The Sight of The Sea

My journey was no longer that peaceful. Other than the animals pestering everyday, I encountered another group of Elysians. Though not as strong as the first group. Their leader was a wolf-like guy, and his abilities were comparable to the other wolf-like man from before. Moreover, they had only one archer. Of course, they didn't choose the peaceful solution. They attacked almost immediately, albeit surprised a Human was able to get that far.

This time though, I knew pretty much everything about them. I knew about their transformation, about the possibility of poison from that archer, and even what sort of strategies they'd use. Once they transformed into wolf, bear or boar like state, their behaviour followed closely to the animals they transformed into. The Elysians on the other hand, knew pretty much nothing about me.

The archer shot her arrows, but none of them managed to hit me. There were two wolf-like men and two boar-like men in the group. They didn't have a bear-like man, which made life much easier for me. Everyone except the archer rushed at me, but I wasn't the same anymore.

My sword had no mercy, and my mind didn't feel a shred of regret for taking their lives. One after the other, they fell to the ground like flies. Though that said, the battle was not easy by any means. They injured me a few good times. My body gained a few bite marks and bruises. Even after two of them fell to the ground dead, they believed this was the end of the road for me. They believed wrong.

Once my Aura awakened, the leader finally realised I wasn't defeated just yet. He tried to retreat, but at that stage, it was simply too late for him. With a single slash of my sword, his head flew into the air. His lifeless corpse changed back to normal, before slamming the ground in front of me. At that point, the boar-like man realised they couldn't win. Escape was their only solution, but I wasn't going to let them escape.

The archer was further away, but the boar-like man had less luck. "Go! Call for help! Tell them Humans arrived!", he exclaimed, before my sword pierced right through his back. "Swoosh!", with a single slash of my sword, his body got ripped open. The problem was that the archer managed to get even further away. She was escaping towards the south, which wasn't the direction of my destination. Besides, I wasn't feeling perfectly well either. 'Chasing her in this forest would be suicidal. She will warn other Elysians, therefore I have to leave this place right away', I decided.

My medicine was running dry. Only two bottles were left in my backpack. The first encounter with Elysians taught me how valuable my father's medicine was. There was no way to refill my medical supplies., hence that was something much more valuable than water. To top it all off, the two masters would only help in case there was no way for me to even win.

'That Yater said my destination ain't that far anymore, but I've been at it for a few weeks already, there's no sea in sight whatsoever!'. I felt cheated for sure. Without a map, there was no way of knowing when my destination would appear. This could be another month, or perhaps a few days.

'He even told me to focus on that Art of Stealth… I don't have the time to fart, and he wants me to practice that? Besides, what the hell is 'avoid the light'? Can't they just spell this stuff out, instead of leaving puzzles for me to solve…', I complained to myself. No matter how much I put into that, there simply were no answers.

'Maybe an Aura, that could solve some issues. Ha! The question is, how do you 'make' an Aura? Master Irwin mentioned some sort of mood, but I have no clue what he meant by that… The only way to practice that Art of Stealth, would be through my movement technique… I've been neglecting that aspect for a while. The energy control seemed to be much more important to me'.

The energy control was really crucial to me, since that was the requirement for drawing the Formations. The problem was, any further advancements wouldn't appear very quickly. In other words, focusing on that wouldn't make my chances of survival better. With that in mind, I began practicing my rhythms and movements, though with one difference. I tried to add in the element of stealth. This boiled down to what my father told me before. I had to be aware of the environment, no matter which way my movement technique went.

To be quiet, I had to know where to step, when to move and when to stay still. Additionally, I had to apply rhythms to these movements, which increased the difficulty exponentially. 'I'm even doubting myself at this point… I mean, it should be possible… I think'. Then I realised there were seemingly impossible things I already accomplished. Perfecting my balance was one of them, or building the Woody's Course next to the Sedon's Grand Stage.

'Just like mom told me in the past, practice makes everything possible. I might not see the results now, but I might figure something out once on that path. After all, how can I know, when I never even tried?', I asked myself. This became my main practice. No matter where I went or what I did, the rhythms, movements and silence would accompany me.

Using all these movements and rhythms wasn't easy during my everyday life. Fighting was different, since that was the purpose of a movement technique. Cooking, building a shelter and so on, wasn't. Nonetheless, I persisted each and every day.

A week went by, but my destination didn't seem to be any closer. The sea air had a specific smell, and freshness to it. Though being inside the forest didn't make it easy, I couldn't smell any sea breeze at all. That either meant my destination was still quite a distance away, or the forest masked the sea breeze really well. 'At least no other Elysians popped up on my way. I guess that should make me happy'.

I got used to doing things using specific rhythms and whatnot, but the aspect of stealth was really difficult to me. No one taught me how to be really stealthy. I knew it involved quietness, but there were so many other factors included. The lack of a teacher who'd point stuff out to me, was really weighing on my body and mind. Perhaps the two masters didn't ask for the impossible, but it wouldn't be that far off.

Besides, I missed my home, my family. The whole journey took its toll on my body already, yet there were no signs of even arriving at my destination. This was a torture, not a training. I knew complaining wouldn't get me anywhere, but I had to do it. Otherwise, I'd go insane.

Another two weeks went by, but the promised sea wasn't in sight yet. Only the endless forest, spanning left, right and centre. In a weird sense, I began to miss those Elysians. They could at least speak words. No matter what words they spoke, this was still a language I understood. "...I'm going to make a camp now. What should I have for dinner… Ah, yes. Meat…". I had to speak to myself, just to hear a voice. Oftentimes, I found myself speaking to the animals attacking me.

"... I think I'm crazy… I'm talking to myself all the time, I'm talking to animals… Damn it, I'm even doing it right now!". Shutting up wouldn't help either, I had to get back to a place with Humans. Any settlement, village, town or a city, anything that contained Humans.

But, there was no escape. The journey through that forest alone took me a few months. Going back wasn't an option, going south meant meeting Elysians. They could talk and whatnot, but they'd also kill me. Besides gritting my teeth and heading north-west, there was nothing else for me to do. There was no way out, and the two masters must've known that.

After another excruciating week, the air had a sort of fresher smell to it. "That's the sea breeze! It has to be! I'm not that far away anymore, I can tell. My stupid journey will finally end, I want to go home…". No other Elysians popped up, the animals thinned out as well. The huge groups no longer appeared, making my journey much easier.

My journey was about to end, that alone made me happy. I recalled the events that took place over the past few months. The easy beginning, then the horse cart where I met Jena and Kalim. The cliff, and meeting with master Irwin. Then the whole journey through the dangerous forest. I saw how much my body developed, but at the same time became battered.

My ability to control energy was never that good. I learned how to survive with pretty much nothing. How to find water, hunt and make shelter. How to behave inside the forest, and avoid some dangerous situations. Most importantly though, I've lost the naivety that haunted me since the beginning. The journey was harsh, but bore some fruits. I managed to thread through that forest, and survive. I considered that a great achievement, but of course that would be too simple.

Two days later, the trees thinned out. When the trees disappeared completely, I stood on a sandy shore in front of the sea. Pure happiness bloomed on my face. I couldn't contain my emotions anymore. "I made it! This is the sea, my journey finally ends!". I then rushed into the sea to cool myself off. The calm waves lifted my body up and down, while the feeling of water enveloping my whole body made me relax. "...Hey, I arrived at the sea! Show yourselves already. My journey is finished!", I shouted after a while.

No one replied, which seemed weird. 'Maybe they are fighting against those Elysians… Though I haven't encountered any of them for a few weeks. They should be here soon, I'll just wait', I figured. My first reaction was to simply wait, and they'd show up. That never happened. 'Okay… Maybe they are held back by a strong group or something. I should make a shelter here. No animals visited the sea so far, therefore this place should be relatively safe… Though, I'll need a few logs', I thought.

There were no trees near the sea, but there were trees growing further away. Of course, I could go back to the forest and sleep there, but that meant leaving the sea. There was a chance the two masters would miss me, and that wasn't something necessary at that stage. I dragged the cut down logs back to the sandy shore, where my temporary shelter would stand.

Since there were no trees, boulders or anything in the area, I had to build a lone standing shelter. A shack in a sense. With my experience, that wasn't such a big problem anymore. I could use my imagination, and the techniques I learned to build such a shelter. This alone took me two days, but the shelter had walls, a simple roof and even a rubbish bed-like furniture.

"I should take this broken and damaged leather armour off… I need some break from this, and a good wash would do it loads of good", I said to myself. Taking my armour inside the forest would be really unwise. The sea shore was a different story. The view of my surroundings was really good. Nothing obstructed me, or something that would try to get close. There was one problem though.

'I have no clothes for a change, since they took everything from me… I could use the animal skins in my backpack, to make some makeshift clothes', I figured. Tailoring wasn't something anyone ever taught me. Just because my mother was a tailor, that didn't mean I could do it too. That said, my requirements were not that strict. Only a skirt and chest covering were required. The design was the least of my worries anyway.

'... My body feels so.. Undeveloped… I'm not fat at all… I'm seventeen already, shouldn't they grow a bit bigger?', I asked myself, after taking a look at my body. 'Perhaps mom was right, I should eat more. My body looks a bit frail, there's no fat anywhere. Even my stomach muscles are starting to show…'. That night, I forced myself to eat more. Usually, my appetite wasn't that great, even after exercising. Perhaps the lack of appetite caused lack of development in my body.

The area of my camp was really peaceful though. No animals pestered me during the night, and nothing required my attention. For one, I was able to relax a bit, forget about the dangers and constant fight for survival.

The two masters didn't appear in the morning, or the afternoon nor the evening. I spent a whole day next to the sea, but there was no news from them. 'I have a bad feeling about this'. I refused to believe they died, or that they abandoned me. They were either doing that on purpose, or something serious happened. For their sake, I hoped it was the latter.