Arrival At Base I

Luke and Obed ran all morning to their destination. After running for what seemed like forever, Obed stopped in his tracks, panting like prey that had successfully lost its predator.

Luke noticed that Obed had stopped and he also stopped.

"How… long have… we been… running?" Obed asked, gasping as he spoke.

Luke pulled out his small round pocket watch from his pocket, looked at it, and answered while showing it to Obed. "Over five hours now. If we keep going at this pace, we should get there in another four hours."

Ignoring everything Luke had just said, Obed sat on the ground. His breathing had become even. "I need some rest, or I won't last the next four hours before I faint."

Luke sat close to Obed and took a deep breath. "I should spend the time resting too. We have thirty minutes to rest and then, we'll head back on track." He informed Obed.

Luke took off his backpack and lay with his back on the grassland.

Obed remained in a sitting position and tried to gather as much stamina as he could. He looked around and all he could see was the plain grassland that spread for miles in all directions.

The North Camp, the camp they had departed from, had been surrounded by trees for a few miles and then, the rest of their journey up to this place had been on plain lands.

Obed lost track of time as he moved his head from one direction to another. He removed his backpack so he could lie down and as he turned to look at Luke, he saw Luke standing up.

"What are you trying to do? The thirty-minute break just ended." Luke rose from the ground.

Obed took out his pocket watch and checked if Luke was lying. "Shit. That was way too fast."

Luke shook his head. "No, it wasn't. You were lost in thoughts so it seemed that way to you. Now get up and let's get going." By the time he finished speaking, he had pulled Obed up from the ground.

"Fine." Obed groaned. He picked up his backpack and wore it back.

The two of them began their race against time. "You think you can go a bit faster?" Luke asked as he bolted through the land with Obed beside him.

"Yeah, I think I can. Just a bit though. I don't wanna run out of gas till we've made it to our stop." Obed answered back.

"Fine by me." Luke increased his pace and Obed had to follow suit.

*****

"Aren't we there yet?" Raela asked Kyne who was leading the group forward.

"We should've been there resting by now if we had run as I suggested. The East Camp is much closer to our destination than any other camp but we're this slow because you all wanted a good view of the area as we moved forward. This is what you all wanted so," Kyne turned to look at everyone behind him. "Do not for any reason ask me if we're there yet."

The others gulped. Yord gathered his courage and asked. "And what if we don't get to meet him in the place you're taking us to?"

Kyne thought for a moment and replied. "Then we'll just have to stay there while training. But he's certain to go there."

Yord asked again. "You seem very sure that he'll go there even though you've only spent two weeks together. I'm fine with that, but what if he refuses to let us stay? Would you take responsibility for that?"

The two girls nodded in agreement to Yord's questions.

"I don't see a reason why he'll outright reject you guys as long as you don't behave so annoying as you are right now. I think he'll accept Dhino the moment they meet." Kyne smiled as he played such a scenario in his head.

"I'll leave you guys to think about the reason and start acting a bit more like him. Don't forget that I volunteered to bring you all here and nothing stops me from quitting." Kyne warned them.

"Hmmph, just because he awakened before everyone else, he thinks he's the boss. Everyone in this group is older than him by at least two years." Raela whispered to the others.

"You should let it go. Right now, he's stronger than all four of us together so there's nothing that can be done." Yord replied with a whisper.

"Annoying." Dhino snorted and walked forward to Kyne, leaving the others behind.

"What's up with him? Is it because he got praised by Kyne of all people?" Rin scoffed at him.

"Let it go ladies. Right now, all that matters is that we get to our destination safely and get close to that Luke guy by all means. If he made Kyne this strong in two weeks, I bet I can surpass Kyne if given the same two weeks." Yord patted his chest with pride as he spoke to the two ladies walking side by side with him.

Kyne had ignored their words so far but when he heard Yord's words, he has to hold it in and not laugh. 'Now, I'm praying you'll get trained by Luke even if it's for two days.'

"That's the tree we're heading for." Kyne pointed at a tree that seemed more like a pillar among other trees. From where they were, they could tell it wasn't a small tree but they were still too far away to tell its real size.

After walking for an hour, the group of five arrived in front of the tree. Kyne placed his hand on the tree's trunk and smiled. It was still growing despite its current size.

The two ladies fell to the floor as the fatigue finally got a hold of them. Dhino walked to Kyne who was still standing close to the trunk. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Kyne responded as he dropped his backpack on the floor close to the trunk.

Dhino dropped his bag to the side and sat on the ground, his back resting against the tree trunk.

Kyne took a few steps back from the tree and looked at the branches on it.

"Hey Kyne, where's this teacher of yours?" Raela asked and her sister laughed along with her.

"He's not here yet, but I'm sure he will be soon." Kyne answered regardless of the reason for their question.

The ground around the tree was plain. No other tree grew within a twenty-meter diameter of this giant tree so the land was quite spacious. The group could build a tent and fortunately, they came with one. After this twenty meters of open space, trees grew on every inch of the land, covering their sights from anything that would approach.

Kyne walked back to the tree's trunk and informed the others. "Give me a moment."

"Where are you…?" Before Yord could finish his question, Kyne began climbing the tree.

He got on a branch and tried to make it shake but it was sturdy. He moved to another one and did the same thing but the result was the same. He repeated it several times and smiled. He began climbing down.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Fast footsteps were approaching and the group tensed up. Everyone was on high alert.

Kyne jumped down from the trunk to assist the others. His landing made a noise and the footsteps stopped.

"It might've just been a stray beast. You guys should calm down a bit." All four of them were tense and sweating. Each of them with their weapons in their hands.

Kyne tried to calm them down again. "It's okay, at the very least, I'm here." Inside he laughed at them, especially Yord. 'And you plan on surpassing me in two weeks.'

"Oh, look who's giving a lecture this time." Two people walked out from behind the other trees.

The moment Kyne heard the voice, he smiled. "He's here."