Two Old Traveler

After Xavier had left Deixtre's side, he had begun to wander around. Although he had mastered Earth Alchemy thanks to Deixtre, he was still a little lost with fire and electricity. He hadn't even been allowed to use them for months. Xavier stopped moving as he wandered around, closing his eyes as he felt safe, unable to perceive any sound around him. With the alchemy of the earth, he tried to sense movement by feeling the vibrations in the earth. After a short time, he slowly opened his eyes, a slight smile on his face. He set off on a journey of several kilometers in a northerly direction, his steps wide and quick.

"I found someone!"

In a short time, he had completed his journey, arrived in the forest, and hid in a bush without being noticed, his eyes darting around. Hoping to find someone from the Order of the Sun, he saw nothing but two old uncles. He rolled his eyes and his smile disappeared. He let out a deep sigh and left the bush as the people in his field of vision moved on. His steps were careful, his eyes darting back and forth between the ground and the people, trying his best not to step on the ground too hard. The person on his right, as seen from behind, was dressed in black, wearing a patternless black shirt, jeans, and a pair of black shoes. His hair was short and slicked back. He was a big guy too, his name was Gabriel. The one on the left was dressed differently, in a patternless yellow turtleneck, a dark brown coat over a dark brown turtleneck, brown slacks underneath, and, unlike the one next to him, a pair of brown boots. His hair, though graying, retained some of its black color, pulled back into a bun, and his name was Michael. They both had camping bags slung over their backs. These two old men stopped their movements and turned their bodies towards the sound when they heard a sound like the crunching of leaves, which was opposite the direction of their origin. What they saw was a young man lying face down on the ground. Gabriel's right eyebrow raised upwards, he approached the young man lying motionless on the ground, bent down, and poked him several times with his right hand. Gabriel turned his eyes to Michael at the youth's lack of reaction and Michael merely smiled slightly and shook his head.

Xavier opened his eyes inside a tent. He was alone, the only source of light was the fire that stood a little further away from the tent. He blinked his eyes a few times and slowly sat up, supporting himself with his hands on the ground. He was innocently looking around, his eyes slowly adjusting to the new light source, when he noticed two shadows. He swallowed once, crawled over, and unzipped the tent without difficulty. His eyes widened and his lips parted slightly at what he saw. There was a campfire, and on the left and right sides were two people sitting opposite each other. The person on the left was hugging his coat tightly. The person sitting opposite him had his arms crossed over his knees and was keeping his eyes on the fire. The fire was moving from side to side, and Xavier could hear the sound of leaves hitting each other. The first person to notice Xavier was Michael, wrapped tightly in his coat. Xavier returned the smile on Michael's face as he turned his head towards him.

"You slept well. Come join us, young man."

With that, Xavier rose to his feet before leaving the tent, stretching his arms out to his sides as he threw himself out. He tilted his head from side to side in turn, allowing his neck to mass, then moved and took a seat on Gabriel's right side. Gabriel was still motionless, his eyes fixed on the fire. Xavier studied Gabriel at first, only to be interrupted by Michael's words.

"Once he dives in, it's hard to come back."

Xavier had succumbed to the weather, lifting his shoulders and wrapping his arms around himself, his legs together. Michael, keeping a smile on his face, quickly stripped off his coat, grabbed it with his right hand, and handed it to Xavier. Xavier shook his head from side to side at first, but thanks to Michael's insistence, he took the coat and put it on.

"Tell me a little about yourself, young man, who are you, what are you doing here?"

Xavier was silent for a while, but Michael waited patiently and finally gave a summary about himself without going into too much detail. Michael's eyes never left Xavier, Gabriel kept his eyes on the fire while Michael kept his eyes on Xavier. 

"So you can use Electricity and Fire alchemy."

The source of this voice was not Michael, but Gabriel, who had been silent for a long time. Xavier turned his head to Gabriel in a sudden movement, locking eyes with him, but saw no change in his position he had finally given up on fire. Gabriel began to play with his white goatee with his right hand and Xavier's smile widened at his carelessness.

"We can help you."

Xavier's eyebrows shot up and his eyes began to glow. "Really?" he asked, and unlike on Diextar, Xavier managed to control his voice this time, preventing the forest from echoing with his own. Gabriel nodded once in agreement and finally turned his head back to Xavier and Gabriel and Xavier locked eyes. The color of Gabriel's eyes was not from the power of fire but from his genes.

When the darkness faded and the sun came out, Gabriel and Xavier set off to train. Gabriel had asked Xavier to cook a venison they had hunted with Alchemy. For hours, Xavier worked on the venison with the amulet in his right hand until it was edible. Gabriel watched Xavier the whole time, and succeeded with Xavier's brow furrowed and his eyes fixed on the venison.

Michael placed a target board in a large and relatively strong tree near the campsite. Xavier was first 2 meters away from this board and would move up to 15 meters during the process. Xavier pointed his left hand, covered with a black glove, straight at the target board and tried to hit it by triggering the Electricity charm. He took a deep breath, clearing his mind and closing his perceptions to outside influences, before each Electric current was released from his hand. 

The kind-hearted Gabriel and Michael did their best to help this young man on his journey. With their help, they trained Xavier in the alchemy of Fire and Electricity, making him much better than before. One morning it was time for Xavier to leave. During this time, Xavier had learned that Michael was a former State Alchemist, but not much about Gabriel. Xavier, Michael, and Gabriel stood in front of the tent where Xavier was staying. Michael and Gabriel were standing side by side and Xavier was standing exactly 2 meters in front of them. 

"Take care of yourself, kid, don't miss your goal." Michael said, a broad smile on his face.

"Never." Xavier replied a broad smile on his face.

Gabriel had no visible expression on his face, but he showed his goodbye by stroking Xavier's hair with his right hand, and Xavier could see that Gabriel's eyes were smiling, shining slightly. After this brief farewell, Xavier turned away and was soon out of sight.