The return of calamity (4)

"Levi? What's wrong?" Acre leaned closer, touching his forehead to detect any fever. Levinte was staring at him with mixed expressions of confusion and sadness, unmoving ever since he woke up.

"U-uncle," Levinte blinked rapidly, his breath caught in his throat. "Yes? What happened?" Acre touched his hands to make sure it wasn't cold, worried he might be sick.

Because of Acre's rushed grips, Levinte finally recovered from the haze and straightened his back to an upright posture. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

In the carriage, Levinte silently stared at the window. Usually, he would ask many questions and it would lead to a random conversation. His silence implicitly showed that his mind was occupied with many thoughts.

Acre could easily manipulate him to say it aloud but he respected his family members more than anything in the world, therefore he waited patiently.

As they traveled quite far from the house, Levinte glanced at Acre, shifting his gaze from the window to him, as if reluctant to do something.

"What is it?" Acre initiated. Levinte could feel a kind of soft warmth that can't be expressed with words, possibly radiated by Acre to comfort his turmoil mind.

He was contemplating the connection between Acre and the dream. The first time he dreamt about the past was after Acre had poured his power into him to soothe his nerves. The second time was after Acre playfully proved his ability to him.

In other words, whenever Acre linked with him, he would dream of something. Perhaps it had something to do with their ties of kindred.

Levinte awkwardly cleared his throat and attempted to make stable eye contact with him. "So where's the person who caused havoc in the city? Did they catch him?"

"He's out of radar now, but I'm sure he won't be able to move freely thanks to the empress... Or should I say the rightful emperor's barrier." Acre tapped his finger as he smiled, knowing that Levinte was avoiding discussing something else.

"You tracking him frequently, right? What will happen if he shows up in the city and starts attacking people again?" Levinte asked, looking out at the distance, not noticing Acre's surprised reaction.

The flow of the conversation was broken by Acre's silence. Levinte frowned as he turned his head to look at him.

Acre displayed a smile that shocked Levinte. It was a tender and benevolent smile, a smile that could steal the hearts of millions, but the timing was not suitable.

"What?" Levinte was creeped out.

"Nothing." Acre giggled.

"Huh?" The veins in his neck and temple bulged as he clenched his jaw. "You haven't answered my question."

"If he does show up again in the city, Her Majesty will be able to hold him off. She's more powerful than you think she is. Besides, they have the Grand Duchess. If things get out of control, maybe I'll lend some help."

Levinte remembered that Acre said he met the golden knight during his sleep in the hospital, so he figured that they must have worked together to defeat the perpetrator. He hummed in response.

As they traveled, Levinte became more alert about their surrounding. The distant mountains and hills approached closer. When Levinte asked Acre about their destination, he only told him about a place where he will get a new bag.

If Levinte didn't know that he was his ancestor, he would have internally cursed the hell out of him. That's how he had always been, making a facade while masking his displeasure.

Considering their family ties, Levinte could trust Acre about his safety.

The carriage eventually came to a halt and the horses gave a loud neigh, causing a slight imbalance. Acre got out first and tipped the outrider, then helped Levinte to carry his massive bag. Feeling guilty, Levinte offered to carry his rectangle bag, so they swapped bags.

The scenery of a meadow peopled with wildflowers fascinated his eyes. "Um, this doesn't seem like a place for selling bags..." Levinte glanced around, feeling nervous.

They began to follow a trail that wends its way through woodland. Levinte grew increasingly worried about their journey. Negative thoughts soon filled his mind, imagining scenarios where Acre was going to kill him in this remote place.

Not long after, Levinte could see the path ascending, leading up to a mountain. "W-we're going hiking?"

"Not really. It will take us ages to go up. This is the perfect time for me to teach you."

"Teach me what?"

"Sword riding."

As they approached the mountain, Levinte could sense an air of majesty and mystery emanating from it. The atmosphere was thick with mist and a cool breeze flowed continuously, causing the trees on the side of the mountain to rustle in song.

This time, Acre had to carry two bags at the same time for Levinte to have empty hands. Levinte took out the azure sword from the case on his back, his heart about to explode.

Acre opened his palm as Levinte looked attentively. He could see the golden keychain dangling from the keyring on his ring finger. Suddenly, a sword materialized on Acre's palm.

"..." Levinte stared blankly at the golden sword while his inner self went haywire. WTF! WTF! WTF! To calm his inner self down, he closed his eyes and retreated a few steps back, swallowing the lump in his throat.

Then, Acre placed the sword on the ground and stepped on it. Levinte widened his eye, briefly shocked that someone dared to step on an imposing object.

"First, try to feel a connection between the sword's aura and your psyche. You should always keep your sword near to maintain a close link." He explained as he started to levitate. "Like this."

Like a total novice, Levinte blankly copied his movements and stared at the ground. A few seconds later, his forehead was covered with beads of sweat.

'Move you *****!'

His internal remark abruptly made the sword jerk forward. Acre grabbed Levinte in a hurry to prevent him from getting thrown.

"Is your brain rotted? If I give you a leggo, can you solve it? I think you have a problem."

The familiar voice reverberated in his brain as an intense fear weakened his body. His chest relaxed and contracted in a scary way as his heart pounded vigorously.

"Whoops, steady now." Acre laughed at his silly mistake and patted his back, that was when he felt his rapid and shallow breaths.

"You okay? It's normal to have an unexpected reaction from the beginning, some people can't even connect for the first week. You did a great-"

Acre leaned forward to get a better view of him. He was stunned to see Levinte's unfocused eyes staring at the ground with a pale complexion.

"What's wrong?" He tapped his back. Because of the voice beside Levinte's ear, he quickly straightened his back and cleared his throat, wiping his sweat. "Sorry, I got carried away." He huffed and blinked rapidly.

"What did I do wrong?" Levinte regained his posture and acted like nothing happened.

Acre gazed at him for a few seconds before answering, "...If your psyche is disordered then the sword will respond to it. You need to connect with your sword so it can act however you want it to react. You probably cursed the sword in your mind right?"

"Ohh..." Levinte didn't answer the last question and scratched his head. "I'll try again."

He repeated the steps, but this time he conserved a peaceful mind, isolating it from his rapid heartbeat.

'Sorry. Let's go up the mountain together.'

He began to feel the sword slowly lifting him from the ground and moving forward.

"That's it. Stabilize yourself." Acre guided while riding his sword beside him, slowly following the path. "Now lift, keep a stable posture while we're ascending."

Levinte was getting the hang out of it and his tempo gradually increased. "It's not bad at all." He commented as he smiled, then he extended his hand toward Acre. "Let me carry your bag."

The mountain itself was colossal, with its peak almost piercing the sky. Levinte was shocked to see deep ravines, rocky outcroppings, and cliffs, prompting people to take caution.

The path leading up the mountain was challenging, filled with steep inclines and treacherous passages. Luckily they could avoid it by riding the sword.

After what felt like several minutes, Acre slowed down and looked around to search for something. "Where's the old man?" He mumbled. Levinte could faintly hear the last two words and asked, "What old man?"

Acre locked his gaze with him and smiled. "Levi, when we meet the old man, make sure to introduce yourself properly and don't forget to say your full name."

Does my full name hold some sort of authority? He knitted his brow and gave a nod. Suddenly, he heard footsteps and heavy panting coming from behind as he turned around. Seconds later, a tired young man with a big sword case behind his back came into view.

Acre stepped on the ground and his sword disappeared. He saluted, "Hello young one, have you seen an old man hanging around here?"

The young man looked lifeless and huffed, "I've seen him once but never again. For goodness sake, that old man shouldn't have hiked here in the first place. He looked pitiful but I can't help him."

He proceeded to trudge up with heavy panting until he saw Levinte hanging in midair. He stopped and scowled, "Who do you think you are to ride a sword to meet the master? If the master knows this you'll be kicked out in an instant! Put more effort to reach the peak!"

Getting scolded for no reason, Levinte grimaced at his harsh remark. "What the f-"

"If you show up at the peak, I'll make sure to report you to the master!" He pointed angrily at him and rolled his eyes.

Levinte watched with burning eyes as the young man trudged up until he was no longer in view. What a prick! I hope you run out of breath when you get there!

Acre hummed and chuckled, "That young man must've skipped the old man's test of commiseration. Don't mind him, let's get going."

Levinte was too busy pointing a middle finger to the path where the young man walked. Suddenly, he heard a piteous cough and his inappropriate action stopped. He looked at the source of the voice and saw a sick old man sitting against a rock.

He hurriedly stepped down and ran toward the old man. "Are you okay?"

This was probably the old man that prick what talking about and he just left him like this? A certified heartless shit ass prick!

"Ahh, young one. Do you have any food?" The old man's hoarse voice implied that his throat was dry.

Remembering his limited food supply, he rushed to Acre for his bag.

"There you are."

Levinte paused at his track and watched Acre smiling at the old man.

"What are you doing here?" The old man's voice suddenly became clear as water, shocking Levinte as he whipped his head to look at him. "Y-you shouldn't move too much..." His volume gradually decreased when the old man easily got up to his feet and brushed his white robe.

"Levi," Acre called and motioned him. In a state of confusion, Levinte didn't want to make things more awkward than it was, so he did what was told and saluted the old man.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Levinte Rian Orion."

The old man's bored face lit up, his eyes shimmering. "Y-you..." His eyes began to fill with tears.