Harthur arrived at the forest of Alguna. It was already dark, the night was still and the forest was peaceful.

“Why so quiet?”

He walked around with a torch. He doesn’t trust the silence. Ruins were usually loud. Loud from entities like ghosts but he couldn’t hear them. What he found were signs of a recent visitor. It was a vehicle; a wagon and some boot marks.

“Wagon but no horse. He could not possibly come here but… I should find some shelter first.”

He continued exploring. The huge walls hiding behind the trees and vines would make a good temporary shelter but he wanted to check out his surroundings first. Check for any hazards or possibly find a valuable resource. His shieldblade blinked. He didn’t notice it earlier but it blinked again. He snapped the shield open.

“It's blinking, there’s a source of radiance somewhere here.”

Harthur stepped further into the forest. His shield was fully lit now so he put his torch on his back again. He stepped into something wet. A swamp.

He looked around and found a bright light. It was at the center of a swamp, on a tree.

“Will the Knighthood know where I am now? But what is this light?”

He looked around. No one was there. He walked further into the center of the swamp. At the center, he saw a glowing knife, a long knife. It had the crest of Rigers on its handle.

“This is Father’s blade!”

He touched the blade. It was planted inside the tree but he was able to pull it off easily.

“HARTHUR RIGERS!”

A motherly voice spoke to his mind. He saw something bright behind him.

“You pulled my blade. Prove that you are worthy of my power!”

Harthur slowly turned around and saw the River Tiger that frequently visited him in his dreams. But it was huge, twice as big as him.

“You are Father’s Spirit Beast! Serve me!”

The beast walked around appearing and disappearing from Harthur’s view, “Prove that you are worthy!”

“Prove? How?”

“Survive!”

The river tiger disappeared from view again. Now a claw appeared out of nowhere and cut Harthur’s cheek.

“Sir Shane! You should have warned me about this!”

###

The pain from the fight started to catch up to Magnum. His knees started to shake. His body almost fell to the ground.

"I'm watching you!" said Matrina standing behind him. She was cautious, she thought Magnum might do something crazy again.

Garvin surveyed what was left of the town. It was only now that Magnum realized how big of a man Garvin was. As he walked, his helm folded down to his armour revealing his long black hair and unkept beard. He looked just around ten years older than Magnum but the majestic details drawn on his plate armor were giving some aura of many accomplishments. He also wore a shawl on his right shoulder and an image of a horned elephant was drawn. Aside from those, he didn’t wear any fancy clothing, just the under armor and the full plate, all in white but accentuated with gold linings.

A small book popped in front of him out of thin air, he started talking to it. It was his report on what happened in the town. He then signaled to the squires.

"We're done here boys!" he said and the squires responded with multiple cheers and started walking back to the camp.

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Magnum pounded the ground until his fist started to bleed. "Weak! Weak! Weak!" He thought he was making steady progress. Today, he went back to zero.

Two squires came holding metal rings. Those rings were for Magnum; two small ones for his feet, two small ones for his wrist. The squires stopped in front of Magnum, their boots looked clean. Clean enough for Magnum to see his defeated face.

"Stand up!" Matrina said. Their faces were as brown as Magnum's. Bearded, definitely older than him. "What are you two looking at? Ring him!" she said.

Magnum sensed hesitation in their movements. They followed the order nonetheless and moved to his left and right side, each holding two white half-circle things.

“Arm’s forward,” Matrina said. The squires lifted Magnum’s arms forward.

“Connect!”

The half-circles flickered and it snapped to both of Magnum’s wrists. It looked like a fancy bracelet but then he felt the strong force of the rings trying to reach other and he couldn’t stop it. The two bracelets snapped to each other tying him in the process, he was a prisoner at this point.

“Connect!”

The remaining rings connected to his ankles but it didn’t forcefully snap his feet together.

Garvin arrived, “Close,” he said.

Magnum's feet dragged to meet each other. He lost his balance, he wiggled and was about to fall but one of the squires caught him.

"Open!" Karnold said and the pull was gone so Magnum separated his feet.

"Close!”

The squire’s eyes opened wide and both of them looked at Garvin who looked like he was having fun.

“Open!”

"You piece of shit!" Magnum yelled resisting from the squire’s grip on him.

Garvin laughed, stomping his feet on the ground.

“Very unknightly, Sir Garvin,” Matrina said shaking her head.

The rings on Magnum’s feet removed all hope of escaping. He won't be able to outrun these “Open” and “Close” commands.

The squire helped Magnum stand properly, "He's injured! Shall we heal him Lady Matrina?" he said.

"No. He looked alright to me," Garvin said.

"We should. He will die if we leave him like that," Matrina said.

"I survived far worse injuries than this," Magnum said.

Garvin smiled, “You see?” he said to Matrina, “But It's okay to me if it's okay with you”.

Matrina took out a scroll from a bag on her horse, a healing scroll. She recited the verses and as she does. Tiny white dust-like particles surrounded Magnum. The particles shone all at once for a second and his internal injuries were healed.

"Thank you for skipping some parts," Magnum said as he felt some bones were still broken. He was familiar with healing scrolls, he had seen priests use them.

Garvin smiled, "It's a precaution. She didn't want you fully healed because you're dangerous," he said. "Thanks Matrina, inform everyone to prepare for tonight's event."

"I will," she said.

The two squires nervously looked at each other. One of them raised his hand.

"What is it Craste?" Garvin said.

"I… I think I know this guy Sir! He’s the rumored merc from the east! Right, Bazel?" Craste said.

"Yes!" Bazel said nodding in quick succession.

“I’m not merc,” Magnum said.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Craste said.

"So that’s why? I heard about it as well. So you do it alone?" Garvin said.

Magnum grunted in reply.

"Interesting but you won't last in this world if you're alone. Even mercs form parties," Garvin said.

Bazel raised his hand this time, "My mother's letter said that the ahh, the person that killed demons in our area was alone too! And they said his name is Magnum," he said.

Garvin rubbed his chin, "Hmmm! You two go ahead! I need to talk to him alone," he said.

Craste and Bazel walked off. They turned around a few times looking at Magnum, pitying the young man who saved their province.

Matrina held his looked at Garvin, a serious look but Garvin waved at her and Matrina nodded. “Everyone, go back and prepare the camp!” she commanded.

Garvin picked up the gunblade on the ground in front of Magnum. He swung it a few times with ease with one hand. Then some more, a slash to his left, right, up, down, and repeated it a few times. Magnum hid his reaction, the guy was clearly stronger than him.

He examined the blade, "You got potential kid... but you're at your limit." He swung the gunblade again; faster, stronger, emitting a gust that pushed Magnum's hair.

Magnum looked away. "Show off," he said.

Garvin smiled. He planted the gunblade in front of Magnum. “Luna,” he said, and then an enchanted two-handed hammer materialized in his hand. He swung it against the forest and a loud boom hit the air and a strong force flew to the trees. The trees were smashed as if it was hit by the hammer but it was a hundred meters away.

Magnum was shocked. “He never used it earlier. It didn’t even need radiance power.”

Garvin smirked. "Wanna be a squire under me?" he pointed to the group near the road walking back to the camp, "Those ones are weak. But not you, You have talent. But what I like more is your attitude!"

He stood in front of Magnum. “You'll be a knight in no time, and then..."

Garvin's face changed. The smirk was gone and there was an ominous look, "Then you can kill Him!" he said.

"What?" Magnum said.

"You want to kill him right? I felt it! The way you looked at him! But he's strong! You can't kill him at your strength now."

Magnum looked away. "I only kill demons," he said. “But I want to punch him!”

Garvin laughed, his smirk-face returned and he walked around Magnum, "Good answer!” He then turned around leaving Magnum.

“Rings. Release,” he said and all the rings on Magnum’s ankle and wrist fell to the ground.

“He’ll just leave me here?”

Matrina and the other squires are gone now and Garvin went to follow them.

“The next time I meet you, I’ll beat you!” Magnum said.

“No. I’ll beat you,” Garvin said as he walked away.

“I’m so weak…”

Magnum felt his body finally break from fatigue and his eyes closed.