Chapter 7: castle sun spear and storm hill city (part one)
a giant castle could be seen nestled atop a large hill. the sun's rays glistening atop the tower resembling spears hence the name. a caravan no larger than one wagon and two horses guiding it could be seen approaching it, beside it a young boy wearing heavy plate armor riding a large crystal lioness could be seen. 'Seems like your guess was wrong little cub, nothing happened on the second half of the trip' Sarabi said. 'I guess that's a good thing, we should drop them off and head for a major city, storm hill city is close by, no? well take the grand bridge there and pick up another mission if a hawk doesn't find us' he said through their bond.
'Good thinking little cub, for now let's get them into the castle' Sarabi said, Leonel only nodded as they approached the gates. "HALT, state your business" a guard yelled from atop the gate rampart." count joseph wishes to see an old friend, is count Holst in?" joseph asked the gate guard. the guard upon seeing the seal on the wagon sent a man to open the gates and headed down. the wagon entered in alongside its escorts and joseph stepped down alongside Natasha who took the chance to stretch.
"My lord, welcome to castle sun spear, unfortunately count Holst isn't in, he left this morning on a hunting trip, if you'd like the main hall has plenty of food and ale while you await his return" the gate guard said. " Then I'll do just that, thank you soldier" the count said as the cuckoo soldiers began to unload the carriage alongside the servants who came to help. " Thank you, young friend, without you me and my daughter would be dead in a ditch someway here, the money will be deposited in the account as per agreement alongside a little extra to show my gratitude, should you wish it, house Forst always seeks new knights" he said putting the offer out there, Natasha looked a little hopeful at that.
"Sorry ser but I'm already promised a position as an enchanted knight and that is my current goal, it's the reason I'm taking missions to expand my experience, do have a pleasant stay and i thank you for your generosity" Leonel said before hopping atop Sarabi once again and heading out of the castle gates. the father and daughter pair watched him go with conflicted feelings. " If the moon allows it, you'll see him again daughter of mine, although I worry, he won't have enough space in his heart for you" joseph said, Natasha only sighed and walked behind her father to the main hall, she sorely seeked a bath to wash away the trip's happenings.
now back on the road Leonel focused on the Gundyr style, he read through the scroll over and over searing its contents within his mind. 'Cub if you'd like, we could practice one of your inherent abilities' Sarabi suddenly said breaking him from his concentration. 'there's more to it?' he asked. 'of course, there is, the pride is now but souls within yours you gave me a body, but it wasn't a necessity to do so, you are what is called a spirit tuner and thus naturally you can feel and see more than the average person' she explained.
' One ability you possess is the ability to temporally fuse with one of our souls if only briefly, try to do so with my brother Abbas, look within yourself and picture a fiery red lion' she said. he did just that and slowly the image came to mind. 'Now picture his hind legs and think of them fusing with your own' she said as she dropped him to the ground next to her. he stood up and did as she said. slowly but surely, he felt something overlap his flesh then... he jumped. easily 15 feet in the air, breaking him from his concentration and falling hard on his ass. Sarabi simply could not hold it in and couldn't stop laughing at him, he thankfully didn't feel anything thanks to the armor Ansel gave him, but his pride was hurt.
naturally like any man with a wounded pride anger boiled up from within and he stood up suddenly then tried again. this time he managed to jump a little higher and land it perfectly almost like if it were natural. he fused again except this time he tried to run with it finding himself several yards from his position with one step. a little disorienting at first but as he practiced, he found himself adapting to the sudden speed. but by bit he tried it with other body parts and even tried the entire body feeling the coursing strength within him although when he tried to fuse it with mana enhancement he felt as if a wall was before him and no matter what he did it wouldn't work alongside the spirit enhancement.
' that's natural little cub, you're trying to mix two completely different energies that both derive from your soul onto your body' she said as she stood next to him watching him fail. ' In order to mix them you need a strong enough body to bear the strain of such a fusion, without it your soul will instinctively refuse to do so' she said. 'How strong do I need to be then?' he asked. 'That I do not know cub, what I do know is that you have a ways to go in order to attain it, for now you can use spirit enhancement for speed and mana enhancement for power if you'd so wish' she said as she scooped him up onto her back and continued along the way.
storm hill city wasn't far from castle sun spear and the grand bridge connecting the two continents almost seemed to connect the castle and the city. they reached it in a couple of hours now that the wagon wasn't slowing them down. it was quite the sight to see a city below thundering clouds and surrounded by random raging winds yet no one within it seemed bothered by the temperamental weather. the entered easily without a single guard to stop them, the city was a well know trade hub, a goods passed through it as it was a natural divide between limgrave and liurnia.
whatever the free cities of caelid wished to send up to liurnia or leyndell had to pass by storm hill city and thus naturally the city received a healthy income. the cobbled streets were clean and sturdy, the buildings mostly made of stone and wood, and they seemed almost brand new. the kids ran all over playing with one another as the adults went about their business without care. truly storm hill was the jewel of limgrave and not even castle storm veil held a candle against the lively city. they found the Carian Hall branch rather quickly as a glint stone decor isn't at all common in limgrave. outside it two knights stood guard and upon seeing Leonel atop Sarabi they immediately let them in.
the inside looked a lot like the one back in the manor although it was much smaller. a middle-aged man at the counter waved at them and they approached. "My it's been sometime since I've seen a living golem, tell me son what spell did you use to create it" the older balding man asked. " none, this is my Carian knight ability, I've come to pick up another mission within the limgrave area, I am capable of besting an experienced knight so please give me something around that level" he asked.
"Right of course, let's see.... there are two missions available for you... one is a bandit extermination in murk water cave, or investigate the sittings of a dragon near fort strong iron in Limgrave's lake center" he offered. ' what do you think Sarabi?' he asked. 'the bandit extermination sounds good cub, we can always come back and do the dragon inspection but those bandits could be targeting innocent people' she reasoned. "ill take the bandit extermination. "very well, the bandit extermination will be completed when someone goes to check the validity of the claims, the red scorpion gang has taken over the cave, numbers unknown pay is 100 thousand lunar coins, do you accept?" the man asked.
"Yes, I do" Leonel said. "Very well then here's the scroll, the mission has a week deadline, good luck young knight" the main said before giving him a scroll and turning to do some paperwork. ' We have a week little cub, how about we explore this city while we are here?' Sarabi suggested. 'Alright then, what do you have in mind?' he asked. 'First let's get you some hot food' she said before snatching him with her tail and throwing him atop her. they left the hall and were on the street in search of grub. a heavenly smell attracted them to a food stall. it read "ramen" at the sign and Leonel entered. inside he could see two twin girls serving costumers sitting at the stools before the counter. he put away his helmet and sat at an available seat, his mouth watering.
"Hello! welcome to Akina's ramen stand, you must be new here, yes?" one of the twin raven haired girls asked. "Ah yea, what is ramen actually" he asked. "Ramen is a specialty food from our homeland, the land of reeds, it consists of noodles and its broth alongside any extra ingredients you'd like" the girl said with a soft smile. " Oh, then I'd like um, one with plenty of meat" he said. "of course, coming right up! the girl said in a chirpy manner as she quickly got him a fresh batch. he watched them work gracefully and quickly rather amazed at the fluidity the two had with one another.
soon enough a piping hot bowl of ramen laid before him alongside two chop sticks and with a bit of practice he figured out the trick. it barely lasted two minutes and he was already asking for more. sometime later and he felt completely full, six bowls sat in front of him all drained of their contents. "Anything else?" they asked in unison. "No, that was amazing, how much?" he asked. " 22 golden coins please" they asked. he happily stuck his hand in the air next to him and produced a handful of golden coins startling the two. "Oh, sir that is too much really" one said trying to stop him. "Nonsense that was probably the best thing I have ever eaten before take this at least.
they smiled and took the coins before thanking him profusely as he left. 'Enjoy yourself?' Sarabi asked. 'Most definitely did so, this city is officially my second favorite place' he said. suddenly a loud chorus of people could be heard not that far away. he frowned and hopped atop Sarabi as they headed for the commotion. at the city center was a caravan, the worst kind of caravan, several guards holding whips showed off kids and adults of all ethnicities and ages as people bid for them. Leonel watched this atop Sarabi with a scowl 'don't cub, this is not your battle and what they're doing isn't illegal within the golden order 'she said.
he watched all manner of adults and kids be sold off until he saw one that left him shocked. "Ana?" he whispered as he looked at a young girl no older than he, striking blond hair and shinning blue eyes staring at the world before her full of hate. something came over him as he pushed Sarabi forward and stood before her, "six thousand golden coins" he said without hesitation. the crowd quieted upon seeing a crystalline lioness riding knight appear. " Ah the young man wishes to bid, who bids against him?" the auctioneer yelled out. "Seven thousand" a fat noble said with a greasy tone upon his voice. " Thirty thousand" Leonel said with finality as mana gathered around him making it hard for some of them to breathe. Ana watched this with wide eyes, of course shed recognize the voice of her best friend.
"SOLD TO THE YOUNG KNIGHT" the auctioneer yelled out. Leonel was guided by one of the guards towards the back of the caravan. the auctioneer rubbed his hands greedily with ana tied up alongside. " I tell you young man you caught quite the good sale, she's good at cooking and cleaning and-" " shut up, take the gold" Leonel said as he pushed his hand into thin air and retrieved a sack of gold, one of the many Ansel forced him to take with him.
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