CHAPTER 4 - IGNORANCE

Part 4 (1): Improbable

"Unexpected & apparently inauthentic."

A caliginous space, a border between both the realm of humanity & the material world. A gloomy night set upon the quiet forest. Trees stood tall amongst the lunar horizon. Indurated detritus encompassing the intrinsic domain, this place is rather peculiar. The eyes of the Noble prince creaking open slightly.

Time. A dimension very much unlike our own.

While our plain 3D dimension accommodates for the physical concepts of both the laws of gravitation, & physical matter; time is its own abstraction in itself. A dimensional locality not so adjacent to our 3D space. A dimension at which objects & events have relative position.

"Where am I.~" The words attempted to break free, but all that escaped was Basil's wine-red blood. Secreting from his mouth & the enormous gaping hole leading in & out his torso.

With the realization that not 10 seconds had passed since he awoke, he didn't know what could be reality or what couldn't. The surrounding proportions of the dim forest calmly lay stacked upon a somewhat melancholic background, embellished with a nigh semi–transparent shadowy grey. A hue that extravagantly decorated the skies of the corporeal field.

The absence of audible sound ringed through the area, all that was heard was the slight breeze every now & then, or the bristling of the nearby greenery. Foxes were as quiet as mice, & the predators fast asleep.

"GAGH!" Basil ached.

Gripping the branch tightly as he attempted to use his upper body muscles to force himself off of the thing causing the unbearable pain. His teeth gritted, clenching down his jaw as he utilized whatever strength available.

"Someone. Help me.." he begged.

"𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥." something spoke. Responding to his pleas.

Physical regeneration. A process that occurs in all biological beings, allowing for a much more seamless, & effective way to heal injuries. Recreating all lost, damaged tissues, organs, & limbs. Rapidly restored to their optimal & full health/state at an exceedingly quick rate.

But Basil's regenerative process felt 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭?

He could 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 his body repairing itself.

Down to every organ & cell. Even things unable to be perceived by generic humans. Things only a fey being should be able to feel. His bodily systems constantly increase endorphin production to mitigate pain reducing the amount of time & severity discomfort is felt. As tissue & bones overlapped over one another, creating them entirely anew.

Still pushing, he had finally broken free from his torturous prison. Snapping the oversized branch in two, gathering strength he had thought impossible at the moment. Such strength could make a pragmatic person believe in superhumans.

Gaining his composure, he would stumble backwards, mushing down the leaves beneath him. Ripping the log out of his chest with ease, the wound vanishing in seconds, as if it were never there. His shirt impaled in a spherical formation where the wound used to be, but he could still memorize the agonizing sensations. Almost like a forgotten memory.

Foregrounding quietude, the forest suddenly resonated with an involuntary quivering movement beneath the surface. Unprecedented, continuous waves of multiple thunderous & resounding rumblings echoed throughout the gloomy forest.

The sound of heavy breaths, boots stomping the ground, & leaves being pushed to the side. Limitless & extensive land, tumultuous clamoring permeated the environment. Seemingly endless amounts of vibrational currents set the empty woods quaking.

Trudged footsteps mark the tenebrous forest, an anxious atmosphere breezed in with brisk velocity, the atmosphere stumbling on its own forbidding & baleful quality. The natural flooring of the grassy terrain oscillating as a compound of guards cornered Basil, divulging in many areas, separate areas meant for enclosing a target.

All activity came to a halt, as one knight standing taller than the others before him stood approximately 8 feet in distance from Basil. This primary, also known as principal guard, spoke up, reading from a letter as he spoke to Basil.

"Sir Basil of the royal capital! I have been ordered to request you come back to your family's humble abode. If you wish to resist I have been ordered to take you by force. I politely request you make this as easy as it should be."

Perplexed by the sudden message, Basil staggered backwards still bewildered by all that had happened. Why was a random group of knights sent out into the middle of nowhere at such a time to search for this missing boy, & how exactly did they know of his exact location?

"Please sir, we don't want to have to do thi-"

A sharp gust of pressurized wind in a narrow region, caused by a flash of indiscernible speed discharging major air pressure in the general vicinity. As the infamous "SWIPP!" of a lightning fast blade in the wind could be heard, but nothing was seen. Linear movement traveling at 4/10 the speed of light, speeding past the human's qualitative perception of velocity.

Basil did not even dare to question what was going on. He had already questioned reality once before.

It was as if time had stopped. The knight's now lifeless corpse falling upon time resuming, his skull split in a diagonal line. Blood drip, hitting the ground eliminating the harsh resounding echo of silence.

"Hm." the mysterious figure let out.

It was a tall, lanky, blonde haired female warrior. She donned knight's armor fabricated from material unknown to Basil. Her obsidian armor was decorated with vibrant markings & projecting spikes from its shoulder pads, elbows, & knees. Wielding a small miniature long battle axe with an elongated hilt. Of which she carried on her back in case she required quick access. Her blood red pupils & reddish-white irises were empty, soul-less even. She also did not speak, only focusing on her task at hand. Protect the person beside her.

"Ouu~ It appears we have guests.~" The principal knight regenerating in mere seconds, a brand new brain & skull forming from an unearthly biomass of some sorts.

"I wonder who it could beeee- Ah! A Clannad?!!" The supposed knight gasped at the sight of the woman.

"God dammit! I'd wish you golden spoon freaks would let me be! I almost had my hands on that fresh Noble blood."

What seemed odd about the knights was put into action, with the knights morphing, distorting their bodies as they all shifted into monstrous forms of their former self. Rushing the Clannad as the Head Knight remodeled his forearms to create biomaterial tendrils, projecting them at the female soldier. The Clannad was unimpressed, nothing got through her iron tough skin. Not a word nor budge, not even a fright.

Axe in hand, her right arm elevated to the height of the stars, double gripping her axe as she held it above her head. Closing her eyes as if she was praying to her weapon. Opening her eyes, she rushed towards the adversaries, slicing directly through them like swiss cheese. Countering & parrying each attack thrown at her to minimize the chance of a strike. Continuous strikes steadily cleaving into the enemies, her technique intense as well.

Rotating the hips & slightly pivoting the behind foot, attacking with exceptional precision & timing. Attacking with the outer outline of the battle-axe, retracting the weapon as it reaches its full length to remove the complication of wasting their attacks.

Their footwork also unexcelled, the lead foot remaining on its forefoot, continually shifting & adjusting to the oncoming offense. Not allowing for a single soul to penetrate their defense. Lastly, she began to spin as she one handed her gathering a great amount of rotational energy as she swung, creating a gigantic shockwave that blew through the principal knight & colossal size trees easily.

Now quiet, & in the process of reconstructing himself, he sat on his rear grinning, his body mutilated & his back pushed against countless wooden debris, he was nothing but astounded by her sheer speed. A grin erected on his face, this wouldn't be his end.

-To Be Continued