It had been days since they Ahvaratsu. They had seen not a single beast yet. It was off putting. Rain hounded in droves from above, and the moon was hidden behind a thick layer of clouds. The four of them moved along a road that was turning to mud as the minutes passed. The topography changed as one moved further north, the trees became taller, darker, and they bore not leaves but pine needles. Between the forests of trees were sometimes large expanses of open fields and rolling hills. They had exited Queendom territory, and there was a small sliver of land that belonged to Irine between the Queendom and the HACA, though there was not much sign of Irine.

Irine had only recently surrounded the Queendom and the HACA in their conquests, thus there was plenty of undeveloped land. Their armies were now northward, further conquering land for their people. Ever since the war with Sidonia broke out, these northern armies have probably been making their way southward. It would only be a matter of time until the full might of the Principality crashed into Sidonia’s western flank. The same story could be said for the eastern flank, where the Jedathari Caliphate had similarly conquered their side of Aleeze, and had sent their armies northward. However, they had no stubborn sub-human holdouts like the HACA and the Queendom locked within their borders.

Alisson had plenty of time on his hands to think while they traveled. He found himself relishing the peace of traveling on foot for days in silence through the nature. Of course, the beasts would sometimes interrupt that peace.

Alisson rose his hand up, the ears atop his head twitching. He was thankful for the fact that out here in the wilderness, he didn’t have to worry about using his manifestation as much as he could; for his stamina in keeping it activated grew in proportion to its use, like a muscle. He could hear their movements despite the rain, the only thing the rain helped them conceal was their scent to the beasts.

The beasts knew him and Celis. Most of them seemed to sense the power that they held, sense the scores of beasts they had killed with ease in the past, and avoid them. There were some that, despite this, saw two weakling apprentices, and attacked regardless.

Out of the shrubbery emerged the first of many. A Roamer, or ‘Dog’ as the humans sometimes called them. They were quadrupedal and bore sickly white skin. Patches of fur and hide sometimes hung loosely from their bodies. Their paws were large, clawed things. Their jaws were their main weapon however, The common Roamer saw the greatest variation among the beasts, in aesthetics and shape and size, but also intelligence and danger. There were some Roamers deep within Freigat whom Alisson swore had the intelligence of veteran swordsman, had abilities like camouflage and acidic spit, among others. However, these were not those kinds of beast. These were the common trash that roamed the land, hunting lone travelers and animals, and in bigger groups, caravans and military patrols.

“Marenix, Ashlynde, you’re up.”

Alisson spoke calmly in a projected voice. Ashlynde enthusiastically leaped from her mount towards the beast, while Marenix reluctantly dismounted, and ran forward.

The only good thing to come of the beasts attack them was that it gave the apprentices a valuable opportunity, easy prey with strong allies to make sure you had a safe environment to fight them in. Ashlynde, taking after Celis’s aggressive nature it seemed, drew her maces and swung directly at the beasts head from a cobra quick lunge. The roamer evaded, and tried to bite back with its large jaw, howling a deep growl, its pearl-black eyes locked on Ashlynde’s thin frame.

Ashlynde nimbly evaded and Marenix finally swung forward with his broadsword, cutting a deep wound in the beasts side. With a growl, the beast turned and swiped at Marenix’s chest, knocking him back and across the muddy ground. Before the beast could do anything else, a mace smashed directly into its skull, and it fell limply suddenly to the ground.

“Crushed it!” Ashlynde smiled with glee to herself.

“A distraction your strike may have been, Marenix, but beasts do not falter from pain as normal creatures do.” Alisson eyed Marenix as he rose from the mud, his armor seemed to have saved him any major damage. “I have seen even common Roamers function with all their limbs cut off, and cuts across every portion of their body, whilst on fire; These are unrelenting things that will kill you given any chance. You were lucky that was a glancing blow.”

Alisson continued to lecture. “Thus, immobilize them, or strike at their vitals, attacking their hide blindly will do little. Observe now how Celis will dispatch this one’s pack.”

As Alisson had been speaking, the rest of the Roamer’s pack had arrived, but they had not charged in as the first beast had. That was because Celis had dismounted, and stepped toward them slowly. They backed off, growling and howling at her. From under her cloak, she drew the two baselards holstered on her wrists. In an instant, she threw both of them towards either side of the crowd of beasts, and then drew the stilettos from the back of her hip, and charged forth. Her baselards stuck perfectly in the heads of the beasts they had been thrown at, burned with effulgent blue for a moment, before detonating in a magical explosion, engulfing the nearby creatures caught in the blast. Similarly, Celis stabbed with her stilettos, and left the blades embedded in the beasts’ bodies before leaping back, these stilettos too did explode with magic.

Only one beast remained, which charged at Celis. From her back, she drew a long estoc, and met the Roamer’s charge head-on. Despite being smaller, the beast was lifted onto its hind legs as the estoc was rammed into its chest, Celis’s shoulder impacting onto the beasts head and perhaps disorientating it. She threw and explosive punch down at it, which sent it to the ground, where she again rammed her estoc through its skull.

The entire engagement had only last about five seconds, and Celis sighed with boredom, as she went to retrieve her baselards and stilettos.

“Yay! Master is so cool!” Ashlynde cheered.

“We don’t have fancy magic imbuements to do that…” Marenix mumbled.

“You must start with the basics, apprentice. Celis attained those powers only after she became a master of those weapons.” Alisson replied.

“How about you, master?” Marenix asked, looking up to Alisson. “All you’ve done is watch from your horse, you aren’t even armed…What if something came that Celis couldn’t hand on her own?”

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“Well, as you know, High Command saw fit to ill-equip me. I would typically be armed with a rapier, and throwing knives imbued with magic similar to Celis’s weapons. I still have my spells, but yes, if push came to shove, we would be at a disadvantage. Ashlynde is the only one who would have no options without her weapons…”

“Learning magic is boring!”

Ashlynde retorted.

“Don’t talk back to Alisson.” Celis scolded her.

“Uh, right!”

What Alisson had said was only half the truth. Celis was currently at her full fighting power, but that would only be the case for Alisson if he were equipped with a certain white rapier; a weapon he shared a close bond with, that was now locked in the depths of Sidonia’s armory.

…

Nekomata could go days without sleep. As such, when traveling on foot, a party like theirs would move for three days straight, only stopping to rest the horses, and then take a day to rest, while sleeping in shifts to keep watch.

The fire crackled before Alisson, and he stared into it. Marenix was by his side, wiping down his blade with oil. The apprentices at first were averse to the idea of cleaning and maintaining their gear so frequently, but for him and Celis, it was ingrained in them to care for the equipment at every opportunity. Similarly, the apprentices complained about their tendency to eat foraged food rather than the rations they had taken with them, a habit that seemed so natural to himself and Celis, having been faced with starvation multiple times before.

“I’m going to sleep now…Alisson.”

Celis said, hugging him from behind, and then quickly planted a kiss on his ear that made him shiver and frown. Celis giggled and escaped into the tent at their backside along with Ashlynde, who was probably going to take Alisson’s place as Celis’s hug-pillow for the night. The only difference being that Ashlynde didn’t have the strength to escape her vice-like grip if she wanted to.

He didn’t appreciate being made to look like this in front of his apprentice, but he supposed it didn’t matter. Marenix looked on at him with a small frown. As the night progressed, he later said out of the blue.

“I’m a little jealous of you…master.” Alisson looked to Marenix and he continued, “…That you have such a relationship.”

Alisson looked back to the fire. “These things do not happen spontaneously. By the time you realize you have it, it appears normal, and you take it for granted. I’m sure Ashlynde will come around for you at some point.”

Marenix blushed. “D-don’t say that out loud…!”

Alisson smiled and shook his head. “We both know those two girls are heavy sleepers.”

Marenix looked down into his lap, blushing deeper. “Yeah…They’re probably tangled together in the covers…stripped down to their under garments…and…”

Alisson cleared his throat. “You don’t have to fantasize aloud, though.”

…

Later, I was woken up by Alisson and it was our turn to keep watch. I kept busy by tending to my gear with Ashlynde, and giving the horses some water and hay. It doesn’t look like the beasts are too set on bothering us here. I still found it weird that Ashylnde uses two maces in either hand.

“Maybe we’ll get you a couple of axes too.”

“And then I can be more like you!” She looked up, her red eyes sparkling at me. “You have so many weapons!”

Five, but sure. “Yeah, funny thing about that…All of them are weapons I took from opponents.”

“Really?! That’s so cool! They’re like war trophies!”

It looks like Ashlynde has done a total one-eighty on how she views me and Alisson. I’m the one doing all the fighting and with the gear, whereas Alisson has been the boring one, so it only makes sense. I can’t say I’m not displeased with the praise. Alisson has lived a hundred years at the top of the hierarchy, longer than I’ve been alive, but I’ve only recently gotten so strong. If anything, I’m set to become way stronger than him, judging from my awesome explosive growth.

After giving myself more pats on the back, I realize that Alisson faced a long period of stagnation after his own growth spurt, and suddenly feared that I wouldn’t get stronger for a long time just like he did. He told me he spent decades lifting weights and training, and never saw himself actually get any physically stronger or any more precise, until recently with our little trip courtesy of Sidonia.

I spent some time drilling with Ashlynde as well. I thought I got the worse of the two apprentices at first, in that I didn’t get the smart one…But Ashlynde is active and always wants to do something; kind of like me; kind of like a dog. I pet her head after she did well on a drill and she smiled happily. Definitely a dog.

I don’t get why Alisson never treated me like this when I was an apprentice. Just petting and grabbing me and stuff whenever…Well I guess it would’ve been weird since he’s a guy and stuff. But I can do whatever I want to Ashlynde. I thought to myself during my apprenticeship that if I ever got my own cute little apprentice I would just grab them and pick them up and play with them all the time. It’s not far from the truth. I can do whatever I want to her since I’m her master.

I suddenly remember when I myself was graduating, and my friends were giving warnings of weird masters that treated their apprentices badly…Maybe I’ve turned into one of them. But Ashlynde doesn’t seem to mind…most of the time.

After exerting ourselves, we still had more time to kill, so while eating, I spent time answering more of Ashlynde’s questions and telling stories of my last mission. Is this what elders feel like? Having the little ones crowd around you and eagerly listening to your stories? Because it’s a very nice feeling. I could get used to it; Even though I’m only ten years Ashlynde’s senior.

“We also met two spirits…there was this one that lived deep in the Menton forest…She was like the guardian of the forest, preserving it’s diversity and integrity…The other one wasn’t so noble, she was holed up in some rickety old mansion in the north near the cult’s lands…Abducted Alisson the first chance she got while he was wounded and weak, and I had to rescue him. She used a bunch of string to move around dead bodies, but in the end she was just a pushover who helped us out a bunch.”

Ashlynde listened intently. After a moment of looking at her I couldn’t help but wrap my arm around her back and pull her closer. I wish Alisson was like this to me.

“Then there was also this time we ran into a succubus…It was really awkward actually.”

“A succubus? Did she have really big…You know…” Ashlynde made boing-boing motions with her hands under her chest.

“Yeah, it was actually a little scary how big they were. We got in a scuffle but Alisson being Alisson sat down and talked our way out of a confrontation. They’re not really people, just beasts that are good at mimicry.”

Thinking about succubae and illicit acts got my brain going.

“Say Ashlynde…When are you going to be a little more forceful with Marenix…You want him, after all…Right?” I leaned in to Ashlynde’s face with a smirk.

“Wha-…I…I mean…Uh…” She averted her eyes with a blush.

“You need to take initiative, it’s like a fight, and when the time is right…” I pushed her down by her shoulders. “You pounce…And you bite down…” I nuzzled her ear. “And never let go. You can’t let anyone else get too close either.”

“M-master-!” She squirmed in my grip. “T-this is weird…let me go!”

“Even if they say that…” I put my weight over her so she couldn’t move. “You can’t relent…”

“Master-!” She suddenly spoke in a quieter tone, “…Is this all you ever think about…?”

My eyes widened and I recoiled away from her. “Uh, no.”

The rest of the night was left in an awkward silence.

…

They reached the HACA in the days that followed. The country had not a spawl of towns and villages across its territory, no, it was less of a country like the name said. It was a city state. It’s entire being was focused around one large structure. They saw it in the distance as they neared. It looked like a metal ant hill, with tall, gleaming walls that reflected the light of the sun. Though, it was so tall that its central spire reached up toward the clouds. Throughout the structure, they could make out Angels flying in and out of ports and hangars, even from so far away, the glow of their wings and halos were clear.

It was time to meet with the Seraph.

***