"Am I... going to keep killing...?"
Kael asked in a low, vulnerable voice.
For a mont, Lavinia didn’t say anything, she just felt a lump in her throat as she thought about everything Kael was going through.
But then, her eyes hardened, as if she was preparing herself for sothing and—
"Yes."
She answered, instinctively tightening her hold on Kael.
Then the room turned silent.
Neither Kael nor Lavinia said anything else, the silence lingered for a short while, Kael closed his eyes, Lavinia did the sa, they didn’t move, they just felt the calm in each other’s embrace and finally—
"I am going to get a new Bond."
Kael told the truth.
"Now?"
Lavinia asked as she slowly opened her eyes. At the level Kael was, he could get a new Bond, she knew that. It wasn’t just her, everyone around him knew that as well.
Kael was already an Expert Level Tar, aning normally he could have five Bonds. No one but her knew about Imperia, so according to the people at the Heights, Kael only had four Bonds and they had been constantly telling Kael to get another Bond.
Lavinia was the sa as well, although she knew about Imperia and knew Kael already had five Bonds, she also knew the fact that Kael could actually have six Bonds.
He had one extra slot compared to others.
But every ti she ntioned getting a new Bond, Kael refused.
Kael was different from others, while others relied on their Bonds to grow stronger, Kael was the opposite, his Bonds relied on him to grow.
In his words, as he ’levels up’, his Bonds ’level up’ with him, but the ’experience’ he gains is distributed amongst his Bonds, so the more Bonds he has, the more ti it will take them to grow.
This was the reason Kael held back from getting another Bond.
He understood that they were on an island, that they were surrounded by water, in a place like this, Nyrri had absurdly strong potential.
But for him to show his potential, he needed to grow, so Kael wanted him to grow.
When he explained all this to Lavinia, she understood and stopped ntioning another Bond, the rest of the Velmourns too, since Kael didn’t like talking about another Bond, they didn’t ask too much either.
It was just Kael and now—
"Yes."
Now he seed like he was ready.
"What about Nyrri?"
Lavinia asked. Kael paused for a mont, then he shook his head.
"My strength seed to have reached a plateau ever since I ca to the Heights. With everything that has been happening, I rarely get the ti to train, I cannot learn new spells or techniques, so I am unable to level up. If I forget yesterday, I haven’t improved myself at all in the past few days."
Kael took a little pause, as if forming his thoughts.
"I do not know how long it will remain like this, initially I thought I only needed to hold back for a week, but clearly that isn’t the case.
So...
I’ve decided to let my Bonds grow on their own."
Kael declared.
Lavinia heard those words, she understood the logic behind his words, but sowhere in her heart, she felt that... this wasn’t the only reason Kael was doing this.
Maybe it was her being paranoid, but Kael suddenly wanting to get a new Bond... she felt like there was more to it than that.
"...and I need all the power I can get, especially right now."
And just as Lavinia was thinking about it, trying to put a finger on her strange feeling, Kael spoke again, clearing her doubts.
She slowly began patting Kael’s back, then, after another small pause—
"Do you have a particular Bond in mind?"
She asked and Kael’s answer ca in an instant—
"The one that has healing powers."
Once again, silence fell. That answer told a lot about Kael’s current ntal state. All that death and destruction had a strong effect on him and it was showing.
His mind was trying to protect itself by making him believe that a Healing Bond would help, which, honestly, in the situation Kael was in, would help big ti.
But not like Kael was expecting.
"You know that you can’t heal and save everyone, correct?"
Lavinia asked carefully.
"Yes."
Kael nodded.
"But I will heal those who I can."
Lavinia nodded at those words, then she finally ended the hug.
"Where are you going?"
She asked.
She knew about Kael’s Talent, the power to awaken Ancient bloodlines, it was absurd, unfair even, but even then, he couldn’t just choose any Bond normally, not all Ancient Beasts were strong.
He needed to be careful and precise, especially considering he didn’t have a lot of ti on his hands.
People here would collapse if he was away for too long.
"Shrouded Wilds."
Kael had the answer prepared as well.
The Shrouded Wilds was a large forest and because of the ants she gathered from there the last ti they went there, Imperia knew quite a lot about it.
The ant already knew where he could find suitable beasts, Kael just needed to make a trip, so that was what he would do.
When he explained that to Lavinia, she nodded.
Then the couple sat together for an hour, not saying too much, not discussing politics or what might happen, they just spent ti in each other’s presence, until it was ti for Kael to leave.
An hour later, Kael stood up, Lavinia did the sa.
"I shall go to the Elders’ Hall, they need my help."
She spoke in a gentle tone, Kael smiled.
"I’ll go to the Wilds."
He answered, this ti his voice had a calm that he had lost before.
The two nodded at each other one last ti before Igni ca out and Kael climbed on top.
"Be safe."
Lavinia wished.
"You too."
Kael nodded back, then Igni finally took off. Lavinia watched the father and son leave and only once she couldn’t see them any longer did she turn around and leave for the Elders’ Hall.
...
For Igni and Kael, with no Velmourn soldiers holding them back, a trip to the Shrouded Wilds only took about two hours.
And the mont they arrived there, familiarity hit them strongly, after all, quite a few things began from here, his first battle with Aurelia’s n was also here, although that was more planned ambushes than a clear battle.
Anyways, Kael didn’t waste too much ti brooding over these matters, he landed on the forest ground with a soft crunch.
He looked around and... the Shrouded Wilds hadn’t changed.
Not a bit.
Kael looked around, recalling and observing all the details, those giant trees, the mist, the damp, cold sll.
"Go in."
Kael commanded, looking at Igni.
Igni nodded and did as he was told.
Kael had already made sure not to attract too much attention, Cirri flying around helped with that as well.
But in here, where other humans could see him in multiple ways, walking together with a literal Dragon wasn’t a very intelligent idea.
Only Cirri, who couldn’t be seen, and Imperia, who stayed inside Kael’s pocket, were allowed to remain outside the Sanctuary.
"Let’s move."
Kael spoke, not wasting more ti.
"Yes."
Imperia nodded as she tucked out her little head from his pocket, then she looked around, as if she was rembering everything. The big antennas on her head moved adorably, then the antennas paused, as if they sensed sothing and—
"That way."
The ant spoke.
Kael nodded and went in the direction his daughter pointed without any doubts whatsoever.
He didn’t have other Whisperveil ants here to tell him about all the possible traps on the way and give information regarding other humans or beasts around him, but this ti, Cirri played that role.
She, in her sky form, continued to look around, making sure her father wasn’t taken by surprise.
Within minutes, Kael was already moving through narrow paths, paths most hunters would be extrely careful on, but he was in a hurry and he trusted Cirri blindly.
The further he went, the mist thickened, hiding everything around. Cirri asked if she should thin the mist using her powers, Kael shook his head.
There were other humans around and affecting the mist around him would attract too much attention, he wanted to avoid that.
So he continued. On the way, he heard growls, roars, and screeches of dangerous beasts, sounds that would make many flinch in fear. Kael wouldn’t have been any different, he wasn’t when he ca here before, even with Imperia’s ants telling him what and where the sounds ca from, his body still tensed up every ti he heard them.
But this ti—
His body didn’t react, not even a little.
It was almost as if he was numb.
It was an odd feeling, a feeling Kael decided not to think about, at least not now. He was on a mission, so the priority was to complete that mission and return as quickly as possible.
User Comments
0 comments from readers