After waiting for Thea to arrive, Rei went with her to the training ground, already familiar from the last walk. -

“Just don’t be scared,” the girl wrinkled her nose, “my brother is a little ... Aloof, although you and him are even similar in this.

Nodding at the slightly odd remark from the girl, Rei followed her deeper into the compound until he saw about three dozen young guys training.

Everyone was doing something different, from shooting to hand-to-hand combat, but noticing Thea's arrival, everyone stopped and began to greet her in turn. The girl, at such attention to herself, only waved her hand in embarrassment and entered a large wooden building.

Someone in Ray's place would inevitably play a joke on the girl's popularity, but the guy just silently followed her. He only came to this place to learn how to fight. Very soon they entered a large room, inside of which it was quite spacious due to the fact that it turned out to be completely empty.

In the far corner of the hall sat a middle-aged man with short gray hair. He was carefully polishing a large dagger, made, unlike anything Rey had ever seen, of a dull gray metal that hardly reflected the light that fell on it.

“Arvus, we have arrived!” The girl screamed, although there was no need to. The guy felt that their appearance was known long before.

Looking at Ray with stern eyes, the man turned them to Thea, but now there was so much warmth and care in his eyes that the guy only smirked inwardly at such a change.

“Thea, you know I never taught anyone. The man spoke without looking up from his work. The hand moved up and down along the blade in a measured manner.

Of course, the girl knew about it, but the only way she could distract her Arvus from searching ... He could not come to terms with the loss of his younger brother, and the girl was only hurt more by the fact that he was exhausting himself like that, so when Rei told her that wants to become a warrior, she decided in this way to occupy them both.

I am sure you will find a common language. Not only are you both chosen by the Goddess, but ... - the girl could not finish, as Arvus interrupted her.

“Just because someone is marked doesn’t mean they are good for anything. If a guy is useless, I won't teach him.

But you promised! Thea was sincerely indignant.

“I promised only that I would look at him today,” Arvus waved him away, turning his eyes to Ray, “and I am here, so do not disappoint me.”

Under the powerful gaze of the warrior, the guy did not even flinch and calmly but confidently answered:

“Of course, I will do my best.

- Effort may not be enough, it also needs talent. - Saying this, Arvus pulled out several wooden balls, about one and a half centimeters in diameter. Taking three in each hand, he tossed them high above his head. They scattered in the air, but without paying attention to this, he caught them with a couple of deft movements.

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When the warrior opened his palms, each contained three balls. The girl enthusiastically watched what happened, although she did not fully understand why her brother did this, but Rei understood everything.

Arvus put the balls back into the bag and tossed it to the guy.

- Repeat.

Without saying anything, Rei took out six marbles from the bag, but noticing that there were more, he smiled inwardly and pulled out four more. Arvus saw that the guy behaved rather impudently, but he was silent by nature, so even now he just continued to observe the attempts of the young son of the forest. Although he already knew that the way he had come up with to get rid of his sister did not seem to work.

Taking five marbles in each hand, Rei tossed them into the air with a sharp but precise movement. The fact that he was an ambidexter, the guy knew from an early age, when his grandfather had just begun to teach him music. The developed fingers allowed him to be so self-confident, and coupled with the perception of the forest...

He was absolutely sure that he could catch those five marbles in his hand.

The only thing the guy didn’t take into account was that with the increase in the number of balls, their spread after the throw also increased, so instantly orienting himself, he stepped forward and threw both hands up, one more step to the side and a little back, another lunge of a half-opened palm and the guy had to bend over a little to the ground in order to catch the last ones.

Exhaling, Rei straightened his back and unclenched his palms, each of which contained five balls, as in the very beginning. He was already distracted by the joyful applause of the smiling Thea:

Now you can't refuse. Ray did even better. - She looked at her brother with a satisfied face, who stood thinking about something and grimacing a little:

“Two-armed…” Having said this, he glanced at his sister again. “I'll try to teach him something, but if he turns out to be useless, you won't blame me for kicking him out.

“You are always like this,” pouting, the girl defiantly turned away, but after a moment she answered just as cheerfully, “although I am sure that everything will be in order. Good luck to you! I will go!

Left alone with Arvus, Rey even felt a little awkward, as he just stood there and looked at him with a sullen face.

“Thea told me that because of you, she had to spend several nights with almost no sleep. The tone the man spoke with was quite threatening.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean a complaint…” – the thought never left the guy’s mouth, instead he patiently endured the pressure that the warrior put on him.

“I will definitely apologize to her. - Ray tried to defuse the situation and finally start studying and it paid off.

- Went.

Leading the guy behind him, Arvus suddenly began to speak.

- Being a hunter is an honorable mission, you not only help others find food, but also stand on their defense. If you're not brave enough to go out and look danger in the eye, then don't do it. After all, - turning to Ray, the warrior looked into his eyes, - if you show your fear to the enemy, you will become not a hunter, but a prey.

He didn't say anything else, just kept walking forward.

“Good words, but I have nothing to fear anymore.” - thought the guy, looking at the back of a strange man. If Thea was telling the truth, then his hearing was much better than Rei's current body. Though it seems to have been some kind of mutation, the usefulness of which was rather dubious, but also obvious at the same time.

“Since I am your teacher, you will fight with twin blades. - Having said this, Arvus took two green daggers from the stand, which were slightly shorter than his own, and handed them to the guy.

Ray didn't say anything. He had no idea what weapon suits him best, because in all his life in the past world, he had never held anything more dangerous than a kitchen knife in his hands. Picking up the daggers, he examined them closely and realized that the cutting edge was blunt. Training.

- Squeeze tight ... Let's start with the rack.