SCT-Novel Chapter 579: I… got stronger.
Chapter 579: I… got stronger.
The people began to leave.
Morvain’s speech had ended almost ten minutes ago, but the heaviness it carried still lingered in the air, so much that even as they left, no one spoke. Even children were no different, even the babies.
They were too young to understand what was happening, yes, but even they could sense the tension in the air and stayed silent.
The leaders stayed silent too, Kael, Lavinia, Morvain, Aurelia, Korvath, even Draksis was no exception, there were too many things in their minds.
They watched the people leave in silence, then once everyone was gone—
"You should leave too."
Morvain came to Kael.
"You need more rest."
Kael looked at her, then, as if he was sorting his own mind, he just stared at her with a lost look on his face and finally, after a few seconds—
"No."
He shook his head.
"I need to leave."
He spoke directly and his words instantly made the entire area go silent. The other leaders who were still having silent discussions with each other all heard him and instantly turned their heads.
And their minds... panicked.
What!?
Kael was leaving!?
Where!?
Why now!?
What were they supposed to do now!?
Did something happen!?
What happened!?
A series of questions burst out. Everything happening here relied on Kael, the Stonefangs’ alliance with the Velmourns, the recruitment of other tribes, the war, everything depended on Kael.
The man who was the youngest of all was shouldering almost every single thing and by the reaction of the people around him, it only got clearer.
If Kael left, everything would collapse. So quickly that they wouldn’t even be able to fight, that was how important he had become.
So the moment the words ’I need to leave’ were said, the already tense space tensed even further.
Kael looked at the people, their faces couldn’t be more obvious, even Morvain, who usually kept a poker face, was no different and not wanting to spread pointless panic, he shook his head and—
"I am not leaving permanently, I will be back by night."
He clarified.
Those words made people sigh in relief, but even then, the situation they were in, Kael leaving even for a few hours was... difficult to digest.
"Where are you going?"
Morvain asked.
Korvath, on the other hand, had an even more important question.
"Weren’t we supposed to recruit more tribes today? If you leave, when do we do that?"
Kael looked at him and nodded—
"I know it is a critical time and I shouldn’t leave, not when we were already attacked once.
But I wouldn’t be leaving if this wasn’t important.
I have to leave."
He repeated.
"I will keep stable contact all the time, if you have anything to say, or if I find anything suspicious, I will inform you and you move accordingly."
Korvath nodded at those words but did not say anything, after all, his question was still not answered.
"As for recruiting, we will begin after I return, by then compile a report on tribes that could be recruited. Lavinia will be with you, she can give you real-time information about what is happening in the tribe you want her to keep an eye on, choose your targets accordingly."
"Kae—?"
Lavinia’s expression changed.
This was new for her as well, she didn’t know Kael was planning to leave, but those words didn’t surprise her since she automatically believed she would be going with him as well but—
Kael looked at the mage and shook his head.
"We don’t have time, you know that as well."
He spoke, his blue eyes looking right at her with a meaningful gaze. Lavinia stared back at him and then—
"Alright."
She nodded, without saying anything else.
It felt heavy, for a moment it felt like she was being abandoned again, but she also understood that this was necessary.
She couldn’t always be together with Kael, especially during times like war. Not unless she was prepared to be baggage that needed to be taken care of and had no use of her own.
The moment that thought came into her mind, her gaze hardened, she clenched her fists and nodded at Kael before looking at Korvath and nodding at him. Korvath nodded back and after that little exchange—
"You haven’t answered where you are going."
Aurelia asked the question.
Kael turned towards her and the Sky Serpent General narrowed her eyes—
"And why now? What are you doing? What is so important that you need to leave at this very moment?"
She asked.
Kael looked at her and—
"I cannot say."
He shook his head.
"You still don’t trust me."
Aurelia commented with a smile that seemed to hide a sense of... helplessness, even frustration.
"I do.
I just..."
Kael hesitated for a moment and then—
"This isn’t something I can reveal.
Not to anyone.
Please try to understand."
"That is the only thing I can do anyways."
Aurelia just shook her head, not even looking at him anymore. Kael didn’t know how to react to that, his mind was already too cloudy right now, he didn’t have the power or the will to convince a general.
So he—
"For now—"
He turned towards the others.
"I will be in my house, I will leave in about an hour. You people move according to the plan—
Begin the preparation for war."
He spoke, the people nodded.
Then, he glanced at Lavinia, who seemed zoned out and held her hand, pulling her out of her reverie.
"Let’s leave, shall we?"
"I need to distribute the Divine Rations."
Lavinia blurted out without thinking and Kael—
"Please do it after a while, I...
I wish to spend some time with you."
Kael spoke in a low voice, a voice that carried... a sense of weakness and vulnerability that he had been hiding all this while.
Vulnerability that only came out in front of Lavinia.
For a moment, both Morvain and Aurelia glanced at Lavinia with... jealous eyes. The vulnerability Kael showed, they wanted to be at the receiving end of it as well. Not because they wanted to see his weak side, far from it.
At the point they were in, they wanted Kael to be at his strongest. They just...
Vulnerability was a sign of trust.
And they wanted Kael to trust them... as much as he trusted Lavinia.
It was unreasonable, foolish even.
But that feeling was still there.
And Lavinia would have noticed it if she were looking at their faces, but she wasn’t. Her eyes were on Kael’s hands that were holding hers and her focus was on his words.
She didn’t think of anything else.
"Let’s go."
She looked into Kael’s eyes and nodded, at the same time tightening her hold on his hands. Kael smiled lightly, then the couple excused themselves and left.
Aurelia and Morvain watched them leave. Then Korvath walked towards them and—
"Should we go over the drills Lady Aurelia proposed yesterday?"
He asked.
The two women nodded.
Another meeting began with the Velmourn Elders, the Velmourn Matriarch, the Stonefang Chief, the Stonefang Translator and Aurelia.
...
On the other side, the moment Kael and Lavinia walked into their house, Kael tightened his hold on Lavinia’s hand even more tightly. Lavinia did the same, they looked into each other’s eyes until finally—
Kael pulled Lavinia into a hug.
Lavinia momentarily opened her eyes wide in surprise, she wasn’t expecting this, not right now, but she quickly held him tightly, as if fearing that he would disappear if she didn’t.
"Are you alright?"
She asked the question she had been meaning to ask since the moment Kael returned after attacking the Stormcaller settlement.
He wasn’t injured, she could see that, but physical wounds weren’t what worried Lavinia. It were the mental wounds.
Kael wasn’t prepared for causing that level of death and destruction, not right now. Going through something like that would have a horrifying effect on him and Lavinia feared that.
And when Kael avoided that question yesterday, her fear only got stronger, she felt like a wall was being created between the two of them, a wall she couldn’t possibly climb and overcome if Kael wasn’t prepared to help her.
But today—
As Kael held her in his arms tightly, breathing so heavily that it felt like he had been holding his breath all this while—
He answered.
"I... got stronger."
He revealed the ’good’ news, but Lavinia could see that there was not even a tinge of happiness in his voice.
"Stronger...?"
She asked.
"By killing Stormcallers.
I...
I levelled up.
Faster than I have ever since I came to the Heights and hit a plateau."
He spoke and Lavinia’s expression changed.
So that’s what it was about.
She finally realized it.
It wasn’t just about the death and destruction, the fact that he got stronger after killing children and the weak...
That’s what disgusted Kael so much.
And the worst part?
Both she and Kael knew that this strength...
It was something they needed, desperately.
"Am I... going to keep killing...?"
Kael asked, his voice now oozing with vulnerability and Lavinia—
For a good few seconds, she froze, not knowing what to even say. Kael was... afraid. She could sense that very clearly, and what made her hate herself even more was the fact that she couldn’t even ease his mind.
Because the answer to his question was...
"Yes."