B1: Chapter 13

Elena walked behind Adam but in front of the woodsman.

How?- The answer would be, Adam dragged the man's large body in a silky cacoon of ropes across the forest floor.

The woodsman used the time and immobilelity to tell his story that he was beaten into telling.

"That sort of makes sense..."

Elena said as she tapped her chin in thought. The story was simple and easily understood even though many parts were glossed over.

"I told you that you needed to hear it from the horses mouth. It would've been hard to understand if it wasn't a first person account.

"Please, you say that like you didn't have a story planned to tell me"

Adam looked back and shrugged his shoulders with an innocent expression and playful smile.

"Maybe..."

A phantom voice said, "I'm a horse?"

Elena rolled her eyes and admitted, "But you were right"

"About?", Adam looked forward again

"Its more sad than anything but the underlying story is pretty romantic"

"Did I say that? I don't remember"

"Whatever..."

The same third party ghost rang out, "Can you answer me or at the very least, untie me?"

The woodsman, the ghost, the third wheel, and who had just begged, got the next best thing to what he asked. He was lifted from his half dragged position on the ground and was thrown over Adam's shoulder and hauled like a single strap backpack. The wraps folded his body in half to fit on Adam's back.

"Still, for the both of you 'brothers' to use the same identity to 'have fun' and mess with people. You really are a bad prince, a stupid one too if you just let your brother do anything with your name..."

She nodded to her own statement, essentially answering for the woodsman by agreeing with herself.

"..."

The man just stared at her in stunned silence.

"Shitty. You have to call him shitty when talking about him. I made a promise..."

"..."

"You made a promise and I will have nothing to do with it"

The woodsman cried internally at Elena's stern face and nodded In respect when he heard what she said.

"Ah well I tried", Adam waved his free hand in disappointment.

"Anyway Vladdy, I understand why you just went along with what your brother told you to do...

"Vladdy? Sounds a lot like...", Adam said thoughtfully.

"There was not much you could do. The woman you loved just lost her memories and fell for your brother because he acted like you. He must've felt familiar to her"

"Now you are ignoring me? That's cold"

"Shut up I'll call you whatever you want later... "

"Whatever I want?"

"It depends on my mood"

"Okay then"

The woodsman recieved a mild headache from the speed at which the two of them entered their own world of inside jokes or insights. Countless times during his recounting and their own conversations the two sidetracked themselves. Inwardly, he pieced together that there was some kind of tension between the two of them and it was purposefully avoided. He was also able to see that there was something almost supernatural in the way that they looked at each other.

Elena ripped herself from Adam's casual backward glance and said, "Anyway, I can't even imagine how a so-called 'King' uses the life of their spuose to threaten someone else..."

"Joker"

"What?"

"You wouldn't know about it. He's an old villain from some fictional piece of literature"

"Hmm..."

"Hmm what?"

"You found something fun didnt you?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about"

"You are going to share right?"

"Later"

She looked at the back of Adam's head emotionally then looked at the woodsman, who looked like a giant white ball of rope that had a scarred face poking out of it.

"Vladamir I have some questions..."

"Someones in trouble. Lea used you full name", Adam said with a casual smirk.

"Shush..."

"..."

Vladimir, Vladdy, whoever the man was, signed and said, "Ask away". Elena cleared her throat and wore a serious and heavy face as she looked at the man who reseambled a human sized caterpillar.

"How did you escape? Why did you take her? How did you get her out of the kingdom? How did you know about the attack? Why did you take the princess? Is phillip your son and is miss Miriam the young witch in your story?"

"..."

"Elena, take it slow..."

Adam separated his conversations and spoke to Vladimir in the same way he spoke to Elena when they couldn't speak out loud.

"Are you going to go into detail?"

*"Yes. You don't need to worry about me ya bastard..."

"Its not you I'm worried about..."

*"Oh. You're worried that she wouldn't approve of your part is all this..."

He laughed inside of their private conversation and continued saying, "That's not like the bastard I knew. You used to do whatever you needed to do to get what you wanted..."

"Thats different. My circumstances have changed since then. You can include me but if you see her smile like a kitten, and you'll know what I mean when you see it, cool it"

"Cool it?"

"It means lighten up and change what you are talking about"

"Fine..."

"...You have too many questions", Adam ended as time righted itself.

"What? His story just skimmed the ending and he completely avoided explaining what he's doing here"

Elena stuck out her tongue and made a cute and annoyed face at Adam.

"Its fine, your right though beautiful. The ending is a bit more complicated than me escaping from imprisonment after attempting to go public with my brothers deeds..."

"Well, as you know, this bastard...", He stopped speaking after he noticed Elena's face. "He calls that look of death kitten like?", he thought to himself.

"...Adam...is an envoy for the Empire. He appeared in the court one day and said that In exchange for healing the kings lifelong ailment, we would have to give him one thing..."

"That movement magic for healing your sterile brother. It makes sense after hearing about his disgusting actions and the zero close calls"

"Yeah, so one thing led to another and my Miriam, she's different from the woman you most likely met, forgot about me when she became a fully fledged witch. She ended up with my brother and after some time I was imprisoned because some of my brothers actions which came back to haunt him"

"Okay..."

Valdamir sighed and said, "I was only able to escape because of this bas...because of Adam. After four months, I was informed that she was going to wed my brother and have his child"

"..."

Adam, the third wheel, looked away from the two and adjusted Vladimirs cacoon of ropes. A quick tug and wiggle of the string created a cloud of white smoke that immeaditely dispersed to reveal what the man was really tied into. His arms and legs were tied to his back and the string that held him up was tied to a harness like series of rope.

"Wait..."

She put on an even more serious face and did a quick half a second calculation.

"The time frame though, you could have been I mean, could be the father. You and her were..."

"You are right. That's the major problem. My brother had the same thought"

"That's how you escaped isn't it"

Vladamir, the useless prince, temporary king, and wildman laughed the hardest he had ever laughed in years.

"A wedding, birth announcement, and execution all on the same day. How grand my final meal was"

"But..."

"There was irrefutable evidence on who was the father. So to answer one of your questions out of sequence, I am Phillip's uncle"

"...Then how..."

"...Did I escape?. This b...Adam stopped the execution and saved my life but most importantly..."

He changed what he was going to say and his tone.

"...he stopped the wedding"

*"Why?"

"Why what? "

*"Answer me"

"I already restarted enough times to proceed in the best course available "

*"So you were just playing with them until you got what you wanted"

"No. I studied and learned from everyone. That is the purpose of this simulation"

*"I hate how you are unphased by your actions. These people are real enough"

"I hate it too Lea but some things are necessary"

*"I know. I won't be a hypocrite and preach..."

Adam chuckled a little bit and was then followed by Elena's chime like giggling.

*"You know, I'm realizing it now but talking like this hurts my head"

"That was random"

*"I guess..."

"So he stopped the wedding and then..."

"He set me free from my cell and told me to kidnap Miriam, to get her away from the kingdom"

"..."

*"You big softy"

"I did it for my own reasons"

*"Whatever"

"Obviously I tried to kill my brother as he slept and I was close but Adam stopped me. So, to answer your questions I kidnapped the future queen and prince of my Kingdom and brought them through a preplanned route that this guy gave me because I owed him my own and their lives. Whatever his reasons, Adam made sure that we were safe from my shitty brother and everything else that might harm us"

"The camp..."

"I made them with Adam's help. The camp that I left you at was actually the same cave that she gave birth in..."

*"You helped him so much and still try to act tough"

"Yes because I told you, I had my reasons to do what I did. I don't feel pity for this shitty prince. His story has serious holes, not to mention that there are reasons why he allowed himself to take the fall for his even shittier brother"

*"What?"

"He is stronger than his brother and always has been. You think that he would try to out the entire royal family just because he was fed up with the crappy stuff one royal did. No, he only did it because the victim, at the time, was someone he loved. Miriam"

*"If you knew all of this why didn't you..."

"Restart, fix it, prevent it?"

*"..."

"I told you that I have my reasons. If I saved her or all of the people, the royal family would just get smarter. If I let this shitty prince rule, he would ruin the kingdom. If I let the crappy king run the show, nothing would change. If I end the royal line, the delicate balance that I have in the world would collapse. I need to make sure that this world gets better Lea but it can't be by force"

*"What are you really talking about Adam?"

Happily he said, "The game, obviously"

"...As for what I'm doing here. My brother's figured out that I brought Phillip to this kingdom some time ago and planned to take his son back by force. I recently learned about it after capturing a suspicious looking guy with scars all over his face. I mean, he looked like real wackjob with his bushy beard and silky hair. Who has that kind of combination anyway?", Vladimir said.

"..."

Elena gave him a wierd look but since Vladimir closed his eyes to immerse himself in his memories, he did not see her.

"Anyway, the handsome weirdo said that my brother hired the Sun kingdom to cause a distraction so he could send people through this forest to take the boy back. I went over to protect the boy but I got sidetracked when I heard that boy talk about the danger that his wife was in. I had to protect my niece in law. My nephew is perfectly capable of handling himself afterall"

"They are married?"

Adam said, "Not yet" and Vladimir said, "Yes"

Vladimir yelled out immeadiately afterward, "Not yet?"

"Those two are... made for each other. The only thing holding their relationship back is Phillip's strength. Unless he can break into the the first star rank, the king will not sanctify their marriage. Basically, he must reach the same strength as anynother witch through his own power."

"That's not going to be for another couple of years how can he..."

"He is the son of a witch and a powerful knight, he has the makings of a sorcerer so it shouldn't be too long"

*"Sorecerer?"

"They are usually the children of witches and warlocks, but they are generally classified as people with magical potential. They have to work from square one but they can eventually use witch level magic. Vladimir here could be counted amongst the ranks sorcerers if he was born with magic..."

*"Hes Phillip's dad isn't he?"

"..."

*"Don't act suprised. You just admitted it a couple of seconds ago"

"I don't believe those words came out of my mouth"

*"You didn't need to but I understand. You have a plan right?"

"I do..."

"So where's the princess now Vladdy?"

"We are almost there so..."

He sniffed the air and his entire face turned feral.

"Can you let me out, I don't feel like being a free meal"

Adam smiled and tugged exceptionally hard on the cord that held the Vladimirs body. The wraps unraveled so smoothly that it was like they were lubricated with oil. Adam touched a nearby tree and collected some twigs and leaves. He threw a two handed great sword that looked like an overgrown rapier, to Vladimir. He then hefted an impossibley huge hammer with a single arm.

Elena didnt say anything because she could actually smell whatever it was as well. It was a fishy, coppery, and musky scent that could only come from a fur covered animal that was covered in blood.

Slowly, the deafening sounds of cracking resounded. And just as slowly the sound tappered off into silence. Both men started to breath, rhythmically, in sync. Vladimir could only vent about the unfairness of the situation inside of their private conversation.

"Shut up shitty prince you're so annoying"

*"This is your fault. You beat me half an inch from death then tie me up to heal my wounds. Then you embarrass me and now this bastard shows up"

"So?"

*"He has never come out this far before so it's all your fault. He must be here for you ya bastard"

"It is on hard right now, so you're not wrong"

*"Hard? What are you talking about? What's hard?"

Adam laughed to himself which confused Vladimir. He then placed two fingers on his lips and said, "You wouldn't get it", out loud.

Elena looked at what happened with confusion and interest.

"I'll tell you later"

*"Okay"

All three of them became tense when they saw what bulldozed the trees in its path. A giant grey-white bear that stood at 15 meters tall while standing on all fours just appeared like a ghost from the trees. The bristles near its front claws and mouth were blackened from blood and its body was littered with healed wounds. Its eyes were like two blue lanterns of ice crystal as they locked onto Adam and Vladimir.

*"Can Marshmellow get that big"

"Bigger"

*"Yay. I can get a monster sized teddy"

The gigantic bear with two sets of claws breathed, yes, breathed. The bears fur shook and wind swirled around it like a gentle breeze. Immediately after it breathed in, it roared loud enough to physically bend the trees all around them in a hundred meter radius.

"Star two close to three...", Adam said with a frightening smile that was not a smile, "Should I release you now then?" he said as he looked at Vladimir.

"Are you going to double the restraints when the fight is over?"

"Obviously"

"Alright. Beautiful, you might want to back up. This is going to be ugly"

Elena looked at Adam and he nodded his head to confirm. She sighed and backed up as far as she could.

"Wanna see?"

*"Yes"

"Back up two hundred more meters and I'll show you"

*"Fine"

She did as Adam told her but after going 150 meters away, she ran into a small but deadly blizzard. She put up a dome of water, featuring <Ice Plate> a variation of <Ice Shard>, to protect herself and entered the blizzard. After a few seconds, she entered a relatively calm area.

She spun on her toe and evaded being skewered and lopped the head off of the alpha sized creature that attacked her. She looked around and spotted half a dozen deer corpses. All of them were over three meters in size, bigger than any of the beasts she'd seen in the previous groups.

A dark skinned young woman in a flowing silver and blue dress danced like a mythical snow fairy as she was assaulted on all sized by monstrous creature. Elena studied her movements and realized how similar they were to her own, except they were much more refined and elusive.

An elengant twirl agitated the surrounding mist of ice and transformed it into swords that accurately stabbed through each deer.

Elena and the mysterious young woman locked eyes and turned their heads towards the same direction Elena came in. The young woman flipped her palm and closed her fist, which in turn settled the blizzard that surrounded them. Dozens, if not hundreds of deer were hidden and killed within the blizzard but that was not what drew Elena's attention.

A pale Adam and an armless Vladimir entered her eyes. In silence, they all retreated to the only safe zone on the edge of the inner forest.