The black-armored figure stood right in front of her. Even though Elise could not see its face, it was obviously in shock, just like her. It had stopped for a moment when its long knife clashed with the small sickle that had appeared out of nowhere.
The figure immediately backed off into the shadows of the forest, giving Elise time to see the man standing beside her. Slowly lowering the sickle, he tucked it into the back of his belt. It held more farming tools, like a trowel and a small hoe. They were dirty but well-maintained, much like his simple clothes. His brown wool pants, black leather boots, and white shirt were covered in dust and dirt, yet they lacked a single puncture or tear.
His face, on the other hand, was the oldest Elise had ever seen. It was almost entirely hidden beneath a thick white beard and long, wavy hair of the same color. The only part she could see was his eyes, nearly closed by the deep wrinkles surrounding them. How old did he have to be to look like this?
Yet, his body had not bent under age. He was lanky, and even though Elise was not considered short back home, she still had to look up to make eye contact.
Realizing she had been staring at him for a while, she managed to say, "Ehm... Thank you." She bowed her head slightly, but he wasn't even looking at her. His eyes were fixated entirely on the forest. Elise followed his gaze, trying to spot the shadow that had blended into the trees, but her eyes met only disappointment.
Elise could not see anything, but she noticed something else: the sounds coming from the Traveler's side had stopped for a moment. She looked over in fear. It could not have happened, right?
Thankfully, the Traveler stood in the middle of an opening with even more bruises and cuts on his body. He, too, was looking into the forest.
Only then did Elise see the moving shadows. Perhaps they had decided to make their move. Two—she could clearly count them now—came right at them, and the other four went after the Traveler.
The two approaching them started running circles around them at incredible speeds, making the beautiful crimson trees drop their leaves. This was strange because they were mostly like ghosts, leaving no trace where they passed. From the Traveler's side, she heard the battle start once again, but it did not last long.
A bright light flashed from the Traveler's side, distracting Elise and keeping her from noticing the two shadows making their move. Fortunately, they completely ignored her and went straight for the old man next to her. Even if she had noticed them, Elise doubted she could have defended herself.
The old man did not move as the two shadows came at him from opposite directions. There was no clash, no sound, or anything visible. Elise felt only a slight breeze sweeping away the black dust cloud left behind.
It was not like when the Traveler had punched and splashed one of them in the forest. They were there one moment and gone the next, turned into a cloud of black dust. There were no other changes in the environment. Not a single tree or leaf had noticed what happened to the dark shadows moving among them a moment ago.
"What just happened to them?" Elise asked, trying to clarify what she had just witnessed.
The old man did not answer. Instead, "I am too old for this shit," he grumbled to himself, turning toward the crater where the Traveler was dealing with the other shado–
They were gone. Not a single one of them, including the Traveler, remained. Elise remembered the bright light flashing from there right as the other two shadows attacked them.
Now, there was only a melon-sized orb floating above the crater. The old man started walking toward it. As Elise followed, she realized it was constantly changing color and shape, distorting the view around it. These distortions cracked the surrounding space, similar to what the Traveler had shown her when explaining the concept of Gates.
"What is that thing?" Elise tried her luck one more time.
This time, after a brief pause, as if trying to remember something, he answered. "This is... a small Realm they... quickly—and quite perfunctorily—opened... probably with the help of an... Artifact... they had." He gave Elise unsure looks between his words.
His voice was rough, cracking here and there as if he was not used to speaking. He paused briefly between words, as if trying to remember what he was about to say. Was this man so old he had even forgotten how to speak?
"What a bunch of idiot fuckers," he grumbled again. His speech was surprisingly getting better while he was grumbling.
"What do you mean by a small Realm?" As far as Elise knew, a Realm was a vast place a God created and preferably planted with life. They had come close enough to almost touch the distortions it created. How was that little orb a Realm?
The old man looked at her as if she had said something stupid. "It is probably some place... where they get stronger... while their opponent gets weaker." He chuckled at his words. "Idiots." His speech was gradually getting better.
Making the owner strong while weakening the opponent. Wasn't that bad news? They must have used two of them as a distraction to exclude this old man, while the rest took the opportunity to finish off the injured Traveler.
"Can you do something to help him? He could die in there!"
He looked at her again as if he had heard the most ridiculous thing ever. "Who are you, girl? What is your business here?" As his speech improved, his deep, rough voice became smoother.
"I am Elise Van... Elise. I am his apprentice." She pointed at the colorful orb. "We are here to find the great sword master he mentioned to teach me how to be a better sword fighter."
As she finished her words, a dark expression fell onto the old man's face. He grumbled something Elise could not understand while turning his head toward the orb, but she was certain it was not something nice to hear.
"Ehm... Won't you help? I don't really know what to do in this situation. He made a deal with the God of this Realm. They did something called a Bind. I don't know what it is, but he cannot use his full strength."
He raised an eyebrow when he heard the word 'Bind,' but he ignored her request and kept looking at the orb as if it were a turd on the ground. What was this old man's problem? How could he be so carefree? This was a serious situation.
"He said you two were friends! And you owe him! Are you really going to let him die?!" she yelled, though realizing a second later that it might not have been the best thing to do.
He turned and looked at her furiously. "Friends?! I owe him?!" She could see the blood rushing to his face as he talked. "I owe him shit! That man—" He couldn't finish his words as the orb started waving, and an arm popped out of it. The arm grasped the sides of the distortion and pulled the rest of the Traveler out. He landed in front of it with a wide grin on his face.
"Hah! What a bunch of idiots, am I right?" He pointed his thumb at the orb behind him while his injuries slowly closed and healed at an incredible rate. The weapons sticking out of him dropped one by one, corroding the ground just as they had his body.
But suddenly, the smile on his face was slashed down the middle, along with everything behind him. The ground, the forest, the mountains, and the sky—all were slashed by a slightly tilted line, thin as a strand of hair.
The two parts it created warped toward the initial cut, and half of the Traveler's body dropped down along with it.