Back at the village, the feast was almost complete.

“You missed all the fun stuff... Where were you?”, asked Cess when she saw Dave walking towards the feast.

Dave laughed and he didn’t reply.

“Oh well, as long as you’re here now.”, she replied.

Dave smiled pensively in reply and spoke, “Where are the others?”

“The knights are mostly enjoying the feast.”

“Mostly?”

“Mostly...”, said Cess before starting to walk away while gesturing to Dave to follow her.

She pointed towards both Orph and Eric who laid down on the ground before saying, “...These two.”

Dave was shocked, wondering if they were alright.

“Wait!”, he exclaimed.

“Was there any alcohol present during the feast?”, he continued.

“N-no... I don’t think so...”, replied Cess.

The Village elder overheard the conversation and made sure to nod his head in support of what Cess just said.

“I think they’re just tired.”, said Cess.

Dave sighed and replied, “I guess they are.”

“I think I’m a bit tired too...”, he added while looking at them both sleeping away. “I’ll take them both with me to our tent.”

He picked them up and put both on his shoulders as if it was nothing.

“Tell the others to enjoy themselves, I’ll be going to sleep.”, he said to Cess, who obeyed his command.

Dave smiled before adding, “Thank you. Enjoy yourself, you deserve it.”. He left before giving Cess a chance to reply or react to it. Neither did Cess call out to him, she had a feeling that he needed some time alone and chose to respect his wishes.

After putting both down to their respective sleeping places, Dave too tried his best to fall asleep. But sleep didn’t visit him, no matter how hard he tried. The only thing that did visit were thoughts about the kingdom and what he wanted to do.

And so, the night passed away.

“Hey, wake up!”, said Orph, trying to maintain a perfect balance between shouting and not trying to wake the others up.

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“Yes... Yes! I’m awake...”, replied Eric.

Eric looked around him and added, “Huh, I don’t remember sleeping anywhere near the camp...”

“But you do remember sleeping.”, said Dave, interrupting the conversation.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”, said Orph.

“Don’t be. I was awake.”, replied Dave.

“I hope you both had a good sleep.”, he added.

“So, it was you who both of us here...”, said Orph.

Dave nodded.

“Oh! T-Thank you!”, exclaimed Eric.

Dave started to laugh.

“Hahaha, you both can thank me by following me to train.”, said Dave.

“What?”

“He wants to train us. Both of us.” said Orph, looking sternly at Eric.

“What?”

“Looks like your friend hasn’t yet woken up yet”, replied Dave still laughing away.

“Join me near the outskirts of the village when you’re both ready.”, he added before leaving the tent they were in.

“Wha-”

Before Eric could finish what, he was trying to say Orph sighed and left the tent as well.

“What.”

Eric soon came to his senses after that and decided to join Dave, he was the last to arrive there as he saw Orph there too waiting for him from the looks of it.

“Took your time.”, Orph smirked.

“Sorry-”

“It’s fine.”

“Where’s Cess?”, asked Eric.

“I’ve sent her on a scouting mission, no one among us knows the forest as well as her afterall.”, replied Dave.

“Oh... I see.”

“What are we waiting for?”, asked Dave.

Eric looked at him with confusion on his face.

“Start running.”

Orph sighed and replied, “Yes sir.”

Eric realized too and replied as well, “Y-Yes Sir!”

They both started to run around the village, circling it. While leaving a smiling Dave behind.

On their way to circle the village fifty times, Orph noticed that the village was well off. At least compared to what he had learned about how villages usually were. Maybe the books lied? Or maybe this village was an anomaly he thought to himself.

“Fifty Laps... We’re not even done with twenty... yet... But we must try! Try... our best...”, said Eric trying his best to focus on the task at hand without noticing the things Orph did.

Orph sighed and spoke, “Try to keep up!”. Before adding on to his speed and leaving Eric behind.

“Wait for, wait-wait for me!”, replied Eric trying to gasp at whatever air he could find.

Orph slowed down and looked towards Eric.

“If you say so nicely...”, said Eric smirking.

“Th-Thank you.”

Soon they reached their goal. Orph looked fine, but Eric was always at death’s door. He fell to the ground as soon as he did the task at hand. But getting rest wasn’t what was waiting for him.

“Get up!”, said Dave.

“Now’s the time for what you guys have been waiting for!”, he added.

“Some r-rest?”, replied Eric hoping for the best.

“No. Fight me! Use your swords, use anything, try your best to defeat me.”, replied Dave.

He put up his hands and took a stance, “I will not be using any, however. I will just be using my hands.”

Orph took out his sword, he knew that Eric was already down for wear, and he’d have to try his best to fight Dave. It isn’t usual for you to face the best knight in the kingdom.

But he thought wrong, Eric was right there beside him with his sword in hand, smiling. Looks like he had similar thoughts to him. Orph smiled before saying, “Good luck.”

“You too.”, replied Eric smiling in return.