Chapter 26: Impending Attack
(Present time)
-- Claire's POV --
This place has changed too much. So much mana. Could something be happening here? I have heard of places where mana concentrates and makes it more vibrant overtime. But this is much too fast.
I looked at my disciple who is practising her sword techniques. She only started coming here a few years ago, so doesn't know that this place used to be an open meadow.
"PUT MORE POWER INTO YOUR SWINGS." - Claire
"YES.." - Rain (Sweats)
...
"WHY ARE YOU NOT USING MANA. AREN'T YOU A TRYING TO BE A MAGIC SWORDSMAN." - Claire
"YES.." - Rain (Sweating Intensely)
...
"WHAT'S WITH THOSE MOVEMENTS. ARE YOU A BERSERKER? MAKE THE TRANSITIONS FLUID." - Claire
"YES.." - Rain (Gasping for breath)
...
"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU? PUT MORE POWER INTO YOUR SWINGS." - Claire
"Y..E..." - Rain (Faints)
Honestly, she couldn't even do this much. But still.. she did much better than others. Just how powerful will she become when she gets older.
"It's like you were born for power." - Claire
I walked upto her and casted healing spells.
"HEALING LIGHT." - Claire
A white light manifests around Rain and slowly heals her. After sometime her stamina and energy are replenished, and she wakes up.... crying.. that is..
"(hic)..(sob).. You are so cruel..." - Rain
If only you knew...
"You may be powerful Rain but you have never been in a real fight to the death like I have. You would have no time to relax. You have to be ready for anything." - Claire
Rain stops crying. She seems to be thinking of something. She turned back to me with eyes filled with determination.
"Alright." - Rain
I couldn't help but smile.
"Good." - Claire
"Now.. Pick up your sword." - Claire
"Ehh..?!?" - Rain
-- Rain's POV --
Eventhough it's for my own good, just why???
*Clang*
*Clang*
Suddenly teacher stops. Could it be... Training is finally over..
"Rain, are you really 5 years old?" - Claire
She asks me with a serious face. I knew she would find out someday. After all my fighting style has parts that were from my old world. Also my behavior and mannerisms are that of an adult. While I could fool most, I won't be able to fool the person infront of me. Maybe she knew from the beginning, but didn't ask for some reason.
"I will tell you but it's a long story." - Rain
"We got time." - Claire
"Then...." - Rain
(After a long explanation)
"..... and that's basically what happened." - Rain
Teacher doesn't speak for a while. The shock is evident on her face.
"I don't want to believe it. But seeing your talent and powers.... To think that Gods are...." - Claire
"It's all true master. Remember during the last moments of our fight where I defeated you." - Rain
"Now that I think about it... the timing of your attack was almost too... no it was perfectly executed. Also the body strengthening magic used at the very end felt strange." - Claire
"It was due to the mind reading ability and the divine power god gave me." - Rain
"...(Sigh)... No wonder I lost. I can't even begin to imagine your future now." - Claire
"I am happy that you don't look at me differently." - Rain
"You will always be my precious disciple. That won't change no matter what." - Claire
"Teacher...(Incredibly happy)" - Rain
"But now that I know of your incredible potential and abilities, I can happily increase your training to even fur..." - Claire
"TEACHER...(Incredibly devastated)" - Rain
"Ha-ha (laughs)..." - Claire
"IT'S NOT FUNNY." - Rain
(After sometime)
I saw that master was looking at the tree in middle of the lake for quite sometime.
"Master, why do you keep looking at that strange tree like that?" - Rain
"Oh.. I guess it was obvious... Remember how I told you about my son." - Rain
"Uh... yeah" - Rain
"Don't worry. You see.. he was buried there." - Claire
She said that while pointing at that tree. Wait... What?
"I know what you want to ask. You see, until a few years back this place used to be an open meadow. The place where that tree used to be is where my son's grave was." - Claire
"Are you sure? I mean sure there is a lot of mana here but isn't this just too fast. I know for a fact that even if a region has an abundance of mana. It could take decades before the region completely transforms." - Rain
"Yes, that is true. But believe me, during the last few years I saw with own eyes how this place had changed. It all started one day when I came to visit after a long time, I noticed that tree as a sapling growing on top of my son's grave. I tried to investigate about it but there were no known records of a tree with such an appearance. In the end I decided to do nothing and just watch... Maybe I think that the tree is connected to my son or something... Anyway during the next few years the surrounding area became a lake and the rest of the terrain changed." - Claire
"Teacher.. have you ever thought that something might be causing this?" - Rain
"I have. But I am sure that it won't cause any problems." - Claire
"That's true. I can't sense any type of malicious powers here or from the tree." - Rain
"Yes.... I think it's time we stop for today." - Claire
"Really." - Rain
"Yeah. But don't worry tomorrow we will be trying something new." - Claire
"...ok..." - Rain
I begin to walk back home.
"Huh?.. Nothing more to say." - Claire
I just looked back at her with dead eyes.
"Oh good. You have accepted your fate." - Claire
What did I do to deserve this?
We both walk back to the village. It was already sunset.
But when we reached the village entrance, we saw that many people were gathered. Adventurers to be precise. Even mom and dad were there.
"What could have happened?" - Rain
"I don't know. Let's ask them." - Claire
When we reached the gate, people saw us and were relieved, especially mom and dad. They both came and hugged me tightly.
"Oh thank god. You are alright." - Sarah
"I am ok mom. What happened? Why are all the adventurers gathered?" - Rain
Father looked at me and then at Claire.
"It looks like both of you don't know. We got a report from the scouts saying that a Vampire appeared." - Kyle
"A what?!" - Rain
Vampire. I have never seen them but I have read about them. Intelligent humanoid beings of immense strength. Capable of flight due to possessing huge bat like wings. They have pale white skin. In this world vampires don't feed on blood. They can even freely walk in sunlight. Instead of blood they feed on mana. They don't bite people as well. They absorb mana using a hereditary ability they possess. Most of the vampires are peaceful, have families and live by absorbing the mana from the environment. They can also eat normal food if they wanted to. But there are some bad ones who takes absorbing mana way too far. They literally drain their targets dry of mana, killing them. The more mana they take the stronger they become. They don't care who. They can't make other species become vampires it seems. They are so different from the stories of my old world.
"You heard correctly. The scouts were able to return back alive but one of them was found out and...." - Kyle
I saw a few people become frustrated. I see.. they were the scouts. Their companion died infront of their eyes and they couldn't do a thing because of not having enough power. They could only run away.
"We realised that you were outside the village.. we knew that Claire was with you but still we became so worried. So we were preparing to come and find you. Luckily nothing happened and both of you were able to safely return." - Sarah
"We didn't see any vampire on our way so that means he is still far away." - Claire
"Right. Now that both of you are back, we just need to prepare. With Claire here we can easily defeat that vampire." - Kyle
"Yes. The familiar users said that it will take sometime before he arrives here." - Sarah
"Alright. We should prepare for the attack. Those who can't fight will have to be moved away from the battlefield. The rest will form groups and will patrol the likely areas where the vampire will appear. If any of them spots the invader then signal the other fighters using magic." - Claire
"Yes. We must also discuss the other issues as well." - Kyle
Only me, my parents and some of the adventures knows the fact that Claire is an elf who fought in the war 96 years ago. That war is now reffered to as the Four Chaos.
(The next day)
I was looking at mom, dad and Claire discussing about the defense.
"... all the possible areas are protected. The villagers who can't fight are all moved away from the possible places of battle. A message has also been send to the capital for reinforcements incase the enemy is not alone." - Random Adventurer.
"That's good. Strong adventures and soldiers will be needed if the vampire has means to turn the tables on us." - Claire
(After sometime)
I saw how everyone one was working hard preparing for the attack. Even I was helping around the village.
But then I started noticing that teacher looked strange. She was always calm and collected but now it looks like she is... looking for something... something she missed.
"Teacher is something wrong?" - Rain
"Oh, Rain.. I was just thinking about the vampire and something seemed to bug me. But I am sure it's nothing." - Claire
If she says so then I am sure it's nothing.
(The next day)
Today I overheard a shocking news.
At home my parents were heatedly discussing something with the adventures from the guild.
"What?!? Claire went missing." - Kyle
"We went to call her in the morning and she wasn't there. We searched everywhere we could think of." - Random Adventurer
"Did something happen to her? But with her strength it should not be possible." - Sarah
My mind went into overdrive. The only places where teacher is likely to be and where the villagers didn't know to look were the teacher's homeland the Forest Kingdom. But she couldn't have gone their. The only other place was...
"Oh no. She couldn't have... then that means...." - Rain
Realisation struck me. A look of horror seeps onto my face.
".... we were were wrong." - Rain
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