The trio exited the inn together after Oliver kindly bought a meal for Yadrith.
"Hmm..." Oliver stroked his chin, "They're a lot of routes out of the Land of Demons... But, for travelling towards Vestriam, we'll have to travel towards Gelben."
"Gelben? Is that a border or something?" Yadrith asked.
Oliver shook his head, "It's a port where Vestriam and the Land of Demons often trade. Travelers also come and go from there."
"Oh, so Vestriam is separated by sea?"
Oliver gave Yadrith another odd look and nodded.
"You weren't joking about amnesia..." Oliver casually said and began walking. "We'll exit west of the city and cross into the desert."
Yadrith followed behind Oliver, who suddenly stopped.
A line of people were passing by.
Humans and demons.
"..." Yadrith's mouth parted slightly, and he felt an odd emotion. 'Slavery...'
The slaves were bound in chains, following a man in front who had a unique aura. It wasn't as terrifying as Miel's, but Yadrith could tell this man was powerful.
"What type of demon is that?" He tapped on Oliver's shoulder.
Oliver chuckled, "A tyrant of the sky, the long horns protruding out of his head, and that dark-scaled tail pretty much alerts everyone that he's a dragon."
'A dragon...'
"They're nothing to be scared of. Just a bunch of arrogant fellows." Oliver pushed Yadrith along, and they crossed the street. "The gate is just ahead, so let's make our leave."
'To dismiss a creature like a dragon, Oliver must be impressive.'
Exiting the city, the three followed a path that plenty of travelers were on. However, after about forty minutes of walking, Oliver swerved off the path simply travelling through the forest. Until, finally, they arrived near a waterfall.
"I'm surprised you found me so fast." Oliver spoke in a low tone.
"Hmm?" Yadrith replied, "What do you mean?"
Oliver raised his hand over his mouth, muffling a manic laugh. "Amnesia? What kind of joke is that?"
In the next moment, Oliver moved, unleashing the blade from his waist. Yadrith's eyes widened, seeing Oliver move at a speed nearly inhuman but still perceptible. There was not a lot of distance between them to begin with, so the most he could do to react was move his left foot slightly backward and pivoting his body to avoid the weapon.
'I'm gonna get killed!' He acknowledged his fate, but at the moment Oliver's weapon was closing in on his throat. A small spider leaped toward the blade, deflecting it and sending Oliver back a few steps.
"Impressive." Oliver tossed off his tattered cloak, "It seems I was mistaken about you Yadrith, perhaps you really are ill... No trained assassin would fail to react to such a half-hearted strike of mine."
Oliver pointed his blade at my shoulder, "That demon must be manipulating you, and working on behalf of Neo Ogma!"
Yadrith raised an eyebrow and took a step back in caution.
"My companion just left her mother's side, I don't believe she's affiliated with... Neo Ogma?" The name slipped off Yadrith's tongue in an odd way.
"With a meticulous man like that involved, the only way to find out is a clash of wills."
In the next moment, the small spider on Yadrith's shoulder sprung off, meeting Oliver's sword once more. A furious battle began.
Yadrith simply gave the two some space. The sight of the small spider springing toward a sword made him nervous, and the thought of Mahaya being sliced through made him sick.
The two suddenly halted their clash, standing opposite from each other.
"My judgement was wrong." Oliver sheathed his blade and sighed. "That amnesia excuse was just too ridiculous, and you're lacking information a kid would know... It seemed too preposterous that you're a real person, and not some lazy assassin from Ravenhood."
Yadrith chucked, "I don't have amnesia, It's just I'm in an unbelievably unique circumstance..."
"I don't understand..." Oliver spoke, "Though I'll still help you travel, but is there anything else I could do to make up for my misunderstanding?"
Yadrith thought for a moment.
"Could you show and teach me, Rekh?"
Oliver suddenly showed a smile.
"I can do both." He unsheathed his sword again, but this time, instead of charging toward Yadrith, he faced the waterfall next to them. "Everyone learns Rekh differently, channeling their will into different mediums. I've advanced my level of Rekh by understanding the sword, as my master did."
He took a stance, "You should pay attention too, Mahaya."
An aura began to emanate from his body, a pure-white aura. He distinctly remembered Miel's—twisted and sinister, but Oliver's was pure. A man who is truly righteous to nature and others.
That perhaps was the reason he was so quick to acknowledge his mistakes.
The aura reached its peak, and his sword fell.
Sploosh!
A fine line appeared, splitting apart the water. It was only for a moment, but it was an incredible strike. For just a moment, the flowing water was cut in two.
"Incredible..."
He let out a deep breath and sheathed his blade, "As I said earlier, the key to Rekh is finding a path through an external object. Most people use weapons, others are a bit more questionable with instruments and such."
"What significance does the external object really have?"
He smiled, "Nothing. It's just the best way to draw out the Rekh within you, finding importance in a craft and ascending past your natural limits. There are such people who have trained Rekh without any external attachment, but that path is pretty much impossible without an extremely strong will."
'Hmm..' Yadrith thought about what he said for a moment, then pointed at Oliver's sword. "Can you still use the powers of Rekh without your attachment?"
Oliver nodded, "It's simply a conduit for development, and the anchor which binds me to my path of ascent through Rekh. It's just that since I've trained in sword techniques, I won't be at full potential in a fight without one."
"Then, to begin, I should find an attachment?"
"Yup, I'm a bit biased, so I think you should choose the sword."
"It's versatile... I guess," Yadrith replied.
***
After spending the rest of the day travelling, the trio had made it to a small town with an inn. Unfortunately, they did not offer a free room like the last one, but at least Oliver had some money, so they managed to get one room.
'I can't sleep.' He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling in the darkness. He turned his head and saw Oliver asleep in the corner of the room. No blanket, no pillow, nothing... He managed to fall asleep just by leaning against the wall.
'I should've lent him a pillow.' Yadrith turned his head and looked for the small jumping spider. 'She's not on the stand this time...?'
He turned his head and nearly shouted.
Mahaya was staring at him whilst sitting on the pillow next to his head.
"What if I rolled over and accidentally crushed you?!" He spoke quietly in an agitated tone. Obviously, he couldn't crush her, but he felt it was necessary to complain, considering how awkward it would be if he actually did roll over on her.
Mahaya simply continued to stare.
"I wonder what you used as an attachment." He spoke, staring into the spider's eyes, before turning the opposite way and closing his eyes again.
It would be an interesting assumption to assume she had learnt with no attachment, through pure will, though Yadrith doubted that. If she possessed an extreme conviction, why would she stay with her mother for seventeen years?
He thought about the fact that Miel was in a somewhat humanoid form.
'Mahaya must use some type of weapon in her humanoid form... I wonder what it is.'
He fell asleep right after that thought.
***
Yadrith woke up with a chill sweeping over his legs.
'...'
'Again!?'
He woke up with no blanket on him. It had been pulled to the side of the bed adjacent to himself, 'Mahaya...'
"Haha, a late riser I see."
Oliver stood next to the bed.
'Now that I think about it, the only way I've been able to tell time in this world is by the sun.'
"My apologies..." His bloodshot eyes landed on Mahaya sitting on Oliver's shoulder, "It's just that naturally, an uncomfortable sleep leads to a situation like this."
"Hmm... Mahaya just apologized for the blanket, saying, and I quote, 'She requires a sufficient amount of warmth to sleep.'"
"What? You can talk to her?"
Oliver nodded, "Yes, we've been communicating for the past two days through Ethra."
"When can I learn Ethra?" Yadrith asked, both bitter and curious about Mahaya.
"Once you enter the First Step of Rekh."
"First Step?" He asked.
"Rekh is divided between the Five Steps, the more understanding you have of the Rekh within you, the stronger you'll become."
"Interesting, then is the Fifth Step the strongest you can be?"
Oliver shook his head, "Nope... Beyond that are the Ascendant ranks, I don't understand much about them. Even their names, I do not know." He paused for a moment, seemingly considering if he wanted to say something more. Eventually, he decided not to.
Yadrith turns to Mahaya, "Is Miel Ascendant?"
She jumped once.
Oliver cleared his throat, "Aside from that, while you were asleep, me and Mahaya collected supplies for the trip." He pointed toward two bags, "It should keep us going for the next three to four weeks. I'll also hunt down small animals for food during our stops."
"Great, I was getting a bit tired of these inns... Also, I've decided." He paused and stood up facing Oliver, "I'll start training with the sword."
A genuine smile formed on Oliver's face, "Then, we'll make one stop before we leave this village."