Following Ranya's example, Klyran stretched a bit and then approached her for further instructions. The girl then begun then made a motion with her hands and with a nod the two of them then begun.
They ran around the field for a bit, then did some exercises. When Ranya considered it enough, the two of them sparred.
'This is going to be fun' Klyran thought with a smirk while dodging one of her jabs and proceeded to attack her back. It felt exciting for him.
The Ryan didn’t held back, as he knew that this girl could easily match him. Before they even begun, Klyran politely asked to view her status and after a brief explanation of his skill was permitted to do so.
Ranya, on her part, while greatly surprised by the existence of such a skill praised herself for not showing her shock. Though it would be a lie to say that she wasn’t greatly interested in this “status” that the Ryan could see.
'Ohh this is wonderful' she thought with a grin, 'If he uses this skill on Midryl that guy will have to finally admit that I am the strongest of the two'. He hardly resisted throwing her hands up in the air in her happiness.
[Character Information] Name: Ranya Race: Human Occupation: Archer (Level 26), Knifeman ( Level 21), Dual Wielding (Level 20), Combat (Level 22). Strength 14 Vitality 18 Magic 28 Agility 25 Physical Defence 16 Accuracy 27 Magical Defence 26 Luck 12
As usual, after seeing the Character Information, Klyran told Ranya about the numbers that he could see and the system that he managed to work out regarding their classification. He was a bit bitter when he saw that some statuses had bigger numbers than his own, but at the same time it gave him the confidence that he could develop himself.
'One day...' he looked at his hand and glared at the scales barely visible under his human skin, 'I will show them all'
“We should see my brother’s numbers as well. Can’t wait for it” the girl then joyfully laughed.
After discussing a bit more, the two of them went back to sparing. It would be a lie to say that Klyran wasn’t surprised that a human can face him so easily. Thinking back, Klyran considered himself lucky that none of the thieves he faced before wielded magic, or had their numbers bigger his own.
'I guess its true what they say' the serpent remember a phrase amused, 'Only a lucky person can afford to be an idiot'. After thinking that, Klyran felt bad for a second, knowing that intelligence was a sore topic for Aldryn and he hated jokes about him being stupid.
The two of them repeated the routing the whole morning. Then, in the afternoon Midryl joined them and the siblings then took turns in sparing with Klyran. Ranya claimed that the Ryan first had to strengthen his body before she taught him anything else. The brother and sister duo showed him various techniques used in hand to hand combat and made the Ryan exercise some more. By the end of the day, Klyran was more tired than he has ever been in his life, but he was also happy.
More join came to his eyes when he looked at his own character information.
[Character Information] Name: Klyran Race: Ryan Occupation: Swordsman (Level 4), Combat (Level 3) Strength 17 Vitality 21 Magic 18 Agility 17 Physical Defence 21 Accuracy 7 Magical Defence 20 Luck 9
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
'Combat huh?' as the Ryan looked at the new occupation, his eyes sparkled, 'Pity that my swordsmanship is still at Level 3, but Combat is also sweet.'
The Ryan’s body burned like it never did before. He could feel heat emitting from his muscles that were stained the whole day and while it caused him some pain and he was glad for it.
'This must be the muscle fever that the Knights told be about' he happily stretched his hand, but winced at the soreness. 'They told me its a good feeling since it means that my body is becoming stronger... But I am not sure that I like this feeling much' Klyran then gently began to massage his shoulder.
In a single day he managed to increase his strength, defence and vitality by 1 point. He also gained a new skill, Combat, that he learned after he gave up the branch and partook in a hand-to-hand fighting. While it was not much at first glance, it was a lot for a first day in Klyran’s book.
Behind him, the two siblings were, as per usual, arguing. After Midryl appear in the field, Ranya didn’t miss the chance and had the Ryan tell her the status of her younger brother. It didn’t surprise Klyran by much when he saw that the numbers were rather similar.
[Character Information] Name: Midryl Race: Human Occupation: Archer (Level 26), Knifeman ( Level 21), Dual Wielding (Level 20) Strength 18 Vitality 18 Magic 25 Agility 25 Physical Defence 19 Accuracy 27 Magical Defence 24 Luck 12
The biggest difference between the two of them was that while Ranya was better in magic, Midryl had the advantage in strength.
It was only after the three of them arrived in front of Zevram’s house did Klyran felt that something was off. The two oracles stood there looking at them.
“You had fun?” Aldryn asked looking at the three of them and when Klyran nodded, he gave a sigh and his shoulder slumped, “I’m glad”, he said with a smile.
“Why does it feel like you are saying goodbye?” the Ryan could not help but ask.
'Is he... leaving?' the serpent's eyes glanced all over the blonde, 'He didn't tell me that we were going somewhere this evening' his eyes then grew confused, 'Or did I.... forget? No way.'
“Because I am”, the blonde then offered a sad smile, “For now at least”
'He is... alone?' the Ryan grew confused.
“Where are you going?” Klyran frowned, not liking this feeling of being left behind.
“There are some things that I need to take care of”, Aldryn simply said, refusing to elaborate.
“Then I am going with you”, the Ryan then declared taking a step closer to the priest.
“You should stay here and train”, the blonde said and put a hand on Klyran’s shoulder, “You want to train with the Kenman don’t you?” he asked despite knowing the answer, “Beside, by the time Ranya and Midryl will be done with you I will come back.”
'He is trying to trick me' the serpent only glared back at Aldryn.
“Why can’t I go with you?” Klyran asked, remembering all the times when others thought that something was too dangerous for him and told him to stay put.
“You came to this world to become stronger no?” Aldryn asked again, “You can’t do that with me, not now at least. You should stay a bit with the Greenyards and train with them. Then, when I come back, I promise that the two of us will go back to the mountain and see the Kenman again”, the blonde then gave a cheeky smile, as if already imagining annoying the older man. He also didn't fail to notice the slight twitch in Klyran's lips, which the blonde wasn't sure if it was a sign of annoyance or something else.
“How long will you be gone?” the Ryan then asked defeated, his shoulders dropping.
“A month, maybe two at most”, the priest said gently, “It should be enough time to learn a thing or two from the Greenyards and you should take pride in it. They rarely teach outsiders. As a matter of fact, I believe that you are the fourth person in history to be taught by them”.
With one last nod and goodbye, Aldryn departed from the village, leaving his new friend behind. For some reason, despite parting many times with many friends, this time, it felt different. Aldryn’s heart felt heavy and deep inside, it felt as if he betrayed Klyran by leaving him with Zevram and the siblings, but the priest new that it couldn’t be helped.
'Last time when I had this feeling was...' the blonde gripped the cloth covering his chest, hating the way his heart throbbed.
"Was...?" the Thrae suddenly spoke, highly interested in the oracle's past.
'No... it's nothing' he shook his head and smiled again and the fox fell silent. It remembered the last time when it tried to pry into the priest's past and it didn't end well.
As the blonde walked farther and farther away, Klyran suddenly felt like a stranger. He begun to wonder if Zevram and the two sibling will treat him the same now that the Oracle of Light was gone.
“Let’s go inside”, Midryl then said with a grin and clasped his shoulder.
“Yes” Ranya nearly shouted, “I am starving”, she then took the two boys by the arm and dragged them to the house.
At the same time, Zevram could not help but look at Aldryn's back, wondering if he should join him on this quest. While he knew that the other oracle didn’t reveal everything to him and kept a few details to himself, he also understood the need of at least one of the remaining in the South, since Ylvis will be joining the blonde.
'At least a bit longer', the Oracle of Wind could not help but think, 'Just let me live peacefully for a bit longer', he thought with a sigh, feeling dread creeping on him and seeing constant darkness from the corner of his eyes.
'It simply stood there for over a decade... And now... It seems like it is starting to slowly move toward us'. Zevram then nervously glanced around his forest. There was great unease gripping his heart. An unease that he wasn’t sure if it came from something that he felt would happen in the future, or from Aldryn’s tenancy to hide things and think that every problem in this world was his fault and he should be the one to solve it. It was a habit that he both loved and hated about the older priest.