𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝑽𝒐𝒘...

Three weeks had already passed, and Fate had the best training treatment everyone could only dream of.

"Caeruleus is different. Expect that Caeruleus would push you to the limits if you are under him. That being said, I should be relieved once The Triplet's Vow took place, but I am still doubting myself. What if I get myself killed in the process? What if I will never have the chance to survive just the first Vow? That I don't know the answer of, and I am too afraid to seek the answer," he speculates.

"Kid, come here," Caeruleus told Fate.

"Isn't it nighttime already? As far as I am concerned, he would only call me if we'll have another training session, or if we'll have breakfast and dinner. I had my dinner already, and I am about to sleep. Something's off with him," Fate thinks.

Fate went outside to respond. It was a very cold night. The breeze of the night could penetrate a sweater. He felt the cold wind blew from the west, and he suddenly shivered. Fate is used to cold, but he is not used to this one.

Fate continued walking slowly towards Caeruleus. Fate cannot do it any faster, his body is too exhausted to keep up. Besides, the wind tonight is too cold.

Fate stood before Caeruleus, holding the pairs of sickles. He could barely fight the cold tonight, and he feels like he's about to loosen his grip.

"Are you okay, kid?" Caeruleus asked Fate. "The night's too cold, isn't it?" he added.

"Y-yeah," Fate responded as he shiver to the cold, making him stutter. "I am not used to this kind of cold."

"I am afraid this is not the right time for you to trai-"

"W-wait WHAT??" Fate shouted, interrupting Caeruleus, "I m-mean... we'll train tonight??"

"Yes, kid, and I apologize for the untimely traini-"

"N-no, no!" Fate interrupted once again, "It's totally fine. I really don't mind at all."

"I'm glad you are willing to train despite the time being late, let alone the weather tonight."

"..."

"I should have said it earlier. Come, I will show you something."

After that brief conversation, Caeruleus gave Fate his hand. Perhaps they'll go somewhere again. He took Caeruleus' hand immediately and grasped it

Their location changed before Fate could even blink his eyes. They arrived at a somehow familiar place.

It is a forest with tall, bulky trees standing before them. The leaves cover the light reflected by the moon, making the surroundings dark. Thanks to the flowers scattered around that emit a bright blue-ish white light, it gave the surroundings a light source. It dims a little bit at an interval and lights up again. The cycle repeats.

"This place is familiar, yes?" Caeruleus asked Fate as he picks some kind of fragrant herbs. It smelled like that of roses.

"It is sir," Fate replied as he is being mesmerized by the nature that surrounds him.

Fate sat down on a log just behind him and looked around. Everything is just too magical for Fate.

As Fate satisfy his eyes with his surroundings, he had no idea that Caeruleus was gone, let alone when did Caeruleus leave him. That being said, he is stuck inside these woods having no idea how to get out.

"You're that kid who killed my underdogs, right?" a deep, passive, manly, and mysterious voice asked Fate. The voice would make you lower your guard. It was a soothing voice that could soothe even the soul of anyone who happen to hear it, but he knew it is something to be alarmed about. It is a very different voice, at least when you compare it to Caeruleus.

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That being said, Fate suddenly stood up and tried to defend himself using the pairs of sickles he brought. "W-where are you?!" he fiercely asked, "Show yourself to me!!"

Fate suddenly turned around as he heard a rustling behind him. Fate saw a tail, but that's just what he saw, nothing more and nothing less. It seems it's running around as if it was messing with him.

"I am afraid I cannot do that," the mysterious voice replied calmly. "What are you going to do now, knowing you do not know where I am?"

"D-don't be a coward!! Let's have a fair fight!!" Fate asserted, ignoring his question.

"Boy, you have the upper hand. You just have to find me. But... you cannot. Who knows where I am right now. Maybe I am behind you right now..."

Fate looked behind him and he saw a silhouette of a wolf, but again, that's the thing he only saw. That's the moment Fate knew he had to show what he did to the wolves he killed back then. It appears that the wolf is taking vengeance against Fate. The wolf really took advantage of Fate's defenselessness.

"Perhaps I am on your west..."

That wolf or whatever Fate has seen earlier is trying to taunt him, making him look where he's at his most vulnerable position. Fate stood his ground and hoped he won't be killed.

"Very good, very good," the mysterious voice reacted, "you knew what I was up to. They were never wrong about you."

Again, Fate has heard another rustling at his east, but he dared not to look at it. Fate closed his eyes and hoped for the best.

"Fate, that is your name, right?" the mysterious voice asked.

"..."

"I know, I know. You're afraid, aren't you? Ah, yes. That was very bad of me. I forgot to introduce myself to you."

Suddenly, Fate felt his left shoulder being slashed and he had been pushed as if he was knocked away. It left an agonizing wound, and Fate couldn't help but scream in pain. It happened even before he could react.

"Amazing, isn't it? We are the Solitary Wolves. As you can see, we could conceal ourselves better than anyone - no, better than anything else. As for someone like you, the odds of you detecting me is very close to zero, pretty impossible if you ask me."

It was on Fate's left shoulder at first, and now he had been slashed on his chest. It was very painful and agonizing. It was as if Fate is being torn apart. He screamed again, but he can scream no longer. Two painful slashes and he is about to pass out. This training is indeed a very different experience. Applying what Fate has learned in under three weeks is futile and useless. He cannot even know where his target is, let alone how he would dodge the wolf's incoming attacks and fight back.

The slashing continued. Fate's body is already giving up on its own. He had lost a lot of blood, and he is feeling cold. Is he dying? Is he about to lose? No, Fate has to keep fighting, but judging from his situation, his enemy has the upper hand. The enemy completely concealed himself and Fate couldn't react very well. The attack pattern of that Solitary Wolf or whatever his enemy calls himself has a very random attack pattern. It has no unpredictable intervals.

"Let the sound around you be your guide to your obstructed sight..." a voice inside Fate's head told him.

At that moment, Fate knew he should've thought of it from the start. That voice he had just heard was the very thing his father told him when they used to train together until his father started to blame him for something he won't even know happened. Fate's eyesight is not obscured, but he might use the thing his father told him. Fate cannot see his enemy and that's just as equivalent to being blinded.

Fate tried standing up, but his body's too heavy to keep up. He tried, but he just fell from his knees. He could see his own blood dripping below the ground. Fate's eyesight slowly drifts away, blurring everything he could see.

"Solitary Wolves are something not to be taken lightly, Fate. We are completely different from humans - from Caeruleus. Stand up, I will not let this night pass, and I will not let you see even the ray of the Sun without you hitting me once," the wolf told Fate passively before slashing Fate's back.

It was another agonizing pain that the wolf has inflicted on Fate, but he forgot every pain his body has once he knew what he has to do.

Slowly, Fate tried standing up. He used one of his sickles as his support, to help himself completely stand up. Fate successfully stood up, but he cannot balance his body. He tried flailing his body around to stand on his ground firmly, and once he did, he became 'one' with nature.

Eventually, Fate's surroundings became silent. He could hear his heartbeat easily in his state. It was a completely different feeling. Navigating using his ears was not easy as what he could do using his sight. Fate nevertheless got the hang of it and navigated things easier. He could easily tell a kind of bug is on a tree bark just the east of him, making its way to the flower that pulses a bright blue-ish light.

"Interesting, Fate," the wolf told Fate, "you are doing it, you are doing it correctly. It is very surprising of you get the hang out of it considering how hard it is."

"This is it, I could hear him running, but I am not sure where exactly he is. I tried to focus better, but it just distracted me," Fate thought.

"Come on now, Fate. You are almost there. Or maybe you are not..."

Fate finally detected the wolf. The wolf is behind him attempting to pounce and overwhelm him, and that was when Fate knew he had to dodge and leap to the right.

"I thought you would doubt yourself after what I said. You did a good job, you did, but you still have not done what I want. Prove yourself to me! Face Zelth, the leader of Solitary Wolf!"

Fate's wounds are starting to close at that moment. He doesn't know why, though. Is it natural causes? Is Zelth trying to heal him? Fate doesn't know.

Fate used his hearing senses again to navigate where Zelth is. He could not see, but He could tell Zelth's about to attack.

Every time Fate uses his hearing senses, everything suddenly becomes silent. He could not hear anything but his heartbeat and Zelth's footsteps, and that helped Fate dodge Zelth's attacks and learn how Zelth would execute his attack.

Fate continued dodging his attacks until the night sky starts to develop color. One could estimate that the sun is already rising from its deep slumber.

Over time, Fate finally got used to his hearing senses as his 'eye'. Not only does it make the fight easier, but he could easily dodge Zelth's attacks and slowly learn his pattern.

"Hey, Zelth!" Fate shouted.

"What is it, my child?" Zelth replied.

"Before I leave, could we have at least a chance to meet? You seem very interesting to know."

"Only once, Fate. Only once."

Fate could hear Zelth running. He suddenly used his hearing to navigate Zelth, and he knew Zelth's in front of him.

Zelth finally jumped, it was a sign he's about to attack. His claws are about to reach Fate, but he immediately lowered his body once he located Zelth's position.

Fate had to end this right here and right now. he grabbed the opportunity and slashed Zelth's weakest part: his abdomen, but it did not hit as if there is something that stopped Fate.

Zelth finally revealed himself. He is the same wolf he fought, but a much larger one. Fate could estimate Zelth's as tall as him, at least when you observe Zelth from distance.

Zelth sat on the ground. "You have finally passed my test, although we still have six days. Nevertheless, you have finally developed your perception and awareness. Caeruleus... Caeruleus was never wrong about you."

"B-but it's just m-my first... d-day..." Fate answered back before passing out.

"You are a very tough kid despite your physicality. Caeruleus was right about you. I was never disappointed. Neither of us... neither of us was disappointed."

𝑬𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓.....