How strong are you

The gardeners had stopped working, safely monitoring the situation further away as Syllia, Joh and Levi exited the mansion accompanied by a dozen guards.

Leading them was Grant, who slowly walked in front of them while the rest of the guards were on each side.

They went down the stairs, while a servant walked next to Grant matching his speed.

"Do you know on whose property you are? You should know it's foolish to come here uninvited. Those are est-"

The servant almost missed a step, causing him to lose balance. Grant, who simply kept going, ignored the man completely.

"-Those, are esteemed guests of Thunder, and you shall not-"

As they arrived next to the carriage, Grant turned around to face the three of them.

"...Get in," said Grant while pointing at Levi.

Syllia stepped up in front of Grant.

"I'm going too,"

Grant rolled his eyes, loudly exhaling.

"Alright, get in too."

As Syllia stepped into the carriage, Joh walked up as well.

"And m-"

Grant quickly shoved Joh toward the guards.

"Enough, let's go," said Grant, as he then pushed Levi toward the carriage.

Grant's bored eyes followed Levi as he went toward the carriage. It felt as if he had perfect selective hearing, as he didn't seem to hear any insults Joh was throwing his way from the sidelines.

Getting closer, Levi realized it didn't look like a 'prison carriage', whatever those may look like. 

It had nice designs around it, gold on a black background which slightly looked like Grant's armor.

The golden designs were extremely thin lines that looked embroidered into the carriage. They did not stack on top of each other, rather; they went across from one side to the other.

Several of those thin lines crossed other lines, creating the depiction of a dragon flying through clouds.

The insides, however, only had room for a few people. Levi sat next to Syllia with barely any space left to spare. 

The insides were comfortable, with more prominent black and gold designs.

Through the open door, Levi could see Grant giving orders to the guards as they seemed to be preparing to leave.

Levi had a small jump when cold fingers lodged themselves between his.

Syllia who had been strong until now looked wavering.

"It will be fine, Thunder will find us," said Levi in a reassuring tone.

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Grant as he entered the carriage.

As Grant stepped in, the carriage tilted toward the entrance, making Syllia and Levi hold both sides.

Once he sat down in front of them, he closed the door and tapped twice on the window behind him, signaling to the driver to get going.

When the carriage crossed the gates, it was escorted by the guards, who were now riding horses. Levi was surprised they had taken the time to use the stables, instead of just going in.

"Are you friends with Thunder?" asked Levi.

Grant's eyes slowly went down to Levi.

"No," he simply said.

"You didn't break anything or hurt anyone, and you even left the horses outside," continued Levi.

Every time Grant spoke, it felt as if he had to muster all his energy into his responses.

"I'm following orders, and they were to bring you with me, not act like a savage," responded Grant.

Levi studied Grant's face, but besides his monotonous expression he couldn't figure out anything. 

"Do you also hate apostates?" asked Levi.

Whenever Levi spoke, Grant's shoulder slightly dropped as he sighed the content of his lungs.

"No."

"Thought you might have been looking for a fight, like that adventurer," said Levi.

Grant tilted his head backward, seemingly looking at the ceiling of the carriage.

I bet just waking up also annoys him, thought Levi.

"I read that report. So you fought Jaylus, that adventurer, are you strong?" asked Grant without making eye contact.

Levi furrowed his eyebrows, as he grasped Syllia's hand tighter.

"This 'Jaylus' was way stronger than he looked-"

"... 'Stronger than he looked'," repeated Grant in a mocking tone.

"Levi is totally stronger than Jaylus, and maybe stronger than you," quickly said Syllia in a small burst of anger. 

"Alright, let's not..." started Levi.

But Grant had barely moved. His eyes were still fixated on the ceiling, while they both could only wonder as to what was on his mind.

After another sigh, Grant continued, "You're not strong enough to provoke me."

Syllia looked at Levi, while she raised her shoulders and free hand.

"And provoking you would probably not be the smartest move..." said Levi while intensely looking at Syllia.

"You're starting to get it, apostate," said Grant.

As they made their way through the main street that went around Sungrove, Levi noticed Thunder's mansion was in the 'best' part of the city.

Other mansions had their gates close to the main street. The street itself was spotless, with not a single crack anywhere. The flowers and trees were abundant here, unlike the other district Levi had seen.

"That's a lot of trees, hard to believe we're inside a city," said Levi.

"Nobles use them as a way to have more 'privacy', but if trees are what you like then you should see my village," said Syllia.

"I'd love to, one day," he replied while smiling at her.

"And those flowers, what are they? I've seen them everywhere," asked Levi.

"Sungroves, a flower that grows in the tower on the 50th floor, the city was named after it," explained Syllia.

Levi reflected for a moment, vocalizing a long 'hmm'.

"Why would you name a city after something that only grows on the 50th Floor? Aren't there a lot more floors?"

Levi rolled his eyes, as once his question ended, another terrible sigh from Grant interrupted them.

"BECAUSE," loudly started Syllia to annoy Grant, "The 50th Floor is something maybe 1% of the adventurers ever get to see, maybe less."

"How long would it take me to reach the 50th Floor you think," asked Levi.

Syllia looked down, as she brought her hand to her chin. After looking left and right a few times, she answered.

"It depends - I only heard about how strong your Goddess is, when you got her out. I think a few years should be enough if you get better at it."

A cold shiver went down Levi's spine as he processed what he heard from Syllia. He realized, however, it didn't come from her.

Looking to his left, Grant who had his head tilted backward had brought his eyes down on him, intensely staring. 

His bored look was gone, and for a moment, Levi realized how small he was.

His eyes were locked on him, like a predator with prey, as he stood extremely still despite the carriage moving.

With no sighs, no eyes rolling, no loud exhales, Grant asked the same question he did earlier: "How strong are you?"

In front of Levi's eyes, between him and Grant: a single tiny speck; as big as dust. Its glow was extremely dim and faint, and it flickered. Ember.