Chapter 55: Reach And Breach Part 2
The walk continued for hours and like quiet androids everyone followed the other steps in a monotone rhythm. Many had exhausted their reserves of topic to talk about and thus traveled silently, letting their minds wander in their steads.
Jack's party also seemed to be bored since the three of them walked quietly without even looking at each others. However, they stood silent simply because each of them worked really hard with his mind in order to give themselves even a little more chances to win their upcoming fight.
Jack wasn't that worried about the future but still controlled his ghouls with precision and mastery in order to have the largest horde possible ready for whenever he would need their power. He had also understood why he had never faced troubles in the past when he governed legions of sentient undeads, even savage ones like those ghouls.
Compared to his former power, his current might was pitiful. It was no surprise that the ghouls didn't take him seriously and only followed his iron will while trying to break it. Yet, they feared him when he let his wrath bleed out.
'I wonder how does it work... I never really researched about such weak undeads, it could be interesting.' Jack mentally noted before focusing again on governing his creations. Alongside him, both of his students were silently focused on their magic and improved by leaps and bonds.
After what felt like an eternity for nearly everyone, the adventurer's horde reached their camping site and settled there. Tired groans of adventurers who had taken more than they could carry could be heard all around the place and even the holy knights seemed exhausted. The monsters attacks had been frequents and a priestess had over strained herself, making her companions panic for an instant before focusing again on the massive Thunder Komodo which was charging the caravan.
In the end, only one adventurer had fallen to the beast's burning bile and the electricity it threw around because he charged it while panicking. Zoe had done her best to deflect the bolts the monster threw around but was superhuman and her exhaustion from the day had caught her up. Or at least, that was what she said since she kept most her real power hidden while hoping for the adventurers to die.
Her heart had been crying the whole time when she "unfortunately" guided a bolt of thunder toward the fool who had dared to rush this massive monster lizard. Yet, she did it and her companions comforted her. At least, Andrew did.
Moringar, on the other side, seemed quite happy with his current situation even if he knew that he would have been able to save many lives thanks to his ability to snipe off the monsters. Yet, he left most of the kills to random adventurers and the holy knights like the other A ranks. It seemed that no one was really keen on protecting the mass of lower level adventurers except Ashley but it was probably simply because he rushed toward any fight he found.
Speaking of him, he was currently washing and sharpening his beloved axe in his tent when he heard footsteps stop in front his tent's entrance.
"Ashley? Are you in here?" A feminine and quite familiar voice said.
"Hm..? Yes, why?" The lion beastman replied.
"Ah, I finally found your tent !" Laena cheerfully announced. She had searched for him through the whole camp after the dinner and struggled to find the right place, only finding her way after asking around quite a lot.
"My te- follower would like to spar with you after having heard about our duel. Would you be kind enough to humor him?" She continued in the most dignified way possible to stick at least a little to the persona she was supposed to have.
"With pleasure." Ashley chuckled after getting up and studying the trio in front of him. Laena was standing with her bust standing out in a noble and mighty position. Seeing her posture overlap with the one she had during their spar made the one eyed lion laugh since the difference between the two was quite large.
Next to her was standing a man in a black suit which gave off a feeling of fatigue and boredom. His beard wasn't trimmed but his clothes were surprisingly clean. However, his eyes shone a little when he looked at Ashley and the beastman felt like this guy would be a worthy opponent. Then, his gaze shifted toward the small girl which was accompanying the duo and carrying healing materials once again.
"Thanks young girl, I'll be counting on you once again to patch me up. " He gently said while squatting to reach her eyes' level, making her blush a little. Getting up again, he looked at Jack and asked :
"You will be my sparring companion I suppose?"
"Indeed. Nice to meet you Ashley, I'm Jack. I hope that you will be worthy of the rumors surrounding you." The immortal replied with a tinge of excitation in his voice. This surprised both of his students who felt like his shell had cracked a little and let a deeper part of him speak. The beastman however didn't know him and felt taunted instead.
"I'll let you find it out the hard way then. Let's go !" He growled while waving at them, opening the way toward a clear place of the plain they were installed in.
"With pleasure." Jack chuckled while following him. His students stared at them an instant, a bit stunned by this sudden animosity between the two before walking alongside them.
The adventurers seeing the beastman walk by them to go outside the camp smiled a little and rushed to tell their friends that he was sparing again. For many, it had become an interesting spectacle and the rumor had made its way through the camp that his fighting style was a sight to behold.
"Miss Brathadh, may I borrow your sword?" Jack gently asked to his elven companion. In truth, they had already planned it since he couldn't really reveal his bone sword yet. Thus, he had managed to get the permission to borrow her elven sword only if he let her try out his later. After thanking her and trying out his weapon he turned toward Ashley while feeling that his blood started to heat up.
'I know that I may be hoping needlessly but I want to believe in it. Reincarnation might exist if I managed to survive for eons without body right?' He thought while taking in a long and deep inspiration.
Then, he looked at Ashley in the eyes after having stabbed his sword in the ground, putting one hand on the pommel and one on his heart.
-"I, Jack, hereby announce that I will fight with my heart and soul in order to honor my name. If my blood spill on these grounds, it will be as ink in order to write down my name in History. If I fall on these grounds, my body will act as the final point to my story and a stepping stone to my foe's one. I wager my honor, heart and soul to you. Will you show me the same respect oh dear opponent?"-
His tirade had been in an unknown language to everyone else. Yet, the feeling of deep respect and traditions permeated the surroundings and everyone held his breath until he finished his monologue by hitting his chest with his open palm. His eyes were shining with hope and nostalgia as he stared at the beastman in front of him.
"Uh... What was that..?" "Did you understand what he said?" The adventurers muttered whilst Ashley seemed confused as well.
'Please... React... Show me that you recognize this pledge... ' Jack thought bitterly as he saw that the beastman didn't react like he hoped he would.
"Uh.. I don't know what language was that... What did it mean?" He asked, making the immortal's face crumble.
"No... It was nothing. Get in position." Jack replied coldly as he lost all sort of hope and optimism.
'Of course he wouldn't know the Sanguinarii language, they must have all died, only existing as a story in a book about an epoch I should have died in. I'm alone, this will never change. Heck, how could I have hoped that it may have worked...? I guess that seeing Nyx after so much time had brought out something else than my wrath after all...' He bitterly thought before glaring at his opponent.
"Uh.. Are yo- Alright. Whenever you want." Ashley replied after noticing the change in his foe's aura. Before, he felt quite tired and hopeful. Now,however, he was letting out enough killing intent to make the battle junkie beastman's blood boil.
"Here I come then." Jack announced before stomping on the ground as hard as he could to rush toward Ashley. The beastman did the same and soon the crowd stopped breathing as they smelled an impressive fight coming up.
The sound of the iron clashing sounded in the plain thanks to a well timed parry from the beastman. Jack had viciously tried to cut his feet by using his vision and movement's dead angle and only his battle instinct had helped him to see through the faint of his opponent.
However, the immortal wasn't done yet and skillfully twisted his wrists to make the elven blade screech as it rode on the axe's side to sink itself in Ashley's belly. The beastman didn't stand still and let himself be skewered and his fast reflexes saved him as he jumped on the side, only earning a deep cut on the flank after this small exchange. The crowd was surprised and silent since it was the first time that
"Tch. Not bad." Ashley laughed as he felt his blood flow through his fur.
"Want more?" Jack asked coldly in order to get a justification if he "unluckily" killed this nuisance.
"I... No, it would be irresponsible for me to continue this "spar". You are clearly attacking to kill and that's what I want but be both have a mission to accomplish, wounding ourselves any further would be stupid." The beastman sighed bitterly. Fighting with his life on the line helped him to progress by leap and bounds and such opponents who made a wise use of his disabilities weren't many and existed only on a real battlefield.
'Getting the opportunity to learn about my weaknesses is wonderful... I should train with him in the future if we both survive this mission. It would be awesome if he healed up too.' He grinned in his mind as he saw Jack discretely spit a mouthful of blood.
Afterward, Evelyn gently brought healing item to Ashley and when he tried to tell her that her companion was also wounded he noticed that Jack had disappeared while the crowd booed him for being a "dangerous training companion". Laena had also retrieved her sword and had a worried look on her face as she gazed toward the camp, probably in the direction that her teacher went.
Soon, the night came and alongside it came the promise of another day of walk through the outback of the Kingdom. After three days of routine which consisted of walking and surviving to monsters, eating and sparring the crusaders finally reached the outside of a massive pine forest which climbed on mountains that you could see further away.
"We have finally reached it ! Thanks to our information, we know that the heart of this evil organisation is located there. During our trip, some have fallen and we have been forced to realize how dangerous this world has become. But fear not my friends, as we are the bringers of His judgment ! Together, we will eliminate these heretics in order to build a safer place for the whole humanity ! Let's march onward and destroy them for good !" Gabriel said in an inspiring speech in order to raise the relatively low morale of the adventurers. Then, he opened the way toward the forest leaving behind the carriages and a few adventurers who had been simply hired in order to protect them while they waited for the rest of the expedition to come back.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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123412344321 Hey guys, here's yesterday's chapter.
Today's music is :Minami-hollowness
Have a good day and stay safe :D
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