Three years later.
The incident that happened in the village had been long forgotten. The beasts sightings were still rampant and lives of unfortunate people were still at stake.
Nico and Neryssa's training had progressed a lot. Thanks to the little teachings that Nico got from Ylva during his visits, he'd learnt a lot about his mana core and how to imbue his mana into his weapon.
Neither Torvald nor Ylva knew the best way to teach the children how to remove impurities from their mana core, instead the kids were taught how to imbue mana into weapons for fighting.
Today, the sky was clear and the chirping of birds could be heard. Below, the clacking of sticks could be heard.
Torvald and Nico were at it.
Striking with precision and skill. Torvald had the upper hand but Nico was holding his own.
"Good, Nico. Good."
Their wooden swords collided again.
CRACK!!
There was a slight chip in Nico's sword. Nico knew better that if he broke his sword, Torvald would give him a beating of his life.
Nico began to shift his pattern to defense, using less force to receive Torvald's rapid strikes. At once Nico moved his left leg backwards to give him stamina.
Then he bent his structure forwards aiming for a low strike, his gaze still facing Torvald.
Torvald had the bottom of his hilt facing the back of Nico's head. A pretty bad spot– The exact spot Nico wanted him in. The only attack that Torvald could use wouldn't be fatal.
Torvald could already see that the kid was at advantage. Nico swung his blade for Torvald's guts but Torvald was already changing his fight pattern to defense.
CLACK!!
Their swords collided and the two halves of each sword were sent flying off. Nico let out a mischievous smirk and rubbed his chin.
"I guess I'm not getting beat up today." Nico pointed to the half sword that Torvald was holding.
"That's enough training for today." He said, defeat evident in his tone and turned to look at Neryssa who was hitting a dummy with her mana imbued stick.
"That included you too, Nery."
Neryssa stopped abruptly. She fell on her back and let out a loud sigh.
"One of these days, you're going to kill us Mr. Torvald." She yelled from where she lay.
Nico nodded in agreement.
"We've been through three years of your harsh training." She said, amidst panting.
"But you've all made progress. Isn't that right Nico?" Torvald said and ruffled Nico's hair and walked off.
"Yeah yeah!" Nico rolled his eyes.
Nico watched as Neryssa lay there motionless. She must be thinking about returning back home. The celebration of unity was in three days. Anyone would be hyped to return home.
"Princess Neryssa." Nico teased.
He walked to join Neryssa where she lay. He laid down beside her using both arms as a pillow.
"The higher ups have made the announcement. Villagers from this part of the kingdom and other neighbouring boundaries have been granted a 24 hours free entry into the supreme kingdom."
"I know." Neryssa said nonchalantly.
Nico was concerned. He turned to face her but she didn't look at him.
"I don't want to go home anymore." She said and turned away from Nico's gaze. Her face was all reddened.
"You can't stay either. Your father is the supreme king of all four kingdoms. Not to mention, he hasn't heard from you for three years." Nico said, admiring her white hair which braided on both sides and left plain in the Middle.
A style she'd maintained since Nico knew her. She'd claimed it was a way to remember her mother and Nico never questioned her about it.
"I know that too." Her tone was moody.
"We can always come visiting every three years if you want. I can speak to Mr. Torvald and convince him to let us come." Nico assured but Neryssa wasn't captivated.
There was a brief silence.
"Mr. Torvald wants me to get charcoal for tonight's dinner. Care to join?" Nico asked expecting another flat answer from her but she quickly jumped at the idea.
She's weird, Nico thought.
Both of them walked to the nearest town, East of Nico's former village.
The town's market was bustling with activities, most of which caught Neryssa's attention.
"You don't get to see this at the castle?" Nico asked.
"I'm always locked in my room and have no one to play with." She replied, still looking at the fancy objects on display.
"We're only here for charcoal. We'd come back some other day to buy something else. We're kids, we had better not attract unwanted attention to ourselves." Nico warned and Neryssa made a mimicry of him at his back, causing them both to chuckle.
As they walked towards their destination, the sound of galloping horses was heard behind them. As Nico made to move out of the way, he was brushed to the side by a speeding horse.
"Nico!!!" Neryssa yelled and rushed to meet him.
Nico was flung to a nearby shop, scattering the poor old lady's goods.
The convoy consisting of three horses and one caravan came to a half. The three horse riders alighted from their horses and walked to the caravan.
One of them slid open the curtain allowing a boy of Nico's age to reveal his face.
He was slightly taller than Nico, with brown hair. He had a royal attire on and his face spelt pride.
"Why are you peasants in my way?"
The only thing disgusting about him was his ego. Nico nonchalantly stood up, apologized to the old lady, held Neryssa by the arm and began to continue towards his destination, ignoring the young prince.
Everyone was shocked, including the horse riders and the people who had stopped to know what the commotion was all about.
"Prince Arlen, calm down." one of the riders said.
Obviously, Arlen was already fuming. He gritted his teeth and began to tail Nico and Neryssa. He followed them to a charcoal stall.
"Hey, you!" The call of Arlen startled Nico and Neryssa.
"Jeez, you scared the shit out of me." Nico's face was filled with disgust. He grabbed the charcoal and turned to face Arlen, his grip still firm on Neryssa's wrist.
"I asked you a question?" Arlen grabbed Nico by the collar and Neryssa whimpered, holding Nico's hand tightly.
Nico could tell she was afraid.
"What you should do is apologize for almost killing me with your horse, kid." This one seemed to provoke Arlen.
"What?! Apologize? To a lowly creature?" He yelled, grabbing the attention of almost everyone. Nico didn't want this. He wished the boy would just forget it all and walk away like nothing happened.
"You disrespect me and call me a kid. Do you know who my father is?"
This was all too familiar. From all these tantrums, Nico could tell Arlen was all bark and no bite. Nico rolled his eyes in disgust and let out a tired sigh.
"I would have you know that I am a student mage of vel–"
Nico didn't let Arlen finish before grabbing him by his wrist. He spun Arlen around, grabbed him by the neck and plunged his face to the ground.
"Let's make a run for it." Nico said.