[https://i.imgur.com/sfHqwWT.jpg]

“Grandpa! Why are…?”

“Look down.”

Axton glanced down at his chest. A short sword was intercepted an inch before his heart with his handler's cane.

“Any closer, and I would have had to go to my only student's funeral.”

Goosebumps run through the swordsman’s body. He looked at his opponent. Frightening eyes were focused on the kill.

“Snap out of it!” The handler dropped Drac’s sword and whacked his head. Drac was knocked out of his battle mode. Drac covered his forehead and looked around, finally aware of his surroundings

“Awake now? That was close. Playing around, I can understand. But it got a bit serious there.”

Drac stepped back. All his exhaustion descended on the farmer, and he knelt on the ground. Muscles burned, and nerves felt raw like they were charged with lightning. Sweat rains on the pebbles below. His lungs took in as much air as they could.

Axton looked down at the winner of the fight, barely out of breath.

“Axton, you looked down on him.”

"Grandpa, I swear I didn't!"

“It is master.”

“Yes… Master.”

“How was it? Your first real battle. Your first loss.” The handler asked Axton.

Axton gripped his sword tight, his head facing the ground away from his master's judging eyes.

“Frustrating. But… Exhilarating!”

Mmm. He’s a weird one.

“The opponent, although low-skilled, was so unpredictable! The various tactics used exploited weaknesses I never knew I had!”

Cocky bastard.

“Master, are many out there as strong as him?” Axton asked the old man like a pleading puppy.

The handler stated, “Many are stronger.”

That got on Drac's nerves. Hundreds of men he cut through, he survived the Danors, and it still isn't enough.

He is right. That's why we are here. We were a big fish in a small pond. We haven't even started paddling in the big oceans yet.

Pebbles were crushed behind him. Drac turned back, and his party members ran after him. They surround him, picking him up and checking his condition.

“I am fine. I am just very tired.”

“Drac…” Marin came close and grabbed his chin. She roughly moved his face around, checking his bruise.

“Thanks. For standing back.” Drac said.

Marina let go of his chin. “Sure. You getting beat up was entertaining. Bob!”

“Yes, Marina.” A large hand healed Drac from behind.

The handler leaned on his cane, examining the group, then glimpsed at his student, who looked at the party with longing.

Axton remembers.

“Wait. Before everything, why did you attack Grandpa!?”

The handler sighed. “Take off the mask, boy.”

“Ah, I forgot. “

Drac pulled his sweat-soaked mask and lifted his black hood to reveal a shorter afro. Drac smiled, and his copy’s mouth was open wide with shock. The handler walked with gold to the waterfall.

“What are you waiting for, children? Come up!”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Marina shouted, “Why the fuck did you beat up Drac if you were just going to let us in?!”

“A test.”

Axton asked, “For him?”

“For both of you. It’s to do with why he is here to begin.”

Everyone sat on training mats with hot tea in their hands. Drac peeked at the training dummies, the broken wooden swords gathered to the side, and the large marks on the other side of the cave.

This place is another hideout for the organisation.

“So it's finally happening. I will become one with the others… “ Axton said with a sober smile.

“Not exactly. This ‘Drac’ wasn't supposed to be here. He is supposed to meet you at the capital. As it was the plan from the beginning,”

“And it's early too. The meeting date won't be for two more months. So Drac, if that's your real name, why are you here?” Axton asked. He glared at Drac with curious eyes.

Drac took a sip of the hot tea.

Tastes muddy.

“Asa.”

“The priest in training?" the handler asked, and Drac nodded.

“We have a priest?!”

“We might have a priest. He has gone missing. In the forest of the great tree.”

“Oh. That changes everything.” The handler puts his cup down.

“What was the test? To see how blacker Drac could get by bruising him." Marina asked after placing her tea away.

“Hey!” Drac shouted.

The handler ignored the mage and took a sip with both hands.

“I have heard of your excursions in Fourshire. A copy that was not trained in the sword and aura arts defeated the Danors. The Danors may not be at the pinnacle, but they are by no means weak. I wanted to see how a copy moulded by experience alone could measure up to one that was tailored into one of the greatest swordsmen of this generation.”

“Grandpa…”

"Sadly, the boy I spent my twilight years teaching, lost to an unskilled assassin with neat tricks.”

The geriatric bastard keeps talking shit.

“But that's my fault for keeping him here, cooped up in this cave.” The handler stood up with his cane. His student stands by his side, helping him up.

“I thought you weren't ready to leave. I thought you would break like glass at the slightest hardship.”

Axton let his old master lean on him and was brought to a higher chair. “There is no way I would break. Master. It's like you always say; ‘Like the best steel, bend under pressure’.”

The handler nodded in agreement.

"How'd we do?" asked Drac. Axton and he stared at the handler with bated breath.

"Good enough." Axton and Drac sighed in relief. Drac smiled to himself.

From a man of that calibre? Crossing the Great Tree Forest may be achievable.

“So Drac. So you’ve come to combine with Axton and venture into the woods of wonder.”

“Yes.” Drac sipped the tea again. “But only if Axton would allow.”

“What do you mean?” Axton said as he walked back to the mats to sit in front of his fellow copy.

“It has to be a choice you need to make for yourself. How we combine... Your life isn't yours anymore. We will forever be entangled. I am giving you the freedom to choose your fate. A privilege Hood and I never got.”

“Hood?”

Drac let go.

“Hood is me.”

“Oh shit!”

“Language, Axton.”

“Yes, master. Wow, the difference is quite striking.”

Hood smirked. “How was it like losing to such an atrocious form?”

“It was fighting like a drunkard.”

“How do you even know what a Druckard looks like, you caveman?”

“Looking at my first one in front of me. Moves so sloppy, I figured a baby took control of your body.”

Hood gripped his sword. “Wanna see the sloppy moves that nearly stabbed your heart!?”

The handler flared his aura. It filled the room, making the air heavy.

“Stop.”

Drac regained control. “Sorry about that. Hood gets a bit testy when you insult how he fights.”

“Are you going to fight again? Bob can't keep healing you lot when you squabble.” Marina leaned on Bob's large back while he read a book. Flida sat beside her, nervously drinking her tea. Drac noticed Axton staring at his blonde friend.

Marina caught him looking and said, “First time seeing a woman?” Axton turned away and blushed. “Haha! Drac, he even blushes like you!”

A weird feeling crept through Drac’s mind.

Jealousy?

Drac coughed. “Hood and I combined due to strange circumstances, but we still have our egos. You will not disappear, but we will be stuck together for good.”

Axton looked down at his wooden sword, weighing his options.

Drac. You've been to Foushire, haven’t you? How is it?”

"Smelly and crowded, the nobles were a nightmare. But the people…” Drac smiled. "I'll come back for sure.”

“Sounds amazing… The forest of great trees, you said. Are there elves that live there?"

“I don’t know. There is only one way to find out.”

Drac looked into the swordsman's anxious eyes. Axton turned to his master for an answer.

“This is a choice only you can make.”

Drac asked a final time. “What do you choose?”

Axton leaned back on his hands and looked up at the stalactites above. He twisted around to see the sword marks on the far side of the cave.

He stood up with a wooden sword in hand.

He charged up his aura, condensing the energy to his sword edge. His right arm flickered out of sight, then back at his side. A cross of bright white aura flew to the other end of the cave, destroying the wall of marks. The cave wall collapsed, revealing the lush and green ravine outside.

The swordsman looked back at his master, who stood up in astonishment. A wide smile grew on his face.

“I am ready.”