9 Chapter 7: Afterglow

{Chirp! Chirp! Chirp}

Melodies of the Lordrith love birds were eager in soothing the grey atmosphere of the Fray manor. In the garden of Adarnas where the young man rests, the fragrance of the flowers were still fragrant but now lacking.

{Drop}

A water bead plops on his cheek. Adam was soundly asleep so he remained undisturbed.

{Drop, Drop}

A pair of it. Could've just been dews from last night, but adding another proved ineffecti-

{Sploosh!}

A wave of water splashed onto his face. Some of it went inside his nose.

"Ack! Uncle! What are you doing?" he spits the water out in frustration.

The geezer, while holding a now empty bucket, replied with a blank face, "Don't mind me, just tending to the flowers. Are you awake now?"

"Oh, I've NEVER felt so awake! Thank you VERY much! Though, I would, however, {whisper: listen to this it is very important}, humbly suggest with ALL MY HEART… to please wake me up normally next time." he replied and ended his sentence with a smile that didn't match his tone. It was quite the break of character.

"Child, I have made all sorts of noises for the last 30 minutes just to wake you up. Look at that maid-" Uncle Prith pointed at Suzuki, who was staring at them with a confuzzled face.

"Oh… Sorry." he replied before standing up with a stiff posture.

Adam twisted the hem of his shirt before turning his back, "{Cough} Anyways, now that you're done 'tending to the garden', I will now take my leave and go somewhere-"

"How long are you gonna keep sulking?" Uncle said. Adam paused as soon as it reached his ears. "Don't you have a sister to find?"

"… Yes, which is why I'm leaving." he resumed walking but Uncle was not finished-

"Then why did you went all the way from the South of Lordrith to the North, just to get here?"

"… But you won't come with me, won't you?" Adam stopped to reply with a bitter smile.

{Shhh}

Uncle unsheathed his sword and equipped a battle stance. A gush of heavy air oozed out of his body, sending shivers to the young man's spine.

The air contained no voice, but Adam felt the message.

"'If you're going to get yourself killed anyways, atleast let it be at my hands', huh?"

With a deep breathe and his utmost concentration, Adam poses for the duel with his dagger in hand. Adam felt an annoying presence surface in his head.

[Adam, I told you that you cannot win against him!]

(I do not care if I can't. I have to. I have stayed here for far too long.)

The morning breeze made a sudden sneeze and a brief passage of a strong gale brushed the adarnas, taking a few of their petals to scatter around in the air.

The moment a petal landed on the edge of Adam's dagger, he STRUCK with great speed and precision. It was almost a finesse, but the unfazed Uncle Prith blocked him with room to spare.

"Aiming for my shoulders are we?"

"I'm not done yet."

In a sudden flurry of slashes and kicks, Adam seemed to be pushing him back for but a slight moment. However, it was just a mere trick of the eye, for the old warrior was blocking all of it with ease. With a mere swing of his sword, Uncle Prith pushed Adam far away.

"Your offensive is good, concentration is worth an applaud and you know where to land your strikes with great precision. But it's lacking. Severely lacking. Now, let's find out about your defense-"

"!!!"

In a flash, Prith closed the gap between them and swung his sword. Adam barely blocked it and is having a hard time maintaining his posture. Intensely, Uncle Prith sent out a flurry of attacks that the boy avoided and blocked, but left cuts on his clothes. Desperately, Adam drew a distance to catch his breath.

"Excellent. You use your small build to your advantage and your senses are sharp enough to detect attacks at this level of speed. But like I said, you are severely lacking-"

"Shut up!"

Adam dashes at him with a frustrated intent to pierce.

Just when he is about to hit his Uncle, the gaffer merely turned his body by a little bit to dodge it. The boy furiously followed up with a flurry of attacks but the outcome didn't change.

"Tsk, that's bad, getting all worked up over mere taunts. Losing your composure in battle means death, boy-"

{Thump!}

Uncle Prith pushed the young boy's chest, causing him to lose his footing.

The uncle pointed his blade at the neck of his nephew, "You just died once. Try again." before returning to where he was before.

Perhaps Adam found this as an opportunity to vent out the pile of emotions hidden in his heart, so he came at his Uncle over and over while shouting, even though it was in vain.

"Graaaah!"

{CLANG!}

"Is that everything? And you are going alone to wherever it is you want to go? To what, to save your sister? When you're this weak? HAH! Rather than save her you will just join her there!"

"Shut… the fuck… UP!"

{CLANG!}

"I admit, you have abilities superior than the average but this is not enough! You're still so naive-"

{CLANG!}

"So predictable!-"

{CLANG!}

"So basic!-"

{CLANG!}

"And to summarize everything-"

Adam was about to engage once more, but was astonished to see his uncle already in front of him. Again, he tried drawing a distance but as he jumped, Uncle Prith pulled his collar, grabbed his face, and SMASHED it onto the ground.

{THUD!}

The force was such that flowers flew everywhere like how a rock makes waves when it drops on water. Adam's head felt like a bell that was just hit by a hammer, his ears heard ringing and his sight was blurry.

"You are still a pathetic child, a greenhorn." Uncle went back to where he was before once again.

"Oh, and don't worry I won't kill you no. But you'll never leave this mansion unless that blade of yours reach my throat." He stared at him as if he was staring at a sworn enemy.

[Adam, I have an idea.] Gilgan spoke to his mind.

(What is it?) The boy's concussion made him irritable.

[We need to use 'that'.] Gilgan earnestly suggested.

(No need, he's toying with me anyways. I just need to find an opportunity.)

[You tried that stratagem countless times already! Listen to me, you have no choice.]

Though insistent on not using such a troublesome ability, he gave up at the end.

"Hoh." Uncle Prith felt something change within his nephew. To test the new waters, he was the one to take the initiative. To his surprise, Adam blocked it with ease.

"Uncle, you said I am a greenhorn. You might be true. But, I have traveled for 4 whole years. Everyday, I would encounter either a bandit or a crew of it. Even a child such as iI would grow a little through the process, don't you think?"

The Eyes of the Vagabond. It was a fitting name for a wandering young man like Adam. When the glowflies of the golden sword of Sir Jake Francis entered his body, he was given a mysterious power that enabled him to see 'The Energy of Life'.

Not only does the senses get drastically improved, but the user can also see through the bodies of biological creatures and perceive the functions of their organs along with the movement of their muscles.

If used right, one can form multiple speculations through the gathered information and by piecing everything together it ultimately becomes precognition.

However, there's a drawback. 1 minute. He can only use it for 1 minute. If does try to press it for a longer duration, it gives him excruciating headaches.

"Hiyah!" A shift in the air, as Adam's onslaught of slashes became much more precise, and he was even learning how to counter. This time, Prith was being pushed back for real.

"Haha! Truly fascinating! Is this your Magic? No, this feels different! And for someone so young as well! But this is still far from enough-"

Suddenly, everything seemed slow in motion. Leaves were falling from trees and the petals were scattered everywhere like the midnight stars, both were falling at an incredibly slow rate. Not just them, everything was. Everything except Uncle Prith.

{Whoop!}

A blade's tip at his forehead. It reached him before any sound ever did. Adam could've sworn that his Uncle was at a distance so his bewildered expression is understandable.

"You rely on your senses greatly. But what if they're robbed of you? Your eyes become useless when the enemy is too fast, and your ears made irrelevant to someone who moves faster than sound itself. You're still lacking boy. By a mile. Remember, you just died for the hundredth time."

Adam's tears flowed from his eyes unto his chin. He really was weak, and its no surprise that it frustrates him. Even though mature for his age, as a child he wanted to vent even more. Despite this, his rage was quelled when he sighted his Uncle's expression. He wasn't even wounded but he looks like he's being tortured.

Then, he realized his uncle's intentions. After his Uncle went back to his position, Adam called him out.

"Please, teach me, Uncle. Make me stronger." He bowed earnestly.

Uncle Prith made a satisfied grunt, then smiled at the young boy.

"Then follow me."

***

~(Meanwhile, in the royal capital-)~

A young lady wakes up from her slumber.

She tried to move, but she could only move so far for she was binded by something and to add more, it hurted everytime she tried to.

"Where am I?" She's scared, not because it's pitch black and she's aching, but because she cannot remember. The only memory that she has is the feeling of something warm. She also feels... worry? Partly for herself but...

"I need to get out... Help... Help!" She shouted, but for a while no one responded.

Suddenly, she heard a loud crash somewhere. Certain that it was another person, she called out once more.

"Oh, hey! Can you help me? I'm binded by chains!"

{Creak!}

A door opened and with it was a silhouette of a man clad in armor. It took her and was quite rough with it despite her injuries. Due to a rather sudden feeling of excruciating pain, she passed out and woke up to a place completely opposite from the other.

This one was bright, and had many luxuries and objects that looked rather otherworldly. She realized that it was a bedroom, for there was a ginormous bed in the middle of the chamber,

"My liege, this lady finally woke up." The knight, who was actually still there, spoke to the bed.

There was a silhouette of a man and multiple women inside, most probably naked. Emanating from it were constant sounds of moans, groans, and thuds. The frightened girl stepped back from it and hid behind the knight, who didn't seem to mind her.

"How old is she?" Lordrith asked.

The knight looked at the young girl's face for quite a long time and sighed with relief.

"Most likely 12, my liege." He responded while looking at her. He gestured her to stay silent and winked with a smile. The young lady tightened her hold of him.

"Then what is she doing here? I don't eat raw fruits for they taste sour! We must let her ripe! Get her unto The Harem to be trained!"

And the two left.

"Scary, wasn't it? I'm just a newly stationed soldier here from The Great City of Nordranor, and already I have a lot of questions. The king isn't quite right in the mind, sleeping with young women when his age is fivefold. I know that you're slaves of war but... Something's definitely wrong." He held his chin while pondering and shrugged it all off to face the girl.

"What's your name young lady?" He asked.

"Eve." She didn't said it because she wanted to answer him, but rather because it just popped out of her. It surprised her as well, because she remembers nothing but somehow remembers her own name.

"Eve... what a beautiful name for a beautiful young lady. My name's Garpson and it's a pleasure to meet you. I have a daughter who's the same age as you back in Nordranor so it would've left a bad taste in my mouth if he took you to bed. Atleast the donkey has manners." He chuckled, but Eve remained silently clinging to his arm. Somehow, this sparked something inside him.

"... Don't worry, Little flower. This old man will not let you get harmed."