Disgusting. Absolutely nauseating. Impossible to look at.

“Ugh… How much longer is he going to take…?”

There was no smell of blood in the air, but that didn't make the scene any more pleasant, since, even trying to divert direct gaze to any other point in the forest that wasn't the grotesque scene a couple meters down the path, those damn noises still clearly denounced everything.

Flesh being sliced, metal colliding with the small rocks on the floor... Only for that horrible sound to show up: something wet being torn apart, pulled out like that, so straight and violent.

It hadn't been that long since he started and judging by the way things were going, it already looked like he was most done with the "job", but Enille didn't know if she could take it any longer, especially when it came to be forced to look at what was left.

“Well, I guess I'm done here.”

Jake's voice reverberated through the trees like the tolling of a church bell into her queasy consciousness. Not daring to look, Enille did her best to keep absolute focus on the river path ahead, something that would prove to be a poor choice of location.

"Right. I already did what I needed to.” Jake's footsteps were heard nearby. “Fortunately, skinning that thing was simpler than I thought. Maybe this will make a nice winter coat or something.”

She knew what that meant, but as much as the girl tried to escape facing such a scene, nothing stopped her from seeing when he, apparently so proud of his achievement, entered her field of vision.

The tall boy with strange mannerisms and skin as dark as the dirt from that part of the forest floor carried Enille's bloody sword, once so immaculate, in his left hand. The blade was spattering some of the red fluid, and although it didn't look as smeared as she had previously pictured in her catastrophizing mind, it still wasn't the best sight.

But that wasn't the worst part — not even by a long shot.

“As soon as I finish washing this thing and getting the excess blood off, let’s head the rest of the way to the city.”

She watched, stomach in despair, as the boy knelt down and threw the familiar-looking great carpet of white fur into the limpid river water. It wasn't as disgusting as she'd imagined, but just thinking about the process for it to reach that point was enough for the day.

From his right shoulder, he dropped the animal's thick hide, submerging it completely.

"I figured this was going to be a bit bloodier, actually." Jake initiated the dreaded topic. “It seems that the blood immediately freezes the second it leaves the blood vessels. It's amazing how that thing still has the same properties even after it's dead.”

“Ugh...”

She didn't want being forced to talk about that of all things. Hearing him talk so much and on his own volition for the first time should have been a good thing — a sign that, perhaps, Jake was softening up some of that distant coldness — but to hear it being put like that didn't make her feel so good.

“Why of all things does he have to be so interested in talking about blood…?”

Her perception of Jake was that he seemed maybe a little too lively for someone with a tendency to be so controlled, and the way the young man cleaned the thing up as if it were something truly important only added to that idea.

He even took great care to squeeze the animal's fur out of all liquid and fold it in a proper way, as a maid would.

After that, he tossed the thing back onto his back, draping it over both shoulders in a way that could only be judged as "morbid."

“Enille. Your sword. Don't worry. There is no blood on it after I washed it in the river.” He said, approaching her and holding out the glittering blade.

That wasn't the problem — it wasn't at all!

"Ah... Right..." Hesitantly, the girl accepted her combat companion back from Jake's hands. “I didn't imagine that the first real danger this sword would face was going to involve the intention of peeling its skin off…”

For a couple of seconds, she studied the edge of the sword, finding a few imperfections in the metallic surface here and there that were rare enough to stand out when focused on intentionally.

“Thanks for letting me use it. Where did you get that sword? Was it a gift from your father?”

Jake's question made her jump back to the real world. With those words, Enille grabbed the golden hilt, carved with several lines in the form of vertical waves.

“It was my combat teacher who gave me this sword.”

The tone that mixed immense seriousness with respectable determination and hope led to a couple of seconds taken by the purest silence. In said time, the young woman with long blonde hair let her vision get lost in the greenish horizon, same as the color of her eyes.

“He always believed in me… He never gave up on me, no matter how much I always failed in the past and, well, continue failing to this day…!” She laughed a little. “I can only be grateful to him for never letting me think about giving up.”

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It wasn't just an object. That sword was a cherished memory; a promise. It was impossible not to see something so fundamental, even for a person who could no longer sympathize with it.

"If I've come this far today, however little it means, that's something I can only owe him."

It was a light blade, for quick and accurate cuts, if perhaps too superficial. It was about ¾ the length of a Jake's arm, with two thin edges just like the center of the blade that grew a little bit thicker than its extremities.

Few creatures have seen its probably not-so-accurate cut, hence its conservation status in almost perfect conditions.

“And I will honor the faith he has put in me all along.”

Enille got up from the lime-covered stone she had chosen to sit on to pass the time, putting the sword back in its proper place: the scabbard beside her waist. Doing so made it simple to see the newest state of peace within the young lady.

“Let's keep walking, Jake. Calendas is just ahead.”

The young woman stepped forward, in such a sudden surge of maturity so huge that even the tone of her voice sounded far more adult than it had a mere thirty seconds ago.

“Little does she know that she will never truly find herself through following the path of the sword.”

Jake followed, not saying a single word until he was close enough. Contrary to what she thought, his perspective couldn't be colder about the facts that presented themselves just a few minutes in the past.

“I know next to nothing about swords, but some things even I can see. She lacks proper fighting stance, doesn't have an idea how to handle her sword properly, and doesn't even have the strength to maintain a good grip when things start to get mean... Not to mention that's the first time I've heard of a swordsman panicking in their own bases to the point of not being able to move at all.”

Enille had not and never would have any talent with a sword. Such was the cold truth.

“From the way she spoke of the teacher, she seems to train for a long time, possibly since childhood. If she can't fight well even after all that process, I highly doubt this girl will be able to grow any better from now on.”

However, it still wasn't something to expose. As any human worth their salt, knowing how to use his tools in order to win was Jake's strong point.

“He seems like a great teacher, Enille.” He said, dragging the creature's heavy furry armor along the way.

"Yes! You can bet he is! I might try to introduce you someday!” She responded, immediately regressing to her previous state of personality. “Oh, I know…! Jake, if you decide to live in Calendas, we can train together!”

“She really is trying to open doors for me, huh?” Inside, he reflected. “You see, Enille… I'm still weighing my options and coming up with a plan. I will leave no guarantees.”

"I see..." She pouted, hugging the left arm. “It's true... You even said that before...”

At that point in their brief acquaintanceship, some points of that girl's psychology were already clear as daylight to the tall boy. As an amateur writer, Jake possessed a fair quotient of knowledge about personality traits and their impact on the human mind — all for the sake of creating as well-rounded and human-like characters as possible.

“If I had to judge from everything I've heard her say about herself and the way she behaves… I'd say she must not have many friends… Or rather, that she wasn't allowed to make any. ”

One word screamed louder than all the others in his mind when he thought of the girl to his left: Loneliness.

“Even I have to admit this is a long shot, but if I’m expected to kick the bucket and hope it lands facing upwards after five flips in the air… I'd say those two from before were the first friends she ever made."

Her anxious and somewhat desperate nature towards him also made Jake reflect in a similar vein. Enille always made a point of proposing something that would make him stick around, whether it was living at his house for a while or training with his teacher.

“She tries to act responsible and adult-like, but turns to childish behavior as soon as things start to go south. It is an urge to impress.”

It was clear that she craved company.

“Huh?” Jake stopped for a second. “Gradually, the road seems to be inclining...”

Looking ahead, he could clearly see the difference in slope on the path, which ascended a few meters in the form of a sudden ramp, requiring a lot more effort on the part of his legs.

“It is because we are approaching Calendas. Look, that must be the tower you saw earlier!”

The otherworldly boy followed the lead of Enille's index finger, his eyes going straight to the massive gray stone tower with a triangular top, made of a brick-colored material.

A few steps forward revealed that the end of the road was a small slope, and that a much friendlier descent awaited them the rest of the way. If he had to judge, Jake would say there was a difference in height of at least a thirty meters between that spot and the apparent entrance to town.

From that point on, Calendas seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions, as if it had swallowed up everything on the way to establish itself. Only a mere stretch of the rock walls was visible, disappearing into the blue horizon. Carved in the stone, a single entrance, guarded by knights in their armor.

The huge, thick rock wall couldn't be any less than twenty meters high.

The bluish elder mountains were seen touching the skies to the far north, spreading their arms in the form of smaller peaks to the east and west, which embraced the whole place, apparently marking the boundaries.

“Was your city as big as this, Jake? You know, Calendas is the second largest city in Alardia!”

"For sure it wasn’t." He lied. “It's a huge city, indeed.”

The teenage Washington DC resident just didn't want having to hand out too many answers.

During his observation, however, he noticed something that could be called "good news".

“'Royal Road — Calendas -Luoliverre'…” He repeated the words told on a road sign. “Ah, so does that mean I can read?”

It was a simple plank of wood held up by a log to his right, plunged into the earth just beyond the fence. The written symbols much more resembled runes than anything else, yet the fact that the interpretation came about in such a natural way was somewhat unexpected.

“Luoliverre is a coastal town. This road is mostly used for two-way freight transport. Things come and go all the time!” Enille wasted no time in explaining.

“Just out of curiosity… How long would it take me to get to Luoliverre from here?”

Enille had already heard most of the story of how he found her during their walk, and didn't want to delve too deeply into thinking about the scenario in which the boy would have chosen to take the other direction when meeting the road, but realizing that it wouldn't hurt to entertain his curiosity, she decided to answer.

“Well, if we're talking about a carriage ride… A day and a half at least, with the first small village being more than eight periods away from here.”

"I see." The answer came promptly.

With the city just ahead of them, there was no longer any reason to wait. Taking a step forward, the chain-mailed swordswoman led the way.

“Let’s go, Jake! I want to show you the city up close!”