A few hours later, Dillim was still marching on. He was still carrying an unconscious Keith, but he had moved him over his shoulder. This way it was easier for him to carry him.

Dillim had set his eyes upon the town of Renewa. The teleport gate he wanted to use with Keith was located in the middle of this town. After the uses of the teleport gates were discovered, towns had been constructed with them as their center. Much like how most other towns were built around churches.

Dillim wanted to acquire a few items for on the road, he was already carrying a backpack with some necessary items like a tent, but he still wanted some other items. He didn’t bring his full metal armor, so he was dressed in a simple leather armor. He had everything necessary for himself; his goal was to buy some items for Keith when they got there. He wanted to buy Keith another weapon and some armor. Keith had only been wearing nobility’s clothes. Those would attract too much attention on the road, and they wouldn’t serve any other purpose than to show off wealth. Furthermore, Dillim thought it would be a good idea to have Keith continue practicing with a weapon. Even though Keith’s talent had been deemed as the lowest possible, Dillim still thought it a good idea to have him temper his body by swinging a sword. He thought Keith would also be able to easier deal with the loss of his big brother.

Dillim kept marching with Keith upon his shoulder and they slowly but surely left the proximity of the Royal Capital. The Royal Capital of Lirix was simply called the ‘Royal Capital’. People had always done this as long as the city had existed.

After walking for a while, the surroundings were slowly changing from a city with a lot of big houses stacked next to each other, to a landscape where occasional castles would pop up. Everything in the surroundings of the Royal Capital was extremely wealthy; the poor weren’t tolerated.

After leaving the Royal Capital completely, a big landscape that stretched out to the horizon came into view. There was a huge field, simply containing grass and a few trees here and there, but no houses or people could be seen. They would have to traverse this plane of grass, until they could reach Renewa. The Royal Capital was located relatively close to the teleport gate.

Keith suddenly stirred from upon Dillim’s shoulders, indicating that he had woken up. Dillim felt that Keith had moved and gently dropped him to the ground. He still wasn’t sure how Keith would process the news, so he could only silently look at Keith.

Keith said nothing, and simply stared at his feet for a few seconds. Then he broke the silence by speaking up: “What happened?”

“They left,” Dillim answered with a grim face. “Then I took you and proceeded to march on. We will reach the town Renewa after a day of walking.” Dillim answered a little awkwardly, and after his explanation, he simply ignored Keith and marched forward. He didn’t know how to comfort Keith in any way, so he simply gave him some space, walking on in silence.

Keith noticed Dillim wouldn’t say anything else, so he simply followed in his footsteps. His usual demeanor was nowhere to be seen. He was walking, but the usual spring couldn’t be seen in his step. He was looking at the ground while following Dillim, seemingly pondering over some matter.

Dillim didn’t realize how much impact the death of his brother had on Keith. Keith wasn’t even 10 years old yet, so it can only be imagined in how much grief he would feel.

They marched on in silence for quite some time, until Dillim couldn’t hold it any longer. He suddenly stopped walking, resulting in Keith bumping into him.

“You… what are you going to do?”

After bumping into Dillim, Keith looked up and listened to Dillim’s question. After hearing his question, all the grief from Keith’s face momentarily disappeared, making way for an expression full of anger. But the anger dissipated as soon as it came, leaving only an indifferent look in its place. Keith suddenly smiled, and casually answered Dillim, “I’ll kill them all,” Keith said. Then the smile vanished from his face, and he kept walking. It was a vague question, but somehow, Keith understood what Dillim asked.

Seeing Keith pass him, Dillim could see the grief-stricken face of Keith again, almost breaking his heart.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to do anything about Keith, because his own skills were lacking. He could clearly see the twisted smile that appeared on Keith’s nine-year-old face. He knew that he couldn’t let Keith face this too long, or he would grow up to become a twisted person.

Dillim knew he had to get Keith a new weapon as soon as possible, then Dillim would discipline him to the core. Dillim knew how to temper and train people, so he would use that to have Keith vent his emotions instead. Otherwise he feared that Keith would continue to stack them up, twisting his personality in the process.

Keith had always endured his previous years filled with cruel treatment, but he never let it show on his face. He was always happy and enthusiastic, if this were to suddenly change, it would be a real shame, Dillim thought. He thought that the loss Keith faced would be almost impossible to bear for a nine-year-old.

Seeing the small back of Keith walking in front of him, Dillim couldn’t help but to grit his teeth and walk towards Keith. Having reached him, Dillim grabbed Keith’s middle with his left hand, and placed him between his arm and his side again.

Then he proceeded to run towards Renewa. Keith couldn’t believe his eyes while he was being carried. The surroundings were changing so fast that he couldn’t even register the objects they passed. He had clearly seen how Airon, the 7th Prince’s teacher, was able to walk leisurely while moving as fast as someone who was running, but he never expected Dillim to be able to do that as well. He was momentarily distracted from his thoughts, and simply paid attention to the fast-changing scenery.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Dillim wanted to rush to Renewa as fast as possible, he couldn’t bear waiting a day to reach the city. He wanted to distract Keith as fast as possible by training him, but he wanted to first get Keith a sword.

‘This speed, it’s on the grand sword master level!’ Keith thought, seeing how fast the scenery was changing.

Because of the enormous momentum, there was no room for any sort of conversation during the journey. Keith thought that moving at such a fast speed would surely result in an enormous pressure, but somehow, there wasn’t any at all. The huge wind pressure and air resistance were simply moving out of Dillim’s way. It awoke a feeling that was hard to explain within Keith. He only knew he yearned for power even more.

After what felt like a long time, Dillim suddenly stopped moving at such a high velocity. Keith could see the surroundings again, and to his shock, it had only been a few hours since Dillim carried him, but he could already see the outskirts of a village. ‘Didn’t he say it would take a day’s walk to reach the town?!’ Keith thought. It hadn’t occurred to him that this might be a different village altogether, but surprisingly, it was actually Renewa.

“Alright, quickly follow me,” Dillim said, putting Keith upon the ground again. Then Dillim continued walking with a fast pace towards the city, expecting Keith to follow him obediently.

The outskirts of the town were filled with people. There was a variety of homes, with cottages that housed poor people and luxurious looking houses for nobility freely mixed together. There were a lot of inns, and various armed people could be seen walking around. They looked like they possessed a lot of strength, while they all vigilantly walked towards their own destinations.

Keith felt like they were the so-called adventurers he had heard a lot about.

“Hey, Dillim, will we visit the adventurer’s guild too?” Keith asked Dillim, who was walking ahead of him.

“No. We’re short on time, so we’ll get some items, and then we’ll be on our way.”

Hearing this reply, Keith who had just recovered his mood a little turned gloomy again.

They continued onwards, and slowly left the outskirts of the village. It was getting more densely populated, and wild and loud noises could be heard from everywhere. There were soldiers who could be seen frequently patrolling, while at others places, some adventurers were freely brawling outside inns. It was a mixture of grand streets, with a lot of darker alleys.

Keith’s eyes almost popped out of his head; he had never seen a sight like this. His mood gradually recovered again after looking at all the different sights. The only thing Keith was familiar with was the Royal Capital, which only had grand monuments and streets. The only people who frequented there were nobility, knights, or merchants. Keith had never seen such a rowdy mixture of people before. A lot of laughter and fighting sounds could be heard, creating an extremely lively atmosphere.

Keith was blindly following Dillim, completely drowning in his surroundings, but then he noticed Dillim had come to a halt. Keith looked at what was in front of them, and he could see a grand store. There were a lot of people going in and out, but the most noticeable thing was the big piece of metal hanging in front of the shop. It displayed 2 swords crossing with a single shield in front of them.

“We’ll get you a new weapon here,” Dillim’s said with a gruff voice. “Enter.”

Keith didn’t dare delay, and hurriedly entered the shop along with some others. He could see a lot of weapons neatly lined up. There was a huge variety of weapons; swords, daggers, spears, maces, great swords, and many more unfamiliar weapons. Keith ran towards the weapons, and started inspecting all of them. Like most kids, his interest was captured by all the killing tools that were shown off.

While Keith was enamored with all the weapons on display, Dillim walked towards a weapon rack to the side and took out a sword. It was a simple iron sword, looking very sturdy and simple. Then Dillim proceeded to get a wooden sword from another stack at the back of the shop.

A short while later, Keith noticed that Dillim was already standing outside again, waiting for him. He listlessly exited the shop and walked towards Dillim. He still wasn’t in a mood to talk, but seeing that Dillim was walking empty handed, he couldn’t help but be surprised. “Where did the items go? Did you forget to buy anything Dillim?”

Dillim, upon seeing Keith’s surprised look, couldn’t help but to smile. Then he lifted his left hand, seemingly showing off the ring located on his ring finger.

Seeing that ring, Keith simply couldn’t believe what he saw. “A storage ring!” He exclaimed loudly. Those rings were only worn by the top of nobility, and even among them, they were extremely rare. Keith knew the king possessed one, and his second brother, but he didn’t know of any others. He had seen Dillim wear that ring of course, but he never thought it would turn out to be a storage ring.

Storage rings were spatial tools that could store items in a different dimension. Simply through willing it, the wearer could store items, or make them appear. Living things couldn’t be stored, but all dead or inorganic objects could.

“Don’t sweat it, come, follow me,” Dillim said, turning his back on Keith and walking away.

Keith followed him, and they kept walking for a while. When they entered the city, the trajectory of the sun had been at its peak, so in a few hours the sun would go down. After walking for a while, they reached a location within the city that was very peaceful. There was a simple grass field, with a huge fountain at its center.

Dillim signed for Keith to follow him to enter. They proceeded to walk towards the middle of the field. Dillim looked at Keith’s gloomy appearance, and couldn’t help but to grimace. He took out the wooden sword from his ring, and threw it towards Keith. He would instruct Keith in the sword, talent or no talent. He wouldn’t allow the one he would have to protect to be twisted by the fury and grief inside his heart. He would temper Keith’s body slowly, along with his mind. Even though Keith wouldn’t be able to absorb world energy yet, he would at least be able to strengthen his body a little.

Keith saw the wooden object travelling through the air, and he hurriedly caught it.

“Think back to how it felt when you heard your Older Brother died.” Dillim’s voice pierced the silent surroundings. “Think about your brothers, and everyone else who scorned you. Feel your hate for them, feel the grief for the loved ones you lost,” Dillim said seriously. “Feel everything, and put it all in the sword in your hand. Don’t let the feelings consume you, let them explode forth!”

Dillim knew they were harsh words to use on a kid not even ten years old, but Dillim also knew they were necessary.

Dillim saw Keith’s face turn from gloomy to serious. Then Dillim took out another wooden sword from his ring, he slowly adjusted his stance, and readied himself towards Keith.

Right then and there, Dillim smiled for the first time in a long time. Immediately after, his voice could be heard.

“Come!”