34 Time to head out. (2/2)

”But the man who came with a crowd said there were three A-Ranks in the shop. One was me and other was you Master Ryu. Who is the third then?” Izumi asked with a questioning face.

”That would be me Miss Izumi, I am an ex-Shade.” Lia answered with a cute and innocent smile. Izumi and Ken weren't surprised anymore as they got used to being surprised since the past two days.

”Thanks for everything until now Master Ryu, Miss Takahashi.” Shin bent his head a little in respect and headed out with Ken and Izumi towards the south gate.

Everyone with their seals broken could open a space called 'Katastima' or 'Shelt' for short which would be accessible only by them. It didn't have an endless space but only about a one meter cube space. The guardians were an exception and they could open spaces with a volume of more than two meter cube space. Ken and Izumi put their stuff in their Shelt and followed Shin.

The trio headed out of the South gate and started walking towards the dense forest of Yerin as Ryu and Lia stood on the South wall as they saw them walk away.

”Do you think Ken can awaken him from his sleep, like Shin expects him to?” Lia asked Ryu in a low pitched voice with hints of concern.

”We just have to trust the Shadow's words for now, Lia. Don't worry, after all it's the Shadow who is with our son.” Ryu comforted his wife as she leaned on Ryu's chest.

”So where are we going first, Master Shadow?” Izumi was as formal as she could be which made Shin and Ken sigh in discomfort.

Shin held out his right hand and a small white coloured map less than a 100 square cm appeared above his wrist.

”About 90 miles from here, there is a plain grassy area. We are going to camp there for a week and I am going to teach you and Ken somethings. After that, I am going to train you in a nearby small fort.” Shin's let out a mischievous smile while he stated the last sentence which sent a chill up Izumi's spine for some reason.

”Lets hurry, notch up the speed. We need to reach our destination by 6 am.” Shin released an energy layer around his body and sped up to a speed of 15 mph.

”Wait! I can't run that fast for long Shin, I can only use basic energy layer and run at a speed of 6 mph at max. Weren't you going to start training me after we reach the grassy plain? can't we go at a slow pace for now.” Ken complained as he tried to match Shin's speed with a wavering energy layer around his body. Izumi had no problem with the speed as she was trained for years and this was the basic training for any Protector.

”This doesn't classify as training Ken. My training is not like the ones other protectors get, it is different and I told I would be training you guys in the fort. You will only learn some basics which don't classify as my training at the grassy plain. So, speed up Ken.” Shin didn't bother to slow down. He was going to be hard on training and teaching Ken, he decided it the moment he took in Ken.

”Stabilize the amount of energy around you. Focus, Ken. Imagine wrapping an energy layer engulfing you.” Izumi instructed Ken as she slowed down to his pace.

Ken closed his eyes slowly as he thought 'Focus' and the energy around him started to calm down. Ken started to go faster but he forgot that they were running in a forest.

'Thud' Ken hit a tree in front of him and fell to the ground, he was unhurt because of the energy layer around him but still lied on the ground.

”It's going to be a long way for this guy.” Izumi looked at Ken with pity as she said those words while Shin pulled back and stood be Ken who was laying down on the ground and gave him a 'get up and move' look.