The Chronicles Of Rhaxtyx

It was the next day of their arrival to the Hopps Village. Rhaxtyx was standing opposite of Damian in an open field holding a wooden sword. Damian promised to train him in sword fighting the day before so they all went there after they had their breakfast.

"I told you, normal swords would be fine too! It's not like I can die right?" (Rhaxtyx)

"I don't want to risk the chance of damaging any sword in the training process when we can't restock on them." (Damian)

"Oh come on! It's fine! We have a blacksmith!"

"Oi!" (Roman)

"Enough chit-chat. En garde!" (Damian)

Without further talking, Damian charged at Rhaxtyx. His charge was pretty straightforward. He held his sword over his shoulder, preparing to do a horizontal slash. Rhaxtyx saw through this. Even though he didn't use sword and was bad at it, he still knew a little bit of it. He smiled and went for a block. He was shocked to see the sword passing through his.

*Smack!*

"OW!"

"Pay attention!"

His head was hit pretty hard and his forehead was red. Damian was standing in front of him with a stern expression holding the wooden sword.

"Do not underestimate you opponent under any circ.u.mstances. Even a simple swing can be lethal. Just like now."

"How did you do that?! I've never seen something like that!"

"I will tell you in time. But first, take position!"

"Wait! I'm not ready yet!"

"Your enemy will not wait for you!"

*Smack!*

"OW!"

"Looks like they'll be busy for a while. Want to go around the village?" (Roman)

"Sure, why not?" (Miriam)

Roman and Miriam went towards the village. Badgey was following them. Kai was in the place they stayed last night and the keeper said that it was okay to leave it there. It seemed like they were genuine so they left Kai in their care.

The village was not that big really. One could walk around it in about an hour and a half. Miriam already scouted the village for any threats at night but walking around the village casually had a different ring to it.

The people were casual, sincere and hospitable. They genuinely wanted to care for their needs while they stayed in their village. The villagers greeted the duo whenever they saw each other. Be it in the fields working or on the street walking.

While they walked around, they saw another batch of troops going towards Vulca at the distance. They weren't the only ones to notice them. The children yelled and waved at them, which was responded likewise by the soldiers, and the a.d.u.l.ts who wore concerned gazes.

"How many this time?"

"Looks like a whole company again. Maybe a hundred?"

"I heard there was a demon attack at Vulca."

"May the Gods have mercy on their souls."

Miriam watched the soldiers from afar. They were smiling yet they carried sorrow with them. Not knowing their fate nor future takes its toll after all. They might be going to their deaths. With the recent news of war, it sure will be chaos.

"Looks like most villages don't know about the war." (Roman)

"Looks like it."

"Should we tell them or…"

"I don't see a need for that."

"I mean, they could relocate and all."

Miriam looked at Roman but didn't say anything. She just turned around and walked away. Roman sighed and followed after her, not speaking about the matter again.

Meanwhile Rhaxtyx was getting beaten up by Damian. Damian would charge and Rhaxtyx would try to block or dodge but his every move would be futile.

"It's like you know what I think! How can you appear where I plan to move when I didn't even take a step yet!?" (Rhaxtyx)

"It is called awareness and experience. I know precisely what you will do, can do and what you think." (Damian)

'Bullsh*t. How can you know what I think without a spell?' (Rhaxtyx)

"It is also connected with experience. That's how I know what you think." (Damian)

"Shut up!"

'Is he really using a spell to-' (Rhaxtyx)

"No I don't." (Damian)

"What the hell?!"

"Curious?"

"Always!"

"It is easy really. You just have to know how to read people."

"Like a spell?"

"Not really no. It is called 'knowing how people work'."

"The hell is that?"

"I know what you think because I have plenty of experience dealing with their crap. In time, I learned how to avoid some things by reading their expressions. And from there, I could predict what they were thinking."

"So it is predicting and not a spell!"

"Nope."

"I thought it was."

"There are certainly spells that let you do stuff like that but not everyone is that talented in those kinds of spells. But enough talking. You have rested enough I assume?"

"Oookay. Here we go again. Just beat me up already."

"With p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. En garde!"

This went on until afternoon. When dinner time approached, Rhaxtyx's face was radiating his fatigue. Damian told about their training and made some things clear for Rhaxtyx while they had their dinner. He talked about how he would teach him and about their training regimen.

"Your body is far too weak. You need more muscle training. I'm sure with your regenerative abilities, you will be able to handle hellish training quite easily." (Damian)

"Please remember that I can still feel pain okay?" (Rhaxtyx)

"Don't worry about it."

"I worry more if you say it like that y'know"

"Enough of that. I want to know what you guys did."

"Another company of soldiers passed by. Roughly 125 people." (Miriam)

"I see." (Damian)

"The people still think it is because of Vulca. They don't know anything about the approaching war." (Roman)

"Well it is not my duty to tell that to people." (Damian)

"Well I think telling them about it would be nice." (Roman)

"You can if you want. I'm not going to stop you." (Rhaxtyx)

"But you won't help either?"

"Why would I? I don't know them. That's why I don't have any reason to tell them about it. I won't have any benefits from it too."

"You are unusually cold." (Damian)

"Well I don't really care about people I don't know."

"I'm not too different as well. I only care about master and people who are sitting at this table." (Miriam)

There was silence while they ate. They calmly had their dinner, not talking much.

"We are going to leave tomorrow so prepare yourselves for the road. And about the people, Kingdom will do something eventually, I think. So there's no need to worry ourselves over it too much." (Rhaxtyx)

"I know, I know. I just worry about these kinds of stuff a lot. My family was in a similar situation too. Thankfully we lived through it but it left a scar." (Roman)

"I see. It's good that you are well. I wish that didn't happened but I am not going to make an effort to save everyone. Especially when there's already someone in my care that needs my help."

"You are right. I should get my priorities in check."

"If you say so."

They started their journey early in the morning the day after. Their next destination was a bigger town at a 5-day walking distance. Their journey continued on. They would look out for anything suspicious and would hunt when they needed. Rhaxtyx and Damian trained every day.

What Damian said as hellish training was truly hellish for normal people. For Rhaxtyx, who liked to laze around all day, it was far worse. His body would ache from all the muscle training and the daily spars with Damian. But he was after all a God so he would feel better very soon. He knew he was getting better at close combat. He felt its effects when he was hunting alone for practice.

Without using any spells, he easily killed a magical beast with only using his sword. He was ecstatic at this result and thanked Damian in a rather irritating way for the receiving party.

Their journey to the capital would take them about a month on foot if they didn't find a suitable transport. Luckily, they found a shop that sold a carriage and also a stable that sold horses in the third village they stopped at. They had enough money for all thankfully and bought everything they needed for the journey.

At the end of their third week, the gates to the capital city of Kingdom of Herron was in their sight in the horizon. They were quite tired but were also excited. Excited for what's to come. And something big would happen indeed. The Dynasties finally started to move towards the border of Herron but they would learn it at a later time.

They rode towards the capital in a merry mood. While they were climbing a hill, Rhaxtyx was looking behind the cart, looking at the scenery as they went.

"Is there anything behind us, master?" (Miriam)

"Oh? Nah. It's fine. There's nothing behind us except our memories." (Rhaxtyx)

"UGH! That was terrible!" (Roman)

"..." (Miriam)

"Suddenly I feel cold" (Damian)

"Hahaha!"

Rhaxtyx laughed to his heart's content before looking at the thicket that they just passed and smirked. The meaning behind it, only he knew.