After leaving the shop, Talon headed straight to the location he had found before. It was an open park, a little close to the inn they were in. Although it was still early on in the morning, more people were starting to come out of their houses to go to work.
The city was slowly getting filled with people and the streets were getting livelier by the second. Seeing that, Talon frowned slightly.
'Tsk, I wanted to try the spear in that small park I found. But, I guess that's impossible now.' He thought to himself.
With this many people outside, revealing his spear or powers was going to be extremely foolish. He didn't want anyone to see what he was capable of, not even mundane humans.
With that, Talon reached the small park he was looking for. There, he started doing some light exercises. Even though his body was already reaching inhuman levels of power, he still liked to do simple exercises like pushups as a way to spend time.
They also helped temper his mind and let him stay focused even when he was distressed or worried about something. Other than that, some training won't harm anybody.
Some time passed like that before he sensed a presence appear near him. Without stopping his training, he asked.
"Are you done?"
Acrypha stared at him for a moment, complicated emotions clear in her eyes. "Yeah, it didn't take too long, did it?"
"No, I just started," Talon said. "453... 454... 455..." As he continued to count the number of pushups he did, he spoke again.
"So, did you get anything useful from him?"
Even though he was interested in what kind of conversation Acrypha had with Merit, he decided not to ask about that either. Not only because he respected her choice of keeping it a secret for now but also because he knew that it was probably something he could not comprehend at his current level.
Those two were higher-than-life, one-of-a-kind individuals with unfathomable powers. The knowledge they have is almost limitless. So, even if he did stay there, he was almost certain that he wouldn't understand a single thing being said.
"I did get some information, yes. But..." Acrypha's voice trailed at the need as she closed her eyes. Just remembering what she heard filled her heart with unease. She tried not to show it in front of Talon but... How can she hide anything from him? Whenever Talon is near her, all the walls she puts up crumble on their own without her control.
It was almost comical how easily she could turn into herself whenever the two were alone.
Hearing that particular tone in her voice, Talon stopped his training and looked up. His face turned serious as he asked. "Is it bad?"
Acrypha opened her mouth to speak, only to close it and go silent for a few moments. That was more than enough to answer Talon's question.
"I see..." He murmured as he looked down for a moment.
"Sigh, it is going to become way more dangerous than I expected." She said with a tired tone. "We might end up facing a lot of problems. Problems that I thought would take way more time to appear." She added.
"..." Talon listened silently to his companion without interrupting her.
"Things might go south, Talon. I do not want to be pessimistic but, it will probably become really bad, really quick."
Even as she said those words, it pained her that Talon had to hear them. He was already burdened with many things, and yet he had to know that he also had a tight time limit to work with. Even if he wasn't aware of the problem or its consequences which reduces the burden a lot, it was still too much for a lower dimension existence to carry such a fact with him.
However, what other choice did Acrypha have? She cannot simply hide everything from him even if she wants to. That would only do him more harm than good. Talon had to know that the situation was disastrous, to say the least.
If she doesn't tell him, then when reality hits, it is going to hit him hard and he won't be ready for it.
"No, can't do~"
"I said wait!"
As the two playfully joked around, they headed back to the inn to get ready.
***
Later that day, Talon heard a knock on the door to his room. Arryn had already woken up nad put on the jacked to cover himself. Talon sensed Emino's familiar presence through the door so he opened it.
"Good morning, Talon!" The middle-aged man said with a smile.
"Good morning."
"Did you sleep well, yesterday? I bet you did. Granny's beds are the best there is." He said as he peeked inside. Arryn was sitting on the table silently. "Is your little brother ok?"
"Hm? Oh yeah, he is fine, don't worry about it." Talon said as he moved to stand in the way of Emino's vision without making it too obvious. "Anyway, aren't we going to visit the guild today?"
"Yeah! That is the plan! Are you ready?"
"I was waiting."
"Good, let's go then."
Talon turned around and approached Arryn as he said. "Stay here, I will be back soon. Ok?"
"Uh, ok..." The boy replied with a faint voice.
Talon could hear the subtle disappointment in his voice as he said those words. Naturally, being stuck in a room wasn't enjoyable, especially when you are terrified of being attacked by someone at any given moment.
"Hey, listen to me. When I come back. I will have a surprise for you." He said as patted the boy on the shoulder.
"A surprise?"
"Yeah, but, since I can't tell you yet what it is, you gotta wait patiently to get it, understood?"
"... O-ok!" The boy's eyes lit up a little.
"Good, I'm going then."
"Take care!"
With that, Talon left the room and closed the door before locking it. Then, he followed Emino outside.
It was finally time to visit the Sky Seekers Guild. Whatever this visit going to bring for him was still a mystery. It could be a fruitful encounter, or perhaps another reminder of the darkness lurking in the shadows.
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!