Dawn adjusted his posture and asked Alger, "Are you ready?"
Alger unsheathed his old katana, it was noticeably smaller than the new one.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
Without giving him a second to think, Dawn jumped straight at him with his broadsword.
Alger was barely able to react in time to use his Tempest abilities to push himself towards the side, Dawn bent down to touch the ground with his palm...
Before Alger could react, his Leg was now trapped in a spiralling pillar made of mud. Dawn was now looking straight at him, aiming to slice Alger in half, but before he could-
Alger used his katana to cut the pillar and pushed himself back using the wind.
"You're quite slippery, aren't you Alger?"
"No, you have a misconception. I was just defending on purpose. If I wanted to, I could have attacked you at any moment," said Alger, trying to sound Overconfident.
I always wanted to say that.
Before Dawn could even respond, Alger disappeared... like the wind.
Dawn looked around to find him, but couldn't. And right then, he suddenly heard leaves rustling to his left.
He quickly went into a defensive position and turned around.... but there was nothing there.
A sudden gust of wind blew dust into Dawn's eyes.... and when he opened them after a few seconds, he saw a blade right next to his neck.
Dawn dropped his sword and raised both of his hands.
"I yield."
Alger slowly lowered his blade from Dawn's neck and slid it back into the sheath at his side.
Dawn picked up his sword from the ground and then said, "It seems I got overconfident after beating you once, Alger."
Although Alger wasn't using his Conjuror abilities, he still had awakened 3 whole years before dawn, and had been trained by the headmaster himself. Which was enough to make a normal Awakened feel powerless in front of him, but Dawn had still put up a fight.
"Don't think about it too much, you have much more potential than me."
"Even if you say something like that, it doesn't change the fact that I lost to someone who awakened a whole year after me and has a smaller b..."
Before Dawn could complete what he was saying, Orchard called out to them.
"Dawn! Alger! Let's go!"
They both walked towards the stone path and got inside the caravan, where Ivy was waiting for them.
"I seriously don't understand why you boys fight each other. It's a waste of time and energy!" Ivy said with a tired sigh.
Ivy carried a small dagger to her side, but she rarely used it as she didn't like hurting people… at least not physically.
***
The caravan was about to reach the forest. According to the map Alger had, they were only a few kilometers away from the forest. But for today they were gonna rest at the foot of a small hill.
The sun was already closing in on the horizon, and Alger believed entering the forest at this time was not a good idea.
Mr.Orchard slowed down the Caravan before saying,
"Let's stop here for today, we might be wasting a few hours by not moving forward, but this is safer than entering the forest when night is approaching. Sleep well tonight, because from tomorrow we have to be on guard for 24 hours."
Mr.Orchard and Dawn had gone off to scout the nearby area, just enough to make sure it was safe to spend the night. Ivy, meanwhile, was preparing the items for dinner. Today wasn't going to be a feast. Leftover bread from the last couple of days and a few vegetables. Something that resembled a sandwich, but tasted worlds apart. Alger was helping Ivy by collecting firewood for cooking and a campfire.
After a few hours, Orchard and Dawn had returned. And at the same time, Ivy was done cooking with their dinner. They ate their food and settled in for the night... all but Alger.
Alger couldn't sleep, curiosity had stolen his sleep...
Alger wanted to explore the forest and fight the shadow wolves. He was a conjurer, whereas the wolves were only Awakened. He believed he could defeat them.
No risk, no reward, I guess.
Alger slowly got up without making a single noise and made sure everyone was asleep. He took his katana, which was lying next to Dawn, and his broadsword.
When he got outside, he saw the sky illuminated by 8 bright green stars. The stars were beautiful, but Alger preferred not to look at them for long, as they brought bad memories.
He looked at the hill in front of him, the same hill that they had decided to take shelter on the foot of for the night. And started climbing it. When he reached the top, he saw it. A vast forest of tall trees as far as the eye could see, A spruce forest. But something was off; the trees were way girthier and taller than they were on Earth. They were still at least about 4 meters across and at least a hundred meters tall.
This was Alger's first time seeing a forest of trees this large.
Alger had a keen sense of direction. So he believed he wouldn't get lost, even if he went deep inside the forest.
Alger jumped down the hill, using the wind to break his fall.
He then used his Conjuror abilities to make the wind curl around his legs and then leaped forward. In a split second, Alger had reached the Edge of the forest.
Although Alger was doing something risky, going into the forest at night. He wasn't stupid. He had a plan. He was going to boost himself up on the branches of a tree and swing around with the help of his Tempest abilities.
And so he did...
After he found a tree with a low enough branch, he was able to boost his jump and was able to grab hold of it. After he got on top of the branch, it was easy. All he had to do was jump from one branch to another, and in case he missed a jump, he could just conjure the wind mid-air to boost him up again.
Alger did exactly that, occasionally missing a jump or two but never falling down to the ground.
The forest was a lot calmer than he had been told. He couldn't hear or sense anything, which was why Alger was on alert....
Alger was now at least 5 kilometers into the forest, but not a sign of life...
There is something strange about this forest. It's completely different from what Orchard described. There are no insects, no birds, no sound....
Alger made the decision to return... because he was afraid he might stumble upon something he wasn't meant to find.