Dawn- An age of Darkness

I didn\'t have a chance at that speed without Imbuition and I knew it. Plus it was too dark to see. 

So imbuition it was. 

First the spear, then my armor. 

My light emanated from me also improved my range of sight. 

This was a lot better than just swinging blindly. Then again, I hadn\'t actually made a single swing yet. 

So, I tried to swing, and Ve dodged, closing in on the gap, smiling- punching me on the stomach. "You do realize, this is a spear right?"

Yeah, no shit. 

She promptly moved back.

And I would have loved it if she were at least teaching me something. 

\'Should\'ve just taken up on Gorgon\'s offer.\' Too late to regret now though. 

I took a deep breath. Ve\'s punch actually didn\'t hurt that much. She was either pulling her punches or my defenses were a lot higher than before. Probably the former. "Then don\'t you think you should teach me?" This time, I thrust the spear. 

Ve dodged with ease. "I am teaching you." she made a vertical swing, followed by rapid thrusts.

It was impossible to dodge them all.  The lack of light was one thing, but her speed was just unmatchable. Even if I used the mystic spear and perhaps got a 3X boost in speed, I probably wouldn\'t have been able to match that.

\'Teaching what Exactly?\'

Moving the spear with one hand was a chore, and since I didn\'t know how to wield it in the first place, it wasn\'t working. Besides, Ve was a lot faster than me, so she easily dodged everything I threw at her. 

And her smirk wasn\'t really helping. 

I had to step up. I couldn\'t keep up like this, let alone learn something. 

So, I imbued my body. 

I didn\'t know if I could pull this off without Alisa or the pendant, but honestly, I had a feeling I\'d be able to. After all, I had a much better control of my mana and I even knew what to expect. 

I channeled the mana through my blood, throughout my body. A warm feeling emanated and my body glowed but a second later the warmth just kept on warming off. 

Sadly- I threw up blood and fell on my knees. I\'d stopped just at the right moment. 

I rested my weight on the spear and breathed hard. 

Ve sighed and slouched down. "What are you, a moron? Even when you learned you shouldn\'t use the same holy you use to destroy things on your body, you still used that instead of using the healing kind? Didn\'t I tell you, your mana is a double-edged sword?"

"No, actually you didn\'t." I was breathless but it wasn\'t like last time. And I didn\'t faint or burn out. Actually, this was probably the only time, that I used imbuition without any additives and didn\'t faint. 

Definitely, not the achievement I was hoping for though. But I was glad. 

"Still, now I know what you\'re capable of. I\'m sad to say, but, you don\'t have any gift with the spear."

I kind of knew that. Wielding a spear with just one hand wasn\'t going to get me anywhere. This is why I didn\'t use the bow either, though technically I could use it with one hand, it was too much of a hassle. 

"Now, don\'t write him off. He can get better with practice and-"

Gorgon walked into the field. 

"Unfortunately, he doesn\'t have the luxury of time." V stood up. "Let\'s go."

She turned around and started walking. 

I knew all that and yet, some part of me wasn\'t taking this that seriously. Maybe- maybe I was being too optimistic?

Or had I taken things for granted?

"Thanks for the spear." I handed the spear back and walked. Damn these cuts stung. They were tiny cuts and yet stung so bad. 

\'I have to rethink everything.\'

Gorgon didn\'t actually say anything. 

I was glad he didn\'t. 

***

Dinner was kind of chaotic. 

There were seven nobles here. Also the king, gorgon and his brother and the princess were present. The three of us stuck out like sore thumbs among them.

It was not fun.

This was a secluded room, unlike the dining hall of Saram.

Everywhere else, even in Moire, I didn\'t have to worry about social standing but the way I ate, here- it was different. And since Biteria was eating with her bare hands, things were a bit too messy. 

"Can you tell me what your name is miss? You can\'t talk, but can you write?" 

Gorgon\'s brother Gordon was trying his best to talk to Biteria but when there was food involved nothing could have swayed Biteria\'s heart. Though I had a feeling, even if there wasn\'t, she\'d still have paid him no attention. 

Meanwhile, there were plenty of glares coming our way from the nobles. The king and Beatrine weren\'t glaring and just eating gracefully. 

No one talked and the dinner continued. Only the sound of the forks and the knives resounded within the room. 

I was a bit hesitant to eat, but Ve\'d whispered there was no poison in the foods, at least not a strong one. 

Did that mean there were weak poisons or something? was it really okay for me to eat it?

The way, both Biteria, and Ve were eating did reassure me a little though. 

There were some soldiers by the entrance to this secluded place. All in all this place wasn\'t that well-guarded. 

I didn\'t know why but this whole thing was a bit more cumbersome than I thought. 

After a certain time, I\'d have had enough. I couldn\'t chew on the food. It wasn\'t that it tasted bad, it was just that, I didn\'t want to eat anymore. And I had a feeling something was in it, maybe I was thinking too much. 

"You are already done lord Daarc?" The king asked. 

"Yes, I am satiated." Never thought I\'d use that word like this. 

"Was the food to your liking?" Beatrine asked. 

It wasn\'t bad to lie to show politeness, right? "Yes, it was good." But then again, the food really was good, perhaps I was just not in the mood. 

Gordon was still trying to strike up a conversation with Biteria even now. I almost felt bad for him, but I didn\'t. "Are you two done, I\'ll wait outside if you aren\'t."

I just wanted some fresh air. 

"I\'m almost done as well. Just wait a minute." Ve drank her wine and stood up. 

I kind of really wanted a drink myself. Sigh. 

Seeing, Ve get up, Biteria also got up, ignored the pleading man next to her, and stared at me.

"Alright then your highness, princess, gentlemen, I bid you all good night." I made a small gesture of bowing and started walking. My two companions followed me out. 

Once outside, I breathed a sigh of relief. But there was something that was weighing down on me. 

I went closer to Ve. "Was it me or was something mixed into the food?" I whispered. 

"I suspect a weak sleeping drug. We shouldn\'t sleep tonight-" She whispered back. 

And she still ate knowing that?

Three back-to-back nights without sleeping, huh?

Yeah.

Didn\'t seem like the best of plans. 

***

"What makes you think it\'s a sleep drug? I don\'t feel anything and even when I ate, I didn\'t feel anything. I was just talking about my intuition."

We were back in our room and I closed the door.

"Did you forget you have a curse on you?" She sighed. "I\'m guessing this drug will take effect after some time. Let\'s drink a potion just in case."

Potions weren\'t like a cure for everything. So, I didn\'t see any reason to drink any. If we really needed a cure, there was always the elixir. "Can\'t we drink-"

"I\'m not drinking that snake\'s blood, no."

I guess not. 

I sighed and brought out three potions. I handed one to Ve, one I drank myself and I handed one to Biteira. But unfortunately, she was already asleep and she was also hogging the whole bed to herself. 

"I have to sleep on the floor?" I sighed, regrettably that was the only option. 

I went to the window and closed it- these windows were made of glass. 

I could have slept on top of Biteria, but yeah, I couldn\'t do that for moral reasons. 

"You can sleep next to me, if you\'re okay with it," Ve said, not even flinching. 

"And you\'re okay with that? I\'m a guy you know?"

And it wasn\'t that wide of a bed. 

"SO? Are you saying you intend to do things to me?"

"NO-" The answer came out on its own. 

"Then, there\'s no problem." Ve\'s voice was soft. Why the hell was she getting disappointed all of a sudden?

Well, it was better than sleeping on the floor. Besides, I respected her and she respected me, so it should have been fine. 

The beds were actually a bit wider than single ones but not wide enough for two people to comfortably sleep. Meaning, there\'d be loads of rubbing.

I just pretended to not think about that and snuffed out the lights. 

Ve was seated on the bed, rather than lying. 

"We\'re not going to sleep, so I guess we can just lie down and talk?" I offered. 

"No, you should sleep. I\'ll wake you up if anything happens. You\'re too sleep-deprived."

The moments I sat down on the bed, my eyes started closing on their own. I guess the lights were the trigger. 

"Alright." I was already too sleepy, so I didn\'t have the luxury to turn her down. "But wake me up after midnight and then I\'ll take over."

"Alright."