A metallic noise echoed in the cemetery.

Lug's pocket was heavy.

With each step, it was swinging up and down.

It was filled with coins and zipped shut.

The Wise One had given Lug three objectives.

To join the soldiers and train with them until he could defeat the commander.

To go to the circus and become an acrobat.

And finally, to be able to move without making the coins in his pocket ring.

This last goal was - according to the Wise One - the most difficult to achieve.

For Lug, the most insurmountable thing was to defeat the commander.

That was why he walked very slowly toward the red tents that marked the entrance to the camp.

He went to see the two guards, stationed as usual in the middle of the path.

"Hi, I'd like to see the commander." Lug said nonchalantly.

"Commander? You follow." they said in a very basic English, while signaling him to move forward.

As he entered the camp, Lug looked around for the first time.

The last time he had been here, he had been so stunned that he had not even paid attention to his surroundings.

There were soldiers everywhere, wearing beautiful silver armor with dark red tunics, sometimes black.

The few tents that were open were a magnificent sight.

Animal skins covered the ground, torches shone on beds made of straw and topped with thick down.

The tables were covered with food.

This did not look like a makeshift camp.

It looked like these soldiers lived better than kings.

"It won't be that bad to spend time here after all." Lug thought.

When he arrived at the commander's tent, the two soldiers who were guiding him motioned for him to enter, then returned to their position.

This tent was much larger than the others.

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Lug remembered the last time he had entered.

"I was so scared, I was so lost." he thought wistfully.

He entered, his psychic body dense.

He could feel the animal skin under his feet, the warmth of the fire from the torches placed on the wooden pillars.

At the back of the room a man was sitting on a large chair.

He was seated, yet he was already taller than Lug.

"I thought I had exaggerated my memories, but no. He is indeed a giant." thought Lug as he saw this titan.

The giant looked at Lug with his piercing eyes.

He rubbed his beard, then began to speak.

"You look familiar." he said, in a powerful low voice.

"We had already met a few months ago. I was impaled on a spear, remember?" said Lug, mimicking a spear with both hands.

The ghost started to laugh loudly.

"Ahahahah, the half dead man! I thought your energy was strange for a ghost. But something changed, I didn't even recognize you." he said, his face lit up. Distrust had given way to joy.

"Yes, I have been training. And now I'd like to continue my progress by joining your army."

"My army... You think you can do that? Very well, I still have work to do and too few arms."

The commander stood up.

His huge body explained the inordinate size of his tent.

He was almost touching the ceiling with his head.

"Xam!" he shouted.

Lug froze in fear. The commander’s scream was so loud that Lug had to cover his ears.

Suddenly, a ghost appeared right in front of the tent.

A familiar face.

Xam, the ghost he had met naked by the road, then as a fighter and boxing match winner.

He was now dressed in armor and a red tunic.

He had placed his helmet under his arm, as a sign of respect.

He was not the same ghost anymore, he looked proud and hardened.

His look was different.

"Take this living man with you, you will take care of his training and find him a job. You may go." said the giant, searching through the papers he had left on his table.

Lug left the tent and followed Xam.

The latter had not dropped a single word to Lug.

"He didn't recognize me?" he asked himself.

Lug approached a little more.

"Hey, Xam. It's me, don't you recognize me?"

The ghost stared at Lug.

"Of course I do, what a question." answered Xam.

"Ah, so... How are you? How have you been?"

Xam, who had put his helmet back on, tapped the breastplate of his armor with his fingers.

"Lug, I'm glad to see you. But I don't want you to blame me for what you're about to go through. Okay?"

Lug kept his smile, but deep inside he felt a strong urge to run away.

But he pulled himself together.

"You know, I've been through a lot in the graveyard. I was attacked, I almost died." Lug answered, holding his stomach.

Xam looked at him carefully and said.

"I hope so, you'll need at least that much for what's ahead of you."

Then he turned around and continued forward.

Lug followed him to the end of the camp.

Behind the last tents, a circle was marked on the ground.

"You'll have to earn your soldier's armor, Lug." Xam said.

He began to remove his armor.

He laid his helmet, breastplate and tunic on the ground in an orderly fashion.

He stood shirtless and stepped into the circle drawn on the floor.

"Come on, Lug. You can touch ghosts, right?" asked Xam.

"Yes." Lug replied as he stepped forward.

"Good, we'll fight. You'll have to stay in this circle until you can take me down." Xam said, pointing to the ground.