Early morning the next day, they quickly ate the leftovers from dinner, and they moved into the forest. It wasn't long before they suddenly felt danger. Steve sensed it first and gave Whirl a sign. Someone or something was following their steps, and it surely was trying not to reveal itself.

“Do you think we should run—”

“Shh, let's not let them know that we are aware of their presence.” Whirl scolded Steve. “That's a pack of wolves. We won't be able to just run if they decide to attack us. We will need to fight.” She whispered while they slowly moved forward. “Try to keep them at a distance. If they come close, use everything I taught you yesterday and … good luck.”

And then it showed itself. The first wolf appeared. It was a giant predator, both majestic and beautiful. Its gray fur sparkled in the blunt evening sun. Just by looking at its teeth, Steve knew they didn't stand a chance. In its eyes, he saw himself as mere prey.

Whirl didn't lose her cool. She started clapping and yelling at the wolves. A pack of ten had already shown along with the first one. When Steve realized what she was doing, he started to yell too, but it was too late. Wolves didn't even startle for that performance and started walking in the direction of both friends.

“Crap, we don't have any choice but to fight.” Yelled Whirl. “Don't let them get behind you.”

There was a rock behind them, so an attack from behind was not possible. One of the wolves decided to attack. Since Whirl was a girl smaller than Steve, Wolf decided that she is a weaker link. It misjudged the situation badly because Whirl was inhumanly quick. She dodged huge jaws and ripped open the stomach of the wolf with one motion. Predators were surprised by the swiftness of actions performed by a girl, so they decided to change their target to another, not-so-strong target. Steve.

Three wolves had started rushing in his direction. Steve took out the only hope he had left. The sword. Every beat of his heart was making him closer to his death.

“Steve!” Fragile pieces of what Whirl was shouting came to Steve's ears.

Adrenaline kicked into Steve's body. His whole body was ready for the impact. He got stunned by a big wolf paw and hit the ground. He couldn't do anything with the sword.

Suddenly his surroundings went blank and he heard some old, grumpy voice.

“Hello adventurer, almost dead, huh?” Voice said. “I'm Archibald and believe it or not the sword you accidentally picked up is possessed… by me. It should be a normal sword, not a magic one. And here it is, a magical one.” Archibald made a pause here. He wanted Steve to comprehend what has been said. “I have been watching you since you took that sword. I know what you desire the most. Getting to know why terrible things happened to your village and taking vengeance for killing your family.” Archibald paused and continued a few moments later. “You may not know me, but I'm one of the biggest wizards of my age. I would say the biggest, but I know some of my colleagues wouldn't like that.” He laughed cheerily. "I will help you, young Steve, become a wizard, get a really powerful item from the Cave of the Enlightenment, and finally… get enough power to be able to get your vengeance."

Steve was shocked. "Me? A wizard?"

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"Yes. I can see that you are an ambitious fellow. From your swordsmanship lessons from that girl, I know that you are a fast learner. I think that you may become a powerful wizard." He said with a laugh.

"But as you saw, I'm pretty much dead. I don't know how I appeared here, but before it, I was stunned, and I'm pretty sure that these three wolves are eating me right now." Steve said with sadness in his voice.

"You are wrong, young gentlemen. You are in the sword. There's a magical space in here, where time flows how I order it to follow. Currently, time is paused, we can speak for a while. About that wolves, stun is something that already happened, so it will be hard to avoid that. About eating and killing you though… We can stop this with a bit of magic." Said the wizard nonchalantly.

"Well, that's unexpected. Okay. So tell me what is this cave of the enlightenment and artifact you are talking about?"

"The answer to this question is not straightforward. The cave of the Enlightenment is a place hidden deep in the Imagination world, but the artifact, the stone of enlightenment, is something not easy to get. Only after going a certain path can you receive it. Stone gives the user unlimited power, but it has one flaw. It is a consumable item. After usage, it disappears and can never be used by the same person again."

"So what's the path to possess the stone?"

"I can not tell you. That is the trick. Only after someone finds a path by himself, he will get it. I can only give you assistance. And, of course, teach you magic." Archibald said. “Alright. Enough of chit-chat. We will continue this conversation later. It is time to save you from wolves!”

The moment the wizard said the last words, the surroundings started to be colorful once again.

“We can not see each other in this form often. I will contact you soon.” Archibald shouted before the contact was lost.

An explosion of vision, colors, and noises stunned Steve. Then he saw it. Two giant wolves standing in front of him, ready to finish him off. He raised his hands to defend himself, when suddenly the sword laying on the ground started to float. It was starting to shine with dark blue light as if it was not a sword but thunder. Suddenly, when the light was incredibly bright, two lightning bolts shot from the sword and hit both wolves. They died where they stood.

Steve had never witnessed magic, so he was both amazed and scared at the same time.

Loud thunder still remained in the air and the rest of the wolves that were startled by the sudden noise, turned their heads in that direction. They saw two of their companions dead. Fear rose in their gazes when they realized that these two bodies were not people they attacked but wolves. With the howl, the pack ran away, leaving Steve and Whirl alone.

Time passed by and no one dared to move. When they were sure that no wolves were left nearby, Whirl quickly made her way to Steve and shouted.

“How did you do that? You didn't say that you are a wizard!”

“Because I'm not”

"But it was clearly magic. If it's not you, then how did it happen?" Whirl asked with her eyes wide open.

Until Steve had recovered, he told everything that happened to him. About the no vision situation, Archibald, Cave of Enlightenment, and finally the precious Stone of Enlightenment.

"Hmm, Cave of Enlightenment. I've never heard of it." Said Whirl, rubbing her chin and kicking stones lying nearby.

"Of course, you didn't hear that name." Said the voice, sounding really far away.

Whirl's shoulders jumped a little. "Who's that?"

"Archibald?" asked Steve.

"Yes. It is me. I can talk to you and people nearby with the help of this sword," said the wizard. "To find the Cave, you need to get to the town Gret located not so far away north."

"Wait. Why should we trust you? Some ghost from an old sword. You could lead us into some trap." said Whirl.

"Ha! Haha! You are actually correct. You have no reason to trust me. Except… I rescued you from these wolves." said Archibald.

"Well, he has a point. With this Stone, I will be able to get my revenge. Either way, you said you have nothing to do. Accompany me." Steve nervously was rotating the sword in his hands.

Whirl laughed. "You're right, that's exactly what I said. Let's do this." She agreed. "I know where is Gret town. Let's move right away".