(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they an a lot. As usual, please don't hesitate to comnt or drop a review. ENJOY)
Power stones people, Gim it.
---------------------------------
Orion kept pace with the group without effort.
They moved steadily through the forest, not rushing, not dragging. After days together, their formation had settled naturally. Scouts rotated at the front and flanks, rear guards changed every few hours, and short breaks were taken without debate. Emily had established control early, and no one questioned it.
Orion stayed sowhere in the middle.
That, too, was deliberate.
He had learned quickly that Emily paid attention to positioning. Who walked where, who drifted, who lingered. She didn't comnt on it, but Orion had noticed her eyes tracking movent more than faces. A leader who watched patterns rather than people.
Interesting.
Four days had passed since he joined them. The initial curiosity had dulled, replaced by a cautious normalcy. He was still watched, but no longer stared at. Questions ca less frequently now, and when they did, they were practical rather than personal.
"How far do you think we are from the capital?" soone asked during a short rest.
Emily didn't answer imdiately. She looked to Orion instead with a weird intensity.
He noticed. Of course he did, and he wondered why.
"Hard to say," Orion replied evenly. "I've been doing my best to follow directions that seem like a path or a road."
A safe answer. Vague but reasonable.
Emily humd.
She didn't press him, but Orion could feel the quiet evaluation behind her calm deanor. She was acting like she knew sothing, yet she didn't press; and it was frustrating him, the fact that she could sense emotions only further made it worse. Orion had expected sothing smooth, he would just deceive them and they would fall for it but Emily was bothering him, although everything was seemingly going well.
He was considering the chance that she knew sothing but she was hiding it because she wanted to take advantage of him or maybe he was just being unnecessarily paranoid.
But over the past few days, he had co to terms with everything; his search for the perfect process wasn't possible, all he was sure of was that he'd co out on top and that was the most important.
The group itself was… functional. Not exceptional, but competent. There were minor frictions—differences in combat philosophy, disagreents about pace—but Emily handled them efficiently. No raised voices. No dominance gas. She listened, decided, and moved on.
Orion hadn't needed to intervene once.
That told him enough.
Later that day, as they resud walking, Emily fell into step beside him. Not abruptly. Not deliberately obvious. Just… naturally.
"You've been quiet," she said.
"So have you," Orion replied.
She smiled faintly. "You're observing "
Orion didn't answer, he wouldn't respond to her teasing.
They walked in silence for a few monts.
"You're not what I expected," she said eventually.
"Neither are you," Orion answered without looking at her.
That earned him a sideways glance. "Oh?"
"How so?" She asked.
"I'd rather not get into that." Orion replied.
"I think I understand why the girl hasn't chosen you yet." She said with a huff before leaving him be.
They moved on.
That evening, the group made camp earlier than usual. The forest had grown quieter over the last few hours—not silent, but subdued. Fewer monsters. Less movent. Even the ambient sounds of mana felt thinner, stretched.
Orion noticed imdiately.
He didn't say anything.
Neither did Emily.
Dinner was simple. Dried rations supplented by what they'd gathered during the day. Conversation stayed light, focused on mundane things—who needed rest, who'd take first watch, whose boots were wearing thin.
It was normal.
That was the problem.
Orion lay back against a tree, eyes half-lidded, senses spread thin and passive.
Soon he felt it.
Movent.
Not close. Not hostile. But organized.
Large.
He adjusted slightly, as though settling more comfortably.
Across the camp, Emily stiffened for just a fraction of a second.
So she felt it too.
"Up," she said quietly.
No panic. No raised voice.
Just one word.
The camp shifted instantly. People rose, weapons drawn but kept low. Formation tightened without instruction. Emily stepped forward, eyes scanning the forest ahead.
"What is it?" one of them whispered.
"Company," Emily replied.
Orion stayed silent.
The movent grew clearer as the seconds passed. Not monsters. Too structured. Too rhythmic. There was a cadence to it—steps, pauses, turns.
A procession.
The group waited.
Then they appeared.
Green shapes erged between the trees, one after another. Tall, lean, broad. Their skin caught the filtered light in dull shades of jade and moss. They wore layered garnts of woven fiber and hardened bark, so carrying tools, others bearing weapons shaped from polished stone and crystal.
Sylgrid.
A lot of them.
The group froze.
Orion felt the tension spike instantly. Mana flared involuntarily from several mbers of Emily's group before they reined it in. Confusion. Wariness. Instinct screaming threat where none had been identified yet.
Emily raised a hand slowly, signaling restraint.
The Sylgrid noticed them almost at once.
Their formation didn't break, but it slowed. Several turned their heads in unison. A few stepped forward, hands resting near their weapons but not gripping them.
Orion watched closely.
No hostility.
Not yet.
Emily took a single step forward.
She didn't look at Orion. Didn't ask him anything. She simply did what leaders did—acted.
The Sylgrid group stopped fully now, forming a loose semicircle. One of them—taller than the rest, his garnts marked with subtle insignia—stepped out.
He studied them with open curiosity.
Emily mirrored the movent, stopping a respectful distance away.
They faced each other.
Orion watched from a short distance away, he was curious how she would handle this.
"Hello, are you part of the Sylgrid?" Emily asked.
The Sylgrid stared at her before chuckling a bit.
"Are you human?" He asked back.
"Yes." Emily replied.
"Then I am Sylgrid." The Sylgrid replied.
"Oh, wonderful." She said with a smile. "Do you have any info on the Sylgrid Jade."
Reviews
All reviews (0)