Chapter 4: A Brief Respite

"Father" Ridley ushered the short red nosed man who approached them. That was obviously Lord Janse Colton, the girl's doting father. Jack recognized him almost instantly since he was pretty much the one who forced them out of knighthood in his past life. Sometimes Jack wondered how a man like Janse actually became Ridley's father. It was a mystery for science-fiction writers to argue about…

"Ridley. Thank goodness. I heard that you've returned and rushed here immediately" the midget man stated looking pleasingly at his daughter's safety. "Come. Tell me everything that happened on your first mission. This I have to hear"

Ridley looked to her companion before darting back to her father. "Sorry father, but I have businesses to attend at the moment. Though our first mission has succeeded we still need to report to Lord Larks. Perhaps another time. Come on Jack"

The boy in question pointed to himself a little puzzled but remembered that they still needed to unpack their basket before they could call it a day. He remembered that joke quite well since he was the one who brought it up in his past life. "Huh? Oh yeah. Sure thing" he turned to Clive with an apologetic face. "Maybe next time Clive. Looks like we still have to unpack the basket before I can free myself"

"Hey no problem there" the priest nodded happily with his goofy smile as ever. "I'll be happy to pack a picnic basket for all of us next time. I'll even bring some of my friends along for the trip. Who knows? Maybe even Vitas might join up for a little snack ahehehe"

"Sure. Can't wait" and with that Jack and Ridley departed following their captain into the castle. Jack avoided all eye or physical contact is Lord Janse since he knew that he would be the least liked by him. The guy could be very protective of his daughter but I guess that was understandable through a father's point of view.

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The duo later arrived at Lord Lark's office at the top of the castle. Jack was glad of the wind powered elevator since he hate to walk up the stairs over and over. The meeting went as usual with Captain Ganz giving the prime minister the letter from the Dwarf King of the increase of price in the Earth Valley. Jack stood at attention but Ridley simply stood there while her train of thoughts went awry. It was true that they weren't necessarily needed to report back to the prime minister directly but she needed an excuse. Anything was better than going it over with her father.

After the debriefing was done, the group was dismissed and Jack was allowed to roam the castle once more but was not allowed to leave in case of an emergency. He quickly returned to the basement floor of the castle. A part of him wanted to sleep and end the day but then a part of him thought that he could do so much more.

The former-or-soon-to-be-dragon-knight decided to take a little stroll looking around the castle and see what the place had to offer. He visited the shop on the ground floor and quickly remembered Leonard's gift for his precious Natalie. The boy took a peek at the present and saw a lovely brooch neatly wrapped in a colorful box tied with a ribbon that expressed the 'I love you' feeling. "Boy… I have a hard time wondering if Pops is a hopeless romantic… or simply hopeless…"

He took the present and left it in his room by his bunkmate's bed and quickly made his way towards the training room where it was mostly populated by the knights of today. But it was sparsely crowded and only a few knights were present to hone their skills. Jack saw Nina and Charlie and a few nameless soldiers ducking their shifts in this place.

"Wow… talk about a hopeless crowd" the boy had hoped that someone here would wish to train with him so he can regain the strength that he lost during his time travel experience. "Well I guess I'll have to do this by myself" he walked up to the dummy weapons rack and picked one of each weapon. He remembered all the skills he had during his time fighting with the Radiatan Knights during the human and non-human war and learned the hard way that if he was to survive he needed to kill.

Grabbing an empty field for himself, the boy began practicing with his chosen weapons throwing swings and piercing maneuvers like it was reflex. He grabbed his favored one-hand swords first and practiced his moves on an unsuspecting dummy.

Nina ignored the boy as much and continued swinging her blade like any REAL knight would do. Her skills were no match to those who went on the field but her determination far surpassed most. But just as she was swinging her blade she began to feel an ominous heat coming from Jack. She took a moment's rest to look at the rookie knight expecting him to be swinging like a complete amateur but instead her eyes widened when she saw how he was practicing.

Woosh!

A swing of his blade was clear and precise. Just by a wave of his hand it almost felt like he was cutting the air in two. She stared and heard the boy counting his swings up to fifty before switching to the spear and then the two-handed blade. With each strike he made, Jack's body became more accurate. He directed all of his strength into the swing and let the weight of the weapon do the rest. A masterful swing if one would be so bold to say.

Even Charlie who was observing Jack from afar was rather mellowed by the sweat on his brow.

"Gah! No good" Jack thought to himself after exhausting his arms to the swinging of heavier weapons like the axe and bastard sword. "My body in this time isn't used to all this training. I doubt I could even do a volty attack with my level of strength. Maybe I should just focus on using the smaller weapons until I'm ready"

But his train of thought quickly ended when Nina spoke up. "Hey you there"

"Huh? Oh hey Nina. (Eh?) Oh… I mean, yes, what is it?" Jack kicked himself for the umph time falling for the time travel gig over and over again.

Nina scanned the boy's figure and saw that he was no taller or more muscular than the men she's seen in the training room but as a swordsman she could tell that the boy was a far superior fighter than all of them combined. "How do you do that? (Huh?) Those swings and cuts you did. How do you do them?"

"My swings? Well I guess I practiced a lot from where I came from. Nothing big. Why?"

The young female knight looked around and saw the training room empty. "No reason. It's just that… they look… different from the others. Like they're more focused. (Ahehehe) Wanna spar with me?"

Jack didn't refuse. "If you're up to the challenge… I'm more than ready"

The two warriors took their respective place on the training circle with Charlie gladly going out of his way to cheer the boy from his corner. Nina was excited to finally meet a man who wasn't afraid to harm a girl and prepared her long heavy blade up to her torso.

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"Haaaa…" Ridley sighed in her room that afternoon looking rather bored. It has already been a few hours since she reported her mission to Lord Larks and now after returning to her luxurious room on the upper floors of the castle she felt a bit… down. At first she thought to kill some time reading some of the books that piled up during her training days but after the first two or three pages it became rather dull. The mission she had this morning was perhaps the only excitement she had the whole year. It was quite fun being in the mission even though nothing really serious happened. It was the first time she experienced that lax freedom.

For Jack however… it seemed like he had been living a life of relaxation his whole life. The boy was experienced that much she could tell but it also seemed like he enjoyed life to the fullest. During their mission she also noticed how the boy grew close to her Captain and how he casually interacts with him like he was his best friend. Perhaps it was the commoner's blood in him that separated him from the rest.

Unable to focus on her book anymore the girl decided to get some fresh air around the castle instead. All the while her thoughts darted to Jack, her fellow knight companion.

She had to admit that boy was a strange one. For one thing, he didn't treat her like a noble or a high ranking knight but just as another person. Jack was kind, somewhat honest and had a good heart to boot. Though he acted a bit childish at times he had this mature side which often appeared when they're in battle.

"Lady Ridley?" her thoughts died out quickly when she noticed herself in the castle basement during her aimless walk. She looked to her side and saw that she was in front of Jack's room and Leonard was coming out the door with a puzzled face. "What are you doing here?" Indeed… what was she doing here?

"I was…" she began with a stutter stopping momentarily when she noticed a gift box on Leonard's hand.

Leonard knew this and quickly hid it behind him blushing all the while. "What? Oh this? This is umm… nothing ahahahaha! It's just a gift to my… uh… mom! Yeah my mom. She's uh… she's um… sick at home so I… I thought that I'd cheer her up! Yeah!"

"O… k…?" Ridley raised a brow.

"Well I gotta go and send this to the post office. Wouldn't wanna keep my mom waiting ahehehehehe" Leonard thought quickly on his feet. "Anyway. If you're looking for Jack I think he went to the training room for a little exercise. BYE!" and without even waiting for a reply the man was off leaving the young knight trainee waving an empty goodbye.

Ridley followed the man's directions and headed towards the training room expecting Jack to be there but instead what she saw surprised her. Jack was there and he was sparing.

"HYAAAA!" the boy's blade smashed against Nina's giant sword creating a rhythmic sound that echoed through the whole room. It was a one sided fight at best with Jack doing most of the attack with quick clear strikes on his opponent. Nina, who has only been given a chance to strike twice could barely even match against Jack's prowess and was forced into a defensive stance. Her huge blade doubled as a shield protecting her from his attacks. But Jack's blows were unimaginably hard that she had to take a step back with every hit.

"Come on Nina. Don't tell me that's all you've got. You're gonna have to do better if you want to catch up with Natalie" He taunted earning a glare from the female knight.

"Don't look down on me just because you have the advantage. I still got plenty more where… that came from" Her banter only seems to tire her even further. It was an empty threat but she was prepared to fight to the bitter end. "Here I come!"

Jack switched to his defense mode and blocked her attacks with relative ease. Heck he didn't even need to block, Nina was too tired to even throw a proper swing. He simply sidestepped her blows and moved around like vulture readying to strike. "Alright Nina. Let's end this" he readied his blade to his chest and grinned while Nina reverted back to her shield stance. Ridley watched intensely upon arrival and saw something different about Jack.

His movements were smoother, unlike their initial fight that they had yesterday during the knight's trial. If anything… he began to glow as if he was one of the stars in the sky. He had an amazing feel and the wind around him seemed to have stopped as if they were holding their breaths. And with one shout, the boy let out a flurry of attacks.

"Limit Break!"

Nina was slashed countless times and fell to the floor with her sword by her side. She felt each strike growing heavier and it was only natural that her guard would break.

"Ow…" was the only word she can let out rubbing her sorry butt that had suffered the impact of the floor. "That was more painful than I thought"

Jack laughed. "Sorry Nina. I guess I overdid it. Look. Even my sword couldn't even handle it" he gestured to the wooden dummy sword that broke in two upon impact.

But Nina wasn't mad. Just the opposite. "You really are different, Jack. You really have to teach me more of those moves. It's been awhile since I had a worthy sparring partner. None of these losers can compare to you" the knights who were present and watching their spar just a minute ago groaned in silence. "Ow… that really hurt my back even it was just a practice match. You really live up your reputation as a knight"

"I'll take that as a compliment" Jack gave a thumbs up tossing his wooden blade away. "But doing that last move took a lot out of me. I'm still feeling the aches on my arms. Talk about your early afternoon pain"

Nina giggled at his painful grunts. "Hey, tomorrow. Why don't we spar again? If both of us are to get stronger we need to keep on practicing"

"Sure I'm good for that. After my mission maybe we can… huh?" Jack looked towards the door seeing a yellow color flash before his eyes.

"What is it?"

"I thought I just saw Ridley a minute ago" he quirked a brow looking at the doorway but waved it off thinking that his fatigue was just playing tricks on him. "Oh well. I gotta head back now. I'll see ya again same time?"

"Definitely! And be sure to bring your A-Game cuz next time I'll kick your butt"

"Yeah yeah, sure" Jack waved off and made his way out not noticing the yellow pigtailed teen hiding in the corridor.

"What the heck am I doing?" Ridley said to herself before coming out of hiding only to see the boy walk off towards the holding cell room down below. "I shouldn't be hiding like this"

(Hours later)

Jack took the rest of the afternoon wandering the castle talking with some of the guards and knights along the way. He made his way to the prison cell later that evening when he heard a sudden commotion happening from one of the cell guards that went to get help. He then remembered that he was there during his past life when he first heard of the disease called Algandars. Taking matters into his own hands and following the trails of his past self he quickly got to the holding cell where his old acquaintance, Patrick was holding the door to one of the cells.

"Hey old man" Jack called out. "Got a problem there?"

"Stay back kid!" the scarred soldier warned him. "This is a serious matter. We got a jail watcher here that's gone nuts!"

"Gone nuts?"

"He wasn't always like this. Usually he just follows me around… quiet as a mouse. Now he's all wild like someone flipped a switch or something!"

Jack could hear the loud bantering of a madman behind the door and it sounded a lot like an animal that wanted to bite something just for fun. "Looks like that guy won't stop until someone puts him out"

"I already sent out for help so just stay there while I deal with this kid"

"Hey don't judge me just because I'm smaller than you" Jack replied irritated. He quickly grabbed an empty bucket by the door and prepared to strike. "Ok open it up. I'll handle it from here. (What?) Just trust me. I've seen someone do this a couple of times and it works"

"Kid. You've got to be out of your mind. He's a wild man in there. He'll tear you to pieces"

"Only one way to find out" His cocky grin appeared once again which seemed to bewildered the man even more. After the count of three he opened the door up and let the wild man inside jump off and got himself whacked by the bucket. "And another one kicks the bucket" Jack stated triumphantly looking at his opponent fainted on the floor. "I guess for a small guy, a whack on the head still works eh?"

Patrick saw this and checked that his friend was still breathing. "That's pretty impressive kid. Knocking a guy like on his shoulder without hurting him… well… at least not too much. I hope he doesn't feel it when he wakes up"

"Just don't tell him I was the one who did it" Jack replied tossing the bucket away. "I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end when he gets better"

A few minutes later, Dynas, the General of the Radiatan Knights appeared to inspect the body. He was indeed impressed with Jack's quick thinking and complimented him on a job well done before taking the infected victim away.

After that little incident the boy returned to his room only to find it abandoned. "Hey… I wonder where pops went. He's usually in the room" He then noticed that the gift he got from the shop earlier was gone from the table. "Aha… I bet he's out trying to win Natalie's love again. That's Leonard for you. Good luck pops… you'll be needing it hehehehe"

But just s the boy got on his bed he felt a pair of small slender hands wrapping around his neck. "Boo!" Jack flipped and tumbled to the floor. "Ahahaha! What's up Jackie?"

"Etha?" Jack recognized the pale skinned girl with her ember eyes and silver hair. "Wh… what are you doing here? I thought I told you to wait for me?"

"I did" came her innocent reply. "But I got bored so I snuck in and see how you were doing. I see you got some of your old strength back. How's it feel to be a lifetime younger? Doesn't feel that different, does it? Trust me… I should know. I've practically lived a million years"

"Judging from your behavior and personality you don't seem older than ten years"

"Oh wow… now that's the first compliment I had in millenniums" Etha beamed with glee. "Anyway, are you feeling any different now? (Huh?) After seeing you spar with your lady friend earlier I thought you might feel a bit stronger than before. Haven't you noticed… or is the legend of your thickheaded brain, true?"

"Hey!" Jack groaned before thinking awhile back. "But now that I've thought about it. I have been getting stronger a lot faster than usual. It's like every time I swung my sword my strikes just kept going faster and harder. Even right now my body feels like its popping"

"Well that's good" Etha showed out a toothy grin to her champion. "I guess the Tri-Emblem I gave you is working after all"

The young dragon warrior looked back puzzled. "Tri-Emblem? What's that?"

"Take off your shirt. (What? No!) Oh don't be a baby and take it off" Jack hesitantly obeyed and removed his upper shirt. It was rather embarrassing having someone watch his body especially when it's a girl. The boy scanned his body and began to see muscles in places. His stomach also seemed to have bore four packs that could crack a nut open. "Well well… would you look at that. Now since when did you follow, Hercules? (Who?) Someone I dated back in the days. But I have to admit that your body seemed to have adapted to my powers faster than I expected"

"Wait… what power?" Jack questioned only to have it answered with the girl touching his bare chest with her finger. The touch then revealed a strange tattooed rune on his chest. "Whoa what the?"

"Yup… it's already on the fourth level. A little bit more and you'll be as strong as Sparticus or Achilles. (Who?) Some other guys I dated. I was a sucker for men with muscles"

"Hey hold on a second!" Jack put his feet down earning a 'what's your problem look' from his contractor. "When did you give this to me? I don't remember getting a tattoo!"

"Why the other night back at your place, silly" came her childish and oh so not innocently reply. "You didn't think I'd play with your poor little body just for fun" Jack grew a deep red blush which could be compared to Ridley's favorite blouse. "Ah well. Don't worry I didn't do anything that would upset you, trust me. But I gotta say that the humans in this time are much more fun than the others. They're more uptight about their belongings too. Check this out, I got this from this huge lipped lady yesterday. Doesn't it look cute?" she pulled out a large pearl from a box she stole from Anastasia. "Oh and I got a few rolls of these papers too" They were actually rolls of Dagol, money in this time.

Jack sighed at this. "Hey! You're not supposed to steal! It's a crime to do that!"

"Well I would've earned money the old fashion way if someone hadn't killed me" she glared back at him.

"Listen. I'll lend you some money but promise me that you'll return everything you stole back to their owners"

"And where the heck am I supposed to stay? Do you know I've been living around the city for two days after you abandoned me?"

"Yeah yeah, sorry" Jack mumbled. "Anyway. There's a place called Theater Vancoor. It's a guild for warriors. You'll see the sword sign a few kilometers off the castle. If you head east from there you'll see a bridge, there should be an empty house under it. Stay there for a few days and I'll come visit once my shift is done. Ok?"

"Fine. Maybe I'll find something better to do there"