Noon brought light with it as the squads were waking up from their slumbers. It was their last day on the camp, as well as their first day as Crows. Isak was the one to wake everyone up; Kalus rolled over to the other side on his bed, Yakken woke up without any issue whatsoever, and Jonah threw his pillow on Isak.
“It’s time to get up, sonnies!” Isak blocks the exit to the tent before he leaves with saying “It’s our last day, guys.”
Isak exits the tent and searches after Arturo; he found him almost immediately.
“Slept good, sir?”
“Just a rock poking my back all night, otherwise I’ve slept... like a rock, haha! Have you told your guys to get up? Everyone’s almost up.”
“Yeah, drowsy as always.”
“Oh yeah!” Arturo remembered something and pulled Isak with him inside his big tent. He picked up knives with a spiked brass knuckle guard. The piece of metal that made up the double-bladed blade, the sharp pommel, and the spiked knuckle guard contrasted the black leather-strap handle; the knife’s overall design emits a menacing aura. He gave them to Isak and said “Here they are! They look sick, and not in the good way... just kidding! I’d not want to get in the way of those, really!” Laughing as he ends his sentence.
Isak puts a firm grip on the handle, twirling them around his index finger before pushing them in their respective sheath on his modified belt.
“They sure are creepy... just the way I envisioned them to be when I first thought of it.”
“I’m glad to hear you like them so much! Everyone at the camp has the chance to have one weapon tailor-made just for them, and yours is one of the finer exemplars of fine smithery and handicraft!”
“I agree. Thank you.”
Isak almost exits the tent before Arturo calls him back, saying “You should give them a name!”
“A name?” Isak thinks for a short moment before he exclaims “I’ll call them... Mustang & Sally!”
“Catchy! Let’s get out and say goodbye to everyone!”
Isak agrees and walks out the tent and runs back to his squad that have already been fixing a spot for them on the field.
“Sonnies... I GOT MY FUCKING KNIVES!!”
“AHHHHH”, “HOOOOOLY SHIIIIT”, and “DAAAAAAAMN” could be heard from the Windwakers as they cheered with Isak and his sheer happiness for finally holding the long-awaited knives he’s been waiting for almost two months to get his hands on.
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“That looks crazy sick!”
“You’ll be cutting chicken with it like it’s nothing!”
“It looks dangerous... amazingly dangerous!”
Isak was happy to see how everyone reacted, it brought a big smile on his face.
“Dear Crows!” The Windwakers went awkwardly quiet as they realized that everyone was staring at them. Arturo then continued “It is time for all of you to spread your wings, because... you are now Crows!!”
Everyone cheered for each other’s success, celebrating the time they spent together with good food and drinks. As the food slowly started disappearing and the drinks vanishing even faster, it was time for everyone to leave the camp. They got back to their tents and packed down all of their belongings they had before and acquired during the camp before they parted ways. The Windwakers stayed a bit longer in their tent than what the others did, they stayed and talked, planned the next time they would see each other again.
“Where’s everyone going?”
Kalus was the first one to reply “I’ll probably go back home to Bauran! I miss my sister back at home, and I did tell her that I’d get back when I’m done with the camp.”
Yakken replied shortly after “I’ll head to Siderr! I heard there’s a big smithery over there that take in disciples!”
Jonah thought for a while before he said “I’ll take a wagon to Eathir and see if any of my relatives are still there, I got a letter from them not too long ago, so I’m a little eager to see them again!”
Isak was the last to reply as he waited for everyone to say what they had to say “Hm... Eathir sounds fancy. Is it alright if I accompany you, Jonah?”
Jonah laughed and patted Isak’s back and said “Of course, Isak! I might even be able to get you a very fancy job over there if I can get my hands on a few contacts!”
“Sounds great!”
The squad then parted ways; all of them going somewhere. Kalus went for Bauran, a little town in Altaid; the Human kingdom – it was known for their farms and exotic breed of animals they had to offer, both for transport and for food. Yakken headed to Vettra, a city very much known in Kalippet; the Dwarven kingdom – its inhabitants has an exceptional talent in smithery, being also the main source of the Dwarven kingdom’s defense and offense. Isak and Jonah found the cheapest wagon that took them to Eathir, the capital of Aldimir; the Demi-human kingdom – a lake city that earned its wealth and prosper from harvesting a colossal amount of fish and its distribution that would reach all of the faraway kingdoms.
Isak and Jonah got on board an empty wagon that led them to Eathir. As they casually chatted and enjoyed the view from the ride, something caught Isak’s attention that he couldn’t drop for a single second. It was the rumor that Jonah’s relatives told him in the letter that he got; it was the rumor that magic entities in Eathir could learn out the dogmas of Manipulation.
“Dogmas of Manipulation? What’s that?”
“It’s a set of principles that, when followed after an exam is done, will bless the user to move objects with their mind!”
“What!? That’s awesome! I could twirl and bend spoons then, right?”
“Oh my heavens EXACTLY!!”
Isak was filled with eagerness as he heard the rumors about the Manipulators that could move an object with only their mind. Not much information was known about them since the letter didn’t say much, but it still didn’t stop Isak and Jonah from the excitement that dwelled within them. According to Jonah and his limited knowledge of the Manipulators was that they could move objects that had the same weight as a boulder with precise accuracy. It was also said that weapons would be combined with the art of Manipulation and create a martial art that Jonah called “The way of the invisible limbs.”
“I can’t wait to get there!”
“Me too, Isak!”