The Search for Knowledge - Chapter 16

Around the time that Kara and Rox were entering the Forest of Giants, Toley was laying in his bedroll a few kilometers from Fira. He had been traveling with his new mentor, Sheeron, for around a week after leaving Nil. He was looking forward to making it to the city, so that he could take a break from the harsh training that Sheeron was putting him through. It felt unending. Each day they would wake up, travel for a few hours, then stop for the day and train for hours. He missed the days when he went to bed without several new welts on his body, not that he wasn't used to feeling exhausted from his past training, but it had been years since he had sparred with someone so far above him. For each hit he managed to land on Sheeron during their sessions, Toley would receive fifteen. Still, it was far better than when they had started, at first it was double that.

It did not help that Sheeron was banning Toley from sparring unarmed, which he was originally trained in, instead forcing him to train with a practice sword. Toley was confident that if he were allowed to fight normally then he would be able to match Sheeron blow for blow, worse still, he was not even told why he was banned from going unarmed. At first, he had tried to argue that he should be trained while using his fighting style of choice, but he was quickly silenced when Sheeron pointed out that he was being paid to be trained in swordsmanship by a mythril adventurer to work in a position that would have him set for life. There was not much he could say to argue against that and it did not help that Toley was not the confrontational type to begin with. So, he begrudgingly went along with it.

So there he lay on his bedroll, sore after another day's training. On the bright side of things, he had more money than he had ever had before and had even managed to increase some of his physical ability levels. His abilities were already on par with your average adventurer when he had started, but now he felt like he was about as strong as a veteran. While he was thinking about this, he pulled out his guild-rating to examine it.

Toley Fairton

Age: 13

Race: Human

Adventure Rank: Bronze

Magic Abilities: Space Lv1

Physical Abilities: Strength Lv2 Speed Lv2 Shape-shifting Lv1

He had his abilities updated by a Virrat when he had signed on as an adventurer, but he had felt his abilities level up while training. He could not tell which ones, aside from space, had increased yet. However, he was sure that his strength and speed had both gone up by at least one level. His space was also at third level now, but he could not tell if his fourth ability had increased. It was hard to tell, since increasing the ability only allows him to change into increasingly-powerful creatures that he has seen before. Since he was raised in a village and not very well traveled, he had not seen anything he would not be able to change into at level one. That said, the ability increases with his physical endurance, so it more than likely had gone up. He would probably need to get a new reading to see if it had for sure, though.

Returning the sheet of paper to his pack, he stood up from his bedroll and rolled his shoulders. The soreness was finally starting to go away after laying there for around an hour. He was not sure about his endurance, but his youthful recovery time was certainly improving. For most people, that pain would have carried over into the next day. Although with his background, it was not entirely unusual that he had a swift recovery from being beaten in training. The same thing used to happen daily, for longer periods of time, when his previous mentor was training him in martial arts.

He clutched his fist as his previous trainer entered his head. He had to find her again. To return the favor of training him for all those years and to ask her what she meant in the note she left behind. He also wanted to find out more about the strange dagger that she had left with it, but he had a feeling that she would never tell him what he wanted to know. The reason he signed on with this quest and accepted the position as a bodyguard trainee was so that he could do his own research on everything while traveling around Chalice, as well as use the Aqua Family's influence to help him.

Toley might have only become an adult of thirteen, but he had goals, and he'd go to any length to accomplish them. His education with his previous mentor far outclassed that of the average commoner, he might even be more educated than most nobles his age. He merely lacked experience in the real world, which he would gain on this quest. With his determination re-solidified by his memories, as he had done for the past year, he looked around the camp for Sheeron. It did not take long to find him, given that they were on the plains just outside of Fira there was not much to obstruct his view, and approached him.

Sheeron was standing in an empty space a ways away from the campsite, swinging his large two-handed battle axe. Shadow sparring with enemies that only he could see, he would occasionally dodge, counter, block, and strike down the enemies that only he saw. Toley watched, allowing Sheeron to finish fighting the shadows before he spoke.

"I'm ready for another round of training," Toley said, sounding even younger than his age. Sheeron noticed him and put his axe straight on the ground, to lean on it while looking at the boy.

(Picture for this chapter: https://i.imgur.com/yD6zu7c.png)

"Well, this is a first." Said Sheeron with a gruff voice, "Normally you are down for the count after our usual three-hour session. Are you starting to get used to the training, finally?" He asked with no sign of the arrogance he showed to Rox a week before. Only the respect that a teacher would show his student.

Toley nodded, then responded. "Yes, sir. I wish to get stronger quickly. I'm ready for even harder training, even." He said concisely, to show that he was serious and had given it plenty of thought.

Sheeron looked at the young man for a long time, he could not help but admire Toley to some extent. When they had first met, the boy was the most timid person he had ever seen, especially for someone that he could see had trained their body as much as Toley had. Even more impressive was how physically fit the boy was considering his low levels, he wondered just how efficient his previous mentor had been. No matter how he tried, Sheeron could never get Toley to talk about his past aside from the fact that he had been trained before and that he had some baggage he would eventually take care of.

After a few minutes considering Toley's request, he shook his head. "No. No more training for today. Even if your recovery time is incredible, overworking your body won't do you any good. It might even have the opposite effect." He answered, much to Toley's disappointment. However, he had a point, rest was also an important part of training.

The young man nodded and returned to the campsite. Sheeron watched him go, then looked at his axe. He smiled while thinking to himself that it might be wise to follow his own advice. Sheeron put the axe on his back then returned to the camp as well. To his surprise, Toley had already fallen asleep in the few minutes it had taken him to decide.

He decided to lie down on his own bedroll and began to think. Nearly a week ago they had set out from Nil, considering that they had to train during daylight and were unable to travel afterward, they had made decent time. It would have taken three times as long to reach this point if he were traveling with someone else, Sheeron thought. Toley's recovery had gotten better and better as they had done their training, so he had increased the difficulty steadily. He was confident that Toley would be able to hold his own against at least a gold adventurer with a sword now, possibly a mythril with his martial arts.

He banned Toley from using martial arts because he was too proficient with it and needed a different perspective, so that he could gain some new insight. Fighting with a sword was far different than fighting with one's body. Yes, one should think of a weapon as an extension of their body, but learning to do so required a lot of battle experience and gave one a new outlook on battle. In the future, he should know what to look for when fighting against an armed opponent, which would be important in his line of work as a bodyguard. More than that, though, he was honestly not sure if he could keep up with Toley's combat prowess if he removed that restriction. The boy's martial art was incredibly honed and incredibly intricate. He had never seen such a style before in all his travels as a mercenary, or time as a bodyguard. He was amazed that he had never seen others use it since it was by far the most formidable unarmed combat style he had ever had the displeasure of facing in combat. If he were not as experienced as he was and was not blessed with the reflex ability, he was confident that he would have lost in a head-on fight with Toley during the sparring test he had given him. Toley himself did not even seem to realize how incredible his own combat potential was. Sheeron shuddered to think what a monster would emerge after he finished his swordsmanship training, especially if the boy someday combined the two techniques into one. He dearly wished that he could meet the one who taught him such incredible movements, but had a feeling that day would never come.

Shaking the thought from his head, a new memory surfaced itself that instantly darkened his mood. The thought of the scum known as 'Rox'. Why Kara thought it was a good idea to bring such a useless person onto the team was beyond Sheeron. The man had no usable abilities according to his guild sheet, but more than that, he did not trust him. Sheeron could find no information on him aside from what Kara had told him about Rox, aside from one thing. He was from Fira, part of the Nihil family and he used to be the captain of Fira's guard. The latter of which was the only new thing he learned. It was incredibly dangerous to bring someone as shady as that onto a quest that required the utmost secrecy. Even if he did come along, what use would he be? The man did not even have any abilities. Just two shabby-looking swords on his hip and a cloak with a lot of pockets.

Honestly, Sheeron half expected that Kara only hired him due to her desire to teach someone and the fact that he was handsome. He had never seen Kara show an interest in the opposite sex, but she did love to figure things out. Rox was handsome and mysterious, it might have struck a chord with the young, inexperienced girl.

At least the other adventurer she hired, Feera, was competent. He had a hard time finding information on her as well, but that was because of the line of work she chose to involve herself in. Scouting, solo extermination quests and the assassination of leader monsters. Monsters that were not so much powerful as they were intelligent, the kind that could gather other monsters and lead them as an army. When things like that came along, it was important to crush them before they became a threat. Feera had a perfect track record in killing leader monsters when she was assigned to assassinate them. When someone does that sort of work alone, it means a few things. They're intelligent, skilled, excellent at planning, have excellent connections and are damn efficient at using the skills at their disposal. Sheeron was also able to dig up some of her history and it was pretty standard stuff. Born on the streets, fought to survive in the underbelly of the capital city Hyperia, honed her natural born abilities until she felt confident enough to enlist as an adventurer, then got started doing just that. He did not trust her entirely, but at the very least he could trust that she would do her job.

Finally, the fatigue from training and travel began to take its toll and he felt his eyelids become heavy. He allowed himself to drift into sleep, thinking of his mission. That tomorrow they would finally reach Fira and he would take up his job as a bodyguard again while continuing Toley's training. He could try to convince Kara to kick Rox off the team, and possibly even see his old student, Jeerae.