’t accept that.”
Flykra held out a hand filled with coins. “80 Cran.”
“Thank you for your hospitality.” Ragnel swiped away the 80 Cran.
Cran. Alongside its higher value counterpart ‘Creta’ and the even higher value ‘Crolad’ are the most widely accepted currency, only not being accepted by the Demonic faction and parts of the Thylek continent. One Creta is worth 100 Cran, and one Crolad is worth 100 Creta. Cran is used to buy everyday items. Creta for more expensive items. And Crolad is only used by rich noblemen and merchants.
Ragnel jumped out of the carriage with his 80 Cran. Flykra yelled something, but Ragnel already ran too far away to hear her. Once he knew Flykra couldn’t see him he stopped running and started walking. It seemed he ended up at a market. Ragnel was silent for a moment as he stood in awe in front of the market. He had never seen such a big one before.
The market was filled to the brim with decorations. Glowing stones were used as lights, animals were carved out of wood, and the smell of food shifted around the place.
He walked over to the first stall he saw. It was a food stall. Ragnel looked through the small glass panel toward the food. Delicious skewers and sausages were being grilled. He swallowed his saliva. “How much for a skewer?”
“Only half a Cran today!” Answered the person behind the counter.
“Really? Four skewers for me then!"
The person behind the counter grabbed four skewers and gave them to Ragnel, while Ragnel paid appropriately.
Not even a second after receiving the skewers, one of them was nearly devoured. At this pace, he could eat an entire buffet in a minute. Sadly he didn’t have an entire buffet, only his four skewers. After his first was finished he ate the rest slowly while walking around the market some more.
“78 Cran left. What should I spend it on? More skewers maybe? Maybe something else? Eh, whatever I’ll see what I can find”
Ragnel walked around, while people were trying to promote their product.
“Iron shortsword for 95 Cran!” “Skewers for half a Cran!” Ragnel knew that one. “Animal carvings for only 42 Cran!” “A new special kind of paper that changes its contents for 70 Cran!”
The last one stood out. A paper that changes contents. Such a thing could be handy for a lot of things like… writing and writing. Ragnel couldn’t find any creative use for it but still wanted to buy it.
“How much was that paper?”
“Oh, you’re interested? Let me tell you more about it first. So, firstly write you’re message on it. Or whatever you want. Then fold the corner. As you see the letters disappear, but they aren’t really gone. Then write your second and third and so on. After every message refold the corner. If you want to display the messages again fold the corner in the opposite direction. The only downside is that you can’t choose the timing of each display. So? Are you still interested in it for 70 Cran?”
Ragnel nearly fell asleep at the long-winded explanation.
“Ah! That was a bit complicated, were you the one who made it?”
“Oh no, no. I didn’t make this, someone I know made this. He goes by the initials G.D. If you ever see him, tell him I said hi.”
“Uh sure… 70 Cran right?”
“Yup! That’s right.”
Ragnel gave the man his 70 Cran and received his paper. He still wasn’t sure what he would do with it, but he was sure it would come in handy at some point.
Ragnel had 8 Cran over and knew exactly what to do with it. Buy even more skewers of course.
And so, Ragnel spent the rest of his hour at Alastras eating skewers nonstop.