Arthur's Point of View

Pendragon Estate

Typhon was with me in the courtyard. “You… Seem distracted.” He told me through his huffing.

My eyes were focused on the not so little boy, but my attention was elsewhere. “Keep attacking.” I told him.

Rock had gone into the Hallow Forest again. It’d been almost two weeks now. Camoa went with him today. She liked being in her old home. However, she was also collecting some plants for her potions and room. With Rock being present, I wasn’t too worried about her, but he would be at a disadvantage if those wolves returned. Breeze and Marina had also set out already.

Rushing me, I quickly moved out of the way and deflected Typhon’s attacks. He was improving rapidly. Truly at a disturbing rate. His motivation was at an all time high after the recent events. Truthfully, I’d be more willing to pit him against the Priestesses or one of my Guardians. He’d likely still lose against Alwin and Kheri, but they still had years of experience on him. The boy was quickly closing that gap.

The back of his fist grazed my nose, and I wiggled it in surprise. “Does that count as a hit?” He asked.

I smirked at that. “It does. However, it didn’t do a lot of damage.”

He frowned at that. “Would it have done any damage if I had connected fully?”

“Probably, but it’d heal moments after.” I told him honestly. “Do even realize how strong you’ve become? You can break Alwin’s shield, which is a testament to how much force your fists wield.”

“So, are you still not going to teach me how to use a sword?” My student asked.

“I’d be better of teaching you how to use a knife or a dagger.” Given that we were taking a short break, I pulled Defiance from my back, and I held it up in front of him. “This sword is special. I wouldn’t be using it otherwise. However, I mostly use it as a whack stick.”

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Ty blinked in surprise at that. “A whack stick?”

I nodded. “Yeah. It whacks away other weapons. I’m not trained in swordsmanship. Whatever technique I have comes from my experience, but technique can also be substituted with speed and power.” Putting Defiance away, I smirked as I leaned over to roll up a snowball. “This snowball in my hands could kill someone.” I told him before I threw it with my energy infused. Slamming into the forest, you could hear trees cracking and splintering. “Just because someone has a sword, doesn’t mean they know how to use it and vice versa.”

“So, beware anyone you run into that might be an enemy.”

My brow rose at that. “Thought you’d already have realized that after your little run in with that male High Elf in Dwardew.” A nearby stick floated into my hands with the help of my eyes. “Being aware of someone’s strengths is vital.” I swung the stick around slightly. “If you didn’t know who I was and I threatened you with this twig, would you be scared? No. Of course not.”

“Then I should expect the worst and hope for the best?”

“Exactly! There are plenty people in this world who can rival me. The only reason I know who which ones to be wary of are because of my eyes. How do you plan to identify a threat?”

He thought about it for a moment before he shrugged. “I don’t know…”

Pacing in front of him, I continued. “Are you just going to wait for me to say ‘they’re the bad guy’ every single time?”

“No.”

“You need to be able to make these decisions for yourself. That being said, you’re young and haven’t had any reason to. You’ve also lived a sheltered life. Looking at body language can help identify some, but not all possible adversaries.” Lightly smacking his chest with the stick, I continued. “Thankfully, you’re a Dragon. A Dragon that seems to have killer instincts. Thus, you’ve been doing pretty good so far.”

“Thanks. It hasn’t been easy.”

“Things rarely are, but you used to be closed to Austin in terms of height. Actually, you were almost identical before we left for Dwardew. Now you’re approaching Cass’s height. Thankfully it doesn’t seem like you’re getting any growth pains.” I commented. “You’ll continue to grow as we continue your training. In another few months, if you keep going at this pace, you might be able to actually hold off a Demon Lord.” A shrug escaped my shoulders. “That’s being very optimistic.”

Typhon finally returned to his fighting stance. “That’s the goal.”

I nodded at that. “For the moment it is. Eventually, you’ll be able to kill them like me.” Throwing the stick to the side, I spoke. “Whack.”

“Fuck!” Someone cried out from where I threw the stick.

Both Ty and I turned at the sudden cry of pain. “Why is there a small child here?” I asked nonchalantly at the person holding their face.

“Asshole!” They hissed out in pain as they were hunched over.

“An angry small child.”

Typhon snorted. “It doesn’t smell like a regular child.”

I glanced at my student. “You smell children often? Might want to be careful not to dip into creepy territory.” I warned him, and he opened his mouth as he readied to reply in an offended tone. “You smelling kids aside, are you lost, child?”

Lifting his head up revealed a Dwarf that was familiar to me. “I’m not a child you bastard!”

“Oh, my god. It’s the angry Dwarf from the shop!” He rolled his eyes, annoyed. “Are you lost little one?” The Dwarf in question seemed to regret coming all this way.

A voice came in from behind him. “He asked to come here.” Allen Harlow, and his crew were coming towards my humble abode. “Said you two had unfinished business.”

“We do?” I asked with a quirked brow.