Chapter 54: Reach And Breach Part 1
Soon, the morning came and everyone woke up after a stressing night. Many adventurers had black circles under their eyes and seemed to be on the edge since the cause of these shared bad feeling and illusions hadn't been located yet. It had been especially rough on the holy knights since they all felt this evil presence alongside the other things. A thorough search alongside the priestesses gave them nothing and took them a lot of time, leaving them tense and tired in the early morning.
On the other hand, Jack had finally slept correctly for the first time in a week. His body was painful and some of his organs had suffered from the backlash of his sudden outburst of killing intent but his main problem had been solved too. The ghouls were now tame and quiet, listening to his orders and fearing his presence. It had been a refreshing discovery which allowed him to finally close his eyes and rest correctly.
Waking up alongside his students felt quite weird but also made him smile since they were both still sleeping. They had been dragged outside in order to help for the emergency search and spent the whole night looking for the cause of this mysterious common feeling.
One of the only good part had been that this allowed them to see and talk silently with Andrew's party for a few moments. The three adventurers were looking worse and worse with every passing day and having their sleep being cut didn't help them to hide their dark circles. The only saving grace for them was that since Jack had... Helped them to steel their mind, they stood out from the mass of adventurers thanks to their cool headed attitude in the emergency meeting.
After a while, Jack finally got up since he had finally finished to sort out his thoughts and memories from this weird dream he had. Since he had way less mental pressure thanks to the now quiet and fearful ghouls he finally got some more leeway and felt painfully that his blood and mana pressure was way too high. Some of his organs were still wounded and so were his mana circuits which had somehow blown up earlier.
'A human body is so feeble and weak... But it's not that bad to feel warmth again.' He thought while gently patting Evelyn's head. Kindness and gentleness shone in his grey pupils for an instant like a fleeting image of his former humanity. Then, his eyes darkened as he remembered himself of his wrath and outrage while he got up. He just thought about it for an instant and yet it had been enough to make the ghouls cower in fear in a corner of his mind.
'Mhh... It seems that they finally respect me. I should have gone all out before, it would have made my life easier.' Jack sighed in his mind after having prepared his equipment and washed himself with some water magic. The nature outside his tent welcomed him with a symphony of birds' songs and hundred of sun rays shooting through the tree lines blocking the horizon where the mighty star showed its bright head.
The camp was still asleep and the only one standing around to admire the light's reflection in the morning dew were exhausted adventurers who barely stood upright. Sighing, Jack stretched his painful body and trained a little the kata that Laena had taught him alongside some improvement he had made with a wooden stick he found lying around.
His movements were gracious, precises and ruthless as he made the wind scream with each strike. The adventurers around watched him and some imagined to be this invisible enemy he was facing only to shiver and see themselves being cut apart effortlessly.
The swordsmen standing around appreciated his skills and some found inspiration for their own techniques whilst others mocked him since their moves were better. Yet, none managed to laugh about his cold determination and the brutality that transpired out of each of his attacks.
'Tch. I can only go this far for now I guess.' Jack sighed mentally after having finished his routine. Some of the moves he had imagined needed way more flexibility or strength than what his body could give him. He had also reopened some small wounds in his lungs after having pushed them a little too hard and sighed while coughing out everything that had been stuck inside them after he reached his tent.
The girls had finally woken up too and seeing him more active than before brought them some happiness even if he warned them that it would probably be only temporary. Their kindness surprised Jack and felt a bit foreign to him after he stood in the madness of his undead army's creation and maintenance for so long. A small smile appeared on his face before he rustled through the two girls' hair as they yawned while getting up.
"T-Teacher...?" Laena stuttered as she felt a bit embarrassed to be treated like a kid and surprised that he patted her randomly like this. Deep inside, she enjoyed the gesture nonetheless but refused to admit it to herself.
On the other hand, literally and figuratively, Evelyn simply appreciated this instant of kindness coming from her teacher. She had watched him quite attentively through all the time they spent together and felt that deep under his shell of wrath and bloodthirst was a kind and tender heart which showed itself when it managed to suddenly jump out of his cage.
'Some may say that he is a monster, that he only destroy but to me.. To us.. He is simply a nice and caring teacher.' Evelyn thought while placing her hands on his. Her doubt also resurfaced about the righteousness of their acts but she didn't care about it in order to enjoy this warmth a little more.
"Well then, let's tidy everything up and claim our breakfasts. I've got the feeling that today will be a harsh one." Jack announced while getting up and turning around, not noticing that Laena's ears had turned red and that Evelyn had a satisfied expression which seemed quite similar to a satisfied cat's one.
In order to feed everyone equitably the holy knights and their followers who drove the carriages had organized a queue where everyone would go in order to get their portion. Of course, they were also free to eat their own food but since this one was free and would probably be necessary anyway everyone came and waited patiently. A few jackasses had tried to skip the queue or push people away but the security was tight and the holy knights' eyes sharp.
After some nagging from the people in front of them and a dangerous increase in Jack's blood and mana pressure they finally got their meals and packed their stuff for the day. Everyone seemed quite stressed since no one found a logic reason for the last night's event and rumors started to spread. When reason fail to explain something, superstitions and fears take the place instead.
The most common and accepted reason that had been discussed even with the holy knights was that they either broke a barrier when they came closer to the heretics' hideout or that their evil god watched them through his dimension to help his followers. Even the holy knights and Alikio seemed to be thrown off by this weird apparition they had all seen.
'This prove me that they have little to no knowledge about scrying magic too... I wonder if the other races and continents have also regressed like the humans...' Jack thought as he listened to Laena's report after she attended a meeting with the elite of the expedition. His mind then shifted toward his ghouls again as he gave them precise instructions that they listened to obediently.
Passerby and monsters' corpse were their main diet as they followed the zealous crusaders while maintaining a safety distance. They acted like vultures, preying on the weak and the dead to regain their strength. Jack had ordered them to stay even further from the adventurers than before since everyone was now on the edge and ready to fight for their lives.
They had been surprised by random monster attacks the last day but now it was them who surprised the monsters by showering them with magic and benedictions. They took no risks and burnt to dust every menace that dared to stand against them, especially the priestesses who showed their overwhelming might by overshadowing the adventurer mages.
The only few whose power deserved to be compared to the destructive effects of the light magic were Zoe and this half elf that Jack had seen weeks ago who was called Lewis. The others struggled to cast their spell fast enough and some fights ended before they started. In the afternoon, a massive forest bear rushed toward them from a plain nearby. However, it only managed to make a few steps before thunder and sunlight turned it into a burning pile of nothingness.
Showing the might of the priestesses and the followers of Svet's power helped to raise the morale and the holy knights did their best to overshadow the other mages' performance with their "godly power's one". Hearing their bullshit made Jack's wounds ache as his blood pressure reopened some freshly closed ones.
'No matter the age, God's follower still think that they are different from these "esoteric and weird arts users" that mages are. What a bunch of idiots.' The immortal grumpily thought while feeling impatient. The time when their blood would flood the lands was approaching, but it was approaching so slowly...
Since he was finally feeling better he also got to discuss with his students a lot more and heard about Ashley. A small smile rose on his lips when he heard about his habits and mindset since it made him think about a tribe of creatures which he used to trust and help.
'Guys, maybe you've managed to pass on your clan's ancestral traditions in the end..? But to do that you would have needed a coward who fled the fight... It's pretty much impossible isn't it. Maybe someone reincarnated then?' Jack wondered before deciding that he needed to talk to this lion himself. He also noticed that the ghouls were slowly returning toward their normal state of defiant and thickheaded beasts as their fear of him faded away.
"I don't have much time remaining... Do you think that you could arrange a duel with him for me this evening?" The immortal asked to Laena as she explained her fight after having thought about it a little.
"And so, he kicked me but I block- What? Why would you..?" The elf replied after having continued her story a little since she had been sucked in her memories. Then, her face illuminated itself and she smiled a lot.
"You have finally understood what a warrior's pride is and want to confront your to Ashley's one don't you?" She continued with a small smug look as she thought that her teacher had finally understood the beauty in the art of fighting, the honor that a knight needed to have, the-
"No, not at all you idiot. There's no pride to have in a fight to death, only efficiency and treachery. And I understand your point of view, I just find it stupid." He shrugged while Evelyn chuckled on the side.
"Ashley is really like a hero from those stories in the books though, he's awesome !" The young girl cheerfully said.
"Yes, and that's why he interest me. He... Remind me old friends and in order to get answers a fight will be the fastest way. Could you arrange that for me?" Jack explained while gazing at the down looking elf.
"Of course..." She muttered before sighing thanks to her hard headed and cold teacher.
'Well, at least he understood the beauty in my swordsmanship... I can't expect him to respect a warrior's honor code right now can I? Uh, now that I think about it, he has one too...' She thought while digging the idea even further in her mind by analyzing her memories.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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123412344321 Hey guys, here's the chapter from 2 days ago :D *cough*
Today's music is Auvic - Atone & Bloom (feat. Caroline Kim)
Have a good day and stay safe :D
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