Khal made his way back to his room after taking a long shower. The day had become a series of ups and downs with his emotions. Thankfully he had finally found the peace he knew he deserved. He had finally started his path to becoming stronger as well as gotten his father's approval albeit with a little difficulty. His only issue was how to become strong enough to defend himself in such a short space of time. He knew that something big was happening in Sydenham Town when he saw his father's bloody clothes as well as the preparations being made at the manor. He even heard talks of Burgans from the neighboring kingdom had invaded Seabo.
He knew the best results would come from spirit cladding since he was already a 1st class squire according to his father. All he had to do was learn how to manipulate the energy properly. Khal closed his eyes as he steadied himself and tried to feel for the energy within his body. Initially, he felt nothing but the longer he spent in his meditative pose he began feeling a steady stream of energy flowing throughout his body. He could feel a dense nucleus within his stomach emitting energy in small pulses. He inspected the nucleus for a long while before he gained enough courage to begin the process. First, he willed the nucleus to pulse according to his own rhythm until it steadily gathered spirit energy around his hands. The energy was difficult to describe. Khal could only tell that the energy was comfortable and docile.
He used his spirit energy to try communicating with the world energy just around his hand. Just as his spirit energy began calling the world energy around his fist he could feel a lot more of his energy flooding towards his fist in an attempt to control the foreign energy. Khal noticed that it took almost all of his energy just to control a little world energy around his fist. He did not give up, he tried his best to gather as much world energy around his fist as he possibly could before he tried to convert it. Suddenly, he heard a popping sound. From his experiences so far, he could tell that this was the sign of breaking into the next class. Somehow his heightened senses had allowed him to pass his bottleneck.
Khal could not control his excitement. He quickly opened his eyes to see whether he had succeeded or not. Disappointedly, he saw nothing. All he felt was his disconnect from the energy as his entire body drooped, too tired to continue. "Sigh, I was too eager," Khal whispered to himself as he relaxed on his bed. Cladding was a difficult process. He didn't find any problems with the first stage of cladding. Convocation came to him easily enough. He suspected it had something to do with him being an Elementum. What he could not figure out was how exactly he was supposed to convert world energy into a physical substance. Ser Roth, as well as Sergeant Michael, were not forthcoming with any additional information besides telling him to figure it out on his own.
Well, whatever, Khal thought to himself. He would just need to figure it out tomorrow.
---
The next day, Khal woke up and began his exercises and meditation eagerly. His father had given him a gauge stone to verify that he was now a squire master-class. To his surprise, his energy level was already 163E, causing him to exert extra effort during his morning exercises. His aim was to reach 200E before his next birthday, becoming the youngest Knight in Katar. From his understanding since his awakening 2 years ago, he had been gaining energy faster than his father expected. Khal was able to accomplish what took others years of committed training and meditation to do. Not even the last Queen of Durmond was able to accumulate the amount of energy as Khal had.
Meanwhile, Avery had made his way towards Lord Tommel's study early in the morning after giving Khal some tips on training. He had come to trust his Lord and even saw him as the father he wished he had. "Milord, how may I be of service," Avery asked as he entered the study. Lord Tommel sat opposite Avery with Sergeant Michael adjacent to him. "Avery, no need to stand on ceremony. I've asked you here today to discuss the boy's future. I suspect that he has elementum blood coursing through his veins. There is no other explanation as to why an 8-year-old boy is already Squire first class. I'm sure you're aware of the circumstances that our town will soon be faced with. What I'm about to ask you will determine whether the boy will become a wandering fugitive like those of his blood or a katarian citizen with a bright future."
Avery's face changed. His pleasant disposition changed to one of hostility and bloodlust. Sergeant Michael, noticing the change, quickly stepped between Avery and his Lord before placing a hand on his sword handle. "Relax Avery, listen to the Lord before you do something that you would regret." Avery tried to calm down, he closed his eyes before slowly taking a seat. "Ahem! Well, that was unpleasant. I mean you no harm Avery. Your love for the boy is admirable. You've been one of my most trusted men for many years. I've known who you are since the death of your wife. Surely, you would not try to insult my intelligence. Well, let's cut to the chase. Later today I will begin talks with Baron Black about our little problem outside the walls. I have little faith in the spineless man but proper record needs to be kept for my plan to work."
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Avery was not surprised. He knew that Lord Tommel had already suspected who he was many years ago and thus felt little need to hide anything else from him. "You turned a blind eye to who I was for so many years. Before you continue, let me ask you this milord, why now? Why confront me about this now?" Lord Tommel smiled at Avery, "Simple really, you're not a threat to Katar. You may be Durmondae by blood but you're Katarian by heart. Those nobles could never see anywhere beyond their noses to notice it. But that's beside the point. I called you here because I need your help. This Burgan threat is not an isolated event. The fact that Burgans have infiltrated our kingdom means they've created a new type of ship capable of sailing Tiger River. It is safe to assume that all of Seabo is compromised. Many nobles will try to save their own skin by helping the Burgans. Seabo nobles aren't used to fighting. They've enjoyed ruling over farmers and merchants for too long. I've analyzed the information you've given me and there is a way we can all get out of this ahead." Lord Tommel grasped his cane tightly as he began to instruct Avery about his plan.
---
It was midday by the time Erik and Khal had begun sparring again. Khal's movements were always creative, causing his fighting style to seem unorthodox. Erik however, seemed too rigid to defend himself from the unpredictable attacks from Khal. "That's another win for me," Khal boasted as he teased his friend. "Only because of your inhumane strength," Erik rebutted as Khal helped him off the dirt. The boys had begun their plan to attend Skystead Academy. Every day until lunch time they would train their combat abilities. After lunch they would then learn as much as they could from Lord Tommel while they would meditate at night.
"I wonder how much stronger this Tal Knight might be," Khal mused out loud. "Grandpa has forbidden us from leaving the manor until everything is settled. The only way for you to find out will be to face him," Erik joked. "Do you think the Burgans will really expose themselves by coming here?" Khal asked Erik. "Anything is possible," Erik shrugged. Khal became quiet as he thought of the possibility.
---
Tal stood next to his horse, stroking it lovingly, he thought back to the mysterious farmer with the strange ability 10 days ago. It was the closest Tal had gotten to death in his life. The man was like a demon, his black fingers that of a beast. If the man was an Elementum knight then he could extract the blood after he destroyed him for the humiliation he experienced. Although Tal would only be a pseudo-elementum, unable to advance further than his victim, he did not care as long as he gained power. He hated the fact that he was born without any power to protect himself. He had yet to tell Sergeant McRay about what he saw and he made sure to kill all who knew. He would transfuse the man's blood and become powerful. Only then would he be free to do as he pleased.
He found the humiliation of having to monitor Black Barony distasteful to say the least. He had to remain close to prevent messengers from sending word to the rest of Seabo. Just wait till I gain the power of that farmer, I would repay Sergeant McRay in kind he thought to himself. Perched on his shoulder was a large, white bird with black dots on the wings and back. It was a large bird with a wingspan of 3 meters. Burg was known for their large birds of prey, useful in both scouting as well as disrupting enemy communication. While most animals couldn't actively store spirit energy, they were still able to communicate with their owners through rudimentary manipulation of world energy. With that skill, Burg maintained an advantage over its neighbors when it came to guerrilla warfare.
Tal looked up to the sky for the 3rd time today. Another messenger pigeon was leaving the barony. His gyrfalcon, the largest falcon native to Burg, took off like lightning behind the pigeon, instantly dissecting the small bird, effectively neutralizing communication. What is taking the Sergeant so long? He should have received word from Commander Fascal about the coordinated attacks, he mused to himself. He had been the first to volunteer for the mission at the briefing. Over in enemy territory, he was free to rape and pillage to his heart's content. Something he couldn't even dream of in Burg. He always appreciated the Darwin Peaks on those Katarian women. It offered more grip as he held down his victims and effectively forced his member in - just thinking about it made his blood surge. Commander Fascal had estimated that all of the soldiers would be in position within two weeks provided they kept their cover. It had only been 1 day after arriving before Tal was careless and let 2 of the sheep escape. He had been paying for it for 10 days now without ever taking a break. Luckily, the plan would be in place soon and Talawa would be cut off from their food supply lines while Burg advanced with a full-scale invasion.
Suddenly, the golden eagle from his platoon, descended onto Tal's outstretched arm. It was a 3-foot tall bird with a wingspan of 2.5 meters, one of the fastest messenger birds Burg possessed. He took the scroll attached to the foot of the bird. His evil grin could be seen as he crushed the message and shouted to his small unit, "Listen maggots, in 3 days we dine on Katarian flesh!"