Chapter 5: First Battle

It was mid morning as everyone was ready to head out.

We first had to go meet father's friends who was currently residing at an inn inside Ashber. The journey to Xyrus would be a long one which had made it so father wanted us to travel with them. There are many dangers in this world so it was better to take the right precautions. I've also learnt from father that they were called the Twin Horns consisting of some augmenters and conjurers. I only learnt their names but haven't actually seen what they look like. But, I do know their description.

As we reached the inn, I saw them out in front, near the stables.

My father, after hugging his ex-party members, exclaimed, "Fellas, I want you guys to meet my sons, Artorias and Arthur! Go on Tori, Art, introduce yourself."

Arthur gave a slight half bow while looking up at them, introducing himself.

"Hello. My father has told me great things about his fellow Twin Horns members. Thank you for traveling with us to Xyrus. We'll be in your hands." Arthur spoke politely.

Alongside Arthur, I also began to introduce myself.

With a composed nod and a brief gaze, I conveyed, "Greetings. I extend my gratitude for joining our journey to Xyrus. Your guidance is most appreciated."

"HAHAHA, what is this? Such manners! Are you sure they're your sons, Rey?"

The one to respond was a person called Adam. Taking a closer look at him, he seemed like the energetic, talkative type. While fairly good-looking, he had bright red hair tied in a messy poof at the end, almost like a flame, he reminded me of some sort of vagabond. His eyes were bright and almost seemed like they were always laughing. The first thing I noticed though, was the scar across his nose, reaching both cheeks.

I felt myself get picked up.

"Awww...aren't they just too precious? You should be glad that they don't look like you Reynolds."

I felt suffocated as I tried removing my head from the clutches of the woman. As I managed to finally catch my breath, I took a good look at the woman who was currently holding me and Arthur tightly in her embrace.

She was quite... Well-endowed and definitely very beautiful, with her long blonde hair that came to a curl at the ends and radiant green eyes that drooped slightly.

After a few more seconds of battling for my survival, a strong pair of hands grabbed me and Arthur by the knapsack strapped to our backs.

"Angela, you're hurting them," a deep voice grunted.

I observed the man who was holding me and Arthur. We were like a kitten being carried by our mother by the scruff of our neck, unable to move.

The man was called Durden and he was quite tall for a human. He had an innocent face and a gentle demeanour, exuding a sense of safety.

As I was gently placed back onto the ground, I then observed another woman called Jasmine who seemed to give off an air of solitude.

"Mhm" she slightly nods and then turns away, proving my statement.

The last member of the Twin Horns was Helen Shard. She patted my head lightly and flashed a charming smile at me. I would describe Miss Helen as sharp. Sharp eyes, sharp, perky nose, thin red lips and a little boyish with her shoulder length hair tied tightly at the back. She had a charming, positive aura around her.

I hopped onto the carriage furthest back with Arthur by using a little mana to reinforce my legs. I've gotten the hang of using my mana to reinforce my body. It was getting a bit more natural to direct my mana from my core through my mana channels.

After our party finished loading in all of our travel necessities into the two carriages we were taking, we strapped in what I thought would be horses. It turned out, this world had domesticated mana beasts called Skitters for transportation. These giant lizards, with spikes across their backs and powerful claws, were D-class monsters that were a lot more efficient to use, albeit more expensive, than horses when travelling mountain terrain.

Well, the long journey starts now.

-

By nightfall, the once distant mountain range seemed to have doubled in size. I wondered how big the Grand Mountain Range would be when we reached the foot. Ashber was now a large distance away which made me feel a little melancholic as I've made many good memories there.

We eventually stopped to set up camp near a small cluster of boulders. It was a good spot with the rocks blocking off nearly all of the wind and lot of scrap wood from fallen branches to use as campfire.

After setting up a couple of tents around the fire, my father and mother had begun conversing with the Twin Horns about old times when Helen sat down next to me and Arthur before saying nonchalantly, "I heard your pops say that you're both some kind of genius mages... Is it true you guys already awakened?"

Me and Arthur just replied with the truth since they already know.

She began asking both me and Arthur how we felt when we awakened and what color our mana core currently was. By this time, a couple of curious ears perked up as Adam asked, "Hey Reynolds, do you mind if I test little Art and Tori?"

I found it somewhat strange that an adult would want to pick a fight with children, but I didn't object to the idea. Though, I really didn't want Arthur to get involved, he was still a child. After having spent a few years in this world and new body, I wanted to see where my current changes lied. My body was much more different compared to my previous life as I use to be around 10 feet tall which was a huge change.

My battle experience wouldn't be dulled, that's something I have earned through my decades of wars and battles. It's something I would never forget, however I need to change my fighting style to suit this child body.

My father and mother seemed somewhat hesitant at first, but trusting their old comrade, my father just replied, "Alright, but be careful. I haven't had the chance to teach them how to properly fight yet. We've just been doing light strength and mana exercises 'til now."

Adam got up from his makeshift log seat and looked around until he found a short stick he felt satisfied with.

"Both of you, come here. Haha, let's see what you're made of!"

I was about to object to the idea as I didn't want Arthur to fight with me, but as he stood up with a slightly annoyed expression and retrieved his wooden sword, it seems I wouldn't be able to change his mind. Sigh.

I'll just try to cover any of his weak spots. Arthur's never fought before so he was bound to have many openings and create mistakes. Even a genius would have to start somewhere.

I casually stood up and also retrieved my wooden sword before going to where Adam was–at the edge of the camp near a small clearing.

"You know how to reinforce your weapons right, geniuses?" he asked, emphasizing the last word.

By this time, my father already sensed that Adam was just trying to put on a show of dominance, but he just watched, knowing he wouldn't hurt us too much.

What a loving father we have, Arthur.

My mother looked a bit more anxious as she kept glancing back and forth between me, Art, Adam and my father, keeping a firm hold onto her husband's sleeve.

I focused my gaze on Adam, who was just around 5 meters away from me. Images of my past life surfaced as my gaze sharpened. I firmly held my wooden sword tightly in my left hand, something that I cherished dearly after having broken it once. My left hand was the dominant one afterall.

I glanced to the side of me and contrary to my expectations, I noticed that Arthur was also in a battle stance. I was quite surprised. His stance was pretty good! It had barely any openings, giving the impression of an indomitable wall, whilst his eyes seemed focused and refined as if he was scrutinising any flaw he could spot in his enemy.

I felt quite proud of my brother, he was made to be a swordsman!

After a few moments of our little standoff, I strengthened my legs with mana before dashing towards Adam on his left, with Arthur going to his right side quickly after. The movement was swift as I closed in on him. 

He had a smug look as I went for an upward slash that curved diagonally, aiming for the left side of his body. I was planning on using just simple moves with an easy to understand approach so my coordination with Arthur would be decent. This was so Arthur might be able to find any openings in Adam as I was limiting his options. I was putting quite a lot of trust in a kid, but he's my talented brother. I'll put my faith in him.

As Adam easily blocked my strike and was preparing to counter attack, Arthur had swiftly arrived next to him and swung his sword in an attempt to disrupt his attack.

Adam had two choices, either he continued swinging at me only to be hit by Arthur from behind or he block Arthur's attack. It was obvious what he would choose as he rotated his body to confront Arthur's blade.

A loud *thud* was heard as the two weapons collided, both being strengthened by mana. After having his attack blocked, Arthur quickly followed up with another swing to his right thigh. Adam sidestepped before promptly slashing at Arthur.

However, the attack didn't reach it's target as I had recovered from the initial clash and managed to arrive in time to parry it. The stick glided downwards against my wooden sword as I redirected it.

With the momentum of Adam's attack, my sword went up to meet his torso like a striking viper ready to inflict deadly venom.

His smug look all but vanished and was replaced by a look of surprise, with his eyes opening wide, as he realised what was about to happen. 

I had strengthened my wooden sword with mana so the attack would definitely carry a decent amount of power. However, the look of surprise on Adam lasted all but a split second before he pivoted his right foot with almost inhuman speed as he delivered a kick.

I squatted in time to dodge his powerful kick before I gripped my wooden sword with both my hands to land a decisive blow on his left ankle. His ankle gave out at that moment, throwing Adam off balance which gave Arthur the opportunity for his attack.

Arthur dashed towards Adam as he went for a horizontal swing before he... feinted his attack! Arthur had use some kind of footwork to completely reverse his momentum before changing his slash from his left side to the right side of Adam.

As Adam already prepared his wooden stick to block his swing from the other direction, his right side was completely unprotected.

He once again had an expression of surprise before quickly meeting Arthur's attack by doing an upward swing. Arthur had managed to dodge it before attempting to go for another attack, however Adam had done a split, followed by a roundhouse sweep with his legs as soon as he was on the ground.

Arthur had jumped up to dodge his legs which was a terrible move as I knew what was gonna happen. Being in the air meant he was quite vulnerable to any attack as you couldn't just move out of the way without anything physical to support you.

"Damn, Arthur! From the side!" I shouted.

With no time to use the blade to block the swing, Arthur thrusted the pommel of his sword, timing it so Adam's wooden stick and the end of his handle would clash.

But, like a fly getting swatted out of the air, Arthur was hit with a powerful strike as he was launched back, skidding on the ground like a flat rock on a lake.

...

I breathed an air of relief as I saw Arthur sit back up groaning to himself. It seems he wasn't injured too badly.

With such a devastating attack launched, I knew the battle was over. This was simply suppose to be a friendly spar, but with that attack, it's starting to become a little dangerous for kids...