Trillia had been led to the outskirts of the camp. A few simple training dummies made of wood and rope had been set up. In addition, several large bricks were present. They seemed as though they were nothing more than increasingly large-sized cut bricks. Tormash probably had a minotaur pull them up from the ground and shape them. Minotaurs were quite adept with earth and stone manipulation once they were adults.

Ba'Shoon moved to one of the medium-sized stones and began carving large runes in it Trillia recognized a few as runes that reinforced something. Tormash led her to one of the training dummies.

"So. From what I'm told, you were able to carve runes onto your enemy. The runes were then activated and took effect. Did you get any sort of skills for that?"

"No. I don't really remember a lot of it. I just... I sort of just blanked out and panicked."

Trillia seemed a bit ashamed of that. Warriors weren't really supposed to panic in the middle of battle, after all. Tormash ruffled her hair.

"Don't worry. We are all prone to panic when we are young and inexperienced. How much do you know about mana, runes, and the synergy the two have?"

Trillia took an hour or so to recount mostly everything she knew. At least everything she could remember off the top of her head. Tormash nodded along.

"Good. That matches up with what I know as well. So let's start with something basic. I want you to take your rapier and practice against this dummy. The rapier isn't a tool of brute strength like my axe is. That means you need to be accurate. Once you gain a class, you'll improve significantly, but it never hurts to have more general skills."

Trillia stood in front of the dummy. It was only four or so feet tall. That was nearly twice Trillia's own tiny stature. Pulling her rapier startled her. She hadn't drawn or used the weapon since the fight, but she had allocated the stats for all her most recent levels. It was a bit surprising just how much of a difference the stats and skill levels had really made.

She took a few moments to familiarize herself with her weapon again, going through the drills Amara had shown her. Starting slow and picking up speed as she went. Once she felt ready, she took her place in front of the training dummy. Tormash continued.

"So for most humanoids, like orcs and minotaurs, our weak points are the neck, the eyes, and most joints. A lot of armor you will face won't be heavily enchanted. Something like Ba'Shoon's dress isn't common. It's also very expensive. Her dress because of its enchantments, leaving only her face and neck open to attack. The otherwise weak joints are covered by the cloth."

Trillia listened intently. Tormash kneeled next to her, removing his armor and showing her how his arms moved, twisted, and flexed. Pointing out, with his armor equipped, where the weak points were. The thought came to Trillia that it would be incredibly difficult to hit such small targets in the middle of a fight, especially against someone as tall and fast as Tormash. Tormash moved back to the dummy, showing her that the rope that bound it together was roughly in the same place as she would need to strike to disable a humanoid.

After a few more minutes of instruction, he pushed mana into the training dummy. The thing came to life, shambling towards Trillia with its arms raised to bludgeon her. Thankfully the thing was pitifully slow. Trillia's agility easily let her outmaneuver it. The rapier lashed out, poking at the strands of rope. After a few exchanges, Tormash called for her to stop, using some skill to stop the dummy as well.

"You're just using thrusts. Why?"

Trillia took a moment to catch her breath before responding.

"Mom said that rapiers were most potent when thrusting and that against most monsters I fight their skin and chitin will be too powerful for me to slash."

Tormash thought on that a moment before nodding.

"She's correct. This isn't a monster, though. Rather, what this training dummy is simulating is a humanoid. The ropes will eventually break with repeated thrusting attacks. A rapier isn't well suited to cutting. At least not compared to a sword or scimitar. May I?"

Trillia nodded, extending her rapier carefully to him. Tormash took it, twirling it in his hand, letting his skills grow accustomed to the feel of the weapon.

"So, a lot of your damage can be done at the very tip of your blade with a thrust attack. In battle, this is going to let you keep your distance and maneuver around your opponent's blade and other defenses to strike weak and critical points. However, sometimes, like with this rope dummy, you want to slice through instead of thrust. You want about a third of your blade on point to do so. Like this."

Tormash moved to the dummy and walked through a slicing motion a few times. Using a feint or side step to get in close. At first, it was only a simple slicing move from the start. Then he showed her how to thrust and slice on retreat. It was a more dangerous move because you put weight into the blade as you also tried to move back. Trillia was quickly seeing why the blade relied on intuition or wisdom for use. While thrusting was certainly effective against monsters, utilizing some of the things Tormash was showing her would require a keen sense of timing.

The next four hours were like that, back and forths with the dummy and Tormash offering instruction. It wasn't as physically exhausting as the training with Amara, but it was far more mentally exhausting. Trillia finally raised her hands and shook her head.

"Sorry. I just. I can't think anymore. This is too much, too fast."

The little girl plopped on the ground. Her rapier once more in its sheath. Headaches were coming far more frequently. Trillia wished they wouldn't.

"I think you're trying to learn too much at once, Trillia. Like it or not, you're still a kid. I'll happily teach you. For now, pick two or three things and focus on them. Make sure you make some time for a hobby. No training or trying to acquire skills or learning. Just something you find fun. If that thing happens to level your skills, that's fine, but I don't want that to be your focus, ok?"

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Trillia dug in the dirt with a finger. Disappointed at the words she was hearing.

"But, I wanna learn it all. I wish my head worked better and wasn't always hurting. Do you think Mom is gonna be disappointed?"

Tormash raised a brow.

"Why don't we go and ask her?"

Trillia froze. Her eyes dilated as memories flooded through her mind. Her breathing became short and rapid. The thought of seeing her mother and the monster that loomed behind her was taking over. A soothing voice cut through the chaos that immediately began to take over.

" [Bestow Serenity] "

Ba'Shoon's spell took hold. Immediately calming her down. Trillia was growing more and more frustrated with her head by the day.

"It's not fair! I just want it to work like it used to! I hate this feeling. I hate being scared of Mom! It's not fair!"

Screaming at no one in particular. Tears formed in her eyes, her emotions waging against the spell, rapidly fluctuating between extreme emotional duress and a calm mind. Tormash and Ba'Shoon each sat to one side of her, wrapping an arm around her. Tormash spoke softly.

"It's ok, Trillia. It's ok to be scared. It's ok to be angry."

Trillia curled up next to Tormash. Closing her eyes. She just wanted to feel normal. She had promised Amelia she wouldn't get disheartened anymore because of her [Runt] trait, but there were so many other things. She didn't understand why her head saw the monster behind her mother. She didn't understand why she couldn't train and learn many things at once. She just wanted to forget all of the bad things and hide.

Tormash squeezed her gently. They sat like that for a solid twenty minutes before Trillia finally calmed down. Speaking so softly, the two around her could barely hear.

"I'm sorry. That I'm messing up again."

Tormash gave a soft sigh. Trillia wanted to run away and cry again. Her brother stood and lifted her up in his arms.

"Enough. No more training or learning for a few days. For the next few days, we're going to eat and just explore the camp and the city growing around the minotaurs. You, Bashoon, and I can go to the Mana Rift so you can see it. You're working too hard, Trillia. I don't give a damn what the other orcs say. This stress isn't good."

Trillia was confused, not sure if he was angry or not. She liked training, but she didn't like the headaches or the fear. Still, she trusted Tormash. She was beginning to trust Ba'Shoon. Tormash looked to Ba'Shoon now.

"Go ask Princess Amelia to meet us at the central campfire. We're going to get some food and go on a little picnic, I think. I know a good spot that shouldn't have any threats."

Ba'Shoon nodded, giving Trillia's hand a little squeeze before she made her way to find Amelia. Tormash let Trillia ride on his shoulders as they walked through the camp. Her arms wrapped around his neck. Her head sat on top of his. After five or ten minutes of walking, she was already feeling much better. Most of her anxiety and worry about combat and failing, as replaced with envy. This is what it was like to be tall.

"Why is everyone so darn tall? Do you think being a runt is gonna make me short forever?"

Tormash kept walking towards the central bonfire, one hand holding her feet, the other idly swinging at his side.

"I don't think you'll ever be as tall as Mom is. She's the tallest female orc I've ever seen. From what she and King Cordaos have told me, you grow quite a bit when you're turned into a [Pact-Bound] creature. Mom used to only be six feet. King Cordaos was only around nine or ten feet."

"How do you become one of those?"

"A deity has to accept you as a devout follower and offer you a pact. Once you accept you are changed. They get some of the experience you earn, you get a big boost to your stats and simply grow larger."

Trillia had a new plan. Find a deity, become [Pact-Bound]. That would solve her height issue for sure! Plus, she wouldn't be weak then, right?

"Think Mom will introduce us to the deity she made a pact with? So we can become tall and strong?"

Tormash chuckled, the motion rumbling Trillia atop his head.

"I'm not sure. I've met King Cordaos, Lord Stas, and Sir Brutus. I've never had the chance to meet Queen Alliyah, though. Nor have I met the god she formed a pact with. From what the others have said it's not a meeting you'd ever really want."

That confused Trillia. Why wouldn't you want to be tall and strong? That made no sense.

"Why? Doesn't everyone want to be stronger?"

Tormash shook his head, causing Trillia to grip tighter to not be thrown off.

"It's not about the strength. One of the other side-effects is that you don't really age. Most creatures stop aging when they reach the three or four-hundred mark. Or at least slow down a lot. But forming a pact means you don't age. Mom has had to watch as dozens of her friends have grown old and died around her. Us orcs often die pretty early from fighting. But even then, old age for us is seventy or eighty, I think. Mom is hundreds of years old think of how many orcs she's had to watch grow old and die."

Trillia was silent for a long time. That seemed... really sad and lonely to her. Thinking about Amelia dying of old age while Trillia was still young. Having to watch Tormash, Ralrouk, her father, and old man Lurog grow old and die scared her.

"I don't want to be scared of Mom anymore... I don't want to get old and die and leave her alone, Tormash."

Tormash gave her feet a little encouraging squeeze.

"That's why she and King Cordaos are such good friends. They've both had to deal with that type of loss. It's why Mom pushes Dad and us to level and get strong. Part of it is to help us, of course. But I think part of it is because she doesn't want to watch her husband and kids grow old and die."

Trillia felt a knot in her stomach.

"Do you think that's why Mom doesn't interact with most of the warriors? Except to offer advice? I see Dad eat and drink with them a lot, but... Mom just sort of keeps to herself unless she needs to be the Chieftain."

The two arrived at the central bonfire. There were a few groups here and there chatting. Mostly it was a good meeting spot. Tormash spoke softly so as not to disturb the others.

"I think so. After all, watching a friend die is a lot harder than watching a stranger you sort of know die."

Trillia sat on his shoulders in silence, deep in thought. She wanted to get over the fear stopping her from seeing her mother even more now. Not only for her sake but also because she didn't want to waste the time they had together. If Trillia couldn't level fast enough or find a nice deity, then she'd die, and her mother would have to bury her. Tormash broke her out of the downward spiral.

"Thankfully, seventy or eighty years is a long time. I'm only nineteen. I'm already level one-o-four. To be fair, Ralrouk and I fight a lot more than most orcs. The point remains, if you fight a lot or find another good way to level, I think you'll be just fine. Who knows, maybe you'll get to meet some deity who wants to form a pact with you."

Twenty years to hit level one hundred, basically. That seemed reasonable to Trillia. Maybe there was some sort of skill or spell she could learn as well. That would make it so she wouldn't age. Tormash shifted from side to side.

"Stop thinking about skills and leveling. I told you we are not training today, ok?"

Trillia nodded, doing her absolute best not to think of all the things she wanted to know. Another distraction thankfully appeared as Amelia and Ba'Shoon came into view of the central campfire. Amelia waved at them as she approached.

"Lady Ba'Shoon told me that you wish to take us somewhere?"

Tormash nodded.

"Indeed, I think you and Trillia could use a little break. With everything you've both been through recently. I know a good spot to have a nice meal. I also want to show the mana rift to Trillia since she has never seen it."

Amelia nodded, a smile forming on her face. Tormash continued.

"Come on, let's go get some vegetables and herbs for the trip. I can hunt something on the way there for meat."

Tormash began leading them to the provisions tent.