Valtava: Dragon Sword

Chapter 19

"Hah! Hah! Hah!" Stephen cried as he fought with the evening sunrays illuminating him. He blocked each move against him swiftly, his movements becoming more and more fluid as if he was able to predict their sequences. The men lunged at him one after the other, throwing fists and kicks towards him, but he was able to knock them away successfully.

After thirty moves, all the men had been defeated, and Stephen pulled his arms in to stabilize his energy.

"Well done, well done!" Fennie stood up from her seat, applauding her hands. "Looks like you're now able to fight off ten of my men at once. You indeed didn't let me down."

Stephen ran up to her and held his palms up in wonder. "I've never felt this strong in my life before. And the mana circulating within me has also built up to a great extent, it's incredible!"

Fennie smiled in delight. "It's all because you have an incredible teacher!" she said, pointing her chin up.

"Of course, of course! Master Fennie is the best trainer out there," Stephen bowed, playing along with her.

"Report!" one of Fennie's men yelled, breaking their conversation. He ran up to Fennie and said, "I surveyed the landscape ahead of us and it looks like we are approaching Scarlet Desert. We should arrive at its gates tomorrow if we continue at our current pace."

"Scarlet Desert? That means we've reached Valtava!" She screamed and jumped up in excitement, tugging at Stephen's shoulders.

"That's amazing news! Let's get a good night's rest, tomorrow will be a big day for us!" Stephen said.

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"Look at the colour of that beautiful sand! I bet you've never seen that before!" Fennie pointed to the vibrant rose-pink sand dunes that rolled around them. Stephen opened his mouth agape in astonishment, not being able to believe his eyes.

"It's too beautiful to be real..." he said under his breath.

"Come on, let's not delay ourselves any further. Hah!" She kicked at her horse's sides, sending it off into a gallop. Stephen and the other men followed behind on their horses, leaping along the vast sand dunes. They traveled for several minutes as the air around them become hotter and hotter. They soon began to notice sand brush into the faces at higher and higher speeds, which got caught in their eyes and mouths.

"Bleh!" Stephen tried spitting the sound out of his mouth. "Is it supposed to be this windy here?"

To Fennie's horror, she realized that an enormous wave of flying sand was heading their way. "Sandstorm! Everyone get off your horses and crouch down!"

The men immediately entered the drill, bending down on the ground and covering their heads with their arms. They became engulfed in the sand storm within seconds, and they could only hear the roaring wind around them. Stephen lifted his head an inch and struggled to see what was going on. He could faintly make out the shapes of the men's bodies on the ground, and he looked around searching for Fennie. He gasped when he saw Fennie's thin figure being pulled away by the wind as she let out a high-pitched scream.

"Fennie!" He quickly reached over and caught ahold of her hand, which stopped her momentarily. However, the wind overpowered them, and even the other men soon began to slip away. Stephen maintained his grasp on Fennie's hand, and with his other hand he pointed towards the sky, focusing all the energy in his body to his palm. A pale red ray of mana emerged from his hand and surrounded the group, forming a dome-shape that blocked the wind from reaching them. The air around them fell still, and the sound of the storm became muffled. They soon realized what had happened and pulled themselves up to watch the scene.