As Kane and Kaelon were heading out they reunited with the restof the squad. Unfortunately one of them hadn't made it through the battle. His name was Ryan, he was someone Kaelon often trained with though they weren't close.

  They looked for his body but all they found was an old necklace and his equipment. Even the horse he rode on was gone, no where to be seen. They gathered his belongings and took them along as they left. Soft cries could be heard from those close to him in the squad as they rode to Vinhal.

  It wasn't long before the city stood before them. It's walls looming tall over them as they approached the gates. Usually, there would be some sort of queue to enter a city like Vinhal but today it was deserted. No onewould come to a city destined to be attacked.

  As they strode to the gate, the soldiers on the wall spotted them. They burst into movement, calling a higher up to deal with the suspicious people. In a few minutes a man with a thick mustache stepped forward atop the walls.

  "Identify yourselves! Why have you come to Vinhal?!"

  Kane looked up at the mustached man before producing a letter from his bag. He held the letter to sky while shouting up.

  "We're reinforcements from Altium City, paladins of Altan's Order. Our sister temple in your city requested our help in the monster waves."

  The mustached man looked to click his tounge before beckoning to a soldier. He whispered something in the soldiers ear before sending him down to meet them. A couple minutes later the gate creaked open as that same soldier came running out.

  Kane got off the horse and met him kn the middle with a wave.

  "Hello, I'm Kane. Captain of Altan's Order, heres the letter from our sister temple."

  He hades the soldier the letter and the soldier immediately turned around and left. The mustached man atop the wall seemed to recognize Kane's name, his eyes widening slightly.

  Once the soldier returned he hurriedly snatched the letter and read it with scrutiny. As he scanned its contents his expression became dark. The man took a deep breath before putting on a polite smile. He walked down to greet them, making a complete 180 in his attitude.

  Kane turned back to Kaelon in disbilief as the mustached man was walking up to him. Kaelon just dropped his shoulders and shook his head. As the man began to speak Kane turned to face him.

  "Welcome to Vinhal, Sir Kane The Dawn Marshal. My name is Ludwig Vinhal II, acting city lord. I welcome you all to our great city on behalf of my father."

  He bowed somewhat exaggerating his movement. Kane nodded at him and smiled.

  " Thank you for the warm welcome Ludwig. Is it fike if we just go ahead to our sister temple? I'd like to grt a clearer picture of the situation here."

  Ludwig's expression twitched a little at mentionnof the temple. He quickly composed himself and nodded with a friendly smile. He stepped to the side with an exaggerated bow, getting out of their way.

  "Of corse Sir Kane. Don't let me hold you back from your duties. Please go ahead."

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The paladins pushed through him and into the city. They all nodded at Ludwig as they passed by. Ludwig just ignored them and left for the lord's castle.

  They walked together through the empty streets of Vinhal. Little to no civilians had remained out and about because of the monster wave. In the next couple days it should arrive here with a bloodlust that couldn't be satisfied.

  They walked towards the Altan temple in the city. The temple itself was on the outskirts of the city, borderline in its slums. It was a small monastery with few people in it.

  As they stepped to the door, they shot open to reveal their entire ckergy awaiting their arrival. A small crowd of priests and a few monks gathered at the door to greet them.

  "Sir Kane, The Dawn Marshal, thank you for coming to our aid with your squadron. Come inside, you must be tired from your journey."

  A monk in white and gold robes stepped forward and bowed. Kane nodded at him and stepped up to meet him.

  "Abbot, it's a pleasure to meet you. Do you mind briefing me on your situation here?"

  The monk nodded andguided Kane to a private room. Kaelon and the rest of the paladins were escorted to the guest quarters following behind a small priest. The boy asked them many questions enthusiastically on the way.

  "Have you guys fought monsters?.... How did the outside look like? I've never left the city.... Are you guys strong like our monks?...."

  The paladins answered his childish questions with smiles. Once they arrived at the guest quarters they all immediately collapsed onto bed except Kaelon. Kaelon couldn't sleep without dound his training first so he headed ojt to an open courtyard.

  As he swung his sword he remembered the battle at that fort. He had managed to infuse divinity into his sword, something he had never done before. This opened ip a lot of possibilities for him.

  How powerful would the techniques of The Breath of Embers be if infused with divinity?Kaelon shuddered in excitement at the thought but he knew that was for later. For now Kaelon had to focus on his body not his technique.

  After all he barely had enough stamina to mae it through that battle. If that horde had been just a bit larger Kaelon might've not made it. He needed to get to a place with his body to be able to properly use his technique.

  As he swung the sword a monk appeared in fbe courtyard. He was about the same age as Kaelon maybe a year or two older judging from his height. He held a staff in his hands and appeared to be here to train as well.

  Kaelon turned to him denched in sweat.

  "Doing some late night training? Me too, names Kaelon by the way."

  The monk nodded to him before speaking himself.

  "Hello Kaelon, I saw you all arrive earlier. My name is Arka."

  The two settled on different ends of the courtyard. Kaelon kept swinging his sword and executing techniques. Arka on the other side stood in a sturdy stance. He didn't move for a long time but after ten minutes his eyes shot open and he began twisting and turning his staff.

  Kaelon observed his movements as Arka went through his forms. One thing was clear to Kaelon seeing Arka practice, his body was incredibly well built. Not to say that Kaelon wasn't sculpted but Arka had a flexibility and tension that he didn't.

  As he watched Arka train Kaelon decided to approach him. He waited for Arka to get to a stopping point to avoid interfering with his training.

  Arka turned to him as he approached and put down his staff. Kaelon waved at him and spoke.

  "Hey. sorry to interrupt your training. I couldn't help but notice that your body conditioning is incredibly impressive. I've been working on my body recently so I was wondering if you had any tips at all."

  Arka contrmplated his words for a bit before replying.

  "I don't mind giving you some tips but our monastery's techniques aren't on the table. If you want that you'll have to talk to the Abbot himself."

  Kaelon nodded enthusiastically and replied.

  "Yeah no worries man. Just your advice would be enough. I just need a direction, something I can actually do to condition my body further."

  With that Arka and Kaelon sag together in the courtyard. Arka gave him pointers on what areas of his body could use work. He even gave Kaelon a few exercises he could do to target those areas. Overall it was a very educational and beneficial talk for Kaelon.

  Before splitting he turned to Arka and asked.

  "You up for a spar? I've never fought a monk before."

  Arka turned to him and nodded.

  "Alright, let's do it. I'm not one to run away from a challenge."