We were always prepared for an ambush.
An ambush that never came.
We crossed several bridges, a couple of dark tunnels full of white lizards (who were not Rexy's kin), over the course of about five days, and by the sixth day, we were on our last mountain.
"Don't get complacent. Most fuck up near the very end," Alustur said.
"Yeah, yeah," I tried.
These last few days, he was a bit tough on me. Always making me keep watch, train even in this kind of weird terrain, and relentlessly attacked me in the name of training, whenever he had the chance. I had to either fend his attack off or take a beating.
He was worse than Den.
And sadly, I didn't have someone to complain back to.
Or so I thought but Kayla was on my side and often shielded me. But got scolded instead, by both of the men.
Men had to be strong or so they said. Normally I'd have gone through a whole philosophical debate over that. This time though, I agreed. They were right.
In this world, it wasn't just men, everyone had to be fucking strong.
So… I had to be strong.
***
"So, that's when you channel your mana to your muscles, force them to swing faster. Right now, that's what you can do. But eventually you'll be able to channel mana even deeper, use your bones, your ligaments and-"
"As long as I can circulate mana, I can be stronger?" I said.
"Yes," Alustur said.
"Or you can borrow some from the environment like we do," Kayla said.
"And only be strong in mana dense regions, and absolutely useless everywhere else," Alustur said.
Kayla glared quite well but said nothing.
In truth, even if both she and her brother teamed up, they couldn't touch Alustur right now. They did grow stronger with more mana rich environments. I'd seen it myself. When I used certain spells which dispersed mana into the air, the siblings tended to get faster reaction times.
It was subtle but since it happened every time, I could notice it now.
Meanwhile, Alustur was Alustur. He was the same no matter what. Always consistent. Always strong.
That's what I needed.
"I don't have much mana though."
"But you have your gems, and you have your deity," he said.
Perhaps.
But Rexen wasn't just going to come out every time I needed to do something. Rexy probably wasn't going to help me that much either. Lately, she'd stopped trying to help me with training or anything for that matter. As though she was disappointed or perhaps, she wanted more from me.
Expectations.
I couldn't fulfill my own, how was I going to fulfill someone else's? Still, I couldn't keep brooding. "How do you slash people from a distance?"
"I don't," he said. "I slash the very fabric of reality. It's a trick."
"Everything's a trick. So just teach me."
He laughed. "I cannot. You have no aptitude for void magic."
Void?
"What?"
"You heard me."
"You know void magic!!!?"
"You didn't know?" Kayla paused.
We were almost at the very bottom of the mountain. Close to the end of our fucking journey. And now he said he knew fucking void magic?
"Of course, I didn't know! I just thought he was fast as fuck!"
"It isn't humanly possible to move that fast Sol. I rely a bit on magic. Of course, it's a secret and unless you've actively dealt with void magic, you wouldn't know; so most don't know," Alustur said.
"And you never told me."
"Because I knew you'd ask me to teach you, and I wouldn't be able to."
"Tell me how it works, I'll figure it out."
"I make a pocket dimension, use it to carry the slash. A medium of sorts."
"See, that's a wonderful explanation!"
Meanwhile, we were almost at the base; just a couple more steps. Meaning, this was the last place for our ambush.
"Let me show you," he said, taking his sword out. "See those trees and bushes?"
"Yes?"
"I will now slash them and gut everyone inside," he declared.
Visible tremors. Some even tried to run.
But.
"Look carefully," Alustur whispered and I paid close attention.
He flicked his sword very silently and disappeared.
He reappeared exactly behind the trees.
Red splashed!
Death.
"That's how you do it. Did you see it?"
"No," I mumbled.
Kayla laughed. "Save some for the rest of us, will you?" She laughed and jumped ahead. I could trace her movements just fine. She was fast but least she was believable.
Alustur though, wasn't. And it wasn't just his sword or his slash, the man himself was fast.
"Don't worry," Arnet stayed behind, cleaving an arrow in two. "You're still a child. You have much to learn. Eventually, you'll be strong."
"Eventually won't cut it," I said, forming icicles. Throwing at the archer- who was dumb enough to stay. "I can't wait that long, and neither will the world."
He said nothing.
And before long.
A bloodbath awaited us, as did roughly fifty corpses, which we proceeded to strip of their riches and then burn.
"I don't feel it anymore," I said. "The tremors. The guilt. The shame."
"You do," Alustur said. "You just ignore it now."
"Perhaps. Or maybe I rationalize it. Thinking it to be necessary. A necessary evil."
"Death is never necessary," Kayla said. "It is but a consequence of living. If one dies-"
"Another lives. I know. Mom used to say that. I used to believe that. But fuck that. I don't care who lives, who dies. My mom is dead, and so will all who's responsible for her death!" I shrieked.
Surprising myself.
Tears.
Why?
I didn't know.