In the blink of an eye both of the days off Mara had given me had come and gone. The effects of the poison were so severe that I was still struggling to move around without getting lightheaded, so Mara gave me a third day off.

With no motivation, and the ever looming gloom of the next day's hard training, I found it difficult to get out of bed. Even after sleeping, my eyes hurt and it seemed like my mind wasn't going to clear up from the drowsy feeling that lingered over me. Still, the effects of the poison seemed to have finally run its course.

Strength had returned to my body. I couldn't explain it, but I had already nearly recovered from how starved I was, having regained most of the muscle I had lost. ‘I wonder if this is also because of the magic father used…’

It honestly didn't matter to me why it was happening, I was just glad I didn't look like a toothpick anymore.

After stretching to try and wake me up and activate my mind, I grabbed some food and put on the boots Efah gave me before stepping outside. The coat was nice too, but it was too warm, and not exactly easy to wash, so I decided not to wear it.

I still had half a day where I could do whatever I wanted. ‘I could try the barracks again.’

Just as I took a step towards it though, the massive war beasts left out of the stables. I couldn't help but get almost giddy whenever I saw them, the drowsy feeling getting replaced with awe in an instant.

One was a massive black panther that managed to trick the eyes with how dark its fur was, and the other was some kind of cross between a mammoth and a rhino with skin made from solid rock. Every time it took a step I could feel the ground vibrate beneath me.

I was always busy with my own training to watch them, and Mara thought I would be easily distracted. To be fair she wasn't wrong, unlike training, I found those giant fantasy creatures quite interesting.

My own curiosity got the better of me without a fight and I walked over to the main gate, following them as they left.

“Siya!” Jerry cheered. “It's good to see you.”

The man next to him, Rummond, gave a similar greeting. “Yes. It's good to see you're alright.”

I waved my hand dismissively. “Pft course I'm fine, who do you think I am? Besides, I wasn't gone that long.”

Rummond let out a soft chuckle. He was more of the quiet type and didn't talk much. Jerry was just the opposite though, clearly expressing his feelings. “Of course, you'd say that. You're really something else, kid.”

Being in the same setting as before the monster attack gave me a sense of de javu. I couldn't help thinking about last time, and how he gave me his cloak. ‘That cloak saved my life… If I was any colder I would have died from freezing, if I was any more hurt I would have died the reaping…’ I looked up at him and chills went through my whole body. “Your cloak… did you?”

He tried to crack a smile to hide his disappointment, but I could see right through him “Nothing but scraps now, that bitterweed’s acid really ate it.”

‘It meant a lot to him… It was the first gift his wife ever gave him. She made it herself.’ “I'm sorry.” I had cost him something precious, and I didn't like that since he was one of the people who had been genuinely kind to me. My head suddenly hung heavily as my eyes drifted to the mud underfoot.

He stepped towards me and knelt down. “Siya, hey… It's just an old cloak. It's fine alright, better it than you.”

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“Well then…” I looked up at him, he was eye level with me. The fact he was willing to get his knees muddy just to try and make me feel better only made me feel worse about the situation. I managed to get out a small “Thank you.” but it was so timid I could barely hear it myself.

I knew he was lying about it being something trivial. Putting on a brave face so that I wouldn't feel bad, was the same thing I was trying to do for him.

‘I need to at least let him know how much it helped me…’ “Thank you,” I said properly, looking him in the eye. “that cloak saved my life… twice… I'm grateful, tell Elsie that too...”

He let out a sigh with a smile and stood up, “Will do, my fair lady.” He said sarcastically. Several of the guards had this habit of teasing me suddenly, but I could never figure out what triggered it.

I played along with it though. “Ah yes, I will now depart, please be a good servant and escort me.”

He laughed and went back to his post. “You're not training today are you?” Rummond spoke up, his eyes wide and his voice hesitant. “Otherwise why would you be leaving?”

‘He's worried… Given what happened last time, that makes sense.’ “I was told I could do whatever I wanted, so I'm going to go watch the war beasts.” They looked at each other nervously and I began to feel like they only saw me as a child that needed to be looked after. Normally it would have bothered me, but it was a welcome change of pace from the usual, and I certainly didn't mind the company.

“Maybe it would be best if Jerry escorted you after all.” He said bluntly.

‘Is he worried about me getting stepped on or something? That's ridiculous, there's no way I'd even get close to them. Each one is at least double the size of my room.’

I didn't see anything wrong with it, but it felt unnecessary. “I mean, he can… But it's not like I'm stupid enough to go anywhere near them. I just want to see them. I've never got to see them up close… er, I mean… Far away, from a safe distance.”

My choice of words couldn't have been more detrimental to the point I was trying to make, and by the time I tried to correct myself, it was already too late. I raised a hand to my face and shook my head.

Jerry sighed, rolling his eyes, “Yeah I'll go with her.”

I chuckled to try and hide my embarrassment. That was why it was hard for me to talk to most people. If I was unsure how they would react to my clumsy speech it made me nervous and want to just avoid conversation altogether.

‘With Mara, I ask her the wrong question and she hits me with a wooden sword. With my father, even though he's kind, I can never tell how he'd react. I'm glad the guards are so nice.’

“Here, this is the best spot to watch.” Jerry waved from the top of a hill.

It wasn't very steep, but I still felt tired from climbing it. When I got to the top I was already running slightly out of breath and falling on my back at the top with an exaggerated breath.

“You alright?”

I let out a groan and gave a thumbs-up before sitting up and looking out over the fields. I could see the two war beasts circling each other slowly. Each rider held a long slightly curved blade that was longer than they were tall and were standing on their mounts rather than sitting.

The saddles seemed especially designed for them to be able to ride like that. Even from as far away as we were, my eyes focused in and it was like I could analyze the smallest things.

I focused harder, and my vision zoomed again, and information began flooding my mind. Weak points on the monsters were highlighted, and somehow I felt like I already had a firm grasp of how fast and agile the two beasts were.

The man on the giant stonelike creature waved at me. I waved back, hesitantly raising my hand. My eyes narrowed as I suddenly became able to make out finer details. “Is that… Finlo!” I turned to Jerry. Even through his armor, somehow I could make him out with utmost certainty.

“Well yeah, he's one of the only real riders we have. It's just him, Nillous, Gaius of course, and Rumond can do it a little as well. Finally, the one riding the mournclaw right now is actually one of the men traveling with Catherine right now. That's… kind of a long story though.”

“So he was trained to do this? By who?” Without looking, Finlo ducked under a swing from his opponent's great blade.

“He was raised in the circus somewhere in the south, although he doesn't like to talk about it.”

I chuckled watching him fight. I should have guessed it. He was always a showman. I kind of feel bad for the guy he's fighting. I had no idea Finlo could ride war beasts, but one thing I knew for sure was that if it was something he was good at, then it was something he was the best at.

Finlo bowed, and the man I wasn't familiar with took the opportunity to strike. The so-called “Mournclaw” which was essentially just a giant panther, sprung forward and placed its hands on the other creature's head pushing it into the ground by the horns.

The man riding it swung his sword in a wide arc. “You let your guard down!” he yelled

Finlo spun his great weapon behind his back and quickly parried the strike. He leaped off his mount, kicking the other man in the face and sending him to the ground. “Did I?” He laughed now standing atop the panther.

I had no words. I wanted to laugh, yet the absurdity of the battle I just witnessed prevented me from doing so. I couldn't help but analyze it. ‘

It's completely impractical to use a weapon that long in the shape of a sword. A spear or halberd would probably be much better, besides that, the fact that the mounts are so terrifyingly powerful they add a whole new complexity to the… sparring… match?’

As soon as the other rider hit the ground the beasts settled and it appeared that the bout was over.

‘What stops the beasts from killing each other? If someone grabbed my hair and shoved me face-first into the mud… I wouldn't be very happy.’

The giant panther backed up and bowed its head as if apologizing to the behemoth, who just shook out like a dog, unfazed. I could hear its scales rattling all the way from the hill, making an unsettling noise of stone grinding against stone. It simply let out a low growl and turned to leave. “And they think I'm tough,” I said under my breath.