Raine and Nikolay's journey began with low expectations for the future, to nobody's surprise. Marque had hardly been a welcoming city, despite its citizens seeing the most travellers out of all of Kosira. Luckily, they weren't expecting to encounter anyone, considering that they were travelling alone. The path to Veritas shown in Navi's map was the most direct one, but it was less popular. This was mostly due to the lack of civilisation out in the dry grassland, along with a notable lack of water and large animals.

Thankfully, Rascal deigned to accept Raine's commands while riding, and the journey had started off relatively smoothly. Despite her mischievous tendencies, the seriousness of the situation kept them in check. Unless something interesting caught her eye; then there was no use trying to get her back on track until she sated her curiosity.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye. With nothing to do but stare out at the unchanging scenery of dry grass and brown trees, Raine attempted to strike up a conversation with his travel companion. Nikolay, that was. Though, Rascal certainly would have been more talkative than him, despite being a horse. Attempts to communicate with Nikolay yielded poor results, usually resulting in no response. They often went a little like...

Nikolay, are you there?

No.

Good. I want to talk to you.

Did you not hear me? I said no.

Insults weren't uncommon, but there was rarely any heat behind them. Both Raine and Nikolay were feeling the strain of the constant horseback riding, though Raine was pretty sure that he took most of it as the vessel's current controller. He had mentioned switching over in passing once, but Nikolay adamantly refused, as usual.

Of course, they didn't spend all of their time on a hard, unforgiving saddle. Truly a shame, considering how positively riveting the whole endeavour was.

They used their nights as downtime, mostly for Rascal to rest and recuperate. Meanwhile, Raine did every task that couldn't be performed whilst on a horse. This included cooking meals, setting up a place to sleep, and other things required to be self-sufficient out in the wild. As per Nikolay's advice, the food that they bought had been non-perishables, so most times it was as simple as opening a can.

This left ample time on their hands before they felt tired. Less than three days into their trip, Nikolay had somehow concocted a way to torture Raine in their spare time.

It started off with a proposal.

Say, Raine. We're all too familiar with the... physical limitations of our vessel. How about fixing that while we have the free time?

Raine quirked an eyebrow. You want me to work out? Yeah, sure.

Not just strength — we need technique. From what I'm hearing, there is combat ahead of you. Not just the beast mentioned in the prophecy, but also the fact that there are people hunting you down.

I'm listening.

I know you are. I have residual memories as a street fighter in one of my previous lives. With her skills, I should be able to pass on some simple fighting knowledge to you. Though, keep in mind that she lived many, many years ago. The technique may be outdated.

A female fighter in the early ages? Damn, I didn't realise you were pioneering the feminist movement.

Quite the opposite. I would be concerned if women took her as a role model. Her unrelenting pursuit of revenge ended up consuming her.

Revenge? Raine's ears perked up. Sounds like interesting gossip.

There was a conspicuous pause from Nikolay, then he said, Now seems like a better time than any to start. Get up.

Raine sighed. He should've known better than to expect answers from Nikolay.

In the middle of a flat savannah with nobody in sight, they were confident enough to create a campfire. This provided ample light well into the night, giving Nikolay plenty of time to drill his knowledge into Raine's brain.

Nikolay hadn't given Raine a chance to check the time, but he was sure that they had trained for hours. Sweat dripped down his back, making his shirt stick unpleasantly to his clammy skin. Each laboured breath felt closer to a wheeze than a proper exhale, and his head was pounding just as much as his heart was.

Lifting his arm for what felt like the millionth time, Raine pulled his hand back in anticipation for a punch.

Try again.

Raine scowled. Come on, you didn't even let me do the move.

Your stance was already off. I've seen you perform it incorrectly a hundred times before this, and that was an exact match.

Needless to say, Nikolay was a horrible teacher. He was making a single punch seem to be the greatest, most difficult move to be performed.

Stop internally talking shit about me and try again.

How did you even know? Raine groaned.

The hatred radiating from you was enough.

...Whatever.

Despite the added harshness of the nights, they also provided Raine with reason to start a conversation with Nikolay now. Raine found that Nikolay was much more responsive when he was already opening his figurative mouth to criticise Raine's form.

I've been wondering, how old ARE you?

Well, how old are you?

...23.

Then, I'm 23.

What? Raine scoffed. I call bullshit.

It's true. I'm as old as this vessel, which was tailored to match your biological age.

I meant your actual age. Like, cumulative.

Technically, I'm around 600 years old, but this isn't a good indicator of my age. Even though my previous lives are 'mine', I remember them as facts, rather than personal experiences. Except for my first life, which isn't part of my contract with the gods.

Besides, the biological limits of this vessel constrain my mental age — that is, I'm limited to thoughts that a 22-year-old can fathom.

Huh. It doesn't feel like it to me.

Maybe that's because you might be below the standard for adult intelligence.

Good job proving your point about being immature, Raine pouted. I like you better when you don't talk.

Likewise. Yet neither of us can get what we want.

What a tragedy, was the sarcastic response.

And so they continued further into the night, until Nikolay thankfully stopped to let them sleep.

(Part 2 of this chapter is uploaded simulataneously)