Chapter 107: Training
When the handcuffs fell to the ground, the soldiers standing in the distance and Wafta also felt that Aoto's energy was different from an Elf's.
Aoto stood up, feeling quite fine, rotating his wrists because the handcuffs had made him uncomfortable.
"Can you tell me what is happening?"
Wafta explained calmly:
"You were captured and taken to be sold. We came to rescue you."
Aoto felt his ears were a bit strange; he touched them and found they had turned long again, and his earrings were gone. He felt a bit bewildered, but seeing everyone remaining so calm made him relax.
"Why rescue me?"
Wafta: "I followed orders, only knowing that you have friends and they asked my superior."
Aoto furrowed his brows.
-"Could it be everyone?"
"So now you people are here to take me back?"
Wafta nodded slightly.
"Yes."
Aoto nodded; he didn't know what to do other than follow. Turning toward the corner of the iron cage, Aoto stepped forward and turned the bag upside down; two earrings and the ring that concealed the Elemental energy fell out. Aoto picked them up and signaled with a nod:
"Then let's go."
Wafta turned to walk out.
"Then follow me."
The farm owner was still bewildered and tried to ask:
"Please let me know what is going on?"
Wafta took a black pouch from his hip; a "clinking" sound rang out, inside were many gold coins. Wafta placed it on the ground and walked away, not forgetting to say:
"This is compensation, take it. You do not need to know the matter."
It was already dark. The soldiers had returned to avoid causing noise and attracting attention. Only Wafta remained, leading Aoto back to the inn.
Aoto walked behind, looking toward the place where the group had identified their meeting point.
-"I wonder how everyone is?"
Arriving at the inn door, Wafta turned and left.
"I bring you only this far."
Aoto stepped toward the inn, still looking back at Wafta with confusion.
Before his eyes, Kazuka, Takeshi, Elyssia, Airi, Ayaka—not a single person was missing. Opening their eyes wide upon seeing Aoto standing at the door, they immediately ran forward, knocking over several chairs in their joy.
"Aoto!"
"You are still fine."
"Aoto!"
"There he is."
"It's Aoto."
Kazuka and Takeshi rushed forward first and jumped onto Aoto, making him bewildered and step back; the three hugged each other as if their hearts had lightened.
Kazuka was jubilant: "It's lucky you're still alive."
Takeshi pushed Aoto away and observed him.
Elyssia stood behind, smiling.
"I thought it would be fine, you two were too worried."
Airi nodded.
"That's right."
Ayaka pointed at Aoto and turned to Airi and Elyssia standing there, her voice curious:
"What should we do to express our joy now?"
Airi shook her head.
"No need, as long as he's safe it's good, let's just be happy."
Kazuka stroked his chin looking at Aoto, his voice questioning:
"How did you let that smoke-using guy defeat you?"
Airi stood with hands on hips and spoke loudly:
"Go inside and sit, standing makes the legs tired."
The six people sat at the table. Aoto scratched his head and laughed awkwardly; he was quite embarrassed.
"Haha, basically I was weak so I lost."
"As for an excuse, I was surrounded by his smoke first; instead of proactively blowing that smoke away, I stood and observed. Partly because I couldn't sense him, thinking he was very strong. And after that, I was captured."
Ayaka nodded.
"So this time you evaluated the opponent too high and evaluated yourself too low."
Aoto sighed.
-"Damn it, I still think too much. I think I need another 100 mirror mazes."
Kazuka sighed.
"We worried about you and searched everywhere."
Aoto scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.
"Sorry... Sorry everyone."
Ayaka: "Let me tell you everything."
Aoto was curious.
"Tell what story?"
Airi: "The story of how we got the soldiers to go find you."
Aoto nodded, acting surprised.
…
After a while of storytelling, Aoto stroked his chin and understood.
"So that's how it is. It sounds quite difficult, doesn't it? So when is the match?"
Kazuka shook his head.
"I don't know yet, but surely tomorrow she will crawl here, you'll see."
Aoto: "If so, take advantage of the time to train."
Kazuka nodded.
"Yeah, I know."
His face showed clear confidence and he spoke loudly:
"Don't worry, I will take her down."
Airi crossed her arms over her chest, eyes closed, and smiled.
"That's good."
Takeshi: "He is also very focused when fighting, don't worry. We believe in you, Kazuka."
Kazuka nodded; receiving everyone's trust made him quite happy.
Aoto still smiled, but it looked a bit forced.
-"Focused?"
Elyssia sighed.
"Then let's go to sleep, I'm so sleepy."
Takeshi: "Then let's sleep, tomorrow bad luck will come looking for us."
Airi burst out laughing.
"Then let's sleep."
…
At night. Because the whole group rented a three-person room, the room had three beds.
Aoto was lying on a bed with a thin black blanket; because it was currently summer, they only used thin blankets. But because summer was quite hot, he didn't even bother to cover himself.
In his head at this moment, it was no different from a broken beehive—terribly noisy and completely chaotic.
Stretching far out of sight and packed tight was a horrific number of Aotos crowding each other and cursing at each other. They stretched to infinity with no stopping point.
Aoto was bewildered looking at the scene before his eyes; he was standing in a white space as if there were an invisible wall separating him from the other Aotos. Those Aotos were crowding each other, everyone angry and shouting loudly as if scolding him, but because there were too many curses, not a single sentence could be heard.
Aoto was bewildered, standing and looking at this chaotic scene.
"W-What the hell? What is this? Where is this?"
A few Aotos even climbed onto each other's shoulders and stepped forward, shouting loudly.
"Why did you brush us aside? We should have had a plan for you at that time..."
Aoto was full of confusion.
"What the hell? Where is this place exactly?"
He looked vacantly around the white space.
Suddenly, the invisible wall as if disappeared. Many Aotos rushed toward him.
Aoto stood there, hastily putting his hands out to block, he hurriedly shouted:
"Slowly, just a few people."
Aoto squeezed his eyes shut, but he felt nothing; a bit confused, he slowly opened his eyes.
Before him now were ten other Aotos standing in front of him. One was crossing his arms and looking at Aoto with an uncomfortable gaze, one was yawning, one was silent and calm... each with a different appearance.
Aoto was still quite bewildered, he asked:
"Who are you guys?"
Grumpy spoke up with an uncomfortable voice:
"Who else? If not you, then who else is in here?"
Humorous laughed loudly:
"Hahaha... it's okay, you being still alive is truly a miracle."
Optimistic braced his hands on both hips.
"It's okay, if there's a mistake, fix it, don't worry."
Calm sighed.
"Anyway, it happened, next time you must listen to us."
Aoto was bewildered, not understanding what the Aotos in front of him were saying.
"What are you guys talking about?"
Grumpy, a bit annoyed, stepped closer. Silent tried to pull Grumpy back.
"We are talking about the fact that you were stupid not to listen to us and brushed us aside, then got captured like a fool."
Aoto was stunned; he seemed to remember.
Determined stood nearby with crossed arms.
"Stop it, blaming is useless. The important thing is he must move forward."
Grumpy spat a glob of saliva as if in contempt.
"Plunging into death like a fool, more like."
Determined furrowed his brows and spoke back:
"He's still alive here, isn't he? Back off."
Grumpy became more uncomfortable.
"Are you an optimistic thinker or just stupid?"
Determined seemed angry, stepped close to Grumpy and looked straight into his face.
"Stop talking like that."
Grumpy was not to be outdone, eyeing Determined back.
"What can I say to someone as stubborn as you?"
Determined grabbed Grumpy's collar. Grumpy also grabbed back in response.
Determined: "What did you say?"
Grumpy retorted: "Who knows?"
Hot-tempered stood outside with crossed arms and was very frustrated.
"Why talk so much, just fight quickly to get it over with."
Having said that, Hot-tempered rushed in and attacked both. A chaotic scuffle broke out, the sounds of punching and kicking "thud thud" rang out.
Cunning sighed and didn't care, sitting down into the air as a large, quite luxurious leather chair appeared.
Calm wiped his face and sighed helplessly.
Anxious said with a slightly fearful voice:
"Fighting inside the head will truly make the head explode."
Aoto hastily waved his hands.
"Hey hey hey hey, is this my head? Stop fighting."
Humorous laughed excitedly and sat on a high rocking chair.
"Guess who wins? I bet on Grumpy."
Silent remained silent and observed, saying nothing.
Curious with a curious gaze observed and analyzed.
"Is Hot-tempered's punching force stronger, perhaps?"
Aoto called out loudly and pointed his finger toward everyone:
"Hey, hurry and help me stop them, can you just stand there and watch?"
…
After a while, finally the battle ended. Their clothes were very disheveled; the three didn't bother looking at each other's faces and stood far apart.
Aoto stood next to Calm and braced his hands, sighing.
"What is this exactly?"
Calm turned over and answered very calmly:
"Remember this and listen. We are you, and we will help you, understood?"
Aoto furrowed his brows, still quite bewildered.
"Oh oh, so that's it."
"So what will you guys help me with?"
Calm: "If you have questions or difficult problems, we will help and give our opinions. That way you will unify the opinions in your head more easily."
Aoto seemed to understand, but complained:
"Unify? Is that going to be okay?"
Grumpy crossed his arms over his chest, his voice uncomfortable:
"You must not brush us aside like last time; it could have been solved easily, but you thought too much and that's why you almost died."
Optimistic sat on the edge of Cunning's chair.
"Anyway it's over, back to the main issue: meeting up to make talking easier."
Calm nodded.
"That's right, so remember not to brush us aside, hear?"
Aoto nodded.
"Oh, okay. I will remember."
He scratched his head and laughed awkwardly, feeling a bit guilty.
"Then I apologize for last time, okay?"
Calm nodded.
"Then goodbye."
Suddenly, Aoto, who was sleeping, jolted awake, his body soaked in sweat, his breath hurried, his face in the darkness still clearly showed bewilderment.
-"Was it real?"
A voice rang out in Aoto's head, seemingly that of Hot-tempered:
"Still asking? Go to sleep, you idiot."
Aoto was very surprised; he looked around the room once. Only the middle bed had Takeshi sleeping.
-"It's real."
Casting his eyes further, it was Kazuka's bed, but Kazuka was nowhere to be seen.
-"Huh, he's not sleeping?"
Suddenly remembering the match, Aoto seemed to know:
-"Likely he went to train."
He smiled slightly, full of expectation and hope.
"Good luck, Kazuka."
At a certain forest, a blue light flashed brightly, lighting up the whole forest. The trees and the blades of grass seemed to wither, the ground was a bit dry.
Covering a very large range of the forest was a thin layer of energy, thinner than mist, created by Kazuka.
He was sitting on a tree stump; behind him was a tree that had apparently been chopped down by him to make a place to sit. His two legs were crossed and eyes closed, energy constantly radiating, his body relaxed.
He was sensing everything within the range his energy covered. The rabbits sleeping, the worms underground, the birds on the treetops…
Flying around was Lin in a tiny form, even smaller than a palm. Her voice was clear like a child's:
"Try to observe things with small size and high detail, Kazuka."
The moon had passed overhead for a while; the energy around Kazuka gradually disappeared. He opened his eyes slowly and let out a long sigh.
Lin flew in front of Kazuka's face like a newly hatched butterfly.
"What do you think? Just by sensing energy, do you think you can win against her?"
Kazuka's eyes followed Lin's movements and returned to a normal sitting posture.
"I don't know, sensing makes it hard to tell."
Kazuka with a curious voice:
"So what is Lin's function? Or do you just fly around me and talk?"
Lin stopped flying and stood suspended in the air, crossing her arms.
"Lin has many functions, for example: if you fight, I can be a third eye and remind you. And many other things."
Kazuka: "But I can sense it."
Lin shook her head.
"Don't be so confident. If you lose focus or focus too much, a flaw will appear. At that time I will help you."
Kazuka nodded.
"I see, so when fighting Mythyr, will Lin help me?"
Lin braced her hands on her sides, nodding confidently.
"Of course Lin will help Kazuka."
Kazuka jumped off the stump.
"I saw a very large rock at the corner of the forest, must go there and try lifting it."
…
The next morning, Airi along with Ayaka and Elyssia pushed the door open forcefully and stepped in.
Inside. Kazuka was hugging Aoto's two legs, while Takeshi had his arm over Aoto's shoulder, the two lifting Aoto up; the three were joking around.
Suddenly stopping when seeing the three girls enter.
Airi furrowed her brows.
"What kind of game are you guys playing?"
Takeshi said excitedly:
"Look at this, you guys."
Kazuka and Aoto used strength and pulled.
Crack... crack…
It seemed Kazuka and Takeshi had stretched Aoto's bones and made his spine make that "crack crack" sound. Kazuka and Takeshi laughed loudly, while Aoto felt very comfortable, his face clearly showing relief. Setting Aoto down, Kazuka turned over and asked curiously:
"What's the matter?"
Airi held a piece of paper.
"Here, Mythyr sent this to you."
Aoto and Takeshi stopped being playful and ran over. Kazuka took the letter and opened it.
Inside was written: Three days from now, come to the arena, don't even think about running away.
Takeshi: "Knew she would come today, who would have thought she'd send a letter."
Kazuka crumpled the paper and laughed confidently.
"Don't worry, I'm going to train now."
After saying that, Kazuka ran past Ayaka and Elyssia and ran outside.
The five people still watched him.
Ayaka was a bit worried:
"Now we can't help with anything? I'm so worried."
Takeshi shrugged and shook his head.
"He will be fine; he didn't even ask us to train with him, so surely he has some way. Don't worry."
Airi nodded; it seemed she was also very expectant.
"Yeah, don't worry. Now I'm going to work."
Takeshi was quite surprised and let out a loud "Huh?".
"You're going to work?"
Airi nodded.
"If I don't work, I'll starve, won't I?"
Takeshi also nodded.
"Yeah, we should also find some work to earn a bit extra."
…
A moment later, Elyssia was looking for Kazuka... She walked on the busy street crowded with people passing by.
"I wonder where Kazuka is? Really want to help him train."
"Now he and I are familiar with each other's energy, so don't need to worry much."
Glancing around, she thought of places Kazuka could go.
"The possibility for training can only be in the forest."
After walking for a while, Elyssia reached the edge of the forest; there was no one here. She glanced around as if being alert to see if anyone followed or accidentally passed by.
Elyssia closed her eyes as if concentrating, then she opened them. A huge source of white energy surrounded her body. The ice-blue eyes had disappeared; now her eyes were just a pure white color, like milk marbles. The hair that had been turned black had switched to platinum, swaying according to the flow of energy. The wind rose slightly; behind Elyssia's back were four wings with pure white feathers without a single black color; a few feathers from the wings even fell to the ground—when falling, the withered grass seemed to be given life, living again and becoming green, the surrounding air as if became clearer. Two pairs of wings with extremely wide and large wingspans were spread out by her and then folded back, seemingly for neatness. Above her head were two pure white rings; on the two rings were golden spikes like large needles. One ring lay horizontally and did not move, but another ring seemed to be inside, it moved and rotated slowly. Behind Elyssia's neck was a vertical eye and it only had a white color, it still blinked normally, as if it were a part of her.
Elyssia spread the two pairs of wings wide, wind and dust rose. The two pairs of wings gave a very powerful flap, making sand and dust scatter everywhere. Elyssia shot up into the air, heading straight up into the sky; her speed was very fast as if the wind had to part for her to fly. She was like a bird of prey looking down below, knowing that people might notice. Elyssia flew up to the clouds and stayed within a cloud and observed down at the forest below. With her eye, even at a very far distance, she could still see clearly down at the forest.
-"Where is Kazuka?"
Observing for a long time in the air, she finally saw Kazuka below. Kazuka was in the middle of a small clearing in the forest and was training with a large rock. His whole body was straining with great force, two hands placed over his head supporting a large rock many times larger than his body. He was standing up and sitting down with extreme difficulty with it.
Elyssia flew down low and immediately deactivated the true angel state; the wings disappeared leaving behind shimmering specks of light, the white eyes returned to ice-blue, the eye behind the neck also closed, the two rings on her head disappeared. The platinum hair switched to black.
She just fell from high above like that. But she concentrated energy into her feet and landed on the ground, making it crack.
Kazuka stepped forward with curiosity; he had sensed Elyssia and threw the large rock away.
"Why did you come here? That source of energy just now was so huge."
Elyssia smiled.
"I came because I want to help you train."
Lin flew from behind Kazuka and approached Elyssia with a joyful voice:
"Hello."
Elyssia nodded.
"Hello, Lin."
Lin flew around Elyssia and said:
"Lin is guessing based on that Mythyr woman's personality that she surely fights close-quarters and rushes in, like the aggressive type."
Elyssia nodded.
"I think so too, that's why I came to find Kazuka."
Lin: "So Elys wants to practice that 'reckless' fighting style?"
Elyssia nodded.
"Right, the type of fighting that just rushes in and attacks incessantly. Of course she could also fight solidly, but we are guessing so let's practice both."
Lin nodded.
"That's right."
Kazuka pointed at Elyssia and was curious:
"Can Elyssia be called Elys?"
Lin nodded and flew around both of them.
"That's right, what's wrong with calling her that? Elys doesn't mind either, right?"
Elyssia nodded.
"Uh, it's fine."
Kazuka nodded, pointing at himself.
"Then can I call you Elys?"
Elyssia nodded, smiling.
"Sure, call me that naturally."
Kazuka was a bit happy and curious.
"Okay, Elys."
Elyssia's expression turned serious.
"Then let's start training now, I'm also quite bored."
Lin flew around, her voice excited:
"Then let's start..."
Kazuka nodded, his eyes full of determination.
"Okay."
…
On the side of the remaining people...
Airi and Takeshi were working at a very crowded and bustling eatery. Despite there being many gazes still looking at Airi, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
-"Damn those lustful guys."
Airi and Takeshi carried food and had to run continuously because they were called by the chef inside.
On Aoto's side, he was sitting in the inn room with eyes closed, legs crossed with focus. He was discussing with the other Aotos in his head.
The eleven of them sat in chairs as if of nobles, a table with sophisticated patterns, but these were all created by illusion.
Aoto spoke loudly to everyone with seriousness in his eyes.
"Now I need to zone in for training; I feel I am too weak compared to the current journey."
"I am an Elemental, and I need to have wings, a blessing that I will grant to others, and my own power."
All the Aotos were very serious and listened to Aoto.
Calm nodded and said:
"I know you need to get stronger; from the beginning when escaping the barrier, we determined to adventure everywhere, so within that, we also need to be stronger."
Then Calm stood up to speak more easily.
"The matter of power and blessing is quite far off. So we cannot rush, not to mention there is no standard for when one will have them."
"The only thing in the books is that for many Elementals, one is that they will gradually have them. Two is that they must constantly train and fight, even going to the door of death."
Calm emphasized each word:
"But, as for the first point, we don't know when that will be. As for the second point, training along the adventure path with everyone is best. The group often encounters unfortunate events, but perhaps any unfortunate event is an opportunity for us. Therefore, set this aside temporarily."
"So, now we will focus on the main issue. That is growing wings as quickly as possible; becoming an adult Elemental early will be very good."
Calm pointed toward Aoto who was sitting in the chair listening.
"The way to have wings quickly usually requires a gate and a very large energy well, along with the ability to master controlling energy at a high level that we don't know yet, but roughly it is high."
"Because of that, from now on. You must train energy control at high intensity to get results."