Morning came rather quickly.
Xaryus stirred awake at the sound of Velmo and Zadius gathering all of Velmo's things.
The blankets and pillows were contained in Velmo's 'Sub-Dimensional Storage' or SDS for short. His was a silver ring that he wore on his right middle finger.
SDS's were a type of aspect that allowed the wielder to store inanimate objects within a pocket dimension attached to it, without feeling the actual weight of all the stored objects.
"On our way back, we may encounter some aether beasts. If we do, I would like to see the extent of your capabilities." Velmo explained, throwing the bundle of remaining weapons towards Xaryus and Zadius.
"Like a test?" Zadius asked.
"Exactly." Velmo replied.
"Wonderful." Xaryus exclaimed sarcastically, whilst he holstered his short sword to his waist.
***
A few hours later, Velmo, Xaryus and Zadius were making their way through the dense forest. Their intention was to move in a south-western direction, towards Rosa and the main road that connected it to Castillan.
Upon reaching that road, they would travel southwards alongside it until they reached the city.
However, their rate of movement was subpar at best. If Velmo had opted to move with speed enhanced by animus they could have reached Rosa in four days; their current pace would have taken five to six days at least.
Velmo knew this and had decided to move at a slower pace to give Xaryus and Zadius some time to think. Deciding to join the Red Lions – especially after spending many years with a member of the concord – was not an easy decision.
He didn't want the brothers to travel all the way back to Rosa just to still have doubts about their decision.
To Velmo, he was simply returning to the city he had called home for his whole life and the city he chose to protect with that same life.
However, to Xaryus and Zadius, they were walking back into a place that had scarred them with many vile wounds; physically and mentally.
They were journeying into unknown territory. They had no idea what was ahead of them…
Yet they still walked valiantly.
Velmo could see the anxiety laid deep within the two, but he was impressed at how little it affected them. They understood their emotions, their fears, but still moved forward despite that.
"It's kind of hard not to like these kids!" He roared inwardly as he walked behind Xaryus and Zadius.
***
The first day of travel went by smoothly and the moon had risen high into the starry, night sky.
Velmo decided to set up camp, retrieving all the necessary tools and resources from his SDS to quickly make a camp fire and comfortable sleeping arrangements.
He also drew a small pot from the ring as well as seasoned meat, sugar and water.
Knowing Xaryus and Zadius would be hungry, he decided he would make them something to eat in an attempt to form some type of connection.
Eventually, the smell of well-seasoned meat permeated the air and all three of them now held small wooden plates – seemingly handmade – filled with cut up pieces of the stewed meat.
To the side were slices of soft, wheat bread.
When Xaryus and Zadius bit into the meat, their eyes lit up as their taste buds fired off in excitement.
"Did you season this yourself, Sir Atreus?" Xaryus asked.
"Sir Atreus!?" Taken aback by Xaryus' formal speech, Velmo felt as if his entire attempt to build a good connection with the boys had been ruined.
Although, it wasn't necessarily a bad start.
He was a highly decorated awakened knight within Rosa, so referring to him as 'sir' was not essentially something that placed a gap in the connection he desired.
"Yes, I did. But please, call me Velmo." Velmo responded before taking a bite of his own, "At least they're enjoying it." He thought.
After eating their food, the trio had sat across from each other around the campfire in a comforting silence. Xaryus had noticed that Velmo was staring blankly into the distance and decided to break the silence.
"Are you looking at your script?" Xaryus asked.
"Yeah… I like to look at them when I'm bored and think about how I can better use my abilities in and out of combat." Velmo responded, his gaze slowly shifting around the runes that describe the state of his spite.
Nodding at Velmo's response, Xaryus focused and summoned the set of words that summarized his core's information.
He read through each line of his script carefully and wasn't surprised at what he saw. Andrew had already taught him various ways to utilize his abilities, so he didn't offer it much thought.
But his stigma had garnered his attention, the nature of its traits was odd. Even putting Andrew at a loss on how Xaryus could have used it.
His [Sword's Blessing] trait was straightforward, allowing him natural talent in wielding blades and swords alike; the blessing becoming more profound with the latter.
However, when it came to his other trait [Arcane Medium], he was yet to find use for it.
Stigma Trait: [Arcane Medium]
Trait Description: Law and mana have only had a handful of children that they favoured highly. You are now the last of their kin and they treat you as such.
"So vague…" Xaryus pondered, frustrated at the lack of explanation the runes provided him.
But in his frustration, he had seen something else. The words that represented his third stigma trait, [Stigmata] were no longer dull and shined in a similar fashion to the others.
However, no matter how much Xaryus focused on them, no extra words or explanations were provided.
A feeling of glee ran over Xaryus. Andrew had never truly explained what stigmata was, dismissing any questions about the ability until the boys were 'ready'.
Seeing Xaryus stare at his script with a childish smile on his face, Velmo dawned a soft smile and glanced over to Zadius who held a different expression.
He was shocked.
Before he could ask Zadius what was wrong, Xaryus' voice creeped into Velmo's ear.
"What is 'stigmata', Velmo?" Xaryus asked.
Zadius looked across at Xaryus in surprise, "I was about to ask the same thing." Zadius said before shifting his eager gaze back towards Velmo.
With all the attention suddenly shifting towards him, Velmo felt a bit awkward. But his thoughts were much more composed.
"After they looked through their scripts, they both wanted to ask about stigmata… a coincidence?" He asked himself briefly but quickly threw the idea aside.
Xaryus and Zadius were asking him a question!
And one out of curiosity at that!
It was Velmo's time to shine…
He had really wanted to form some type of bond with Xaryus and Zadius