The Third Party - Chapter 87

3rd Person’s POV (12 yrs., 8 months)

Ken flops down on his chair by the table, relishing the morning coldness as he was just out from the shower, his friends at the living room waiting for him.

Lyn then proceed to serve him breakfast, which was just plain leafy vegetables, rice, and cooked meat. Ken happily dug in to the delicious food his mother made, both his parents joining him.

“Ma, what time is today?” he asked, oblivious that what he was eating was the menu for breakfast, his thoughts were swirling on the part that it was still noon.

Who could blame him when his friends are all wearing their morning exercise clothing, hence his misconception.

“It’s morning breakfast, why?” Lyn replied in between bites. Ken’s actions halted.

“Morning? I thought it was lunch.” He said, putting down his utensils. Lyn only smiled at him.

“You were asleep for a whole day yesterday, you didn’t notice son?” said Alfred, shoveling food, still such a lively eater.

Ken shook his head no, anxiousness creeping into his expression, he then suddenly hastened eating, surprising both his parents.

“Son, what’s the rush?” said Alfred.

“Hm?” Ken swallowed the food he was chewing. “I want to visit my trees papa, I remember doing it once every month.”

“Oh is that so?” replied his mother.

“Yes, I almost forgot with all these events going on.” Ken smiled a small smile, remembering how busy and hectic everyone’s schedule was.

“Okay, just be careful okay, and ask permission from your teachers for the day.” said Alfred asking for seconds of food, while Ken finished his.

“I’ll get going now ma, pa.” Ken gave each of his parents a kiss before running out of the dining area. His parents left to wonder for a second. Ken wasn’t this anxious to leave just to visit his trees.

“Maybe we should visit some places as well?” said Alfred to his wife, Lyn fell into thought, but smiled later and nodded at her husband.

Ken went out from the door, gave his friends a smile and entered his room to change. The latter people stared in air as the person appeared and disappeared within a few seconds. Thinking to themselves why Ken smiled at them.

Ken burst out from the door, startling the group, he pulled Flin with him and just blatantly went out the room. The rest where left dumbfounded inside.

“Flinny!!!!!” said Ken with a bright smile, which kind of unsettled Flin, for whatever reasons, this kind of smile from Ken always leads to unpredictable situations, what is he thinking right now? Flin could only guess.

As observant as he is, it was still difficult for him to figure out how Ken’s thought processing works.

“What is it?” he could only ask amusedly.

“Please accompany me!!!” Ken said with begging eyes and pouty lips.

“To where?” Ken’s face immediately lit up, he knew that Flin would help him.

“To the mountains!” he directed his arm at the faraway view of the mountain on the east direction, with that goofy look and face, as if what they will be going is an adventure worthwhile.

“Okay?-“ Flin’s sentence got cut short as Ken dragged him again, Ken casted momentum magic on them so they could travel with ease towards whatever direction Ken wants to go.

Despite being dragged, Flin had a small smile on his face as the expression on Ken’s face kind of reminded him of the one he had on when he told stories of his homeland to Ken.

Albeit being embarrassed of the way he acted, Ken prompted for him to continue, clearly telling that everything’s okay and that Ken’s interested in knowing.

He wonders how that was very possible, on how Ken can easily get others to open up to him, is it humility? Empathy? Or Compassion, still, Flin could not help but be grateful.

Ken was there for him when he was feeling a little down, and it did not feel forceful or suffocating, just the right amount of comfort.

The other people that were left at the house, bid their farewells to Ken’s parents right after Ken had pulled Flin away and flew, Glen had quickly gotten a view of the direction where their two friends went.

And it seems to him that the two were just getting ahead of themselves. The four of them walked down the path towards the training grounds.

Just as they were arriving at the field, Riyah approached them saying that Ken and Flin were just here and that those two will not be joining them for this day’s classes.

“Did he sent you?” asked Allen, Riyah’s mind blanking for a second.

“Uhh, to whom are you referring to Allen.” she said, getting a hold of yourself, as she joined the others to walk towards the field.

“Apologies for the rude tone, I meant to ask was it Ken who told you to tell us?” said Allen. Understanding lit up from Riyah’s face as she gave a soft smile.

“Yes, he did, although in a hurry, not to worry they’ve already got permission from the masters to go, did they tell you guys what they were going to do?” she said.

“No.” replied Allen, the rest could only shrug as well, maybe their masters can tell them, surely Ken wouldn’t be allowed to freely skip class if he hadn’t told his reasons to the masters.

Moments later they had understood and reassuredly went on with their class, it seems these are one of the days Ken’s overly adventurous side surfaces, and of course, there was still nothing they could do about it.

For stopping Ken leads to dragging on with the day potentially losing time just doing nothing… but trying to stop that kid. No one doesn’t want to waste that much time.

Wind rushed the frames of two people, flying at a high speed, Ken being the extra he was, danced in the air, executing exotic and wrenching moves in the air.

Flin didn’t mind it though, maybe because he has seen it a couple of times, and… he appreciates it, he kind of leans more on being expressive, but chooses to keep it to himself as he’d much rather appreciate the beauty of exquisiteness rather than do them.

Because… it’s kind of embarrassing, he does not know why, but he can feel it in himself that he admires Ken for being bold enough to do such feminine things despite him being a male.

Look at him, he’s dancing so freely, on air, that flickering long hair creating an ethereal dance that he swears only the females of his tribe could ever do.

“Hm? Is something the matter?” asked Ken suddenly, snapping Flin out of his trance, Ken must have noticed that he was staring.

“No, there’s nothing.” Flin gave Ken a reassuring smile, since technically, there isn’t much to worry about, he just got lost in his own thoughts. Ken was skeptical for a moment, but shrugged it off as he knows that smile was not forced nor uneasy.

The two continued flying in mid-air, this time, with less of Ken performing in the air.

Flin felt a slight disappointment though, he doesn’t know why, but when he remembers how the dance moves Ken executed, those powerful and elegant swings and thrusts of his legs and arms in mid-air.

He cannot help but… think that… it suits Ken, he could only helplessly sigh at his own thoughts, straying from reality. Absurd, for they were absolutely absurd. Not noticing that he was blushing slightly.

Ken caught on of this though, but his thoughts were off course as well. Thinking to himself was there an embarrassing situation his friend is currently thinking? Or whether or not he has something to say that he finds embarrassing to talk about.

Or perhaps…

Nah, Flin wouldn’t be that kind of person, look at how innocent and pure the other person is, and with his curiosity of the world and light mindedness, surely he wouldn’t be thinking of the word love at a time like this.

Oh, there he goes again, thoughts wondering to wherever his mind takes him, really, out of all the topic he would think about, why stray there?

Aside from that, Flin looks like one of those cute little uke’s of manga’s and manhua’s he had read in the past. Small frame, waist, height, clear skin, sinfully beautiful face, pink lips and slightly larger eyes.

Ken can’t help but gush in awe while staring at Flin. Flin noticed the stare and turned to look at Ken staring at him dumbly. He tilted his head in confusion, but Ken’s head slowly turned ahead as if trapped in a trance and his body is subconsciously stirring itself away from danger.

And stirring it did, as Ken skillfully evaded tall trees along their path, of course Flin avoided them as well.

Suddenly Ken boosted his flight dashing a good distance ahead Flin. He turned to Flin and said…

“Follow me!!!” Ken circulated his mana again and did another dash to at least shorten the distance to their destination. Now that he thought about it, Flin still hasn’t thought about the direction they were going.

But looking at the east side of the valley, surely they’ll be going to the Mountain Lion’s den, surely, right?

After a few minutes of flying, the two eventually passed the entrance to the Pride’s den, and gradually going up the mountain.

Lions who noticed their presence watched as the two ascended the mountain.

“Um Ken, where are we going?” Flin can’t help but ask.

“Hm? To the edge of the barrier.” said Ken turning his head towards Flin.

“What are we going to do there?” asked Flin.

“You’ll see.” replied Ken, returning his gaze towards the top of the mountain, or this mountainous region in fact.

With one final push, Ken and Flin reach the top of the mountains and Ken turned towards the Valley. There he saw the beauty of nature and all its glory, bathing under the gentle sunlight.

‘Ahhhh, nothing like a marvelous view for the eyes. Good, it’s still not near noon, we can still do some other things while we’re at it.’ thought Ken.

“Hey Flin-.” Ken stopped short as he took in the ethereal beauty of this person beside him, looking at the same view he had taken the delight of observing as well.

‘Aww, he’s so beautiful, especially if he’s going to have a long hair, can’t argue that I’m a beauty as well since I’ve got long hair.’ he thought.

“Flin.” The former snapped out of his stupor, blinking twice, looking at Ken. “Come accompany me.” Ken added, and continued flying towards the edge of the barrier.

‘Aren’t I doing it right now?’ thought Flin to himself, but he shook his head and followed Ken. They flew over a series of mountain tops before crossing over what looks to be clouds, feeling a slight tingle in their senses.

“We’ve passed the barrier, now it should be right, here.” just as Ken had said so, the clouds parted before them, and another spectacular view met them halfway.

Right before Flin’s very eyes, fields upon fields of green and brown were visible as far as the eye could see, and from a distance, he could see some strange contraption made out of rocks that has a slight color to it.

Ken went to work and used both mana sense and ‘Surgical Sweep’ to locate what he was trying to find.

Flin noticed and wanted to ask, but just right before he could speak the words, Ken opened his eyes and turned this way.

“Come, I have somewhere I want to be, Illusion Magic: Mirage.” his spell covered both of them in a blanket of transparency, allowing them to meld with their surroundings.

But with a little enhancement from Ken, both persons were still able to see each other even with the cover. Ken nodded at Flin, thus leading the way.

He slightly flew at the left direction, but once there were signs of the mountain going down, he eventually went with it, looking around looking for something. Flin wondered what Ken was looking for, but knowing him, Flin felt sure that whatever Ken is looking, he will find.

After a few minutes of flying the same direction, occasionally redirecting his path here and there, Ken abruptly stops. His head twitched from side to side, hearing for himself running water.

He looked at his left and surely he had found what he was looking for. It took quite a while since his mana sense and ‘Surgical Sweep’ doesn’t really reveal a 3rd person or 3D map inside his brain, just outlines at the direction he was facing.

He happily and slowly approached that tree he had a vision off. Flin observing at the side, can’t help but feel a bit of amusement at the sheer expression his friend made, like a kid being given a candy, or in their case, a young fox being given its first soul to take care and guide.

Surely, after slowly positioning himself in front of the tree, he could see that someone had made a small net on the tree, and upon close inspection, it was fit for one person, and could be quite decent to sleep on,

Despite the location, being at a cliff with other trees accompanying this quite bigger one, apparently someone could live here if they so desire to.

Flin stared in wonder, while Ken stared in excitement. A rustle was heard from nearby, and before the two people could fly away to distance themselves, two boots landed at the horizontal bark of the tree.

Followed by tattered clothing, that did not reveal indecent parts but just the ones that look like excess cloth on the persons attire, looking up from those two long strong looking legs,

The sleeves of the person’s blue suit were torn revealing two prominent arms that looks like they could crush anyone with just a fine grip, and finally unto the person’s face, a fresh wound on the right cheek, with a cold and what looks to be a frowning face.

‘Hmm, I guess I didn’t really observe this person any further from the vision, who knew that he was this handsome, he’s like that alpha male you see on every manhua they draw on.’ Of course, more than enough Ken was a bit jealous of those fantasy like persons drawn in those comics.

‘And tall too, but he kind of looked small from before, or is it just the elevated height from where I was.’ He thought to himself, clearly his thoughts were running astray.

He better put those thoughts aside or he’ll never finish what he came here for.

Meanwhile, Flin was dumbfounded at seeing for the first time in his life, a person exuding such masculinity, magical beasts naturally are of similar level to this person before them, good body, countenance, and aura.

Add that to the part that his kin dwell more on the feminine side, males are of no exception, it’s rare to find a nine-tailed fox who exudes so much masculinity.

But this person… is just so different from the others he’s met before, even if he would compare this person to every other male at the village.

Hence his dumbfounded expression. Lucky for him, he’s only using a flight spell, if he were the one who had shrouded them in a mirage spell, they would surely be found out now.

Back at the valley, right after the two people had just passed the barrier. Two adults could also be seen flying under the cloudless sky.

It’s another good day for the Rogers couple to go on about their day, and worry about work later. As free spirited as their son, their natures could not be contained on just one tiny space, for if that were to be so, then expect chaos to burst at every corner of that area.

It would be poor for the space if that were to come true, imagine, an inanimate object, suffering the brunt of a living person’s wrath, isn’t that injustice and unfair to the space?

The two landed at a distance near their previous home, and after a few steps forward, there they were, right in front of their run down house, but the two decided to ignore it, for they have a much better one right now.

Still, they keep with them all the memories they made here. The two continued walking and came upon the village that they were part in.

The two took in the damage a few weeks back had done to the only human settlement near them -except Vin and Kel’s tribe-, solemnly walking, reminiscing the memories of the past it brought.

The once burning, charcoal filled houses, had seen the first blossom of a plant, as shrubs and vines slowly crept up on the abandoned houses.

Alfred, Lyn, and other adults had gone and retrieved the bodies of the dead one time where their schedules weren’t hectic and did a proper burial to the dearly departed.

Even though this place was completely empty, they still have something to do before putting this place behind them.

Like that suspicious looking magic circle floating on top of the rubble of their blacksmith friend’s house. It had popped out the first time they returned but did not know what to do with it. After coincidentally learning of the magic circle, they think that they know what to do now.

It’s a magic circle for, a containment spell.

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