Odyssey Of The Sword Dancer

4. The City Of Eraudia

"Kyle!"

"Ahhh!" I jolted awake and jumped off the bed. "What the heck, Kelsey?!"

"You're gonna be late, you idiot!" She screamed back.

"Late? For wha-" My eyes widened as I realized. "I'm gonna be late!"

I bolted into the bathroom and moments later, I was rushing down the stairs.

"Mum, Dad, I need to get going," I announced.

My mum rushed forward and hugged me so tight, i nearly died. "I'm gonna miss you, Kyle."

"I'll miss you too mum," I said with a small smile on my lips.

"Don't stress yourself too much, alright?" she said while stepping back. "We don't want your Illness to return. And please come back to us in one piece."

"Alright mum, i won't stress myself." I said.

But I knew that was a promise I won't be able to keep, I was about to step foot in an academy that was surely going to push me past my breaking point.

So yeah, I was just lying to her.

And besides, I was sure the illness wouldn't return. That illness probably originated from the original Kyle's soul.

So there was nothing to worry about.

But... I did merge with the remnant of his soul, so it might be possible for it to return.

Whatever, I wasn't the type to worry about things I couldn't control.

I turned to my dad and he just nodded at me.

"Bye Liam," I said while rubbing my brother's head.

He nodded his little head cutely.

...I was already beginning to miss them.

All of a sudden, I was being pushed towards the door.

"Get going, you Idiot!" Kelsey said, her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk.

"Fine, I'm going," I walked out of the house, said one final goodbye, then I ran as if my life depended on it.

Getting to the park, I saw Zac already standing there.

"You're late you numb skull, the carriage was just about to leave!" Zac said.

"But I made it, didn't I?" I said while getting into the carriage.

And yes, a carriage being pulled by two horses. While Baronia did have functioning cars. Those were for the upper class.

Here in Linwald, we used carriages.

But in the cities and metropolises, they had cars, paved roads, tall glass buildings, and every other thing you would find on Earth.

And from what I've heard, it might be better.

It was like stepping into a new world for people who lived in towns, tier one, and tier two villages.

Have I ever mentioned that Baronia was a messed up and confused world?

But to it's residents, it was as normal as normal could be.

The carriage drove it's way out of Linwald and into the nearby forest.

Gone were the cobbled roads, all that was left was dirt beneath us and trees stretched out as far as the eye could see.

So, I stopped looking.

Instead I turned my attention to the passengers onboard the carriage.

Two men who looked to be in their early thirties with swords beside them, a woman and an old man, including me and Zac.

And for some reason one of those men was staring at me.

"Is there a problem?" I asked.

"You were the one who was staring at me, so I should be the one asking that question," he said, glaring at me like I had just attempted to kill his mother.

"Don't mind him," the other man said. "His girlfriend just broke up with him."

"Oh, you have my condolences," I said with my hand on my chest.

"Shut up kid!" he barked. "Say one more word and I'll cut your tongue off!"

There was no way I going to shut up now.

"No wonder she left you," I said while smirking at him. "It's not her, it's you."

"You're dead kid!" he shouted. Just as he was about to unsheathe his sword, his friend slapped him on the head.

"You're disturbing the other passengers!" His friend said, practically glaring holes into him. "The driver might cut our pay if you keep causing so much trouble!"

"I'm sorry for his behavior," he said, a sigh slipping out of his lips. "I'm Fred, and my dumb friend over here is James. We are adventurers, in charge of protecting this carriage."

"I'm Zac and he's Kyle," Zac said before I could utter a single word. It felt like he didn't want me to speak.

Which was quite offensive, if I must say.

"If you don't mind me asking, if you two are supposed to be protecting this train, then why are you inside?" Zac asked.

"Well, a colleague of ours is at the front with the driver," Fred said. "So if there's an attack, he will inform us."

"What sort of monsters are in this parts?" I asked.

"Nothing serious, just [F rank] monsters and the occasional [E rank]," Fred said, smiling at us like he was here for a picnic.

"You're going to the academy right?" Fred asked. "I heard that a lot of nobles will be attending this year, including the children of the archdukes, and the princess.

"Tch, snotty little kids acting all high and mighty, when they can't even clean their own asses," James grumbled.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" I couldn't help but ask.

It was like his ex slapped his mum, stole everything he held dear, then left him for his worst enemy.

Because I doubted a break up could make a person as stupid as this.

"Keep talking and I'm gonna throw you at the first monster I see," he said, it looked like he was about to explode out of anger.

I decided to leave him alone, in an act of tactical retreat.

I turned back to the ever changing scenery, a lot of thoughts flowing through my head.

I couldn't afford to awaken anything less than [S rank].

Sure, I could live a good life with a [B rank], but I didn't plan on staying in Baronia forever.

At least not without my complete family.

Anyone below [C rank] won't make into the main academy. They'll get dumped in the branch academy.

Where they would be given meager training, because at the end of the day, there were nothing but canon fodder.

While one's talent wasn't hereditary, it was a factor nonetheless.

And only my mum was an awakened and she was just [E rank] . My dad was a mundane.

But that didn't matter to me, high talent or not, I was going to return to Earth.

Even if it meant selling my soul to the devil.

I turned my attention back into the carriage and apart from the adventurers, everybody else had fallen asleep.

And for some reason, James was still glaring at me.

I decided to ignore him and go to sleep, praying to all the gods listening that he didn't kill me in my sleep.

............................

I opened my eyes to find James right in front of my face.

"Wake up, you brat!" he shouted right into my face. "We've arrived."

I stared at him, my face as deadpan as it could be. "Is that why your girlfriend left you?"

Confusion painted his face. "What?"

"Because she caught you with a dude?" I said.

He moved back faster than I could blink. "You fucking brat! I oughta kill you for uttering such nonsense!"

I ignored him and stepped out of the carriage.

And It felt like I had stepped into the future.

The carriage along with many others were in a dark park, probably so that it wouldn't ruin the decor of the city.

And I couldn't agree more.

Because in a city where cars glided through, they would be nothing but a nuisance.

And when I say glide, I mean the cars were hovering above the ground.

As we walked through the city alongside some other kids and a guide who was in charge of leading us to our lodges, I couldn't help but be mesmerized by the beauty of the city.

Tall buildings, giant screens advertising different goods and services, cars gliding through the city.

And some bastards looking at us as if we were filth.

Yeah, that killed the mood.

Why the fuck were the cities so advanced, while the towns were so ancient.

It was so fucking fair.

At the end of the day, complaining wouldn't change anything.

As we walked through the city, the guide gave us some info on the city.

He spoke so passionately, but the really relevant information was actually little.

The city of Eraudia was the biggest city in the empire, due to the presence of the academy.

It was located in the center of the empire, and was the home of the sentinel academy.

It was actually more advanced than most cities, and was only a bit lower than the metropolises.

We kept walking through the bustling city till we got to our lodges.

And just as I expected, they were extremely bland. The academy wasn't going to waste resources on lower class children, especially when their talents were still unknown.

Zac and I freshened up and dug into our meal.

Fortunately we were provided with basic room services.

After our dinner we immediately crashed into our beds.

"I'm so tired," Zac mumbled with his face buried in the bed.

"Same here, but we should be grateful that we made it to the city, without a single attack."

"And that we didn't get killed because of your stupid mouth," Zac added while glaring at me. "I mean, would it have killed you to keep your mouth shut."

I turned away from him and closed my eyes. "Goodnight Zac."

I wasn't about get into another argument when I was this tired.

Even I had limits.

And so, I lay there waiting for the awakening ceremony that would decide my path forward.