Worthy

Chapter 5 - Worthy

Arriving at WhiteRiver Forest, their destination, the group had finally had a chance to get some rest from their long journey, for they had never had a wink of sleep on their way.

Pitching a tent, Meia placed the child in a wooden cradle she had just forged, finally freeing her arms after holding onto him since the Chief placed him there.

Standing beside the cradle of the child, Meia who had dark bags under her eyes, so dark that they were visible despite her well tanned and smooth brown skin.

In a world where strength was valued greatly, her noble parents wanted her to become a lady, wasting her life locked in between walls of castles and palaces.

Being the sole survivor after the noble Clan of Tapewood was wiped out, she could relate to the little one much better than anyone.

She being a Chief was a secret known to few who no longer lived, one being Loghark himself, yet he took her under his wing without being his ally or under absolute submission.

Meia had become who she was with the support and training from the clan, being an orphan.

Loghark had been a father to her, teaching her the ways of the clan, feeding and protecting her when others made her feel unwanted.

She had gone to U.O.T coming out with the top grades, even being the overall champion of the AOK(Arena of Knights), she declined all opportunities including those of The Sword Union just to serve the clan.

Only this gave her the recognition and acceptance into the clan as a true member, rising to the position of a trustworthy Gold General to the Chief.

It was now her duty to restore the clan and if that was the last thing she would do in this life, she'd be glad about it

With a willing soul and a stressed up body and mind, the latter two won as she fell fast asleep beside the cradle making no use of the bed.

...

It was morning and at the center of The WhiteRiver Forest was a camp, one similar to a military camp yet smaller in size compared to it.

The Camp was almost dead silent with only the snores of the campers being heard throughout the camp.

Leaning near trees embracing their spears with their hoods and cloaks keeping them warm were the supposed sentries.

They had kept through the night, yet as dawn settled in their bodies were at their limits leaving them in the hands of sleep.

While the camp was full of sleepyheads, the forest wasn't asleep and neither were the beasts, who called there home.

To the Core Root of WhiteRiver - an entity formed from the will of the Forest -, the newcomers were the enemies and the beasts it was constantly at war with were allies.

From a distance, aerial beasts began to fly off the trees into the sky, screeching aggressively their unhappiness with them being sacked from their nests as they flew away, their companions following suit as whatever it was drew closer.

Meanwhile, a certain young sorcery knight who was fast asleep awoke all of a sudden, quickly pulling himself from the bed before placing an ear on the ground.

"Shit!" He exclaimed running out of the tent since he slept alone due to his position and also his class type of course.

Getting out of the tent he could now feel the earth trembling as if a giant was threading upon it, ignoring the thoughts of waking up the rest he bolted towards the direction it was coming from.

Quite a distance from the camp, the figure finally came into view and it was something quite his height yet each step of it was powerful.

Standing there being able to move was Disam, a powerful Mage worthy of his position as a Gold General being beside the Chief.

He would have already disappeared to the camp to do anything at least for the sight he currently witnessed blanked his mind, losing control of his own body.

Disam couldn't think of any spell which could help him defeat such an entity, not even those from dark sorcery would do any good.

Lost and petrified with his eyes fixated on the figure few meters away from him, a heavily armored Paladin able to display the power of two Emperors, the life in him returned as he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Tilting his head, the very person he hoped to see stood behind him - General Meia.

Already in armor standing behind her petrified colleague was Meia, she had expected him to be fast asleep since she had forgotten to check up on his tent when the camp was placed on high alert.

"Wait, when?"

Disam involuntarily voiced out as he was shocked by the fact that all the knights who were literally snoring away while he left (even the sentries) were all there, in armor ready to battle.

"This was the first time he had seen them form up so quickly." He thought.

"Wait, something wasn't right. He was sure that when he first saw the Paladin, being petrified the Paladin hadn't also moved a step all this while."

"It's been there all this while?" Disam said looking at the Paladin which now stood at ease, its sword embedded in the earth while its hands rested on the handle.

"I can see that. You should have been in shears of flesh by now." Meia teased her gaze transfixed on the figure before her.

"Hah, I am laughing. Good to be alive then. That Paladin, it's quite the weight." Disam warned, patting Meia's shoulder as he walked past her.

"That's no Paladin." Meia voiced audibly enough for Disam's hearing, stopping him in his tracks.

"Haha, that's a joke right, I've seen those things before. It's a damn Paladin." Disam bellowed.

"It's a Guardian."

"Huh?"

"A Transcendent Paladin." Meia added.

"...you gotta be kidding me, Meia. What's the difference - they're all Paladins!" Disam argued not letting her have her way again with him being the wrong one while she's right.

"A Paladin is a Paladin? Whether a Guardian Paladin or Warrior Paladin!"

"You're wrong, first of all there is nothing as a Guardian Paladin or Warrior Paladin."

"I was just making an example, how can an example be right."

"You see how wrong you are now, if an example is wrong then so is the thing being exampled." Meia said in her all knowledgeable and scholar-ish way, as if she was a teacher giving tutorials to a newborn tree.

"Ugh, exampled isn't even a word!"

"Oh you don't wanna go there, exampled is a ..."

"Oh seriously, she's gonna go there again!" A knight groaned, being among the ranks behind their Generals awaiting any orders.

"Did he have to press that button?" Another yawned, proclaiming the presence of the goddess of sleep.

Their arguments continued to and fro, even to the extent that the figure meters away from them could feel a sense of boredom.

Rumble!!! Rumble!!! The earth quaked throwing everyone off balance even the tree barely able to hold onto its roots for its dear life.

Minutes later, the tremor subsided as they finally got a chance to get up only to set their eyes on something much bigger than they had imagined.

Behind the Paladin or Transcendent Paladin was what one would call, an army which spoke death and spelt fear whenever it marched -an army of Paladins.

Before the group could take in what was happening, the Paladin who stood before the rest grabbed the handle of the sword and pulled it out.

Boom! An explosion and burst of energy was felt as the aftershock of whatever it was, had suspended the dust in the air blocking the view while also knocking them off their feet.

Powerless, they kept on rising and falling as shockwave after shockwave kept on coming at them, it didn't do any damage yet it seemed to exhaust them gradually.

Boom! Another shockwave came, however Meia wasn't planning on falling down flat again this time round - she was fed up.

"Shield!!" She called out to her knights.

A whirring sound was heard as something was flung towards them with an immense speed, piercing through the powerful wind blown by the shockwave.

Stretching out her hand to grab the object, it slipped through, her hand barely touching it since it wasn't meant for her.

"Magu Rama Tukia!!!" Disam called out a spell, activating a type of forcefield around both of them.

Clang! The sound of metal kissing the earth was heard as behind him was a shield, one which bore a tree, a tree standing strong and firm in the midst of fire, sword and storms - the Blackwood.

In no time another shockwave had hit, being stronger than the previous ones as it sent Disam and the other knights flying in it despite the strong force field and shields before the knights.

It had been a while yet nothing had followed after the previous wave, however Meia who was the only one still holding out with the shield before her, wasn't ready to even take a peek at what was happening before her.

Though she was unwilling, the others were at a far distance because they had been pushed closer to the camp, and they could clearly see the Paladin which stood before its army.

This time round it didn't have its sword in the ground but rather drawn out like one ready to combat, already in a stance.

Under the helmet, a pair of pure white eyes could be seen, lo and behold they were transfixed on none but Meia.

They couldn't tell whether this was good or bad, with it most likely being the latter after all that had transpired minutes ago.

Disam, having a fast reaction speed which was a norm for a mage, due to them training their agility and quick reaction to stimuli as they weren't physically strong and were most likely to be squashed in battles, drew in some air before activating a spell bonded with his staff.

"Mei...!!!"

Bang!! An explosion with the sound of thunder resounded with its sound sending them off their feet before Disam could even alter a word.

Meia, being behind the shield unmoved, had just felt as if her soul was almost pushed out of her body, her hand felt sore from whatever it was as soon the unbreakable shield of the Blackwood Clan shattered into pieces before her very own eyes.

"You are worthy!" A voice like thunder resounded and shocked her insides as it came from the figure - the Paladin -, who stood right before her.

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