Chapter 274 : 274- Sky Seekers Guild (Part 1)
After leaving the shop, Talon headed straight to the location he had found before. It was an open park, a little close to the inn they were in. Although it was still early on in the morning, more people were starting to come out of their houses to go to work.
The city was slowly getting filled with people and the streets were getting livelier by the second. Seeing that, Talon frowned slightly.
'Tsk, I wanted to try the spear in that small park I found. But, I guess that's impossible now.' He thought to himself.
With this many people outside, revealing his spear or powers was going to be extremely foolish. He didn't want anyone to see what he was capable of, not even mundane humans.
With that, Talon reached the small park he was looking for. There, he started doing some light exercises. Even though his body was already reaching inhuman levels of power, he still liked to do simple exercises like pushups as a way to spend time.
They also helped temper his mind and let him stay focused even when he was distressed or worried about something. Other than that, some training won't harm anybody.
Some time passed like that before he sensed a presence appear near him. Without stopping his training, he asked.
"Are you done?"
Acrypha stared at him for a moment, complicated emotions clear in her eyes. "Yeah, it didn't take too long, did it?"
"No, I just started," Talon said. "453... 454... 455..." As he continued to count the number of pushups he did, he spoke again.
"So, did you get anything useful from him?"
Even though he was interested in what kind of conversation Acrypha had with Merit, he decided not to ask about that either. Not only because he respected her choice of keeping it a secret for now but also because he knew that it was probably something he could not comprehend at his current level.
Those two were higher-than-life, one-of-a-kind individuals with unfathomable powers. The knowledge they have is almost limitless. So, even if he did stay there, he was almost certain that he wouldn't understand a single thing being said.
"I did get some information, yes. But..." Acrypha's voice trailed at the need as she closed her eyes. Just remembering what she heard filled her heart with unease. She tried not to show it in front of Talon but... How can she hide anything from him? Whenever Talon is near her, all the walls she puts up crumble on their own without her control.
It was almost comical how easily she could turn into herself whenever the two were alone.
Hearing that particular tone in her voice, Talon stopped his training and looked up. His face turned serious as he asked. "Is it bad?"
Acrypha opened her mouth to speak, only to close it and go silent for a few moments. That was more than enough to answer Talon's question.
"I see..." He murmured as he looked down for a moment.
"Sigh, it is going to become way more dangerous than I expected." She said with a tired tone. "We might end up facing a lot of problems. Problems that I thought would take way more time to appear." She added.
"..." Talon listened silently to his companion without interrupting her.
"Things might go south, Talon. I do not want to be pessimistic but, it will probably become really bad, really quick."
Even as she said those words, it pained her that Talon had to hear them. He was already burdened with many things, and yet he had to know that he also had a tight time limit to work with. Even if he wasn't aware of the problem or its consequences which reduces the burden a lot, it was still too much for a lower dimension existence to carry such a fact with him.
However, what other choice did Acrypha have? She cannot simply hide everything from him even if she wants to. That would only do him more harm than good. Talon had to know that the situation was disastrous, to say the least.
If she doesn't tell him, then when reality hits, it is going to hit him hard and he won't be ready for it.
"I will try my best to buy more time for us. But, it is going to be a gamble." She said.
"How much time?" He asked as he sat down. Acrypha couldn't tell what he was thinking of through his voice.
"I don't know. It can be a long period of time or a very short one." She replied as she sat down next to him.
"I see..." Muttering faintly, he took a deep breath before he inhaled. "Ok... Thanks for telling me." He said as he looked at Acrypha with a smile.
"..." The latter was taken aback by his reaction. She expected to see him frown, look angry, serious, or at least affected. But, the gloominess in his eyes has vanished as fast as it appeared.
"Well, if we don't have much time, then we just need to hurry up, that's all." He added as he stood up and dusted his clothes. "It's going to be fine, I'm sure." Experience more magic at m v l e mpyr
"... You..."
"Hm?" As Talon was about to start walking, he heard Acrypha speak.
"I'm saying that it is going to be really bad! How are you this relaxed?" She asked.
She didn't know why, but she just couldn't wrap her head around his reaction. As much as she wanted him to be worry-free, there were things that made sense and things that didn't and this was one of the latter. Any sane person would feel fear that they would have to deal with a disastrous problem coming their way and they are far from ready for it.
Talon stared at Acrypha for a moment before he shook his head with a wry smile and approached her. Putting his hand on her face, he cupped her cheeks. The latter stared at him silently, almost in a daze.
"Do you remember what I told you that day you spoke about your family and race's trouble?" He asked.
"..."
Of course, Acrypha remembers clearly. That was a moment that will be etched in her memory forever.
"I told you that I will help you, no matter what. I have put it upon myself to do that and I'm going to achieve it, whether it was easy or damn near impossible. I don't care about the odds, as long as it isn't 0% then it is within my ability to make it happen."
Acrypha's eyes sparkled with countless emotions as she heard those words.
"It's all going to be fine." He added.
For some reason, those simple words washed all the worry away from her heart in a second. Her clouded mind slowly cleared up as she faintly nodded her head.
"You're right."
"Haha, I am always right." Saying that, he touched Acrypha's forehead. "We gotta keep working hard, and results will show. Once I go back to earth, I will be far stronger than you would ever imagine. Just watch me." He said with a smile.
Hearing the confidence in his voice, Acrypha's lips pursed for a moment before she smiled. "I stopped imagining long ago. It saved me a lot of headaches trying to predict what you're going to do next."
"Hey! Why do I feel like that wasn't a compliment?!"
Acrypha shrugged and flicked his forehead. "Who knows?" Then, she started floating away.
"Wait! I really wanna know!"
"No, can't do~"
"I said wait!"
As the two playfully joked around, they headed back to the inn to get ready.
***
Later that day, Talon heard a knock on the door to his room. Arryn had already woken up nad put on the jacked to cover himself. Talon sensed Emino's familiar presence through the door so he opened it.
"Good morning, Talon!" The middle-aged man said with a smile.
"Good morning."
"Did you sleep well, yesterday? I bet you did. Granny's beds are the best there is." He said as he peeked inside. Arryn was sitting on the table silently. "Is your little brother ok?"
"Hm? Oh yeah, he is fine, don't worry about it." Talon said as he moved to stand in the way of Emino's vision without making it too obvious. "Anyway, aren't we going to visit the guild today?"
"Yeah! That is the plan! Are you ready?"
"I was waiting."
"Good, let's go then."
Talon turned around and approached Arryn as he said. "Stay here, I will be back soon. Ok?"
"Uh, ok..." The boy replied with a faint voice.
Talon could hear the subtle disappointment in his voice as he said those words. Naturally, being stuck in a room wasn't enjoyable, especially when you are terrified of being attacked by someone at any given moment.
"Hey, listen to me. When I come back. I will have a surprise for you." He said as patted the boy on the shoulder.
"A surprise?"
"Yeah, but, since I can't tell you yet what it is, you gotta wait patiently to get it, understood?"
"... O-ok!" The boy's eyes lit up a little.
"Good, I'm going then."
"Take care!"
With that, Talon left the room and closed the door before locking it. Then, he followed Emino outside.
It was finally time to visit the Sky Seekers Guild. Whatever this visit going to bring for him was still a mystery. It could be a fruitful encounter, or perhaps another reminder of the darkness lurking in the shadows.
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