The day was dawning and the three of them were already up in front of Elioth's shop; however, a confused look was on Viktor's face while Nina seemed curious and said,

"Meet me in the field at the north exit when the sun is in the middle of the sky, be prepared." She raised an eyebrow and continued, "Why though?"

"No idea, but that old man doesn't seem quite right in the head, besides, he's always smiling. I still wonder why we're listening to that strange old man." Alma spoke, furrowing her brow. "Leaving at noon? What the heck does he want?"

"Well, we have to do what he asked, we have coins, whether we're going to travel or not, I don't know, but I'm going to put some iron plates on this armor. What do you guys intend to do?"

"I'll have to buy a leather one for myself too, it must be hard to find a lightweight iron one for my size that doesn't hinder me so much, so I'll go with that." Alma said, crossing her arms. "Your armor has an energetic property in it, so it must be worth it."

"And some herbs and potions too, there's a risk of getting sick or injured again, depending on what happens on this trip, it's better that we're at our best all the time." Nina said, turning to the two who nodded and soon headed to the commercial center.

Even though Viktor had already been there once, they still avoided the sale of the merchant who had attacked them upon arrival in the city.

It was at the southern entrance, so there weren't many problems in avoiding that area.

With the coins, Viktor put iron plates on the torn chest piece of his armor and reinforced one on his right arm. After all the purchases, they walked back through the city.

"Was it supposed to be a shield?" Alma commented, furrowing her brow.

"The sword is for an adult, initially, I thought it was a long sword, but no, it's a common bastard sword for an adult, it'll be simpler if I use both hands." Viktor spoke, maintaining a slight smile. "But they were good modifications for you guys too."

Viktor looked at Alma, who also had a leather armor with armguards but no shoulder pads, along with a small quiver on her leg complementing one on her back.

While Nina kept her clothes simple, she moved around still getting used to all that movement, as if she were uncomfortable, and soon Viktor said,

"Chainmail isn't exactly light, but it'll prevent you from taking some damage, you'll get used to it eventually." Viktor said, keeping a slight smile, and Nina sighed.

"I know, it's just strange, it feels like I'm wearing two different clothes, but it'll help." She gave a faint smile and soon added, "Even though we've already spent most of the coins we earned..."

"Money is meant to be spent, it'll be fine." Viktor said, maintaining a smile.

"Even if we've spent most of it on equipment, it'll be better this way. We have supplies and some remedies, plus a potion for any unforeseen circumstances that might occur." Alma sighed and rubbed her neck, saying, "Although potions are quite expensive even in their simplest quality, they'll still save us when we need them."

Viktor looked up and saw the sun nearing the middle of the sky, making him turn his eyes back to the two as he said,

"It's getting close, shall we?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Of course." Nina said still with some difficulty.

"Let's go." Alma confirmed, and soon the three headed towards the northern exit.

They passed through the city and noticed the fair gradually splitting as it concentrated in the center, the decorated houses decreased little by little until they saw walls of white stones and again the wooden arch indicating the exit of Aldanna.

They all passed through the gate, and after a few minutes of walking, they soon saw someone under a tree in the distance in a vast plain where that was the only tree nearby.

"For a man who walks with a cane, he's far from the city." Alma said with a furrowed brow.

"The day is really hot today." Nina said while wiping the sweat from her forehead, however, Viktor continued walking in silence.

Slowly they approached the tree, and as he saw them, Elioth showed a slight friendly smile still leaning on his cane, turning to the three as he said,

"The three of you came... it seems you already know what you want, am I right?" He kept the smile on his face.

"Yes, let's just get on with it, you yourself said we would travel, why leave so late?" Alma looked around the tree and furrowed her brow, saying, "You asked us to prepare, but for what?"

"I said the new soldiers were already being called, you can go, but there are still two weeks until the end of the selection process, and it'll take us a week to reach the capital. Let's use this precious time we still have and prepare your bodies for what is to come." He leaned on and sat on the tree, saying, "We'll start your training here; it had to be now because it's the time you'll make the most progress safely."

"Progress safely?" Alma spoke, furrowing her brow seeing Elioth sit down, but he continued, "What do you mean by that?"

Elioth continued to smile and looked at Nina and Viktor who remained silent, observing the old man attentively, who continued to speak.

"Since you're so advanced, you must know that Diyo is nothing more than your life force in the form of energy; we're all born with it and can enhance it as we fight." He extended his hand and said, "It can become more powerful by absorbing the Diyo of other living beings or by training, however, the condition can make a common training the most effective for cultivating Diyo."

Slowly he moved away from the shade of the tree and saw the three who remained in the open field exposed to the sun, the two were already drenched in sweat, and Nina constantly wiped her forehead.

"It's in these conditions that we'll train; the girl is still learning to sense and use Diyo, while the two of you want to enhance your abilities. Different purposes, but this environment will help. If Diyo is life force, if there's something constantly attacking your vitality like this scorching sun, you'll make greater progress." Elioth kept a slight smile on his face as the surroundings seemed to gradually expand, and the city seemed increasingly distant. Viktor furrowed his brow as he felt his armor getting heavier due to sweat.

Nina groaned, and Alma grumbled.

"This place is way too hot, what's happening?" He looked up and saw the distant sun that dazzled his sight as he looked back at it.

"When you become stronger, you'll be able to do the same as me, use aura control and its property for battle, we all have it, and I'm using mine." He gave a faint smile and said, "I guess you didn't expect this, but as I said, I'll train you; we still have two weeks to finish the missions, in the end, I told you to come prepared. Get ready, boys, I'll show the training level of one of the general's fingers."

The three started dripping with sweat, but soon they heard a voice in the distance.

"I knew you'd be with them."

When they looked back, the three saw the same bald man armed with a machete, quickly recognizing him as one who worked with the meat vendor.

Just behind him, the instrumentalist remained, still with a smile on his face as he held onto the instrument, giving a slight smile as he said,

"Elioth, you're not stupid, you wanted to lure us to take care of these kids? That was a pretty dirty move on your part, but I won't complain, after all, the payment will allow us to take some time off." He kept a smile on his face while the bald man twirled the machete between his fingers.

Viktor furrowed his brow and wondered,

"They're not affected by the heat? ... No, they seem too fine for people dealing with this, and their auras weren't that strong."

Reaching the same conclusion, both Alma and Viktor looked back and saw Elioth still in the same position, maintaining a calm smile as he said,

"You said you wanted to be ready, I'm fulfilling my promise." He sighed and said, "Although they seem like a couple of idiots, they've also fought in the war once; you'll have trouble underestimating them."

Alma clicked her tongue and pulled her bow while Viktor drew his sword from its sheath.

Nina took a step back and sighed while still dripping with sweat.

Seeing the state of the three, the bald man opened a wide smile and advanced with his machete pointing upwards.