Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Two: Beneath the Hawthorn Tree: Verse Ninety-Seven

Some of the insides of the Conductor were reduced to ashes, but a majority of those ashes belonged to his intestines. Other organs were charred black, like his spleen, liver, and stomach while the rest were half-burnt or crispy around the edges and still steaming after being exposed to the chill mountain air.

These were his more important organs and despite how gruesome the sight was, those wounds weren’t fatal, a few months of Zight-enhanced healing, and this guy would have been back in top form.

Cypher had given everything he had in his Orrium and over half of his remaining physical energy to use that spell, and the Rank-three conductor had still survived. Now another Conductor stood above him and at this point, Cypher was in no condition for another fight. This one also gave off the feeling of the third rank and Cypher’s blood ran cold as he looked upon the long-haired man.

He was wearing black leather armor, similar in make to Cypher’s own, and an ornate bow and full quiver were strung across his back. In his right hand was a claymore, and it still dripped with the charred brown blood of the first Conductor. His long blonde hair was tied in a tight ponytail and his squared face held a serious expression that made his green eyes stand out.

Cypher scrambled to reach for his own weapon. He wasn’t about to just surrender and turn himself over, he would put up whatever kind of fight he could. The newcomer, however, simply sheathed his claymore back across his back and offered a hand towards Cypher who looked at it with confusion.

“Who are you?” Cypher asked, and the man smiled at him.

“I’m a friend, don’t worry,” Cypher remained on the ground and continued to look up at the Conductor.

“Forgive me for not taking that at face value, but I’m going to need more to go on that just that,” Cypher replied.

“Cypher, if I was a part of the Order, do you honestly think I would have just killed one of my companions? Never mind, don’t answer that. A better question would be: Do you also think you’d still be free or even alive right now? I know it’s difficult to offer your trust to a stranger, but I assure you I am here to help. My name is Ulric Deine. I lead the top sensory group of the Academy, Silent Night. I assure you, you are in no danger now that I am here.”

Cypher was still cautious, but Ulric made at least some sense and he reached out his hand and allowed the man to help him up. Ulric offered Cypher the hilt of his discarded sword and he took it and sheathed it back at his hip.

“How did you replace me? Are Alvin and Glenda alright? Where are they now?”

Ulric let out a nervous chuckle and replied, “Woah, Woah, take it easy there, one question at a time yeah? Uh, to answer your first question, I sensed your attack, er… well to be fair I saw it from about a mile away. It was quite bright. Actually, tactically speaking we should get out of here, if that guy had comrades they could be on their way now. Sorry about this but you’re in no condition to keep up with me.”

“What are you-” Ulric picked up Cypher before he could say more, and flung him over his shoulder. He took off in a blur of movement and headed deeper into the forest. Ulric moved extremely fast and Cypher couldn’t even make sense of the environment passing beneath him. After a few minutes, Ulric stopped and looked around, his eyes squinted as he scanned the area. With a nod, he set Cypher down and exhaled slowly.

“This should be good enough, we’re twenty miles or so from our last position and there’s no way anyone could have followed us either. As a bonus, we’re also only a few hours away from Seven City. Anyway, where was I?” Cypher had never experienced something like that before. Only a few minutes had passed and yet they had covered such a vast distance in no time. That realization left him feeling a strange sense of relief and awe.

That other Conductor could have caught up to him in an instant if he had wanted to and Cypher would never have even known how he had been captured. He really had only been playing around with Cypher. If he hadn’t come up with that idea to convert his physical energy into Zight, he would have been captured for sure. Or worse.

“Ah, yes I remember. Alvin and Glenda are going to be alright, I think. My men haven’t gotten back to me yet, but there were only two Conductors left when I commanded them to stay behind and help your teachers,” Ulric said, paying no mind to Cypher’s ponderings. He sat down on a nearby boulder and pulled out his canteen. After taking a large gulp of the liquid inside, he offered it to Cypher, but he declined.

After asking Ulric to repeat himself, Cypher let out a sigh and was happy to hear that at least his teachers had some assistance against their enemy. He was also happy to hear that he was almost at his destination and soon he would be able to claim the inheritance his parents had left behind for him.

After he was done drinking, Ulric began speaking again, “You should take some time to rest, and refill your Orrium. I don’t know what they’re teaching you, but doing that much damage to a Rank-three Conductor at your level is absolutely incredible! I can’t even begin to understand how you pulled that off! It’s a shame that it didn’t kill him but inflicting wounds like that is already quite the accomplishment! Err, but don’t mind me, you must be completely exhausted right now.”

He was right, not only was Cypher’s Orrium almost completely empty, but he was physically exhausted as well. Converting all that physical energy into Zight was more difficult than he had expected, but it had worked, and it had saved his life.

As he sat down against a nearby tree and began to refill his Orrium, he began to think about the previous exchange.

He had turned his physical energy into Zight, and when attacking he could turn that Zight into physical energy for attacks, but what if he simply absorbed the energy instead? Wouldn’t that increase his stamina then? In theory, he could have infinite Zight and physical energy!

That idea quickly crumbled away though as he thought about it some more. For one, he would have to keep all that energy contained within his body in a closed system. If he let any out, it wouldn’t be infinite at all and what was the point of having energy he couldn’t use?

Furthermore, converting physical energy into Zight was extremely taxing on his reserves of mental energy, and on top of that, if he wasn’t careful he could explode his own Orrium by overfilling it. Converting Zight into physical energy was terribly inefficient, but doing the opposite was extremely effective.

Cypher quickly scrapped the idea altogether, it had a lot of flaws and was more trouble than it was worth. Besides, he had already tested one theory tonight, he was still in danger and this was no place to go experimenting with things he didn’t fully understand.

As he refilled his Orrium he looked to Ulric who was peeling an apple and asked, “So, what were you doing out here? I don’t believe that you just happened to be taking a stroll this far from the Academy grounds, and with a team, I might add!”

Ulric smiled and tossed Cypher the peeled apple and began, “I suppose I do owe you an answer, at the very least you deserve something for that impressive display of power. Aye, I wasn’t just out for a stroll. My team and I were sent by the headmaster to guard you and your group on your way to Seven City.”

Cypher bit into the apple and raised an eyebrow for Ulric to continue, “He felt it was a bit too dangerous for you to be going out with so few escorts, and after today I suppose he was right in the end. Oh, and by the way, we should probably head to the city. Alvin should meet us there along with the rest of my team. That was the rendezvous point we agreed on in the event that something happened to split us up.”

Cypher nodded and wobbled to his feet. It made sense that Alvin had thought so far ahead. He was a wise man and wasn’t willing to take chances if he didn’t have to. His Orrium was only a quarter full but it would suffice if he was going to be escorted by Ulric, he could finish refilling it later and was eager to meet back up with Alvin and Glenda.

Cypher quickly finished the apple and wiped the dirt from his body, “Alright, let’s get rolling then, shall we? I don’t like that people keep getting hurt because of me. The sooner I’m back at the academy, the better. So let’s regroup and finish what we started yeah?”

Ulric gave Cypher a stern look, but it soon morphed into a smile and he held his arm out towards their destination, “Lead the way then,” he said, and Cypher strode forward as the two began to make their way towards the City.