Half an hour had passed since we separated from Wii Taa and in all that time I had carried Philemon in my arms to the outskirts of the city.
He seemed quite comfortable in my grip, he even leaned on my chest as we walked through the city which made me hold him even tighter.
He was the only biological family I had left in this world, I won't tell Philip or Hilda because they are too distant relatives.
I spent days looking for him and now that I finally have him in my arms it seems surreal.
How when you want something so badly and when you already have it with you you can't process it.
"Brother...where are we going?" He asked while staring at me.
"I told you, we're going to the magical city of Sharia in Ranoa, but I know a shortcut!" I said as I deliberately walked towards the forest which made Philemon hug me tighter.
"Wii Taa said the forest is dangerous...we shouldn't be here" he murmured and I stroked his head.
"Oh yes it is! You should never venture into any forest alone!" I said as I looked into his eyes "But now it's different, my brother! Why do you have me now?" I said with a smile and Philemon just frowned as he looked around.
"There may be bad beasts," he muttered with obvious concern.
"Don't worry, I'm a triple sword saint! I know it won't sound too impressive considering Wii Taa is a North King, But I assure you that my strength is enough to protect both of my brothers!" I declared in a heroic tone and Philemon just narrowed his eyes as he looked at me.
Ok, that doesn't work.
"Phil, answer me something, do you know anything about magic?" I asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Magic?" He asked confused "umm...I once saw Tadeus throw a fireball from his hand after saying some strange words to some bad guys a few days ago" he continued.
"Tadeus? Who is he?" I asked.
"One of the men who were traveling in the caravan," he replied.
"Well...that's it! That's magic! But there are many types of magic, little brother! Do you want me to teach you?!" Dike, while forming a ball of water in my hand.
Philemon's eyes widened as he tried to touch the water fearfully, his hands got wet and he looked at me with a big smile.
"Paul! It's wet! It's wet water!" He said excitedly and I involuntarily widened my smile. "How did you do it?!" He continued
"That was magic, little brother. When we get to Sharia, I can teach you if you want," I told him, and he nodded fervently, which boosted my morale.
Continue walking aimlessly through the woods for a few minutes until you feel it is prudent to look for a section that is not covered by the tree canopy.
"Why did we stop?" Philemon asked again.
"It's time for the real journey to begin," I said and began to slowly lead me away.
"Wa!..ah!" Philemon quickly realized what was happening and clung to me like an octopus as he stared at the ground that was getting further and further away from us.
"P-Paul!...w-what are you doing?" He screamed in panic but I hugged him tightly
"Calm down, this magic is called...gravity magic" I told him with a smile and Philemon just made a confused face.
"G-Gravity?...w-what is that?!" He asked without losing his panic and my smile quickly disappeared
"e-eh...I'll explain that to you later, okay?" I said as I stroked his head and we continued ascending.
I did it deliberately slowly so as not to scare him more than necessary and besides there was no rush, after all my brother was already with me.
We quickly passed the treetops and Philemon buried his head in my chest in fear, but after a few seconds he dared to look around.
"Wow..." The sound came out of his lips and I put on a triumphant smile, we were elevated at about 50 meters but it was already a distinct view.
"Paul, look! There's the city!" He said excitedly, pointing his finger at the city only to realize and hug me tightly again after a few seconds.
"Don't worry, I won't let you go for anything in the world, Phil, I promise," I said with a light squeeze, which made him look at me intently.
"D-do you promise?" He asked fearfully and I became serious.
"I promise on my life," I said and gave him a kiss on the forehead, which calmed him down and he nodded with a slight smile.
Slowly Philemon's octopus grip on me softened as we slowly rose into the sky.
He even had the courage to turn around so I held him by the waist and he looked at the landscape.
"Paul! Everything is green and...what you see in the distance is the sea?!" he asked in amazement.
I looked at the horizon and indeed the sea was already visible so we must have been about 200 meters high.
"Yes, that's the sea," I replied.
"I'd like to see it..." He murmured softly and I raised an eyebrow.
Now that I think about it, he must have never seen the sea. My own reaction was indifferent. I didn't live near the sea in my old world, but with the few family trips I had, I knew it wasn't My thing.
And besides...what was stopping us? It hadn't even been a week since I said goodbye to Hilda and the others, they shouldn't even be halfway there...
Also...I want to spend as much time as possible with my brother before I focus on defeating Hitogami.
"Do you want to go see him?" I asked him while stroking his brown hair.
He turned his head quickly as he looked at me in disbelief.
"C-can we?" He asked with his eyes wide open.
"Only if you want," I answered, he hesitated for a few seconds but finally nodded.
"Yes...yes I do! Please take me, brother!" He said with an intensity that caught me off guard.
It was almost night but if he traveled at full speed he could arrive in a couple of minutes but that might scare Philemon...
"If you want to go to the sea then we'll have to travel fast okay?" I said while holding him tightly.
"Fast?...like fly?" He asked as he looked at me with uncertainty.
"Exactly, but it will have to be very fast and I don't want you to get scared," I said while staring at him.
Doubt crossed Philemon's face for a few seconds but then he looked towards the horizon, the sea which apparently motivated him so he nodded fervently.
"Okay! Hold on tight to my little brother!" I said as I positioned myself vertically which made his octopus grip on me tighten.
"O-okay!" He squealed and I let out a small laugh.
"Okay, but first a little precaution" I said as I wrapped us both in my barrier aura, so the wind wouldn't be a problem at all.
"Okay, on the count of three, one, two...three!" I announced and a sonic boom echoed behind me, I broke the sound barrier in less than a second and we started flying.
"Haaa!!!" I could hear Philemon's muffled scream which after a few seconds turned into one of excitement as we traveled.
I didn't know exactly how far the sea was, but if I could see it on the horizon that gave a minimum distance of one hundred kilometers, we would arrive in a few minutes.
"Wooo! Faster Paul!" Philemon's excited shout caught me off guard and I couldn't help but laugh, but the sea was getting closer and closer, not even two minutes had passed.
"I'm sorry, but if I want to decelerate in time, I'll have to keep going at this speed!" I said, but he didn't hear me; his focus was on the landscape moving at supersonic speeds.
We didn't even need ten minutes to get to the sea, I was surprised to see that there was a small coastal town but nothing relevant
The rainforest gave way to more coastal terrain so I decided to slow down and I swear I could hear an "ooow..." From Philemon.
I descended slowly between the palm trees near the forest so as not to attract the attention of the residents.
When we were a meter from the ground, Philemon jumped away from me and fell to the sand.
It was almost dusk, in fact the sun had already set and the sky was a strong orange so it was going to get dark any minute.
"Paul! Come on, let's go! Quick!" Philemon shouted, snapping me out of my trance as I looked at him.
"Wait...don't run, there might be monsters!" I said as I ran towards him.
He stopped dead in his tracks about ten meters from the beach as he stared at me.
"Don't worry, you'll be able to swim, just wait," I muttered as I created a small pillar of earth and made the top flat so I could put the wood in.
I wanted to make a torch quickly so I went back to the forest and with a movement of my sword a palm tree fell to the ground or that should have happened since I split it into ten different pieces before it hit the ground.
So, I picked up two of the pieces for now with gravity magic, put them on the platform and with a ball of fire they quickly caught fire illuminating the place.
I made sure to cover it well so the air wouldn't turn it off, just leaving the top part visible but that was more than enough.
"Wow..." Philemon muttered as he stared at me.
"What's up?" I asked with a smile.
"That...what you did with that sword...how did you do it?" He muttered, completely surprised.
"Hmm? I thought you already knew how cool the sword could be with Wii Taa as your bodyguard!" I said while frantically ruffling his hair.
"Hey no!..." He said while removing my hand from his hair "No...in the ambushes he always made me hide and I could never see anything" he muttered with a pout while fixing his hair.
The image of my adorable little brother brought me a peace I hadn't felt in a long time.
"If you want I can teach you too, we will spend a lot of time together from now on" I told him with a smile and he nodded returning his attention to the sea but then he looked at his clothes and his expression visibly soured.
"Don't worry, there's no one around, stay in your underwear and if you want I can dry your clothes later," I said, noticing his frustration.
He pressed his lips together and apparently chose the second option because he began to undress, leaving himself only in his underwear, but stopped right at the seashore.
It was already nighttime and it was dark here so he hesitated for a few seconds but again I went to his aid and I took the opportunity to raise my cool older brother points.
"Hehe...if you're worried about monsters, I can fix it," I muttered as a ball of energy formed in my hands.
The combined energy of a coulomb in a small space, struggling to break out and explode, is all power in the palm of my hand.
"What mafia is that, Paul?" Philemon asked in amazement.
"m-electricity magic! I-I call it pillar of light!" I said while trying to maintain control of the spell.
"Amazing...but what is electricity?" He asked again and my smile immediately vanished.
"I'll explain everything to you on the way, okay? Now...look at this!" I said excitedly, electricity crackling in my hands and pointing everything toward the ocean.
"Cover your ears!" I ordered him, he did and I released the electric shock which expanded in the ocean at the speed of light, I could barely follow the movement.
The electricity ran through the ocean and took the form of a spider web up to about two hundred meters around.
Nothing happened in the following moments, but after a few seconds, five creatures over two meters long emerged to the surface completely charred.
They were about twenty meters away so I couldn't help but shudder but I quickly got that thought out of my mind, I had already eliminated the danger.
"Wooow..." I could hear Philemon's admiring voice beside me and I couldn't help but smile proudly.
"Okay little brother, now you can take a bath because honestly...you stink terribly hehe Ouch!" I muttered only to receive a direct kick to the femur from my dear brother.
"Hmm!!" He pouted but then took off his shirt leaving him only in his underwear, he hesitated a little, the water reached his heels and he looked at me indecisively.
"I can hold you with gravity magic so you don't sink, trust me," I told him with a smile and he smiled back as he jumped into the water.
"Don't drink from that water and don't open your eyes when you dive in!" I told him, but he was already splashing around happily.
I couldn't help but smile at this scene. I hadn't relaxed like this in years and I wanted to enjoy it as much as possible.
"Pleww!! Paul, this water tastes weird!!" Philemon said as he dived back in.
"It's salty...I told you that you shouldn't drink it!!"
"Sorry!...it's cold!! " He said as he tried to walk but he was already about two meters from the shore so I kept him stable with gravity magic.
He played in the water for half an hour, the waves swallowed him, he dove into the water and I made him "swim" with gravity magic.
In the end he asked to leave, arguing that he was already tired and had gotten cold.
With a reduced version of heat island and heated wind magic, I kept him warm and dried his hair while he put his clothes back on.
"So!? What did you think of the sea, little brother?" I asked him with a smile and he smiled adorably.
"It was incredible! I was a little scared with those waves... but it was amazing and that magic you used wooow!! I love you Paul!" He said with a big smile and gave me a big hug.
I smiled at this and hugged him tightly in the same way, making sure to convey all my love in that hug.
After about ten minutes we broke apart at the sound of her little stomach growling.
"Are you hungry?" I asked him and he nodded with a frown.
I frowned just the same, I don't know how long it would take to find a wild boar out here so my gaze returned to the sea.
"Wait a bit, okay Phil? Dinner will be ready soon," I said with a smile as I walked back to the sea.
I activated my mana eye and... I was surprised by the number of creatures there were, their mana was dark blue and most of them were about two meters from the seashore.
I shuddered slightly at this as I remembered that Philemon had ventured further than that but also...
I went lightly into the sea, the fish did not move away or come closer, they just stayed floating there.
"...strange" I muttered as I formed the mana in my hands, conjured an ice spear in my left hand and aimed it at a one meter long fish that was about two meters away from me.
"Hmmp!!" With a quick movement, the ice spear pierced the fish and buried itself in the bottom. The other fish simply ran away in fear...that was strange.
"Phil! Have you ever eaten fish?!" I yelled at him as he looked at me from the beach.
"No! What's that?!" He asked and my smile widened for the third time.
"Well...today you'll eat it for the first time!" I said as I pulled the fish out of the sea, which was surprisingly heavy, about 30 kilos approximately.
"Woow... th-is that a fish?" He asked as he looked at the animal with curiosity.
"Yeah, they're ocean creatures like horses and boars are land creatures!" I said as I created a table with earth magic and dropped the fish onto it.
The fish was green, it looked like a piranha with those sharp teeth coming out of its mouth and its gills were large.
But I didn't take it too seriously and with my sword I started cutting it in half.
I made sure to remove all of its organs and clean its scales, I discarded the head immediately and was surprised to find a small magic stone in it, about the size of a clam pearl.
I immediately gave it to Philemon who kept it because of its strong greenish color.
It was not an extraordinary dinner, as there were no spices, the fish meat was roasted and we drank simply water.
And with two plates created with earth magic I served him half of the fish and so we began to eat.
"Be careful with the bones, make sure you check the meat well," I told him while eating the fish.
"Yes!" He said with concentration as he separated the meat strand by strand, looking like a small squirrel.
The meat had no flavor, it was like eating potato porridge but without the potato flavor but it was edible
"Uugh...I'm full," Philemon muttered, barely halfway through his fish portion.
"Well, if you can't take it anymore, don't eat it, you can use it for breakfast," I said as I froze his meat and put it away.
He quickly started to get sleepy so I created an earth igloo and we both got into it, Philemon using my arm as a pillow while he snuggled up to me.
"Tell me, did you like your first time in the sea?" I said as I stroked his head.
"Yes! Thank you very much Paul" he said and I could hear the sleep in his voice.
"That's good, rest well, because tomorrow we will resume our trip" I said and he nodded without answering.
Her breathing quickly relaxed and soon I began to hear her small snores.
The sound of the waves breaking on the beach was like a lullaby to me and I quickly fell asleep.
And I must point out, I slept better than I had in many years for the first time.