Windcrest hooves clopped rhythmically as he kept up with Marcus' horse. It had been four long years since the horse last left Elfheim. Khal sat comfortably in the saddle as he practiced his cladding. It had taken him many years before he finally excelled at cladding Windcrest. Besides being an advanced technique, Windcrest was still growing and with that, he was faster and stronger every day. Khal needed to constantly adjust his technique to facilitate this. Now, Windcrest was a full fletch battle steed, ready to take the world by storm. It had also managed to quiet down and obey Khal's every command over the years. Now that it was accustom to him, the horse adored Khal and loved running around with him, especially while cladded. Although the horse could only achieve rudimentary communication using world energy, it was able to get closer to Khal.

"Grandfather, how long will it take us to reach the capital?" Khal questioned his grandfather. It was finally time for him to attend Skystead Academy. He had sent a letter to Erik in advance, explaining his travel plans. Marcus had taken the responsibility of delivering the letter for him, to which Khal didn't mind. Maybe his grandfather was just as excited as he was.

"About a week or so," Marcus said absentmindedly. Khal squinted at both the response and the sun shining in his eyes. They were moving south of Elfheim City, on Topaz Road. Besides Azothel City where House Calum resided and Teal City where House Stigs resided, the rest of Igbal was barren. There were a few unnamed villages near the marshlands south of Teal City but for the most part, it was a large expanse of flatlands.

Two weeks had already passed since the group left Elfheim City and they were approaching the bridge that led to Braxton. Tiger River completely separated the north and south of Seabo, needed a single bridge in each northern district to take them towards southern Seabo. Braxton district was controlled entirely and named after Duke Braxton himself. Many had debated who was named first, the district or the man. Many would argue that Lord Braxton came first since he was a legendary figure in Seabo. While Marcus was the most powerful man in Seabo, Duke Braxton held the highest political office as the Duke. There were only three Dukes in Katar, one in each of the regions, Seabo, Talawa, and Cormac.

"Have you been able to pass the bottleneck from Knight to Senior Knight?" Marcus finally asked Khal after a long period of silence. Khal had grown to love his grandfather dearly. Some of his ways had even started rubbing off on Khal. Although strict, his grandfather did everything out of love. He was a man that could rival Lord Tommel when it came to military knowledge. In fact, Khal was sure he had Lord Tommel beat if it really came down to it. Marcus' strategic mind was second to none as far as Khal was concerned. Thunderfist was the name given by the King due to his prowess while the Red King labeled him the immovable after the Gusto Empire failed to take any of the Katarian strongholds since Marcus was in charge. Khal couldn't even remember reading about a more decorated soldier beside his grandfather. If there was, then that person was definitely not from Seabo.

"I haven't yet grandfather. Maybe it's the lax environment. I will need to spar a bit more frequently. You rarely come home so there is no one to spar with. If only you and granduncle would allow me to spar with the soldiers," Khal admitted, a bit cheeky for emphasis. Marcus only laughed at him, "Maybe so Khal, maybe so." He would not allow himself to fall into that trap. It had worked on him one too many times already and he wouldn't be called the immovable if he continued to lose ground with his grandson.

"Your mother would be proud of the man you've become," Marcus declared with a smile on his face. Khal had certainly made him proud. A masterclass Knight at the age of twelve was a frightening thing. Even he was only at the second-class Knight level at this age. "Your father too," he then added. Khal tensed up at that. Four years had passed since his father went with Sagdel. Khal was uncomfortable knowing that his father was with that madman, but it was better than dying at least. "You received any word from father?" Khal probed. Even though they were both always at each other's throat, Marcus had managed to deliver a letter or two for Avery from time to time. Khal wasn't sure where his father was exactly, but Marcus had continuously refused to say. "Not this time, not many know of our departure or our route. Cheer up, when you're finished at the academy I'll take you to see him."

Khal heart fluttered a little at his grandfather's comforting words. If he could see his father after this, then it would be worth it. He fixed himself on his saddle, "How long until the bridge?" Khal was begging to feel uncomfortable on his horse. His grandfather had promised to set camp at the bridge, but they had been riding for hours already.

Marcus wasn't given the time to respond when a horse came speeding toward them. "General, the scouts reported that a few bandits are camped out at the bridge," Alec said suddenly as he rode up to Khal and Marcus. Groaning, Marcus turned towards Khal, "You complained that you need a sparring partner, right? You go deal with the bandits on your own. The unit will stop here." Marcus then raised his hand, signaling for his unit of twenty-five to stop in their tracks.

Khal smiled and nodded his head before taking off further ahead. It didn't matter how many bandits they were, he had been itching for a fight for four years now. The closest he had gotten to a fight was when his cousin, Teige, kept taunting him after his return from Skystead Academy. Becoming a Knight was the prerequisite to graduate and Teige had finally managed it at sixteen. It was thanks to Jasper's reminder to remain low key that kept Khal from teaching him a lesson.

Windcrest happily galloped, almost gliding in the wind as it raced towards the bridge. It was an old stone bridge with wooden rails on either side. The wood was broken in many places, with small vines wrapping around them, keeping it held together. Just before the bridge, Khal could see a group of men sitting next to a campfire with a broken carriage halfway in the river. Two of the occupants of the carriage was laying on the dirt, one with a gut wound while the other had arrows sticking out of his corpse.

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Noticing Khal's horse approaching, one of the bandits whistled to the others before they all stood up. Khal slowed down his horse until it stopped before he dismounted. He manipulated the world energy around him to convey what he needed to say to Windcrest. Neighing, the horse ran out of sight quickly, leaving Khal alone. Although he knew he shouldn't act recklessly when fighting, Khal really needed a straight up confrontation. He approached the men slowly before stopping a few feet in front of them. "Well, you're a long way from where ever you came from lad. Mind telling us who you may be?" one of the bandits said. This one had a straw hat on his head with his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Just passing through. In fact, I've been meaning to meet up with my friends. Two young lads to be specific. They were supposed to meet me at the last village back at the marshlands. That right there looks like their carriage actually," Khal mocked as he pointed to the broken carriage.

"Don't listen to him boss, I made sure nobody would be expecting this here carriage."

"Shut up!" The man in the straw hat said as he spat on the floor. "Who exactly are you? This is our turf." Suddenly a bandit further back stretched his bow to the limit, waiting for the leader to give him the signal. "You best answer quickly lad, Ralph there has sweaty fingers," the leader said with a sneer.

"I'm no one important. Just a wanderer here to seek justice," Khal said before quickly unsheathing his sword.

"You!" The leader screamed as he signaled for Ralph to shoot. The arrow whistled as it cut through the air towards Khal. With a simple sidestep, Khal evaded the arrow, only to see an ax descending swiftly on his head. Smiling, Khal cladded his sword with a thick pale orange glow before slashing up towards the ax. His sword was far faster than the ax, connecting with flesh as it smoothly curved through the air. The attack was so fast that the man was unaware until he saw his severed arm drop to the dirt along with his ax. Yes, this was what he was missing. Khal giggled to himself as all of Marcus' teachings resounded in his mind. Attack was the best defense. He had ditched his shield, opting for dual swords instead. Unfortunately, his skill with the blade was far too low to use dual weapons.

The bandit screamed in agony as he held his bleeding stump with his other hand. Khal wasn't given much time to celebrate though, the bandit leader was already directly in front of him with his own sword cladded. Surprised, Khal inspected the color quickly. Oh, pale orange. The two swords clashed against each other, causing a metallic ring to echo out. Khal's sword arm vibrated while he stepped back a little. Shit, he's strong. Khal knew that although spirit energy caused everyone to experience their growth spurt as the age of twelve, he had continued to grow despite that. He hadn't reached his peak yet and it seemed like he wouldn't until he was at least fifteen. He gripped his sword firmer and prevent it from slipping out of his hand. It hurt, the attack was heavy.

"I'll skin you alive you fucker!" the leader screamed again, dashing forward, not giving Khal any time to adjust himself. This time, Khal cladded his dagger and threw it behind him, killing an attacker behind him before the leader could approach. In one fluid motion, Khal then exchanged a few more blows with the leader before having to dodge another sudden attack at his back. Before he could attack again, he was forced to roll out of the way just in time to avoid an arrow. He converted his roll into a flip as he dodged another ax, only to see the leader in front of him again. Although there were just four more opponents remaining, the leader was far stronger than he realized. It would take a lot more effort to kill him. Khal felt disappointed in himself. Do I really need to use it?

Khal sighed to himself before embedding his legs in wind element. He quickly disappeared from the bandit leader. All the bandit leader could hear was groans as he saw his three remaining men on the floor, dead. "You, you, you're an elementum! Noble! No, No....Milord... have mercy!" he screamed as the cold steel of Khal's bloody blade was resting against his neck. The bandit leader quickly dropped his weapon with trembling hands as he looked at Khal with pleading eyes. "As I said, I'm here to seek justice," Khal said indifferently.

Without waiting for the bandit leader to beg again, Khal forced his blade into the man's throat. He then watched the man slide down to the floor, never to get up again. Khal removed the wind element around his legs before wiping his sword in the man's beard. "At least you kept my sword clean," Khal said to the dead bandit before walking towards the carriage.

Inside, Khal could see flies and other insects circling a dead body. This one seemed to be a female. There more wounds on her body than both of her companions combined. Her clothes were torn at the bosom and her groin while the majority of her tendons were cut. These sick fucks, Khal thought to himself. It was evident that they had cut most of her tendons so that she couldn't fight back while they defiled her. Khal could feel rage boil up within him. If he had known, he wouldn't have given them such an easy death. It was only now that Khal realized that the three were missing their heads. The bandits were very thorough. There was no way for anyone to figure out who these people were. Khal gave a small pray to Berilin before whistling. Quickly, Windcrest ran up to Khal before stopping directly in front of him. "Good boy!" Khal said while controlling the world energy as he stroked the horse's face. He then removed a small torch from his bag. He quickly caused the maginite ore within the torch to catch on fire before he set the carriage ablaze.

It didn't take long for Marcus and his men to approach Khal after seeing the fire. Marcus inspected Khal's performance by looking at the footprints on the dirt. It was easy for him to read exactly what happened with just that amount of information. "Hmm, not bad. You used your element, didn't you? Next time you're to do this without it. Many Knights lose their life by relying on their elements. It's a fault of many elementums. Those of us from House Dor are not like other men. Now, your footwork is getting better. You still favor your right, haven't I beaten that out of you yet?"

Khal stiffened up at the sudden scolding. His smug expression from the beginning was wiped off his face completely. "But grandfather. There were five men. How do you expect me to remember about my footwork when there are so many?"

Marcus knitted his brow then stared at Alec. "Don't look at me, he's your grandson," Alec said as he raised his hands. Marcus sighed then approached Khal, "Listen, the enemy will not care about your excuses. Everything you forget or miss is a weapon that the enemy can use."

Khal nodded his head in understanding as he grabbed the tent from his horse. "Next time grandfather. I will not fail you."

Marcus smiled as he watched Khal head off to put up his tent. "Yes, he is ready. Finally, he is ready for what is to come," he murmured to himself.