Ouroboros

Chapter 12: My Name Is

The snow-ilk slowly opened his eyes. He looked around and observed his surroundings. He was in a cell. The same cell that he had hoped to avoid during the panic. He sighed and rested his head against the wall. "I really helped him. I, of all people, saving others. Ridiculous."

A guard approached his cell, "You snow-ilk" he pointed at him, "you have been summoned."

The snow-ilk raised his brow in confusion. He shrugged his shoulders and went to the guard. Whatever his fate was, it didn't matter anymore to him anyways. After all, Altea was the end of the road for him.

*Hours earlier*

Frea entered her training hall and saw that Solaris had already beaten her to it. In fact, he was there hours before her. She could tell due to the amount of stress and damage that was applied to the freshly replaced and cleaned dummies, training poles, and weapons.

"You're early." Frea spoke. There was no response. 

Solaris didn't notice nor acknowledge her presence. He was slouched over and panting. Swear dripped from his chin and his body was steaming. He tightened his grip on the mock blade he was holding, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Then in an instant, he disappeared. He swiftly attacked each dummy in succession with a singular attack: one slash, two, three, four, and so on. The purpose of the drill was to be as efficient as possible. Each attack should have enough force to strike down its intended target. After a brief moment, he re-appeared where he previously was. Then, as if the dummies wanted revenge, they glowed purple and animated themselves. They charged at Solaris. They attacked simultaneously, but Solaris avoided each of the attacks by using his acceleration magic. Instantaneously, Solaris grabbed one of the dummies by its leg and used it as a flail. He smacked and smashed the other dummies with it. He then flung it into the air, and while the dummy was suspended, he performed an upward slash attack, followed by a downward smash. The resulting clash created an enormous dust cloud that enveloped him and his "enemies."

For the next several seconds, all Frea could hear was the sound of wood against wood. Solaris, even in poor vision, was diligently fighting. The dust cleared and the dummies surrounded Solaris, in shambles of what they once were. Frea clapped in awe. "That was amazing."

This time Solaris noticed her. He stood up and disabled the dummies with a wave of his hand. "How long were you here?"

"Long enough." Frea excitedly checked out each broken dummy, "So you know how to use these?"

"I know enough." Solaris tossed his weapon to Frea, who caught it haphazardly. "They're similar to what I used to use." He went to grab a piece of a dummy, "just program your magic into it and it should work." He squeezed the piece he was holding. It glowed purple and its remains began to form around the piece Solaris was holding. Slowly but surely, the dummy he broke began to rebuild and restore itself.

"You've used them before huh." Frea spoke as she was helping Solaris repair the other dummies. "So have you come with a response?"

"To what?"

"To Yohan."

Solaris rolled his eyes, "He told you?"

"Sure did."

"The answer is no. Even if he did know where to start, I'll be too busy to protect him for the journey to come."

"What if I tagged along?"

"Y-what the fuck?" Solaris facepalmed, "NO!"

"Why not?"

"As I told Yohan, the very first thing that comes to my mind is, 'Hey there mighty king of Altea. May I take not only your most trusted scientist but also one of your captains, who just so happens to be a Noble with red hair.' Because that's a completely normal thing to do."