“…When Yuri asked us to have fun, she probably did not mean it like this,” Alnea said, panting, and sweating, as he grabbed Cecilia’s right hand before it could reach his face, and locked her movement by stepping in towards her, placing his left knee between her legs, looking for a moment’s respite. But how could Cecilia let him rest?

“She does not have to know about this,” Cecilia said, yanking her hand out of his, just as she brought in her left hand, and pressed it against his chest, using it as a leverage to gather more power in her right hand, before bringing it down on him once again. “And even if she does learn about this… I am sure she will understand. As long as we are having fun…”

“…Do I look like I am having fun?” Alnea said, crossing his hand in front of his chest, using them to block Cecilia’s punch, before cursing himself. He had almost forgotten how heavy her punches could be. And that was back when she was just a Seed. As an Intermediate Stage False Wanderer, that too, one who had practised some of the Blood Crystal Martial Styles, her punches were far heavier than what he remembered them to be.

Then again, there was a reason why she preferred her fists and claws over other weapons. Blocking her punches was not a good idea. Especially not with a weakened and battered body, still recuperating from their last battle. It would have been better to just deflect her attacks. Even better if he could have dodged them altogether. He had no intention of fighting in the first place, after all. But it was already too late to regret, so he could only grit his teeth, and continue blocking her punches.

“Say that after you stop grinning to yourself,” Cecilia said, following her punch with a left hook, and a knee in his stomach. Or at least that was her intention. And if not for his quick reaction, she may even have succeeded. But he was not the same Alnea as he once used to be. Though Cecilia had improved at a terrifying rate, he had not just stood still either. On the contrary, he had broken through to the Seventh Level a couple of days ahead of her.

And it was not just their Spirit Power. In the past year and a half, regardless of whether it was his strength, experience, or skills, all of them had been honed to the point where he would not lose to any of his peers from the Orthodoxies. At least not those from some average Grand clans. Two years were just not enough to match the nearly ten years’ worth of efforts made by the Supreme and Origin clans for their heirs. He was getting closer though. All he lacked was just a little time…

In any case, though he was not in his best state, he was not so weak as to be beaten unilaterally either. Especially since Cecilia was not in a much better shape either. Feeling the breath of her attacks, he instinctively shifted his hands to block her punch once again, while lifting his left knee to not only block her knee, but also to force her away from him. Which she did, while cursing at him with a glare.

“Pervert! Just where exactly are you attacking me?”

“…You can’t blame me for this,” Alnea said, spreading his hands, while trying to catch his breath. “It was an instinctive reaction.”

“…Yuri was right. You are a pervert through and through.”

“Yuri never said those things though…”

“Shut up, and receive your punishment, pervert!”

“…If you want to fight, then just fight. Why are you trying to malign me too,” Alnea mumbled, while dodging what attacks he could, and blocking what he could not, throwing in some of his kicks and punches from time to time to force her away, and get some breaths in between.

“Shut up, and accept my judgement!”

“…Are you playing the role of a Justice Scholar now?”

“Hmmm… That sounds interesting…”

“Then am I a Trickster?”

“…A Justice Scholar and a Trickster. A tragic l—No! Don’t try to distract me. I am going to punish you for trying to take advantage of me!”

“…Why are you so intent on proving me as a pervert? This whole thing was your idea in the first place.”

“…Are you saying that I am the pervert?”

“I am not saying anything. But the truth is…”

“Shut up, and accept my judgment, Trickster!”

“Tsk. You will never be able to catch me, stupid Herald of Justice,” Alnea said, before turning around, and decisively running away, leaving only a baffled Cecilia on an empty street.

“You… Give me a stop, Alnea Reckless!” Cecilia said, coming back to her senses, and chasing after him. “Why are you running away?”

“…Are you stupid? When have you ever heard of a Trickster fighting a Herald of Justice head on?”

“…That’s just excuses! You are supposed to accompany me today, and not run away!”

Alnea sighed, as he stopped in his tracks, and turned around to face Cecilia. But Cecilia herself had no intention of stopping. It was not until she reached within two steps of him, and looked at the solemn expression on his face, that she came to a stop, and put on a solemn look.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Look around, Lia… We are the only ones left on the street. Do you still think we have time for fooling around?”

“…It is better that we are the only ones left. This way, we can have the whole street to ourselves.”

“…Why do you think everyone left in the first place?”

“Because they are cowards.”

“…You are not wrong. But what exactly are they afraid of?”

“…How would I know what those cowards are afraid of?”

“It is the law enforcement group of the city! They are afraid of being implicated in our fight, and getting caught by the guards along with us.”

“…Right, the guards. I almost forgot about them.”

“Not almost. You completely forgot about them.”

“It’s fine. It’s just some guards. As long as we leave before them come—

“We have been fighting for nearly a quarter of an hour. If we don’t leave now, we will not be able to leave at all.”

“Tsk. Fine. Let’s go. But this is not over.”

Alnea sighed once again, before pulling Cecilia away from the empty street. He was not lying to her. There was a reason why people seldom fought on the streets. Although they were just playing around, the guards would not stand around to reason with them. If they were caught, being fined would be the least of their punishment. If they were caught, that is.

Unlike the guards back in Anneve, the guards in the Lost City did not have a habit patrolling their streets. As such, the possibility of them being caught by some guards happening to be passing them by was not high. But that was just in a normal case. He was sure that there must have been some spies from their enemies amongst the people who had ran away earlier. And those people surely would not miss the chance to trouble him…

“What are you thinking about?”

“…Nothing,” Alnea said, shaking his head, while suppressing irrelevant thoughts to the bottom of his Heart. “Are you sure that you want to spend our time playing around like this?”

“…How did you and Vestia spend your time yesterday?”

“…Walking around the streets and talking about a few things. Like her clan… and a little bit about herself.”

“And?”

“…And that’s it,” Alnea said, trying not to recall his shameful experience of the day before. “So? What are we going to do?”

“…Walking around does not sound bad. And you should indeed learn a bit more about my clan… Alright, it is decided then,” Cecilia said, nodding to herself, as they slowed down their steps after reaching a part of the city that was not deserted. “Let’s talk about my clan. As you know already, although the Serpia clan is not divided like the Lotus clan, we also have our own division. Mostly in the form of different veins.

“Here, from veins, I mean branches, like the ones of the Lotus clan, except, unlike the branches of the Lotus clan, all the veins in my clan have an equal status. Kind of like different branches of the same tree. The—

“I know what veins are.”

“…Do you what the veins of my clan are?”

“…No.”

“Then just shut up and listen,” Cecilia said, putting in dissatisfaction for being interrupted. “As I was saying, all the veins of my clan are equal in status. But that does not mean they also have equal say in the clan. We Serpians have always believed in the philosophy of strength. The greater the strength, the more right one has to speak. And the greatest right belongs to the Grand Wanderer. Only Grand Wanderers could decide the future of a clan. This is probably also the reason why only Grand Wanderers are qualified to establish a vein in my clan.

“Of course, just because they are qualified, does not mean that all Grand Wanderers establish their own veins. Most tend to stay in the vein they were born in. There are nearly forty veins in my clan, but more than two hundred Grand Wanderers. And of them all, the vein I belong to has the greatest number of Grand Wanderers. That’s how my mother became the matriarch. However, most of the matter in the clan is decided by the council of Elders, formed by the group of Mystic Wanderers in the clan. They…”

“Stop,” Alnea said, motioning Cecilia to stop with his left hand, while pinching the bridge of his nose with his right hand. “That’s not exactly what I meant… Forget it. You don’t need to talk about your clan.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Didn’t you say that Vestia talked about her clan with you?”

“I did.”

“Then why I can I not do the same? Do you dislike my clan that much?”

“…It is not that I dislike your clan, but that I already know everything about it. Rather, that was one of the first things I learnt when I began laying my foundation.”

“…I don’t believe you. You are just making excuses to get me to stop talking…”

“…How about I give you your surprise?”

“…I will believe you for now… But I swear to Poros. This better not be like your last surprise, or else…”

…Maybe he should have continued role playing with her. Worst case, they would have just paid some fine… Alnea shook his head, and suppressed his irrelevant thoughts, before reaching into the pouch hanging by his waist, and taking out a scroll and a black token.

“…This token,” Cecilia said, hesitantly reaching out to take the token in her hand. “It is—

“An Eternal Flame,” Alnea said. “Or at least a prototype of a pseudo Eternal Flame.”

“…If you want to get rid of me, then just say so.”

“Why would I want to get rid of you?” Alnea said, shaking his head with a wry smile. “This is not the Glyph Token I prepared for the Black Desert Trial, but one of its earlier prototypes. A more stable pseudo Eternal Flame, albeit with a lower destructive prowess. It is still an Eternal Flame though, and should be enough to take out most of the Peak Stage False Wanderers in the city.”

“That’s still a dangerous item.”

“It may be dangerous, but right now, we are in an even dangerous situation,” Alnea said, forcefully stuffing the token and the scroll in Cecilia’s hand. “I want you to keep it for emergencies.”

“…Fine. I will keep the Token. But what about this scroll? It’s not what I think it is, right?”

“…Don’t worry. I am not suicidal. And I do not have any masochist tendencies either.”

“…I would not be so sure about the last part.”

“…In any case, this is not what you think it is. As for what it really is… You will have to go back and read it yourself to know.”

“…Why can I not read it now?”

“…Because it is a surprise,” Alnea said, handing over both the scroll and the token to the baffled girl. “Just listen to me this once.”

“…Alright,” Cecilia said, as she put away the scroll and the token, even if a little hesitantly. “What next?”

“…Next, let’s have some fun.”