Chapter 255 Volume IV - Chapter 100: A Relaxing Conversation
We were given all the details about the mission.
What we were going to do was simple. As a team of eleven people, we were going to go near the mountain, get information, and if we could, try to get inside the mountain. Of course, it would be a bit of a challenge as there would be soldiers around the mountain blocking anyone who tried to approach it, but that was the least of our worries.
So where did the North Holar get the courage to go to that mountain that even the South Holar were afraid to approach?
Of course, it was because they knew something about that mountain that even the South Holar did not know. More precisely, they had some guesses, not about the mountain, but about the ancient creature that had made its nest in it. And if their guesses, their knowledge from the past, were correct, then this mission would be much easier than they thought.
So another day passed. The day before we were to start the mission, we were not sent to any battlefield, we were allowed to rest. I was planning to spend a whole day resting, just like I was told, but... it didn't work out the way I thought, I couldn't do it.
I had pushed myself so hard over the last three weeks to participate in this mission that it had become my daily routine to always be busy, to push myself to my limits. Every second I spent without training... it was as if something was igniting inside me, forcing me to move.
So, in the middle of the night, when everyone else was asleep in their rooms, I was in one of the training rooms where most dwarves train to keep their bodies healthy.
I had my sword in my hand, I was standing upright, my eyes were closed and my focus was entirely on the mana in my body. What I was practicing this time was the second phase of the Ambiguous Flow.
As I always do, I felt the mana in the atmosphere, I tried to observe its flow, its intensity, its speed, and so on and so forth... I tried to calculate everything, to put it in my head.
Finally, I applied the first phase of the style to my sword. As its image blurred, as the wild mana surrounded it, I tried to match this mana with the mana in the atmosphere that I had analyzed everything about.
Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead, and even though my focus could be lost at any moment, I focused myself completely on this and tried to make the two completely different manas match.
For a moment, just for a brief moment, the wild mana that was constantly spinning trembled. The mana in its natural flow in the atmosphere reacted to this vibration, its direction changed slightly.
I quickly opened my closed eyes, looked at the tip of my sword, and saw the blur on the blade spreading slightly around it.
The blur disappeared instantly as all my focus was lost, and the sword returned to its original shape. It was interrupted. I had to start over. But still... the corners of my lips curled upward.
I had succeeded, even if only for a fleeting moment, even if only for a tiny effect, I had somehow managed to match the wild mana with the mana in the atmosphere.
Now all I had to do was to keep practicing it over and over again, to get it to a level where I could use it much more effectively in the middle of a battle. By the time I had mastered this technique, I would have a useful illusion skill at my disposal. With this, I would be able to continue to progress in the style called Ambiguous Flow and become even more powerful.
As I kept a smile on my face, a voice echoed in my ears, breaking the silence in the huge room. I quickly turned back to the source of the sound and found a familiar dwarf.
"Aiden, I clearly remember tellin' you to rest."
It was Gurdas who entered the training room. He looked a little sleepy, but he was still up.
I lowered my sword, sighing slightly.
"I know... but I still don't feel like I need to rest. I feel like I need to train, to get stronger. If I don't train when I feel like I need to train, when will I do it? When I'm not in the mood?"
Gurdas stretched slightly where he was, then sank to the ground.
"Nearly twenty years ago, I was in the same mindset as ye. I was constantly tryin' to get stronger. I won't tell ye not to do what yer doin'; jus' keep in mind when t' stop."
He put a smile on his face, then pressed the bracelet on his left arm and spoke.
"Two sodas."
A small blue dot appeared on the bracelet. Then, as if Gurdas had used a dimensional inventory item, two soda bottles materialized in front of him.
I put a smile on my face, sheathed my sword at my waist, and sat down opposite Gurdas.
I snatched the soda from his hand, and then we both simultaneously stood over them and relaxed with the soda down our throats.
For a moment there was an awkward silence between us. It was a silence I didn't like, so I tried to think of something to break it.
"When did you start working in the army?"
That's what I finally came up with.
It was a question that I really wanted to know the answer to. Still, I thought that the answer would be quite simple and that Gurdas would make us smile by telling a story from the past in his usual humorous way.
However, Gurdas did not smile as I thought. He paused for a moment when he heard the question and froze for a brief moment with the soda bottle in his hand.
When his expression turned serious for a moment and his eyes narrowed slightly, I realized I had made a mistake. I was going to be angry with myself, but Gurdas didn't stay silent for long.
"I made a load o' blunders in me youth, Aiden. The reason I joined the army ain't 'cause I was a patriot, but 'cause I was a criminal."
A criminal...?
Ah, he committed a crime and paid for it by working in the army? Well... I didn't expect that.
"I was a young brat, thought the whole world revolved 'round me. It was 'round your age when reality smacked me in the face. That past we blabbered 'bout earlier... in that past, I was someone who stood against this country. When my parents made the decision that sealed their fate, I got roped into it. That's why when we got nabbed, instead o' killin' me, they gave me a choice."
He was silent again for a moment, his body trembling slightly in a way that a normal person would not have noticed. Yet it hadn't escaped my notice.
Whatever had happened in his past, it was not pleasant. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. So I think it's best not to dig too deep, I won't question it.
I have unpleasant things in my past too, after all. And I know that if I were in his shoes, I would be reluctant to share them with other people. I already do, actually... The number of people who know something about my past is... quite small.
"Still..."
Gurdas forced himself to smile. His serious expression disappeared in an instant, he took another big sip of his soda and fixed his eyes on mine.
"But I ain't got no regrets, mate. Where I stand today's shaped by those past ordeals. I have a wife and a lad I cherish. I have friends like Rulhan, Durvan, and you. So... even if I had different notions afore, now I'm thankful, and I'd hope the same for you."
He quickly finished his soda bottle, set it aside, and jumped to his feet. As if bursting with energy, as if the sleepy state he had just been in had suddenly vanished, he gently assumed a fighting stance.
"Don't be seein' yer past as pure calamity. Aye, some of 'em might've been sour, but bear in mind, they've guided ye to this very day. Long as ye be breathin' and got someone ye hold dear, ye be always lucky. So, keep yer eyes on survivin' and protectin' them."
I took one last sip from my soda bottle, put it aside, just like Gurdas, and slowly stood up.
I smiled, clenched my fists into a fighting stance, and looked Gurdas in the eye.
"Well... What can I say? Thanks for the advice."
Gurdas widened his smile, then spoke one last time before swinging his fist at me.
"Ye're welcome."
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