Brown eyes flicked between determined violet and distant green. Gordoi had a lot of questions he could ask at that moment, but he chose to focus on the most obvious thing first.
"...What's going on here?"
Reoloy stood at the forefront of a crowd of dozens of the town's youths. He seemed to be trying his hardest to ignore them, except for Lavere, who trailed not too far behind him. The boy clearly lacked an answer, so Gordoi turned to his daughter.
"I found him wandering around at dawn during my run," she started. "It turned out he was headed this way, so he joined me."
Gordoi's gaze drifted to the horde blankly.
"And?" he pressed.
"Amali and her friends spotted us and came along, and before we knew it," she gestured vaguely at the crowd.
The blond man scanned their faces, reading them with ease. The boys were looking at Reoloy like he was their arch nemesis, and the reason was as clear as day to see.
The girls openly doted on the outsider, their fascination with him appearing extreme even by his standards.
Gordoi looked more carefully at Reoloy's face, quickly making an observation he hadn't bothered to make earlier.
'He's good-looking,' he thought dryly, glancing at the other boys. 'They must be seething with jealousy...'
He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head at the ridiculousness of the situation.
"You lot seem to have too much time on your hands," Gordoi said, a menacing edge slipping into his tone. "It's been a while since I oversaw your training."
Everyone—except Reoloy and Lavere—felt a chill run down their spines. They quickly took for whatever escape routes were available, but were easily thwarted as a golden ki overtook the area and froze them in their tracks.
"You're all full of energy, so two hundred laps around the field should be enough to get you started."
While the group begrudgingly began their run, Lavere went inside the store to wash off.
Watching her head indoors, Reoloy found himself awestruck at the building once more. It was massive. That was partly why he had been so shocked the previous day. He had expected a shack and instead found what could only be described as a repurposed warehouse.
From where he stood, he counted at least four floors. Lavere had told him that the third floor was where they lived. He couldn't help but wonder what the rest of the space was being used for.
"I get that you're an important person," Reoloy said. "But is it fine for you to kidnap these guys and keep them out here on the outskirts of town?"
Gordoi gave him a flat look.
"Right," the boy said, nodding. "Dumb question."
"Did you come to try convincing me again?" Gordoi asked, falling into a cross-legged sit on his porch.
Reoloy looked away before sitting beside the man and staring up at the sun that was still far from making its way to the middle of the sky.
"Yes and no," he answered, eliciting a brow raise. "Mainly, I had a question I wanted to ask you."
The reincarnator felt beads of sweat form under his high collar. He was certain that Gordoi wouldn't kill him or even harm him, for that matter, but this was still nerve-wracking.
"I get why you and everyone else don't try to claim the Regalia for yourselves," he started. "You all worship the guardian, so you wouldn't desire what you believe to be his treasure."
He paused, inhaling slowly.
"But why hasn't the Chieftain tried?"
Gordoi became expressionless, though traces of stiffness still broke through.
"Why would he be any different from the rest of us?"
Without turning to look at the man, Reoloy clasped his hands together, leaning forward and overall becoming more serious.
"Because he doesn't believe in the guardian."
Reoloy braced. He couldn't feel any of the energies, but whatever physical effects they caused still affected him.
However, nothing happened.
Gordoi sighed, falling onto his back with his arms spread out wide.
"Who are you exactly?" he asked.
"I couldn't really tell you myself," Reoloy said quietly. "I'm in the process of trying to find out."
The blacksmith glanced at him. "You need a second Regalia for that?"
"You wouldn't believe me," Reoloy replied. "But yes. Though there are other things that I need it for."
Both fell silent for the next few minutes. The groans, complaints, and chatter from the running teens were the only things filling the space until Lavere stepped back outside.
"What's wrong with you two?" she asked, curiously observing the uncomfortable air between them.
"Nothing really," Reoloy started. "We were just discussing my objective."
Lavere nodded sceptically. "Any luck changing his mind?"
He didn't answer, opting instead to look at the man, awaiting an answer.
Gordoi thought of his conversation with Leno the night before. The Chieftain had probably known that the boy knew about his secret beliefs, and yet he hadn't brought it up. He had instead said to let him struggle a bit longer before giving him access.
'What did he even mean by that?' he thought. 'Does he want me to test him?'
The man looked at Reoloy, trying to piece him together.
'For what?'
Then he noticed something that made him sit up in a rush. He got in the boy's face, studying him carefully and then patting him down.
"Why is your mana the way that it is?" Gordoi suddenly asked.
Reoloy understood that he was referring to the power being restricted to his heart. He remembered Gordoi hinting at knowing about it the day prior.
"I had a near-death experience recently," he explained. "It's been like this since."
It wasn't a complete lie. From what he had heard, the original had been in a rough spot, and that had led to his death. He simply picked up where he had left off.
"That's an unusual case," Gordoi said, frowning. "How about your circuits? Why are they so clear?"
The boy's brow furrowed before realisation hit him.
"I learned ki breathing from Lohan."
That only served to increase the blacksmith's confusion.
Ki breathing was just the baseline technique that was used in combination with other specialised methods to process and expand ki.
Ki users had always boasted the output of the purest energy of the three powers. This was because circuits were usually clogged with impurities, but in the process of cultivating ki, they were cleared away completely or processed and used to increase the amount of energy a practitioner possessed.
Gordoi had never heard of it having any effects without a person already having ki. This would be groundbreaking if it got out.
He stared at Reoloy a little longer before coming to a decision.
"There's something you can do to gain my approval."
Reoloy snapped up.
"What is it?" he asked excitedly. "I'll get to it right away."
"Train under me," Gordoi answered calmly. "If you meet my standards, I'll give you my permission."
The blue-black-haired teen visibly deflated, opening his mouth to retort.
"I know," the blond said. "You're in a rush. We'll have a timeline of..."
He drifted off, staring into the distance.
"A week and a half," he finished, a smile forming. "How about it?"
Reoloy fell into a deep contemplation. This was an extremely random development, but realistically, it wasn't too bad. There were some insights into ki breathing that he could hope to gain from someone with more experience. Plus, he needed to get in shape anyway, so training technically wouldn't hurt.
Whether the man could get proper physical results out of him in the timeframe he picked was the issue. He was doubtful. It could just be a play to get him to fail on purpose and disqualify him with no room for complaints.
"Swear to your great guardian that this isn't some trick."
Gordoi was visibly amused, but raised his hand.
"I swear to the honoured guardian of Cardana that I will conduct this trial honestly."
Reoloy was satisfied. Gordoi had been a devout follower of Nameless, even as his ruined future self from the game. The probability of him going back on the pact was basically zero.
"I'll do it," he said resolutely. "Whether you make me run around or otherwise, I'll get past you and enter those ruins—"
He froze as he remembered a factor of hindrance.
"Umm," Reoloy started awkwardly. "Before any strenuous activities start, there is an issue..."
Gordoi nodded. "Your injuries, right?"
He looked the teen up and down, narrowing in on the puncture wounds in his thighs. He wasn't going to bother asking how he had ended up that way. He actually wanted Reoloy to go into the ruins, so they had to be strict with how they utilised the time they had.
That meant they didn't have time for a normal treatment method either.
Gordoi looked behind himself, pointing his finger at Reoloy.
"Lave," he called. "Fix him."
Lavere scowled at the nickname, possibly only excusing it because she was immediately getting to the task at hand.
"You're a healer?" Reoloy asked, surprised.
Regardless of whether they used mana or ki, healers were incredibly rare in RON. He recalled a time when he had scoured the game map thrice just to find someone with a mana art capable of healing diseases.
"...You can say that, I guess," she responded, placing a hand on his chest. "Don't mind me, but this should feel a little strange."
Suddenly, Reoloy was hit with a very distinct rushing sensation. It felt invasive, and a part of him screamed for it to go no further. The young reincarnator, however, was completely distracted from it all. He stared at what he was seeing with vivid awe.
Spilling off from Lavere was a golden and inky-black energy.
Unlike mana, it didn't calmly frame the form of its user, and unlike ki, it didn't faintly flow around the body, flaring only in response to the will of its master.
Instead, it looked like the aura was a scream against the world, seemingly ripping the space around it and warping it.
A smile formed on Reoloy's face as he remembered the many characters he'd built that had used that very power.
There was no mistaking it.
"It really is it," he muttered. "Casis."