Ch. 32 (Kael 2nd Stage Arc)
Kael returned to the practice field…
The field was quite empty. Kael quietly went to his position and started practicing...
Kael tried to focus his energy on the blade and remove the pressure from his body. Instead of handling the sword with both hands, he focused power on using only one hand.
"(Eyes closed) Focus… focus… focus—""Hey boy, something's not right…" said the blood beast."Silent… silence, I'm trying to focus. Leave me alone…" mumbled Kael.
Kael was focusing with his eyes closed. He started swinging the sword continuously. Kael focused on feeling his hand and smoothly moving the sword. He did it continuously until evening.
Kael had been swinging his sword for hours. All the other soldiers and Lem were there, not disturbing Kael. Kael still had his eyes closed. Ossban came to check on Kael and saw Kael covered in sweat, still swinging the sword.
"Lem, is he doing it without rest?" asked Ossban."Yes, he is… I don't know how, but he's been doing this for many hours now without rest… Also, he's doing it correctly. His body is not getting tired, and with every strike, his sense of direction is improving," said Lem.
"Hmm, I see."
Ossban noticed Beatrice sitting at a distance…
"Lem," he pointed at Beatrice, "why is she here?" he asked casually.
"She was worried about him… so she left her work and has been here for the last hour."
"Oh, I see. Let her be here. I know it's hard for her. She was 17 when she became a maid. Master told me about it. I talked to her too. She said she is serving Kael because she wants to do this."
"Yes, she is just 26 and being from—" (Ossban stopped Lem.)
"No Lem, don't speak about it now," said Ossban seriously.
"As you wish, Ossban."
"I'm going to stop Kael for today."
Ossban walked toward Kael.
"Kael, stop. That's it for today."
Kael stopped and opened his eyes to see Ossban.
"Uhm, what time is it…? Uncle, why are you here?"
"No reason. I wanted to be here, so I am. Kael, stop for today… we'll continue our training tomorrow…"
"Okay, I'll stop for today…!"
Beatrice came toward Kael to take him to his room.
As Kael and Beatrice were going, Ossban stopped them. Kael and Beatrice turned toward Ossban.
"Kael, why don't you join us for today's dinner?"
"But… would it be alright for me to...?" asked Kael.
"Yeah, it's going to be alright—believe me, Kael," said Ossban.
"No… ah, actually I don't think it's a good idea."
"Kael," (softly) "don't worry, she will not say anything."
[On the other hand, Ivan City: Aben (Main City), Evening Time]
The people were quiet, but Aben was lively, with people walking through the town city market. Two men were walking in the middle of the market. It was quite a good view…
The man named James said to his companion, "Hey Jean, isn't it quite lively? So why are we both here? I thought we would go at a time when fewer people were in the market."
"Idiot," Jean said coldly, "this is the perfect time. The captains are gathering here for the meeting, so we're here to check the security of this area. 'Night Ray' is now going to be more active than ever… continue your patrol…"
They were walking normally. Ahead of them were two paths, right and left. They went right and continued walking toward the end of the alley. This area was quite lonely. A small snack shop stood at the end of the road.
[Layout]
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[james] [shop] |
[jean] |
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They knocked on the shop's door—
A voice from inside asked, "Password?"
"Soul," said Jean.
The door opened.
A man opened the door and said, "Welcome back, Jean and James. The captain's currently in the back. Come inside…"
They went inside…
The store seemed normal, with a counter and foods for sale. The man took them to the back rooms of the shop.
He opened the doors and said, "Jean, James—go ahead!"
As they entered the room, they saw it was large, with facilities and a rounded table. At the table, four captains were seated. One of them was Galen.
"Hey Jean, why are you standing there?" said Galen happily. "Come, sit here in your seat—!!"
"Galen! You—" Jean said angrily, "What were you doing when the 4th Division was getting crushed—!!"
"Hey, chill man. It's not my fault, okay?" Galen's tone shifted to serious. "It was something unexpected. Victor P. Aran and his grandchild Kael—they were the problem. Garrick did his job and stopped Victor, but that child... he has something great. And the blood beast is with him. His existence is dangerous. The 4th Division was already limited to four people, and now three of them including their captain Garrick is dead and their vice captain Edwin is missing."
"A boy? What are you saying—a boy was more dangerous than Victor?" a captain next to Galen asked.
"Yes," replied Galen.
Jean didn't ask any more questions. There was silence in the room.
Jean sat down on the chair in front of Galen.
After a few minutes...
A voice said, "Everyone, thank you for coming today…"
Everyone got up and bowed down to the person in front of them—the man was Jake P. Keldor.
"Galen, I'll ask about the incident later. For now, the reason we're here today is that we now have two stones: the Life Stone and the Beast Stone. But losing our comrades—it's a moment of sadness. As for that blood beast—created using the Beast Stone and experimentation—it is a great loss. We will deal with that blood beast later. I hate to say it, but it will give us a lot of trouble. The more time the child spends with him, the greater the danger becomes.
We've also lost our best Blood-Art users. That whole division is now completely gone. And now we have fewer people who can use Blood-Art, so we must address that too.
Secondly, we should focus on the Soul Stone, which is currently in the Soul World. So Jean, as captain of the Soul Division (3rd Division), you are to take up this mission. Don't disappoint me…"