25-Sparring Fight
Nara looked at the two girls for a few seconds with an expression that she couldn't understand. Then she made a sign with her finger. "Elrohir, bring them down." she said.
"As you command, boss."
A brown-haired elf emerged from the bushes behind Nara and pointed his hands at the tree where the girls were.
A green energy formed in the air and started to circle around Elrohir's hands. Then another branch appeared near the branch where the two sisters were and gently held them, lowering them slowly to the ground.
When the branch brought them close enough to the ground, the two girls jumped down softly.
As soon as Elora landed, she ran towards Nara and hugged her.
"I knew you would find us!" she said with a cute smile.
Nara smiled as she looked at the little girl and stroked her head.
"Protecting you is my duty, Princess Elora. Besides, acting cute won't prevent your punishment." Nara said, still with the same smile on her face.
Elora's cute expression quickly faded as she looked at that smile.
She let go of Nara's hug and said, "It was worth a try." as she walked to her sister's side.
"Now that we have found you, we can return to the empire. You can tell us what happened on the way." Nara said.
"We should wait for Swain before we go." Aerith said, raising one finger.
Nara frowned in surprise when she heard these words.
"Who?" she asked.
"I'm already here." a harsh voice answered from behind.
Nara heard a harsh voice as soon as she asked the question.
Nara and Elrohir turned around in shock and took a defensive position.
*I couldn't even sense him approaching.* They both thought.
As they turned around, a figure covered in green blood came out of the shadows.
The figure's fair skin and black clothes were stained with green blood everywhere.
"Identify yourself!" Elrohir shouted, looking at Swain.
"Don't worry, I'm not an enemy." Swain said with a small smile and raised his hand to show that he was not an enemy.
Although he tried to show that he was not an enemy, the blood stains on his clothes, the heavy smell of blood on him and the killing intent that put pressure on the surroundings made it hard for the two guards to believe that he was not an enemy.
"Just answer my question!" Elrohir said in an authoritative tone and moved one hand to the hilt of his sword on his waist.
Swain frowned when he saw his movement.
*It would be easy to deal with the male elf. The real problem is the female elf, judging by her energy reserves, she is stronger than me. No matter how destructive my demon energy is, I don't think I can kill mid-level divine beings with my current state.*
"Are you ignoring us?" Nara asked. She activated the ether inside her and stayed alert when she saw that Swain was not talking.
*His killing intent is too high. I can't imagine how many people he killed for this.* Nara thought and glanced at the two girls behind her from the corner of her eye.
The two sisters were sweating and unable to move because of the pressure of the killing intent.
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*Killing intent is pushing them hard. This is a good opportunity for them to improve their senses. Killing intent is not yet enough to harm them.*
There were two ways for elves to improve their senses. One was to just wait. Thanks to the blessing of nature, an elf's senses would increase as they aged. The other and more effective way was to sharpen their senses in battles and life-and-death situations.
"My name is Jericho Swain. I was sent here as an envoy by Asgard." Swain said expressionlessly.
Actually, he was almost sure that the elves would not recognize him when he said these words.
"I have never heard this name before. Asgard would send well-known names as envoys and until now that name was Commander Roland." Nara said, frowning.
*I knew it.*
"My name has been forgotten... Maybe he would know my name if your grandfather was alive." Swain said and paused.
"Also, Commander Roland is dead." he added. A big smile appeared on his face as he said this.
Nara continued to look at Swain with a cautious expression. She didn't know what decision to make. She could have taken Swain to the empire if there weren't two princesses behind her.
*Speaking of princesses, Aerith seemed to know him.*
Nara thought of this with an enlightenment and looked at the princesses behind her. She activated the ether inside her and reduced the pressure on the two girls.
The two girls started to breathe deeply and knelt on the ground.
Elrohir looked at Swain cautiously, while Nara walked towards the two girls and supported them to stand up.
"Damn it! Are you trying to kill us!" Elora shouted, looking at Swain.
Swain tilted his head, not understanding these words.
"What are you talking about, kid?" he said.
Elrohir gritted his teeth and clenched his teeth when he heard Swain's disrespectful words.
"Your killing intent... It's suppressing us." Aerith said breathlessly.
Swain's eyes shone with understanding when he heard these words.
"Well, I just came out of a battle. That's why I can't control my killing intent right now. I forgot that elves have good senses." Swain said, with a shameless smile on his face.
"So you know each other." Nara said and looked at Swain with an apologetic expression.
"I saved these brats' lives." Swain said.
Nara looked at the blood on Swain's clothes and the smile on his face and said, "I see, let me accompany you to the Elf Empire."
"I'm right behind you." Swain said.
...
It would take them a few hours to get to the Elf Empire from where they were.
Actually, if Swain wasn't a guest, they could run to the empire faster. But that would be too rude.
After all, Swain was a guest.
Nara told Swain stories about the elves during their journey. While doing this, she also observed Swain's movements.
Her eyes first caught Swain's missing left arm. She wondered how he lost his arm. But she thought it was not appropriate and did not ask him how he lost his left arm.
Fortunately, there was someone else who didn't care about that.
"How did you lose your arm, Swain?" Elora asked.
"Elora!" Nara shouted, turning to the girl.
"No problem." Swain said and paused.
"I don't have a glorious or emotional story. My arm was cut off by a scoundrel." Swain said emotionlessly.
"Is that all?" Elora asked.
"Yes." Swain said.
"I'm sorry for your arm. I hope the scoundrel who cut your arm goes to hell." Elora said with a vindictive voice.
Nara sighed in defeat when she heard Elora's rude words.
"Behave yourself, Elora, you are a princess." Nara said.
"Don't worry, I'll send him to hell as soon as I get the chance." Swain said with a playful smile.
…
The journey was interrupted by a break because of the exhaustion of the two sisters. It was normal for them to be tired. After all, they had been running from a goblin for a long time. On top of that, Nara had extended the road to show Swain around.
The group stopped at the edge of a lake in an open area and waited for the girls to catch their breath.
The two girls sat on top of a rock and threw stones into the lake.
Meanwhile, Elrohir came to Swain's side and said, "I heard that the Asgardians fight very well."
Swain understood where this conversation was going as soon as he heard these words.
"If you ask me, they are not that impressive." Swain replied and looked at Elrohir with his bright purple eyes.
Elrohir raised his eyebrows in surprise at Swain's answer. But he quickly recovered and asked the question he intended.
"Would you mind having a sparring match with me? I have always wanted to see how the Asgardians fight." he said.
Nara stayed silent when she heard the conversation between the two. She sat next to the rock where the girls were sitting and leaned against the rock.
She would enjoy watching a sparring match between them. After all, she was curious about the outcome of this fight.
She had never heard Swain's name before. But according to what he said, he must have been very old. If you add that Asgard had sent him as an envoy, he must have been very strong.
Nara, on the other hand, was curious about how much Elrohir had improved. Even though she had trained him herself, she wondered how he would fight against someone else.
Elrohir was expected to be the next royal guard. He was very talented. But he had an Asgardian in front of him.
Asgardians were known for their cruelty, endless endurance and pure power.
These features alone were enough to easily defeat Elrohir. But Swain had no left arm. This would give Swain a big disadvantage in a real fight.
*Looking at the long sword on his waist, he prefers to keep his distance because he has no left arm. This makes sense. After all, it would be hard for him to use a spear with one arm.* Nara thought.
"I have no problem." Swain said and the two walked to the middle of the clearing.
This event caught the attention of the two girls who were throwing stones into the lake and they turned and looked at them.
"Will this be good for him?" Aerith asked, looking at Nara.
"Don't worry, Elrohir won't be harsh on him. This is just a matter of intimidation." Nara said with a reassuring smile.
"I wasn't talking about Swain..." Aerith whispered.
Nara couldn't say anything to Aerith before the sparring match between the two started.