The following few days passed fast for Saleh. In the morning he would do his exercises before exploring the nearby woods.

Having talked for a few hours, he was able to acquire her name. That was it. No matter how he pried or spoke, she didn’t talk. She appeared to be lost in her own world. What surprised him was that the presence was back.

He couldn’t see them. While feeling alone wasn’t enough for conclusive proof. His teacher started to talk to himself. At first, he became scared, however as he studied his teacher it became clear that the presence he felt was there.

Instead of clearing up any misunderstanding, it caused the hair on the back of his neck to raise unconditionally. His instincts were speaking wildly as they screamed at him, warning him to be wary of that existence. Only after a while was he able to understand what was going on.

When he finally came to terms with the reality. He was positive there was an invisible being connected to her. Judging by his teacher's tone and expression, it was clear that this being wasn’t the one that sent the woman to them. Instead, this being seemed to move with Jessica.

Normally he was fine, however when he tried to pinpoint the being he seemed to draw its attention, causing his expression to shift massively. His instincts when being looked at by this invisible being went haywire as he trembled and left the area.

Possibly being told, or feeling his change. That being didn’t pay that much attention to him. Seemingly knowing it bothered him. Though, if he went looking for trouble by looking for that being, they would naturally know and hound him with what he imagined was either a stare or whispering curses so that he felt his skin crawl.

Three days after Jessica’s arrival, in the middle of the day. Teacher looked at him before peering at Jessica. After pulling both their attention, he calmly spoke, “I want the two of you to fight.”

Knowing better, he could do nothing but stand. Though, Jessica sat there looking at teacher. Seemingly looking for an explanation, “You don’t have to give me that look. You know by now that going to look for your father is a bad idea. So go spar, if I am right, not just my student, even you will gain much from this.”

With a bit of thought, Jessica seemed to agree as she stood. The two moved to a part of a clearing that gave them room. They were in a small clearing inside a sparse forest. Simply a wooded area as there was a bunch of open space in between patches of trees.

Pulling out her two daggers, Jessica couldn’t help but caress her weapons gently before looking up. Much to her surprise, the man in front of her didn’t have any weapons. His stance was strange. Seeing that Everblood hadn’t said anything. She took the initiative to start the fight.

They were both Grade E, not very deep in either. Surprising Saleh, she threw the weapon she had just caressed so gently. His hands lit up as he had to react brutishly. Without time, he used rough movement to slap the dagger away.

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Luck was on his side as he had fail to see that when she caressed her blades she attached something from her sleeve onto the pommel. Once he slapped it away, he was able to realize that something was wrong with the dagger.

Not given much time, he looked down at his hand with a bit of astonishment. He found that the blade had been sharp, while mana inside was even sharper. Not touching the blade, he should have been fine, however his hand was cut from the mana injected into the blade.

Seeing a blurry figure rushing towards him, he realized why his teacher agreed to allow her to travel with them. He was taught systematically, using his knowledge to fight random beasts his teacher found. This allowed him to apply his knowledge and absorb it in a very detailed and useful way.

Only, Jessica didn’t have reason behind her moves. Dissimilar to a dungeon creature, she hid her lethal intent behind a shroud of random moves. Doing everything in his power, he fought without holding back. The only reason the two could fight on equal ground was because he was hands down stronger.

Systematically being taught laid groundwork for him to have stable footing regardless of who he fought. As she rushed forward, he leaned to the side as she stabbed into his clothes. When he wanted to go in for a counterattack, his instincts screamed, and he was forced to jump away.

After rolling, he was able to see that behind him was a flying dagger flying through the air in an arc. Within moments, he was able to realize the danger he felt was not from the dagger itself, as if something was attached to the dagger he could finally understand the strange arc.

The danger was from whatever was attached to the blade. Rushing towards her back, he was once again forced back as he finally caught sight of a glint in the air. He was barely able to see a reflection of the sun on the string attached to the dagger.

He continued to be force back, time and time again. Her moves were unorthodox and didn’t add up. Nothing she did seemed to make sense. While her movements were smooth, her attacks were completely erratic and seemed random.

It was this lack of a pattern that made it impossible for him to attack, therefore, he was forced into a defensive position. His animal instincts continued to warn him time and time again he should abandon his attack and move away.

Saleh had no idea how dangerous the string was, but judging from the warning sirens going off in his head, the string wouldn’t just restrain him, instead it was likely they would sever or completely lacerate his arm.

There was ultimately one issue. He was falling for her fighting style. He couldn’t pull it off, however, his blue wolf blood was pounding in his heart. There was a flawlessly beautiful aspect about how free and unrestrained her movements were.

Only, for Jessica, the fight went horribly wrong from the beginning. Nothing she did worked. Every move was dodged or avoided. After the initial start, she was put into a forced offensive position.

Jessica was planning to end the battle with a single attack. Fighting in one on one with someone of equal footing would not be difficult. She wasn’t being disrespectful to Everblood. However, she had a large amount of confidence in her own fighting style in this very specific environment.

Even then, after the first strike she felt mana on the man’s hands, she realized he was strange. Battlemage’s were a strange occupation, and a rare one. However, what caused her heart to drop was that the blade infused with a large amount of sharpness was knocked away like a toy.

There was no damage or any real fear on Saleh’s face. Thus, her following attacks didn’t put him into a frantic defense. Without panic, he was able to dodge everything she threw at him. While his clothes were cut up, and he looked a bit like a beggar, there was a smile on his face.

While she was able to keep him at bay, meaning he couldn’t defeat her. She couldn’t even land an attack on him. The two would reach a draw, and as such, Everblood voice spoke, “Stop.”