Chapter 123: Seeing Old Friends (1)
Kestrel’s first face-off was against the team’s deputy, Raymond.
"Watch out, I’m better now," Kestrel warned, getting ready in a fighting stance. She held out her hand, and her black and white bracelet changed into a slim knife which she held tightly.
Raymond, whose eyes were a rich shade of blue, smiled softly. He had golden hair that was tied in braids and hung forward.
Taking out his special blade, he spun it around with style, making it dance in his hand.
When Raymond showed his knife, Ren figured out where Kestrel had learned to use a knife. The way they both moved their blades was so similar.
One second, Raymond looked all calm and smiley. But as they began to duel, his whole vibe shifted. His eyes got all intense, he sprung into action, and the sun caught the glint of his golden braids.
In a flash, Raymond’s blade was super close to Kestrel’s face, and he wasn’t playing nice.
But Kestrel didn’t back away or freak out. She just looked straight at him.
Suddenly, Raymond looked surprised. He then realized that the Kestrel he was aiming at wasn’t real. It was like a mirage that vanished with the wind. Meanwhile, the real danger, Kestrel, was right behind him.
A shiver went down Raymond’s back. Relying on his top-notch reflexes, he barely dodged the knife’s edge. He jumped back quickly, feet kicking up some sand from the practice area. Looking up, he saw Kestrel put her knife away.
Some pieces of his golden hair drifted down, freshly cut. Raymond was in shock. He had hung out with Kestrel a lot and knew she was tough. But fighting up close was supposed to be her weak spot since she was a beta.
Raymond had been the one to teach Kestrel how to use a knife. Now, he couldn’t believe how fast she had combined her psychic abilities with her fighting moves. It was like she leveled up super fast.
Doing the same knife trick Raymond did earlier, Kestrel spun her blade smoothly in her fingers.
Suddenly, everything around Raymond changed. The training area, the dorms, the front gate, the entire base - all gone. Everywhere he looked, there was only sky, with countless stars. In the middle of all those stars was Kestrel, spinning her knife and watching him.
And it wasn’t just Raymond feeling it. Almost all the top fighters there felt trapped in Kestrel’s psychic star-show. It was like they were floating in space, and it made them dizzy.
Some couldn’t handle it. They tried to grab onto something, but it felt like everything was just a dream. They had to leave the fight.
"Did she get powerful this fast? That’s crazy."
"She’s even scarier than before."
"Raymond’s not gonna give up that fast, right? But I think Kestrel’s got the upper hand."
"He won’t back down. Did you see that top fighter from the Imperial Nexus? He looks okay. I know Raymond, he wouldn’t want to look bad in front of people from outside the outpost."
Raymond took off the belt from his gear and used it as a blindfold, covering his eyes with the dark strip.
Suddenly, behind him, a shining golden lion appeared. The king of the grasslands shook its thick, gold mane, stepped out from nowhere, and let out a deep roar.
When Kestrel first bumped into Raymond, his psychic landscape was a mess. His psychic incarntion, the lion, looked like a wet kitty, with its skinny, drenched fur, looking super sad.
But now, after only a few months, the lion was all majestic and proud, its eyes blazing, floating amidst the endless stars.
The lion kept growing until it faced off against Kestrel in this galaxy-like setting.
Kestrel’s psychic power took shape too. The tendrils seemed angry at the big lion, showing their sharp claws and teeth.
"Whoa, that’s a... giant kitty."
"It’s so shiny and gold, I wanna touch it."
"I wish I could pet that lion."
Then the golden-haired lion made his move, full of energy.
Kestrel got pumped up. Behind her, a huge sea monster, with numerous tendrils, rose to face the golden lion.
It was like a reunion fight. They both realized how much they’d grown and how much fun this duel was.
The battle between Kestrel and Raymond was epic, making every soldier at the base jump in surprise. But Kestrel wasn’t done. She teamed up with Birdie and together, even though they’d never fought side by side before, they took down old friends without breaking a sweat.
Commander Parfit had to step in, telling them dinner was ready, before they’d stop.
"Don’t I get a turn?" Ren whispered to Kestrel, clearly wanting to join the fun.
He was fidgeting. Watching the fights got his adrenaline pumping, taking him back to his old fighting days.
Kestrel looked away, acting like she didn’t hear him.
Her face said it all, and Ren got the message: Kestrel didn’t want him to go too hard on these folks.
She’d never been this protective, and Ren felt a tiny bit jealous.
At Parfit’s place, Parfit’s little girl was so happy to see Kestrel. She ran up and gave Kestrel’s legs a big hug.
Kestrel had a gift for her, a cool toy from Imperial Nexus. It was an octopus doll, pink with big black eyes and eight wiggly arms. Olivia was over the moon. She stuck by Kestrel’s side, hugging the octopus close.
The dinner at Parfit’s wasn’t fancy, not like the feasts at Imperial Nexus. Simple food, cozy space, with a bunch of powerful fighters all chatting around a long table.
But Ren saw something special. Kestrel looked super chill and comfy. For once, her usually serious face had these soft, happy expressions.
She lounged on the comfy couch, giggling and whispering with the young girl. Her lips glowed with the color of the sweet wine she had sipped, her bright eyes and shiny teeth complementing her happy chatter and laughter. The warm glow from the dinner table’s candlelight made her face look even softer.
She was like any other lively young lady, a total opposite from her usually serious and poker-faced image at the Tower.
It dawned on Ren that she really valued this simple life and these moments.
The alphas, pretending they were just greeting the new guy, shifted their focus to Ren. One by one, they dared him to a drink-off.
"So you’re Kestrel’s exclusive alpha? Let’s see if you can drink as much as she thinks you can," Birdie teased, leaning back with a bowl of heavy-duty booze.
"You’re the one the Queen assigned to watch over her? Cheers to you! Make sure you guard her well," Raymond joined in, lifting his glass.
Ren didn’t want to come off as a scaredy-cat. He accepted every challenge, enjoying every sip. By the end of it, every alpha at the table was out cold, except for Kestrel.
Ren’s cheeks were a rosy red, his eyes a little glazed, resting on the table near Kestrel. Though he had had a lot to drink, he was neither making a scene nor snoozing off. His eyes looked softer, quite a change from his usual no-nonsense look.
Kestrel had never seen this side of Ren and thought it was pretty funny. Leaning over, she teased, "Feeling tipsy?"
"I can still handle more. They’re no match for me."
The alcohol seemed to make him more open and chatty.
Kestrel, sensing an opportunity, asked, "Do you like when I do psychic grooming for you?"
"I really do."
"Why are you always carrying candy?"
"They’re for you."
Kestrel couldn’t help but smile, even her wine tasted better after that.
"Kaworu mentioned that your psychic energy was hurt. What did the crimson egg do to you?"
"Just... don’t tell Kestrel."
Kestrel had touched upon the topic casually. The last time she did her psychic grooming for Ren, she unexpectedly found that the damage in his mind, especially the part about the Erdtree’s Polluted Zone, was pretty bad.
He had hidden that memory super well. Kestrel, being respectful, didn’t dive deep into those memories in Ren’s psychic sea, so she was clueless about what had hurt him so much.
If Ren decided to open up, the next time she did her psychic thing, she could focus on helping him heal better. But what got her thinking was his way of saying, "Don’t tell Kestrel."
"I can’t talk about it... please don’t tell Kestrel."
Ren’s head was resting on the cool wooden table, his face red from all the booze, eyes slightly cloudy. But behind that cloudiness, there seemed to be a hint of something, maybe a past hurt or fear.
"Kestrel really wants to know," she murmured, getting even closer.
Ren’s eyes looked torn, unsure.
"You can trust me," she gently reassured him.
A tendril sneaked up onto the table, gently picking up a black glove. It slid inside and lightly brushed against the Ren’s hand resting on the table.
"Ugh... that creature put your in my psychic landscape," Ren said with a slight grimace. "I saw you and those tendrils... They were super aggressive, like they wouldn’t stop hurting me."
Kestrel’s happiness vanished in an instant, thinking, "Wait, that monster pretended to be me and scared Ren like that?"
She felt a rush of anger. She wished she had been the one to deal with that horrible creature herself. For a second, she even forgot how close she had been to getting killed by it.
Ren, a bit dazed, watched the tendril play inside his glove, lost in memories.
"You really went too far back then. But after it all, I felt like as long as you were okay, I could forgive anything. Whatever you did, it’s okay," he said, his voice filled with hurt and a bit shaky from the drinks. "If you’re here and safe, I don’t care about the rest."
The cheeky tendril seemed to feel a bit bad, slowly pulling out of Ren’s glove and gently patting his head.
Eventually, Ren drifted off into a peaceful sleep, despite the chilly night.
