Thornblade Chronicles - Volume 1

Chapter 19

With the previous day being action-packed, Eli was a heavy sleeper. He could not feel the grass lightly grazing his legs, nor did he react to the wind delicately blowing his hair. And while he rolled around in his sleep, he did not move around enough to cause problems. On the other hand, Albert had been too excited about his newfound powers and could not stay asleep for long. In the previous four hours, he had woken up a total of seven times.

Sighing, he realized that he would not get more rest. The martial artist sat up and rubbed his eyes. Looking around, he found the sky had turned a lighter shade of blue; the sun was about to rise, and he would have to be up shortly anyway.

Albert stood up and stretched, ready to take on the rest of the day. Walking around for a few minutes, he helped his body wake up sufficiently enough. Glancing at his sleeping friends, Albert could not help but feel envious. Each would eventually wake up with a full night's sleep while he barely got any. As Albert walked closer to his friends, he found something loose close to Eli's chest. Moving in closer and not wanting to wake anybody up, the martial artist held his breath as he reached for the item.

Just before he touched the item, Eli rolled around more. Albert jerked his hand back, making sure not to come into contact with his friend. He was not aware Eli would not wake up so easily. When Eli stopped moving, Albert tried again. When his friend moved again—this time onto his stomach—Albert could have sworn the man was not asleep. Albert stood up and sighed. Scanning the area, he wondered if he could prepare a healthy breakfast for his team. He noticed a set of fruit-bearing trees of varying kinds not too far away.

Just before he walked over to them, he read Eli rolling again. As he looked at his friend, he noticed a stack of paper falling out of the Mienard's uniform. Swiftly picking them up and scanning through them, he understood they were the glyphs he had wanted to research. After walking a short distance away, he sat down and began sifting through the notes, trying to memorize as much as possible.

Albert danced in his seat as he researched every detail, from the glyphs' shapes to their uses. He began picturing how he would mimic the glyphs when creating them. While Albert found some to be convoluted, he believed he had a solution for each. He read each paper three times before confidently placing the notes into his pocket and walking towards the line of trees.

Once he arrived, Albert's stomach growled. "Surely I can spare some for myself," he muttered with a smile. Crossing his arms over one another, Albert drew loops in the air with both his arms, connecting them in the outermost spiral arm. As he pushed forward, each gauntlet generated gusts of wind. Aiming the gauntlets at the trees, Albert watched as some of the fruit flew away from him. As he picked up one of the nearby apples, he heard a quiet thud, followed by a louder growl.

The martial artist looked around in the direction of the growl and found a grey-furred hound barking at him. When the beast barked again, it lunged at Albert, who raised a gauntlet to block an oncoming bite. It latched onto his weapon, but he shook it off and kicked it away. Not wanting to use pure martial arts, Albert thought about what glyph he would take it out with, but his unfocused mind gave the hound another opportunity to try and attack him again.

When it tried headbutting the man, Albert narrowly dodged and thought to use Vertila. When his gauntlets glowed green, the martial artist swung his fists from the side. Upon colliding in front of his chest, a projectile launched from his gauntlets and toward the creature. Unable to react quickly enough, the shockwave knocked the hound into a nearby tree with a loud thud.

Instinctively, Albert glanced back to his friends, hoping none of them would wake up from the loud sound. When it became apparent they were all asleep, he walked over to the beast and searched for a pulse. When he did not find it, he reasoned it died after one strike. Disappointed by the lack of a challenge, Albert walked back to the tree. Though he figured the hound would be enough for his friends to eat, he wanted to prepare more for them.