KINETIC

The day after Nila and Clay left for the Capital. Nila sat down next to Clay on the outside of the carriage while he was controlling the horses. She had just climbed out through the carriage window a few seconds before.

"How is she?" Clay asked.

"She seems to be alright. Obviously she's worried about her mother but there's nothing we can do about that right now."

"Yeah..." There was an awkward silence for a while before Clay eventually spoke again "What was it like growing up as a noble?"

"There was always a ball to attend and a noble to greet. There was never a moment of rest and I had to be careful of everything I said and did. There were people I had to pretend to like and people I wasn't allowed to speak to. Every thing came at a cost and if I misspoke then my father would be negatively impacted. In short, I hated every second." Nila answered with her usual aloof attitude.

"I... see. It sounds like you didn't have much of a childhood. Did you at least have someone you were close to, like a friend or something?"

"I used to. There was a girl named Emma, her family was lower in terms of status compared to mine and she was always very kind to me. I never grew tired of her company and I never had to pretend when I was with her."

Clay smiled slightly "That's great, so it wasn't all bad at least. Do you and Emma still see each other?"

"No. We aren't friends anymore and haven't been for a while."

Clays smile faded "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Is there a reason you stopped being friends?"

"Yes."

"..."

Clay got the feeling that Nila didn't want to talk about this any further so he stopped asking questions about her childhood.

"What do you think of the others?" He asked.

"Others?" Nila's tone made it clear she was asking for some specification.

"Leo, Cain and Rene. Even John, if you ever spoke with him." Clay replied.

"I don't recall much about John, I remember he could use barriers but that's about it, I have no impression of him." Nila answered bluntly.

'Well she never really spoke to him much so that's understandable.' Clay thought.

"Rene seems like a kind hearted person but she isn't suited to combat. She gets emotional too easily and seems to doubt her usefulness." Nila continued.

"I agree with you there, she doesn't realize how helpful her ability is. Not everyone has to fight to be useful." Clay said.

"Cain is a simple man. He enjoys fighting and is quite good at it. He isn't afraid to speak his mind and I find his honesty and openness refreshing, but I do believe he can be too loud and impulsive at times."

"Hahaha...yeah. He's been like that since we were kids. I've never seen him back away from a fight, even when he can't win. At the same time, he's usually the reason those fights began." Clay was always bothered by Cain's seemingly thoughtless actions as a child, but he has since grown to accept it as a personality trait rather than a choice.

Nila went quiet and seemed to be thinking" Leo... He's tough to describe. He's intelligent yet he lacks knowledge about the world and how it works. He's kind to us but cruel to his enemies. He seems... Lost."

"Lost...? Hmm, I think I know what you mean. He doesn't seem to know what he wants. It's almost like he's just going wherever he thinks he's able to do something useful."

Nila seemed surprised at Clay's remark towards Leo, but at the same time she found that she actually agreed with his words.

After another few minutes of awkward silence, Clay spoke again." What about me? How do you view me?" Clay was nervous as he asked.

Hearing someone describe others with brutal honesty is one thing but hearing about yourself is another. He was preparing himself for the negative comments already.

"Like Leo, I think you're intelligent but you have the knowledge that he lacks. You're decent at fighting but you don't seem to enjoy it. I get the impression that you'd rather make the plans than execute them, but because of this I think you rely on others too much." Nila answered bluntly. She didn't care if she hurt Clay's feelings, he asked so she answered and it was as simple as that for her.

"I don't deny your judgment of me. I do tend to rely on others too much at times but it's what allowed me to realize my ability to plan and strategize. My intelligence is perhaps behind my reluctance to get involved in combat, allowing me to realize my own limits and ,possibly, even underestimate my potential for victory. Essentially I over think everything and act too slowly, it's why I prefer to observe and plan ahead." Clay finished his lengthy evaluation of himself and realized he actually felt better about himself afterwards.

Nila didn't comment on Clay's explanation but she felt as though she understood him more than she had a few minutes ago.

"What's your opinion regarding me?" Nila suddenly asked.

"I don't really know. You seem distant and cold, but I can tell that it's not the real you. I suppose that's due to your childhood as a noble. You're obviously a good fighter and I think you are smarter than most, but you seem to lack enthusiasm. That's all I can really say at this point." Since Nila had been honest with him and didn't sugarcoat her words, he decided to do the same.

"I see. Thank you for your honesty." Nila replied with her usual aloofness. "You're welcome." Clay replied.

The rest of their day passed as they sat through their journey in silence, neither one of them trying to make conversation.

***

The Master was sitting behind his desk when his butler entered the room. "The guardian leader has begun his attack on Leofalor's group using the Beasts he created."

"Good. Prepare for our departure, I want to be out of this place within 5 minutes." The Master ordered. The butler turned and left in a hurry.

The Master started grabbing all of his files and various other things from the room. Each time he touched something it would disappear and the snake pattern on his ring would dimly glow a golden colour.

Within a few minutes he had completely emptied the room of everything except the furniture. The butler entered the room again and this time one of the cultists was with him.

The Master and his butler both placed their hand on the cultists shoulder and in the next moment they all vanished.

***

Silas, the man who was chosen to lead this base for the cult of umbra, was currently staring at one of the Beasts that had been created by Trent.

"I'm surprised you're able to to create so many, do you have a limit to the number you can control?"

Trent was sitting in a corner with his eyes closed "Of course I have a limit, why else would I have left those worthless villagers as they are."

"I thought it may have been for the sake of food, they are quite delicious." Silas licked his lips with a lustful expression appearing on his face.

"Could you just shut up already! I'm trying to focus." Trent shouted out in annoyance.

Silas ignored Trent's complaints and continued speaking "I still find it interesting that you're able to see through the eyes of those Beasts and control them from such a distance. It really makes them much more useful. Could you imagine if they carried out an order and you had forgotten to tell them to come back once they were done, then you'd have to go there and collect them. What a pain that would have been."

"Silas, shut the fuck up already! There's no point thinking about a problem that will never occur. Now leave me alone so I can find and kill that fucker Leofalor."

Silas frowned "Capture."

"What?!" Trent shouted back.

"You said you were going to kill him but the Great Ones want him alive. Surely you meant you were going to capture him, right?" Silas asked with a suspicious glare aimed at Trent.

"Oh... yeah of course I meant capture. I'd never think of betraying the Great Ones' interests." Trent replied half heartedly.

"Good, because if you were planning on killing him then if be forced to kill you before you attempted it."

"I know that, Silas. Now leave me alone, I'm sick of your conversation." Trent said with an annoyed tone.

Silas just scoffed and walked away while staring at Trent with suspicion. Trent continued to have his Beasts search the area Leo had been in previously and he had finally managed to figure out which direction Leo had gone.

Ordering his Beasts to head in that direction, Trent thought to himself. 'The Great Ones can go fuck themselves, I'm going to kill this bastard if it's the last thing I do!'