Chapter 219: Orvo
Gabriel steadily opened his eyes. Avala was sitting in her usual spot next to him reading a book. He flinched seeing her.
"Please don’t hurt me."
Avala looked up from her book confused. Her silver hair laid lightly around her shoulders, and she was wearing a pristine royal gown. It’s grey and white colors illuminated her features much more brightly than her other clothes had. Gabriel was slightly taken aback from her appearance and asked her a question.
"What’s with the outfit? Did you miss a date because of me or something?"
Avala set her book down next to her and she leaned in to study his features a bit more. Gabriel backed his face away in fear.
"W-What’s going on with you? Why aren’t you speaking?!"
After continuing to stare into his soul for three moments, Avala sat up from her chair and smiled.
"You should be good enough for training."
Gabriel slowly let his guard down.
"Do you really mean it?! That’s awesome! Where’s Orvo and how do I get on top of the wall?"
Avala began laughing and covering her mouth. Gabriel slowly slouched in his bed.
"What’s so funny? That’s what we’re doing, right?"
"Who says you’re going anywhere away from me?"
"Uh, what do you-"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Gabriel was grabbed by the back of his neck and carried out of the room by Avala.
"H-Hey! Wait a moment! I can walk! Put me down!"
"Are you going to run away?"
"No! I just want to try walking for a bit."
Avala nodded her head and slowly put him down.
Gabriel stretched his legs as he touched the floor. Being able to walk again was an amazing feeling to have. He felt strong, stronger than he had ever felt before. Power was surging through his blood at an alarming rate.
After a few moments of stretching, he stared back at Avala with a playful smile.
"Thank you."
Suddenly, he darted away from her as fast as he could.
’I got to get the hell away from here! Where is Slimo?! Did he die from that fall?! Why is this happening to me!’
However, almost as soon as he took off, Avala was already running right next to him with a look of confusion. Her dress was soaring behind herself as she ran.
"Where are we running to?"
’Damn it! I can’t lose her!’
Gabriel screeched to a halt and panted on his knees. He looked up at Avala hopelessly.
"Fine. What is it we’ll be doing?"
"I’m going to fight you."
Gabriel almost passed out hearing those words.
"Fight you?! There’s no way in hell I can do that!"
"Well, that’s too bad. I hope you know I’m not allowing a single one of you to fight those Epigones until you make me yield in combat."
"Why me specifically?"
"Because I know you won’t give up, no matter how long it will take you. By the time you manage to defeat me, each of your friends should be able to handle a monster deity by themselves."
Gabriel’s brain felt numb.
"And how long will that take?"
"Hmm... Well, considering that I will be forcing you to go with me one multiple war expeditions, possibly a few months."
"A FEW MONTHS?!"
"Yes. Now quit your whining and follow me to the training room."
Meanwhile, Lidia, Slimo, and everyone else began their walk towards the massive wall surrounding the kingdom. Zoey groaned and put her hands behind her back.
"I can’t believe you got your ass handed to Slimo. Now we have to do this stupid training!"
"She would have made you do it anyway. Quit complaining."
"Anyone know where Lee is? I haven’t seen him since yesterday."
Steel was the first to speak up.
"Lee gets like this sometimes. He liked to talk to me about wanting to be set free and how he wants to be alone. He almost sounded crazier than me!"
"I see. Well, I’ll put you in charge of giving me updates, Steel."
Steel nodded his head and began scratching his armor out of habit.
"What does this Orvo guy look like anyway? He was wearing so much thick armor before I never got a good look at his face."
Slimo rubbed his chin.
"If we’re lucky, he’ll be wearing the same armor."
Enki walked up to Slimo and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Say, whatever happened to those new glasses I made you? Do they not work or something?"
"I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that..."
Slimo grabbed Enki by his collar.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! THAT DRAWBACK IS TOO CRUEL AND YOU KNOW IT!"
Enki put his hands up in protest.
"You were the one who wanted better glasses! No enchantment comes without sacrifice!"
"Okay but..."
He looked around quickly to make sure no one was listening. He whispered his next words.
"Did you really have to affect that part of my body you pervert? I thought something happened to me in a battle."
"So, you don’t want the glasses?"
Slimo protruded the glass from behind him and crushed them in his fist before throwing the shards at Enki’s chest.
"Not worth it."
"Geez. I won’t make any of you charms anymore then."
He crossed his arms and looked away.
"Just stop making ridiculous drawbacks!!"
Squabee suddenly stepped as hard as she could on Enki’s foot. Enki jumped up and down in pain.
"What the hell was that for?!"
Squabee shrugged her shoulders.
"I don’t know. I just felt like it!"
"You little-"
Before Enki could retaliate, Slimo stopped his group and pointed towards a large man in a similar armor set.
"I think that’s our guy."
Bo activated his power and hid behind Zoey.
"Does anyone else feel that?! He’s scary!"
Lidia took a few steps forward and squinted her eyes.
"Bo is right. I keep sensing this strange presence coming from him. Is he really that powerful?"
Suddenly, the large man in armor looked their way and began walking towards them silently. Slimo walked further ahead so he could meet the man head-on. A low, dark voice escaped from behind the visor of the helmet.
"Avala’s trainees?"
Slimo nodded and raised his hand.
"That’s us. I’m Slimo."
The man looked down at his hand and began laughing hysterically. Slimo squinted his eyes not knowing how to respond to such a gesture. After three moments of laughing, the man took off his visor to reveal his face.
He was a handsome younger gentleman with a round face, large brown eyes, short black hair, and very tan skin. He held his helmet at his waist before lifting his arm up to meet Slimo’s.
"My name is Orvo, and I am the right-hand to Miss Avala. It’s a pleasure to meet you all today when we aren’t at each other’s throats."
Slimo’s heart calmed itself hearing Orvo’s kind demeanor. He looked and acted much nicer than his voice portrayed.
"We are ready to start training. How do we get to the top of the wall?"
Orvo smiled maniacally.
"You climb it yourself!"
Everyone’s face dropped hearing such a ridiculous notion. Zoey was the first one to start complaining. She slammed her foot in the ground and lifted her fist into the air.
"There’s no way you are serious! That wall doesn’t even have foot holds or anything! How do you expect us to climb that?!"
"Zoey’s right! There’s no way all those people on top of the wall got there by climbing it."
Orvo looked at them confused.
"None of you have heard what a ladder is before?"
Zoey’s face dropped while her fist was still in the air.
"Oh. A ladder. That’s what you meant, haha."
She ran up to Orvo and yelled in his face.
"Why would you make it sound so much more sinister, you jerk!!"
Slimo pushed Zoey back slightly to create some distance for her to calm down. He scratched his head embarrassingly before looking at Orvo.
"Sorry about her, she can be a bit... hot headed sometimes."
Zoey’s flames began erupting out of her head.
"What did you say about me?!"
Serena put her hands on Zoey’s shoulders.
"Zoey, your hair is going to get fringed!"
Everyone walked towards the massive wall while following Orvo. As they walked, Slimo tried talking with him a bit more.
"I hope my sister hasn’t been too much trouble for you. I know she can be difficult sometimes."
Orvo smiled and looked back at Slimo.
"Not at all. Lady Avala is quite the strong one. I’ve never once seen her put her guard down. Not even when she sleeps! I envy her commitment to this Empire dearly."
"I don’t ever remember you being here. How long have you been at this kingdom?"
"Funny enough, I actually came from beyond the walls. I was a part of one of your smaller kingdoms before I was transferred here to join the military. They said my strength and talents were being wasted on a kingdom with very little value."
"So, you’re strong?"
Orvo chuckled.
"I guess you could say that."
Once they all reached the base of the ladder, Orvo gestured for everyone to begin climbing it.
"Aren’t you going to lead the way?"
Orvo shook his head.
"Nope! I’m going to be here in case anyone falls. My power happens to be very well suited for occasions such as that. Now stop worrying and start climbing!"
Bo was shaking as he put his foot on the first rung.
"I CAN’T DO THIS! MAKE ME DO MORE PUSH-UPS INSTEAD!!"
Zoey smacked him on the head and shoved him upwards.
"Quit complaining and get a move on it!"
Slimo was the one leading everyone while Lidia was the last person to latch onto the ladder before Orvo followed them upward. Halfway through the climb, everyone’s arms were starting to hurt.
Steel made the unfortunate mistake of looking down and he stopped moving. Harold was below him and tried pushing him upward.
"Steel? What’s the hold up, buddy?"
Steel’s face was pale, he couldn’t move a single part of his body, and his legs started to shake.
"I think I’m going to cut you all when we reach the top... if I even make it. Can someone let me down?"
"What’s wrong? Afraid of heights?"
"...yes."
"Steel, we’re already halfway there! Just keep moving and don’t think about it!"
However, Steel refused to move. Harold got impatient and climbed next to him.
"Steel! You’re going to make me fall! Move!"
Steel grabbed tightly onto Harold in fear.
"W-Wait! Stop it! Let me go!"
Harold’s hands began to slip as Steel clung to him for dear life. Suddenly, Harold lost his footing, and he was sent plummeting downward with Steel attached to his hip. Lidia reached out her hand trying to catch them, but they were moving much too quickly.
"NO!"
Just as Lidia was preparing to jump down after them, a screech echoed through the air.
A massive owl with bright yellow feathers swooped down and caught the two in its massive talons. The bird was like nothing Lidia had ever seen or felt before. Its eyes glimmered with malice and hunger, its beak looked sharper than any weapon, its light wings shimmered as if enchanted with a special power.
Suddenly, the bird began to speak.
"Keep climbing."
The strange bird was none other than Orvo.
Trying to shake off the shock of the transformation, everyone increased their pace even further to reach the top as fast as possible.
After three grueling hours of climbing, they had finally made it. Each and every person laid out flat on the top of the wall panting heavily.
Lucy, Sarah, and Squabee were piled on top of each other.
"Can I just stick to making armor and weapons from now on?"
"I want to cook something..."
"I want to take a nap..."
Slimo sighed and rubbed his face.
Orvo set both Harold and Steel down on the black surface of the wall before transforming back into his normal self. Abby ran over to Harold and slapped him in the head.
"You idiot! How could you almost get yourself killed like that!"
"Why are you mad at me?! Blame Steel!"
"You could have been patient!"
Orvo walked over to Slimo and bowed his head.
"I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Please forgive me. There’s no other way to climb these walls besides the elevator."
Slimo looked at him confused before looking around.
"Elevator...?"
Right as Slimo turned around, off in the distance was a conveyer system that could have easily carried their whole group with minimal effort. Slimo’s eye twitched at the sight.
’...this is going to be one long day.’