ROTLE- Chapter 162- A Leak

It had been a day since Ted and Aiden had returned to the group. Zen’s question about who nightcrawler was had been left by the side of the road. Aiden saw it on his old friend’s face that he had chucked it up to Ted just say confusing things.

Aiden’s intention to start training Ted on the use of the blink dagger had been from a place of necessity. The blink dagger was an expensive weapon for low level adventurers because of the cost of purchasing one.

A simple fighting weapon it was, the resource requirement to create one was demanding. By the time an adventurer had grown financially strong enough to add as many of the weapon to their arsenal as they wished, they had already focused their style of combat on something else.

But here was the interesting trick to the blink dagger; when mastered almost perfectly, it made the wielder very annoying to face. It was a simple trick that could be overpowered when mastered. Why it was not mastered was because it cost too much money to master.

Zen’s confusion on the subject of the Nightcrawler was short lived. He had been confused and worried. His body was filled with small levels of tension and anticipation throughout the night that Aiden knew he hadn’t slept well, always twitching awake every now and again.

Unable to blame the boy, Aiden had said nothing. He had also been sure not to laugh about Zen’s discomfort. Fjord had slept like a baby because he was used to Ted spitting random things about Earth that he had no idea about.

Feira didn’t care because she just really seemed not to care.

If there was one thing that Ted’s random use of Earth knowledge reminded Aiden of, it was how they had often used it in his past life. It hadn’t just been him and Ted, but the entire crew while they had still been a functioning group.

Now, however, there was a reason he didn’t have his fun with it. It was because he had already had his fun with it. Also, he had grown up and found himself in an organization and life where he hadn’t really had time for fun.

It was a few days since he’d returned in time from his defeat and loss at the hands of the Immortal and he was still skittish, eyes always darting around and hoping there would be no sudden ambush.

By his calculations, they were practically at the edge of this part of the forest. It wouldn’t be up to a day’s journey before they were out of it. It would be less than two days before they would find themselves in another town. Aiden would’ve loved to go around the town, avoiding eyes again, but he could not. Towns had people and people had information.

He needed to know what rumors or stories ran about concerning the Crystal Cave and Trackback in general. He also needed to know what the latest news on the [Heart of Nosrath] was. There was still a part of his mind that worried that by the time they got to it, someone else would’ve already claimed it.

What would you do then? He asked himself as he activated a fresh set of scripts and walked over to the group currently waiting for him at the center of a small clearing.

It was morning and the sun was already beginning its rise to the sky. Its journey was slow and steady but the morning was already old, slowly wishing to give way to the bright afternoon.

Ted stood with folded arms and Zen leaned against him, supporting himself with a raised elbow on Ted’s shoulder.

Feira seemed like she had a tantum to throw butt had no justification so couldn’t throw it. Fjord was eager. As for Oncot and Elami, they were not present. Elami was located a few trees away, still tending to Valdan, while Oncot stood guard over them. Aiden had been giving it some thought for a while now and had finally decided on what to do with Oncot. Specifically, where to send him.

“I don’t see why I have to be here,” Feira said when Aiden stood in front of the group.

Fjord gave her a surprised look. “You don’t want to learn how to fight?”

“I never said that,” she disagreed. “I’m just saying that I don’t want to learn how to fight with a group of guys who already know how to fight.”

Zen leaned forward, looked at her from beside Ted with a teasing smile. “Do you think you deserve special lessons?”

“Yes,” she replied without missing a beat. “I should be given lessons specific to me.”

“So, you want some alone time with your instructor?”

“Get your mind out of the gutters.”

Zen chuckled in good nature and Ted shrugged.

“I can teach you,” Ted told her. “I won’t brag about being the best, but I can teach you if you’d like.”

Aiden raised a quizzical brow at his brother. Feira looked very hesitant.

“I think I’d prefer if Lord Lacheart taught me,” Feira said, doing her best to not sound offensive. “He’s shown that he’s actually a good teacher, and I’m not really one to try new things.”

Aiden’s brows furrowed at her. Was she embarrassed?

“You do know that he’s also Lord Lacheart, right?” he pointed out.

Feira glared at him. Her mouth opened, but she shut it immediately. She was like a child who in their displeasure had almost said something that they knew they shouldn’t say.

Lips pursed, Aiden nodded once, dismissing the entire conversation.

“We’ll look into seeing what we can do to customize your teaching,” he said in the end. He knew so many fighting techniques that he didn’t really have to sift through them to know what he could teach her.

Years of being an instructor for the Order made teaching a simple thing. You mastered enough fighting styles as well as other things to know how to customize any training for any kind of student.

His mind was already moving through fighting styles that were known to be best for women—actual gender specific fighting styles. In truth, the only reason they were said to be gender specific was because they suited forms and structures that men did not generally possess, size, stature, dressing, natural flexibility, muscle mass, bone density.

He had seen these styles present themselves as far more powerful and destructive when women used it than when men used it.

Discarding the thought as something to be addressed later on, he addressed the topic at hand.

“So, this is what we will eventually be working with,” he announced, holding up a blink dagger. “It is a simple yet expensive weapon, and something every adventurer knows is powerful to master.”

Feira raised her hand, speaking only when Aiden nodded.

“So, you’re trying to get us up to par with other adventurers?” she asked, to which he shook his head.

“Other adventurers know how powerful it is to master, but most of them have failed to master it because of the cost of owning enough to master,” he told her. “The best blink dagger you can find probably has only three uses before the weapon’s durability comes to an end.”

Zen held up three fingers. “Three?”

“Yep,” Aiden nodded. “Three.”

He’d mastered the blink dagger long ago. Interesting as it was, and definitely annoying to fight against, it could be disorienting.

“Alright then,” Ted clapped. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Aiden held the dagger back. “Nope.”

Everyone paused.

“Why?” Zen asked.

“Because there are trainings you will have before you get to use the blink dagger,” Aiden explained. “Like I said, we will use it eventually.”

Ted rolled his eyes as if Aiden was wasting his time.

“Got it,” he said, tapping Zen’s arm on his shoulder until Zen removed his. “Let’s get this on the road.”

“Alright,” Aiden said, holding everyone’s attention. “The blink dagger is named that because of how it feels when you use it. Everyone with combat experience knows that in a fight it is important to know when to blink, you don’t just go around blinking all over the place.”

Fjord suddenly turned giddy. “You’re going to teach us timed blinking.”

“Yes… I think.”

“That’s so cool.”

Aiden had no idea what timed blinking was. Chances were that he was talking about blinking in combat. In the Order those that actually needed to be trained on it used something called the Eye of Edinlore. Basically, it thought you how to blink only when you wanted to blink, resetting your blinking reflex.

“But people don’t really need to learn timed blinking,” Aiden said to Fjord. “Just the way you blink reflexively, with enough combat experience, you will learn to blink only when you have to blink. It’s just instinct.”

Zen was nodding as Aiden talked. “The soldiers back at Dentis used to say the same thing. Some things in fighting aren’t taught because they just happen.”

Aiden watched Zen and Feira as Zen spoke. He was impressed when he found no shadow of sadness at the mention of an experience from their life in Dentis.

Feira raised her hand. For someone who was more than happy to argue any case, she was so polite about starting the argument, not that Aiden thought she wanted to start an argument.

“Yes, Feira,” he said.

“Are there requirements to using the blink dagger?” she asked.

Aiden thought about it and nodded. “There is. [Mana manipulation]. It’s a simple enough skill.”

Everybody had [Mana manipulation] or [Mana mastery]. And there was nothing the former could do that the latter could not do twice as well. And everybody had—

“I don’t have [Mana manipulation],” Feira said.

Aiden’s thought broke in his head. It was a jarring thing, and he wasn’t sure if it was the thought breaking or the piece of information.

He blinked. “You don’t have [Mana mastery].”

She nodded, as if it was not a problem she was aware of.

She lived in Dentis and is not an adventurer. It’s like expecting a [Baker] to have the skill.

But everyone has to have the skill at some point, Aiden reminded himself. It didn’t matter the class. [Mana manipulation] was what helped the non-magic classes to use aura. It was what helped the magic classes, combined with [Mana mastery] to manifest their mana externally.

It was also what helped non-combat classes use advanced tools and equipment that were magic inclined.

How did a person not have [Mana manipulation] or [Mana mastery]?

Aiden pointed at a nearby tree. “Go stand there. You definitely need your own personalized training.”

“Ooh,” Zen cooed, teasingly. “Someone’s about to be the teacher’s pet.”

“Go mount a jepat!” Feira hissed as she walked over to the tree.

Ted gave Aiden a confused look before giving Zen the same look.

“She does know that that’s not an insult, right?” he asked no one in particular.

Zen nodded. “She does.”

“Eyes on me,” Aiden said when Feira was finally standing patiently at the tree. “This training is going to be a simple one. However, it is going to depend on your ability to push yourself and train yourself. The trick is simple, you’re going to be blinking in shadow combat. Pretend you’re fighting against someone. Then, you will pick a spot to move to, using the skill [Dash]. Just before you activate the skill, you will close your eyes.”

“We’ll use [Dash] with our eyes closed?” Ted asked with a grimace.

Aiden nodded. “You will only open your eyes when the skill has come to an end, then you will turn and attack your shadow opponent where you left them.”

Ted paused, stroked his jaw. “I see. That’s why you said it depends on us and our ability to train ourselves.”

“Correct.” Aiden looked at Ted, Fjord, and Zen. “Any questions?”

Zen raised his hand casually. “Just one.”

“I’m listening.”

“Is there another way to train it without using the [Dash] skill?”

“Why? You don’t want to…” Aiden’s words trailed of as realization dawned on him. He closed his eyes to stall his suddenly rising exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose with thumb and forefinger. “Please tell me you have the [Dash] skill.”

Zen gave him a sheepish look before shaking his head.

Aiden opened his mouth to ask how the hell he didn’t have the [Dash] skill but closed it back before the words came out. He had left Zen learning sword stances, stances Zen never failed to practice every morning and evening when he had the chance. In those stances, there was nothing that would’ve helped him gain the [Dash] skill.

[Dash] was just so basic a foundational skill that Aiden had forgotten that people had to actually learn it.

Rubbing his forehead with a sigh, he pointed off to the distance. “Join your sister at the tree, please.”

Zen pouted like a child and walked over to the tree, shoulders drooping. Aiden knew the boy was just being dramatic.

Feira grinned like a victorious sibling as she watched him approach her.

Ignoring them, Aiden returned his attention to Ted and Fjord. “The trick to this is that you have to pick the spot you want to move to and try to successfully stop at that spot with your eyes closed. Once you can master that, then we’ll move on to the more complicated part of learning it. Any questions?”

Fjord raised a hand.

God please.

“Yes, Fjord.”

“How long do you think it will take us to learn the whole thing?” Fjord asked.

Thank God. “Maybe three days. You should be able to use a blink dagger without significant mistakes in three days… I hope.”

“Thank you,” Fjord said with a nod.

Aiden’s brows furrowed. He looked at the boy through narrowed lids, suspicious. “Do you have [Dash]?”

“Yes. I do.”

“Do you have [Mana manipulation]?”

Fjord shook his head.

Aiden sighed. “Then why didn’t you—”

“I was told that [Mana mastery] is a better alternative. I just thought that—”

“Hold up,” Aiden cut him off, eyes wide. “You have [Mana mastery].”

Ted was fighting back the urge to laugh where he was standing while Fjord nodded very carefully.

“I do,” he answered.

Aiden blinked. He stepped back, maybe he staggered back. He wasn’t very sure. Fjord had [Mana mastery].

Fjord. Had. [Mana mastery].

He pressed his lips into a thin line.

Ted threw an arm over Fjord’s shoulder out of nowhere. “I just want you to know one thing, kiddo,” he said to the boy.

Fjord gave him a confused look. “What’s that?”

“In this moment, the great Aiden Lacheart,” he chuckled, still trying to hold back his laugh, “has just realized that you are better than him.”

Aiden wanted to strangle him.

Why was life so unfair?

Waving them away, he turned and headed towards Zen and his sister. “I’ve explained the training so you guys can go ahead and start.”

“But I’m not sure we can do it without guidance,” Ted called after him, laughing. “Aida!”

“Sod off! Ted!” Aiden muttered. “Just sod off.”

His exit was heralded by Ted’s laughter of satisfaction. Ted was enjoying this.

Aiden came to a stop in front of Zen and Feira. He was unsure of where to start as he did his best to ignore Ted’s laughter. He still couldn’t believe that he had a magical inclined class yet a [Gambler] had [Mana mastery]. It just wasn’t fair to him. It was as if something just didn’t want him to have the skill for no other reason than it could.

“What do you two know about rune scripts?” he asked the siblings.

Feira shook her head. “Not a thing.”

Aiden nodded slowly. “I see. Well, to train you as quickly as possible, Feira, we will be using a rune script.”

“What about me?” Zen asked.

“You?” Aiden said. “You will be fighting me.”

…

Brandis panted heavily, sitting on the ground of the amphitheater. He sported a heavy bruise on his jaw and at least four broken ribs. A massive cut over his eye had blood spilling from it. It almost blinded the eye beneath.

His hands rested on the black sand beneath him, and he grabbed a handful of it. He could feel how his mana didn’t respond to him at a hundred percent.

Wide as it was, and empty, there was a certain peace to it.

“Why are you getting weaker?” Tradis asked, walking up to join him. The man sat quietly on the ground in front of him. Blonde, almost golden hair, was tied up in a perfect knot. The man’s face was without blemish as pink eyes looked at Brandis.

“Why are your eyes a different color today?” Brandis shot back.

Tradis smirked. “Mana experiment. You like it?”

“No.”

Tradis laughed, his deep voice reverberating off the seats of the amphitheater. Tradis had always been jovial in his own way, unaffected by anything and everything. It was to the point that whenever something affected him, it often felt like he was pretending.

Cocking his head to the side in thought, Tradis looked at him curiously.

Brandis sighed. “What?”

“Your mana is a mess,” Tradis said.

“No, it’s not.”

“Oh, yes, it is.” Tradis nodded. “It’s like mud.”

Sighing, Brandis looked up at the orbs of light in the amphitheater. “I’ve been working on absorbing Liquid Life for a while now.”

Tradis snorted. “Well, that’s stupid. How did you even get your hands on Liquid Life. That shit’s hard to come…” his eyes sharpened a little in realization. “The [Sage] gave you.”

Brandis nodded.

“That’s… a gamble on his part,” Tradis said skeptically. “Why would he do that?”

“His staff broke,” Brandis explained. “And it looked like he couldn’t use the Liquid Life for what he wanted. And why aren’t you surprised by the existence of Liquid Life. That is supposed to be something from myth.”

“Because I’ve seen my fair share of the stuff.”

Brandis gave him a questioning look but Tradis waved it aside with a casual wave.

“Just be careful when absorbing it,” Tradis said. “Take all the time you can. The benefits are amazing if you succeed in absorbing it properly.”

Brandis’ questioning look didn’t change. “Have you absorbed Liquid Life before?”

“Gods no, I’m more than happy with my growth and its pace, thank you very much.” Tradis paused to look around the amphitheater. “Can’t believe I whooped your ass so easily today. Almost feels like coming here was a waste.”

Brandis found himself pouting a little. “It’s not my fault. I mean, who fights on all fours.”

“Twas neat, right?” Tradis grinned. “I picked it up from a wandering war tribe off in the south of the Library of Living Truth.”

“What sent you that way?”

“Just some random task.” Tradis shrugged. “Had to make a delivery for the library. Apparently, they think they know where the [Demon King]’s castle might spawn.”

Brandis paled. They can’t have traced it here, right?

Evidence suggested that it was somewhere in his kingdom, but no matter how hard he tried to find it, none of the trusted people he had sent out had found any trace of the rising darkness.

“Anyway,” Tradis rose to his feet. He paused when he looked at Brandis again. “You are a mess. You should get your injuries healed.”

Brandis ignored Tradis’ suggestion. Of course he was going to get his injuries treated.

“Where’s Valdan?” Tradis asked, stretching as if they had not just been fighting for two hours straight.

Brandis paused. “About that…”

Tradis’ brows furrowed. “Please tell me he’s not dead.”

“I… I actually don’t know.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

Brandis scratched the back of his head, knowing that Tradis would not like what he was about to hear. Still, he told him.

He told him about the summoned humans. He told him about Aiden and Ted Lacheart. He told him about how promising Aiden was and how he had been given to Valdan to train. He told him of their bond. He told him of what had happened to Valdan and how Aiden had killed Derendoff.

“You allowed someone to kill someone with the [Sight-bound] decree?” Tradis asked, shaking his head. “You are definitely getting bad at this king thing.”

“I didn’t want to lose the summoned,” Brandis explained, frowning. “He had promise, and who knows if he could be the one with the [Hero] title.”

Tradis bobbed his head from side to side in thought before agreeing. “Fair point. So, now Valdan’s off in the world doing the gods know what with this kid who—quite impressively—killed a knight.”

Brandis nodded slowly.

“I guess as long as the relic in his care is still safe then there’s no problem,” Tradis finished, nonchalant.

Brandis’ brows lowered very slowly as the words slowly dawned on him. “I’m sorry, what?”

“What?”

Brandis pushed himself from the ground, rising to his feet in no small pain. “You just said relic.”

“I did.”

“I was never informed that Valdan had a relic of heroes in his care.”

Tradis waved Brandis’ words aside as unimportant. “They are just weapons, Brandis.”

“Powerful weapons!” Brandis snapped, ignoring the pain that flared in his broken rib from it. “Weapons rumored to be able to level kingdoms.”

“In the right hands,” Tradis corrected. “Besides, the rumors are exaggerated. A level four hundred asshole can do the same without it.”

Brandis couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The relics were weapons from ancient times, designed to be wielded by the [Hero]. It boosted their strength so greatly that they became incomparably stronger than they were.

“Why the hell did you not tell me that Valdan had a hero’s relic?” he asked, running a hand down his faced.

Tradis shrugged. “Because it is not important. Valdan is not the relic.”

“But he has it.”

“He does.”

“Where?”

“No idea.”

“How do you not know this?”

“Because I wasn’t the one that gave him the relic.” Tradis folded his arms in the way he always did when he thought Brandis was becoming unreasonable. “He found the relic before he even had his interface—got it off a dead knight that failed in transporting it.”

“Did he tell you that?” Brandis asked.

“Yep. I also watched it happen.”

“You were there and you let him take it?”

“Oh, please, Bran,” Tradis sighed. “It was in a time when kingdoms were sending out spies and people were killing each other in secret. If the relic disappeared into the slums then no kingdom would know where it was. it’s not like the relics can be tracked or anything.”

“So there’s just some hero’s relic in Valdan’s possession that we don’t know where exactly it is?”

“Kinda?”

Brandis could not believe what he was hearing. “Kinda?”

“Uhuh.” Tradis nodded sheepishly.

“Tradis.”

“Yes, Bran?”

“I’m going to ask you a question and I need you to be honest with me.”

“Go for it.”

“Do you know where this relic is?”

Tradis nodded.

“Are you going to tell me where it is?”

Tradis snorted. “Gods no.”

Brandis had expected that. “Alright, then. Which relic is it?”

“Valsin.”

Brandis’ jaw dropped. Valdan had possessed the spear of Valsin famed for its ability in history to level kingdoms with a single use and Tradis had known all this while.

“What the hell, Tradis!” he snapped. “How can you leave something so destructive in the hands of a child?”

“I always made sure it was safe,” Tradis argued, defending his decision. “I checked on it every few years. Even now, it’s safe… unless something happens to Valdan then I’m not entirely sure what the love of his life will do with it.”

“Someone else knows about it?” Brandis could not believe his ears.

“I’ve always thought that Melvet woman was sketchy, though. Can’t really put my finger on what exactly it is.”

“Valdan isn’t married,” Brandis pointed out.

Tradis nodded. “I know, but he has a woman he loves and she loves him so dearly. I’ve met her. She’s so normal and happy when he’s around. When he’s not… well that’s a different conversation entirely.”

Brandis turned away and started heading for the exit.

“Where are we going?” Tradis asked, following behind him.

“To find someone to track Valdan down,” he muttered. All the connections he’d been using to track them down since Valdan and the Lacheart brothers had left the kingdom had all failed spectacularly.

It was time to call in the heavy hitters.

Tradis followed with a tired sigh. “Can I at least see my nephews and niece before you have me doing official things.”

“No.”

As they exited the amphitheater, Brandis wondered how he had a [Knight of the Crown] who was in charge of the [Spear of Valsin] and had not told him. Yet he had been spending a lot of time tracking down the locations of the relics so that those who were worthy among the summoned in his kingdom could have access to it.

The [Sage] and Tradis continued to remind him that despite being a king, he was nothing but an insignificant being, ultimately.

“Bran?” Tradis said from behind him as they entered a hallway in the palace.

Brandis sighed. “Yes, brother.”

“I need to take a leak.”

“You are level three hundred and twenty-one, brother,” he muttered. “You do not need to take a leak.”

Tradis grumbled behind him but said nothing more.

…

Elami looked down at Valdan’s unmoving body, weaving the life force into the dying knight.

Soon, he thought, fighting back the smile on his face.

He would have what he wanted soon.

Looking up, his attention settled on Aiden Lacheart in the distance. He just had to be patient. Everything was going according to plan.

Everything was just as it should be.

…

Boten walked over to the raised stalagmite. The distress call had come from here this time. There were problems far greater than this going on in the cosmos. If he was correct, something greatly disturbing had just happened less than seven days ago that had sent everyone into a panic trying to figure out what it was.

But what was he doing? They had sent him here to answer a distress call from some insignificant world.

With a sigh, he placed his hand on the raised stalagmite. He breathed in the air and paused. He smelled residue of world essence.

That’s interesting.

Worlds did not leak their essences unless…

“Someone’s stolen a fragment of Nastild,” he muttered.

A smile touched his lips.

Well… this is interesting.

There was, it seemed, a [Prisoner] on Nastild.