Chapter 36: Chapter 15 — Outdoor training
The next day, after the successful infiltration of the antique colosseum, Keyaruga took his raptor and headed outside Ranalitta with Freia and Setsuna, his cute cherished toys. In preparation for the future, the party made a few interesting purchases. The ice warrior held onto a fighting manual. She could read, but with a lacking vocabulary, the girl constantly asked the sorceress for help with the translation. They even practiced a few throws and grabs before going out with the Hero of Healing. Freia, who now wore a pair of elegant pinkish gloves, managed to get her hands on a few spell scrolls she wished to study and on a small book made with lithographic technique: `The Brief History of the Royal Family` — that one the magician had hidden among the papers.
Keyaruga's pack reptile reached the city gate. Slavers' carriage, a nauseously righteous god, our first day and night here. That brings good memories. At least then the path was clear.
"Now hold on!" One of the seven guardsmen halted the company with a raised hand. Stubble and a reddish nose gave him out as an incorrigible drunk. "Inspection!"
"Yeah, I'm listening." The man shrugged, looking downwards at the Jioral's soldier. Ranalitta was a free city, but not so much as to have its autonomy get in the way of the royal army. The man had his hands covered by green gloves made from lizard skin, and even a tinkered scroll at his disposal.
"We're looking for healers. Are you the one?" Wait… he doesn't even have an appraisal? Heh, either he's an imbecile, or… Yes, blessed be the corruption in Jioral's army.
"Nope, I'm an alchemist." The lad sneered, as the feeling of gathering mana from his back made him a bit uneasy. So, tossing his leg above Setsuna, who sat before the hero, Keyaruga jumped from the saddle. "Look, if you don't believe me, I can make your spear into pure gold."
"This useless piece of iron? Heh, try it." The nameless guardsman handed his weapon to the `alchemist`. And oh gods, was its condition poor. Rust, dried blood, even a sticky stain of fat. Is that the fabled discipline of the so-called "invincible army"? "Go on. If you fail, you're coming with us". Two other spearmen approached his comrade.
"In that case, you'd reveal me as a scammer, not a healer." Keyaruga chuckled, turning the chipped steel into a solid piece of yellow metal. "Here you go, my man."
"He-heh, that's a good boy. Now get out." At least he has enough decency not to swear every time he speaks. Or… "Fuck that duty! Hey, guys, let's sell this crap and go get some whores!" Yeah, their discipline is really, really lacking. And that morons get their wages from the taxes. We're going to have a lot of work to clean that shit when I become a king.
…
With Ranalitta's border and a few surrounding villages passed, the trio made their way to the woods. It took them an hour of riding before they finally reached the deep forest to the south of the city. Infested with monsters, only qualified adventurers and hunters dared to challenge these woods. With Spellbane's demise by the hands of Lorenzo, presumably, only one person in the world knew how to make use of such animals' meat, fangs, skins, claws, bones, and even flesh and blood. All of this could make you rich. If you knew where and who to sell them to.
Speaking about monsters, the trio soon entered the vargs' territory. A growling howl alerted the pack.
"That's our welcome party." Keyaruga grinned, unsheathing his saber with a crimson net on the metal. He and Setsuna jumped to the ground, both assuming their positions on the flanks of the raptor. Freia also got out of the saddle, although the sorceress almost lost her balance when landing.
There were fifteen beasts, each with a greenish wolf's body paired with what resembled a deformed human face. They all braced for attack. The first of them threw himself at the hero, but quickly met his fate — an alloyed blade pierced its neck. The second lost its forearms to a bluish slash. The third successfully bit the hero's fingers, but only to have its head blown up with healing magic. Playing with blood pressure can be really fun. And so, the forth varg found its end impaled by a conjured long icicle.
Freia kept close to Setsuna, tossing small fireballs with her staff. Nibble flares literally burned their way through three mutated wolves. The magician also held an ice blade in her left arm as a backup. Fortunately, she got no chance of using it, as the she-wolf shredded every monster that came close to her pink-haired friend. Rip, tear, carve, clatter, cleave — that broad happy smile on the huntress' face grew even brighter, as blood covered her cold forearms. The last one, an alpha-male, lunged toward the Hero of Magic. He turned out agile enough to avoid freezing claws and the saber, but ultimately Freia's off-hand weapon made its way through the beast's heart. What the caster lacked in technique, the girl made up for with cold-blooded focus. Although... that didn't prevent her knees from a little trembling. Setsuna glanced over her shoulder and nodded in silent praise.
"Good work, girls. You're really making progress." Keyaruga, on the other hand, was more vocal with his congratulations. He was happy with them, and with his weapon not deforming or chipping even a bit, even though he cut a few bones with it. Fortunately, their raptor didn't venture far, and a single whistle was enough to get it moving back. "Although, I don't really understand why you would need a sword, Freia."
"Haa… Haa… A backup plan." The heroine replied, stabbing the dead varg's head. "You think I look a bit like Kureha?"
"I do, and this is bad. You don't have her reflexes, speed, strength, and experience." The healer mused, shaking his head. The caster, in turn, made a slow nod of comprehension. "Don't be sad. You can prevail; you just need a different weapon." With that said, the lad took her staff to turn it into a long icy spike.
"Smart. It's long, Freia can have distance." Setsuna deadpanned, already aiming to teach the girl all about spear mastery. "What we do?"
"We make a camp here. With them dead, this patch of land should be safe. Freia, I want you to learn this first." The man handed the scroll to the magician, and when she opened it, a crimson magic circle radiated with divine energy.
"What is it? Is it… blood?"
"My blood and my new spell. And I want it to be yours as well." Keyaruga spoke, smiling upon the girl's face. And that visage went really badly with what he wanted to say next. "Setsuna, your claws are good but a bit limited. Can you freeze my arm?" The red-haired lad pondered, untangling his leather gauntlet's laces.
"Setsuna… will not even try. You lose hand, master!" The ice warrior was frightened, attracting the attention of Freia. The latter… decided to watch from afar.
"Good, this means you realize what I want from you." Keyaruga's lips warped into a grotesque grin. "Go on. It's an order."
"B-but…"
"You saw my fight with Kureha, so do it. Go. On." The healer left her no choice. His very tone demanded Setsuna to proceed. Setsuna blinked a few times, and her troubled face turned stone-cold. The she-wolf tacked with anxiety by putting on a mask of apathy.
The mere touch of the ice gauntlets was sharper than any snow, and when the coldness began to take over Keyaruga's limb, it got even worse. First, it was cold; then, it was on fire. Strangely enough, the cooler it got, the more the body felt like it burned. The hero smirked, not letting the shivering get in the way of the huntress' concentration, as his flesh started turning blue.
"E-enough?.." The gray-haired girl hoped to stop that madness.
"Continue." The lad brutally replied, as ice ripped through his nerves and muscles, tendrils and blood vessels. Even with it melting, only gangrene awaited him.
Freia, who now held the raptor's reins, watched as Keyaruga had his forearm covered in a bluish crust. That looked so painful, so agonizing, so wrong! And yet he smiled! Smiled, like when… See? It's not as bad as it looks.
"Ugh…" That memory, her memory, was much more than the heroine could muster without getting pale and dizzy. She gazed as her man crushed his own hand, as he grinned and laughed, as his limb got restored in the bright flash of green light. Just like with Kureha. Another glimpse of her accursed past, filled with sheer disgust. The boy had made a miracle, the impossible, and she just spit on him. Now, that was a broken man, who endured so much suffering that losing a hand or two became a laughing matter to him. And it was her fault. Norn, Keyaru, her friends she abandoned in slums, allies she sacrificed for her own ascension at the court — the more time passed, the less it all remained hidden behind the healer's veil. The more it tormented Freia.
"…eeze the b…es… need one…" The man said something to Setty, but the magician barely heard him. She tried to regain her composure, but that entire existence at Keyaruga's side was nothing but an existential dread. Why would he take her? Why keep her? For the hero's power? To make her love him just to trample her soul later? But… Freia!.. Freia, I… I too can't do this alone*.*
In the end, the sorceress raised her head, and her doubts were subdued, even for a little bit. Whatever fate awaited her, the girl would accept it with pride. Now, what did her lord want? Ah, yes, the scroll.
The magician remembered the structure. The magic circle sealed itself in her soul — this is how she learned all of her spells, but that piece of paper was something else. It radiated power, something a man should've never possessed. But there he was, training with Setsuna. The latter tried conjuring a blade from her powers, but unlike the claws, it was too brittle, and Keyaruga easily broke it.
"Dona mini epiphania." That was Freia's tiny voice. Her senses expanded, she felt every beacon of life in half of the kilometer. "Haa… Haa…" Her senses overloaded — so much to know, so many things to see. A thousand small flares poked her mind. The sorceress became dizzy and collapsed to the ground. Keyaruga and Setsuna ran in her direction.
…
"Master Keyaruga. Can you tell one thing?" The she-wolf asked her savior. They both sat at the campfire above which the Varg's meat skewer was being roasted.
"Go on." The healer replied, rotating the thin sticks with no cortex on them.
"Why revenge? You not kill, you… t… torture, but yika… dead don't come back. You only hurt you." The huntress mused, reflecting upon Leonard's brutal demise.
"Well, my dear, some people just can't be left alive. Also, I really like causing pain to other people, that brings me… joy. Sometimes it even makes me excited. Yes, you're right, I could murder him fast, but that would be so boring.
"Why all this? You said, you was a slave, master…"
"I did. But don't get me wrong, this is not what I live for. In the end, I just…" Want to be happy, whatever it takes. "No matter…"
"Is matter. Master having fun from revenge… Uh-huh, Setsuna can relate." The girl nodded ever so slightly.
"Did you have fun mutilating all of those slavers? You know, Taretanbi, Ranalitta." The man wondered, staring at the flames. "You and Freia have shaken that dump to the core, and I don't think you did it for the greater good."
"No. Setsuna just wanted to be useful. For Freia, for you. Nicha saien (nothing personal)." The ice warrior revealed while staring at the man with her aquamarine eyes. The blaze had subsided. Not the hate for Jioral, but the girl would never allow herself to be controlled by it anymore.
"I think it's fine for you. So… normal." And I'm long past any norm.
"Uh-huh. Revenge, how long do you want to keep this?"
"Well, it's not like I want to kill many…"
"Who made you a slave?" The she-wolf interrupted him.
"Exactly. Maybe, I'll encounter some more adversaries on the way, but I can't speak for sure. Either way, the only thing I can't forgive is when someone steals from me. Or… forcing his way on me." The man said, remembering his "best lifetime" from the previous world. Flare's sadism, Blade's jealous inadequacy, Bullet's aggressive delusions. Head trauma made him who he is, but I healed that fag so many times, he had to snap out of it. All that time it was his choice. Just like seeking vengeance is mine.
"Are you smiling, master?"
"I'm not your…" The girl interrupted him, pointing at her decorative shackles. A pair of enchanted accessories and proof of her slavery. "Oh, suit yourself… I remembered something good. My old party."
"Setsuna's interested. Who're they?"
"Well, a merry band, to be sure. You've met Freia. And the rest…" Keyaruga closed his mouth after hearing the rustle from inside the tent. The Hero of Magic woke up, and now she trudged toward the duo. "Ah, good. I see you're fine." I wonder how much she heard. Maybe everything? Either way, that would be interesting.
"Not… really. Your spell hurts. So many feelings, it's just painful." Freia spoke, taking her place at the fire. Wait, did I really overlook it? Ah, I see. I'm so used to sensory overload, I overlooked it.
"Too bad, because you'll have to get used to it. Now, how far have you seen?" The lad asked, contemplating their relationship. At least half the time, he deliberately left her hints.
"I think… half a kilometer."
"Oh, that's two and a half times farther than my limit. No wonder you got your brain injured." Keyaruga shook his head, putting the right palm at Freia's shoulder. "I made this spell for you, and now we'll have to adjust it a bit."
"First we eat." Setsuna spoke, snatching one of the skewers.
"True. Here, you'll need strength, Freia." The hero presented her another branch with spiced meat.
"Thank you, I…" The caster took a small bite, carefully choosing her next words. She heard the entire talk, and now her hypothesis about the time travel got more and more tangible. "I'm really grateful to be here, with you."
"Hm, so do I, Freia. So do I…"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone