"Is he dead?" Colt quietly asks.

"Colton," Thomas says, the calm of his voice laced with slight impatience. "You can see Max breathing. He is breathing heavily."

"Oh," Colt says. "Is he sick? He's also soaked in sweat. Evan!"

"He's not sick," Thomas states. "Max didn't sleep last night and he got up before any of you. He spent the last couple of hours training with a sword and martial arts. Initially on his own, then Benjamin joined him for half an hour and pressed him hard. He's resting now."

"Why's he not wearing his tunic?" Colt asks. "He always does."

You spent several days seeing me without a tunic after mine was burned up by a mega flame slime, Colt. I also don't usually wear it while we're training with swords and martial arts even in the fields.

Sometimes, I feel like Colt is just an idiot, but I can't say that because he's a prince.

"He didn't sleep at all last night?" Aaron asks.

"Max doesn't sleep with other people around," Colt tells him. "I'm not sure how he sleeps in the city, but if he falls asleep in the fields and someone gets within, like, a hundred yards of him, he wakes up. Thomas, doesn't that mean our training today is likely to cause him to sleep? If he didn't sleep at all last night?"

I can go a few days without sleep, even if I do a lot of running around. That was before I started building up stamina and endurance. At least, as long as I rest a fair amount throughout the time.

"It's breakfast time," Lord Benjamin announces. "And after breakfast, we'll be doing magic lessons. Max, come on over!"

I force myself to sit up and walk over to join the others near the fire, feasting on the breakfast served. As soon as it's done, Colt, Aaron, Cyrus, Nicholas, Lady Elise, Peter, Peter's party, and I are all subjected to magic training by Thomas, Lady Elise's bodyguards, Lord Benjamin, and his team.

Lord Benjamin works with me, which makes me really nervous. He's firm with his words, but explains things carefully and doesn't comment when I slip up on my speech and talk normally rather than the more 'common' way of speaking. That's at least a relief, but I think he's holding back on what he's teaching me.

Most of my lesson focuses on improving my spells and variations. Part of why I'm nervous is because we leave camp for it. Well, we're all outside of camp, but Lord Benjamin takes me away from the others as well. They're still visible to me, but I'm still uncomfortable.

Well, the discomfort is a running thing right now, but being pulled aside alone makes me more so. What if he creates a barrier to hide us from view of the others, and that barrier he used last night to conceal sounds? He could beat me really hard and no one would see it.

All he does, though, is teach me something that kind of necessitated moving away from the others.

The spell is called [Screaming Light], and it's a Tier III light spell. At the core of it, it's just a modified [Air Bolt] that also contains a [Light Bolt] mixed into it. Rather than just putting holes into the [Air Bolt] strategically like I figured out how to do a few days ago, this one causes the bolt itself to scream.

It's a manipulation of the air to create sound, much like I do with [Flashbang Bomb]. The manipulation causes the bolt to 'scream' as it flies, hence the "Screaming" in its name. Rather than being tinted like air magic is, the whole thing shines with light as it flies. Once it reaches a certain distance, the spell 'explodes', shooting light out in all directions.

Lord Benjamin teaches me not just the spell, but how to alter the sound it screams as well as the color of the light. As he does, he explains to me what the different variations signal. Apparently, the kingdom actually uses this spell to do signals between different groups, such as when scouting things out or when parties are spread out.

Which makes sense.

They probably use some alchemical imitation of it in most cases, since most parties probably don't have someone who can use both light and air magics.

"Lord Benjamin?" I dare ask him a question. "Are you teaching me this stuff because I'm going to be asked to help the kingdom with battles and scouting and stuff?"

"Yes," Lord Benjamin answers. "We know you plan on leaving and exploring the world, seeking wonders. However, if things happen while you're here, you may be asked to help out. If you accept the request, then these signals might be needed. Though really, Thomas wasn't going to teach you the signals for another week. I'm teaching them to you now because you need a less destructive and explosive way to send out signals. This spell is also cheaper than [Flashbang Bomb]s and more descriptive. Had you known this spell yesterday, which variation would you have used in place of the bomb spells? Cast it with a twenty-foot distance, horizontal. Ten-foot burst."

Thinking on the variations he just taught me, I turn and cast a golden bolt that emits a low hum. The spell quickly shoots forward, crossing the twenty feet almost immediately. As soon as it reaches the limit, the spell bursts, creating six legs radiating out from the center, each one five feet in length for a total of three ten-foot lines. The star-like formation slowly turns for a few moments before the spell fades.

"Healing needed," Lord Benjamin nods. "Good choice. And if you felt you were still in danger and needed backup?"

Lord Benjamin runs me through various scenarios, confirming that I picked the right signal when I do and correcting me when I pick the wrong one. A few times, he corrects my mistakes on the signals themselves rather than which I one used. Like when I did dark green instead of bright green for a signal.

Why is he being so nice to me? His words are calm and soft, and though he's firm with what he says, he's not rude. Lord Benjamin is just… stating things.

Once our lessons in magic end, we're all subjected to non-magical combat lessons, though I'm given a pass after an hour for reading and writing lessons. Thomas says it's because of me training for a couple of hours before breakfast, and one of the men from Lord Benjamin's party is the one who teaches me writing today. He doesn't teach me as big of words as Thomas usually does, which feels weird.

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My lesson only lasts for an hour, then I join the group for martial arts. That was mostly because I was starting to feel more uncomfortable and wanted to rejoin, and I'm really glad the guy let me.

I'm glad when lunch finally comes and we get to take a break. This afternoon is going to consist of a lot of hunting, according to what Thomas told me earlier. A lot more moving around. I'm starting to doubt my ability to keep going by the end of today. Tomorrow is going to be hell.

"Max," Thomas says once we finish lunch. "I want you to stand back during the hunts. We're all going as a group, and I want Colton and his friends to get Experience right now. I've got something for you later."

He says that now, but we'll probably 'run out of time' for my hunts before tonight.

"Okay," I say.

"Let's go, everyone!" Thomas calls out. "We'll be back tonight, and we can leave our camp here!"

Isn't that unsafe? What if monsters attack it? Or worse – monsters could move into our camp. The tent and bedroll I bought were high-quality purchases, and I don't want to give them up just yet. Unfortunately, I don't have a choice in leaving everything behind.

The entire group leaves camp, and twenty minutes later, we come across the first monster. Thomas directs Aaron, Cyrus, and Nicholas to attack it, and after the battle ends, he gives them tips and advice based on how they fought. Well, not just him but Lady Elise's guards do as well, and even Lord Benjamin adds some advice in.

Our next encounter, Colt is instructed to fight on his own and the same lesson is given. We don't stop much after the fights, just long enough to rest for a moment before continuing on. The corrections and advice are given as we walk. Our pace is rather fast, too, and we rarely go more than ten minutes before encountering another monster or group of monsters. Every time, it's either Colt or his friends who are instructed to fight the beast or beasts.

Though due to my stamina issues, we do have to stop after every few fights. But at least I can rest during the fights as well. That helps us not have to stop for me as often, which probably makes everyone else happy.

Almost three and a half hours into this, I start to recognize the area we're in. I tend to travel pretty far from the city when looking for stuff to kill, and running as fast as I can (without running into things) puts me at a much faster speed than we traveled at yesterday.

"I think I fought some goblins around here."

Whoops, that wasn't meant to be out loud.

"You did, "Thomas says. "You asked me this morning about the outpost. We're still a good forty miles from the edge of the forest, and the outpost you took down is about a mile in this direction. Since you wanted to visit it for whatever reason you have, I thought we could go past it a little bit, then loop around. The route I planned out will take us by the outpost, then about an hour later, we'll go by an area where we can track down a monster I think will be a good fight for you."

Thomas actually decided to let us check out the ruined outpost? I didn't tell him why I wanted to go, just that I was curious about it and wanted to stop there. Whatever reason Elm had, the odd kid did seem to know stuff. What unexpected thing will be there?

"I've already gained two Levels today," Colt says. "I'm pretty happy with the hunts so far. How many more fights will I get? This is the first time I've been allowed to fight so much stuff, Thomas. And nothing was really a challenge for me."

"Colton," Thomas says. "I am not allowed to let you fight stronger things. The stuff you want to fight can put you in real danger."

"By your perspective," Colt huffs. "Max fares just fine against stronger foes. He's repeatedly done fights that earned him a Level or more on their own. And Aaron, Cyrus, and Nicholas have all gained more than a Level from a couple of different fights because of how tough those battles were."

"Colton," Lord Benjamin says. "After we return to the city, I'll talk with Father and convince him to let you fight stronger things. He's just worried he'll lose you after the scare we had with the Arcane Convergence shortly after you were born. Now, I do have to say that I'm excited to see Max fight, myself. He pushes himself hard and I know he's got talent in addition to the skill he's built up."

"I'm not that good."

"You killed a crystal voidstone bear all by yourself," Lord Benjamin says. "Yes, you had to enhance your body a lot – and probably did overkill on that – but you still managed it. The first time I fought one, my entire team worked together to take it down. So you definitely did a good job on that, Max."

I'm not sure how to respond to that. Is he just trying to get me to trust him by complimenting me, or is he telling me his honest feelings? Considering I'm a seven-affinity boy from the slums, I'm certain it's the former. Why else would he compliment me? He wants me to see him as someone I can like and trust.

Colt talks with his friends a little, mostly about the stuff he's wanted to fight but which Thomas refused to let him. Lady Elise and Peter talk about something as well, while Lord Benjamin talks quietly with his party, though he occasionally looks over at me.

Then the outpost I attacked comes into view and we all stop and stare.

It's been rebuilt, with goblins patrolling on the platforms running around the inside of the top of the wall. The majority of the goblins we can see have reddish-orange crystals in their magic items, though there are a few with green ones instead. Runes glow along the walls as well, some sort of protective barrier, maybe?

"What the hell?" Thomas asks as several of the mages weave an illusion around us to hide us from the goblins. "This was destroyed! And those goblins – those are from another kingdom. The air goblin kingdom we suspected doesn't have renegades, this is a joint effort."

"It is," Lord Benjamin says. "And they've never rebuilt their outposts before. We'll need to check the others and see if they were rebuilt as well. This can only mean that the attack is still on."

"First things first," Thomas says. "I'm not sensing a Goblin King in there, which means this group is good enough to take on the outpost. Benjamin, your party and I will handle the trolls and stronger goblins. Elise, you and your guards will focus on the boars. Max, Colton, Aaron and Nicholas, you focus on the weaker goblins. Cyrus, Owen, and Dana, you three take care of injuries."

"No," I surprise myself by saying.

"What?" Thomas looks at me, and I find myself shaking a little in nervousness.

They say I can trust them, that they won't punish me for it. It's time for them to prove that they won't. If they agree and let me do this, then they have been honest with me this whole time. If they refuse or they try to punish me for it, then I'll know I must remove them from my life.

Not kill them, no. I'll just… stop interacting with them. Go somewhere else to train, maybe leave on my journey sooner.

Take a deep breath, Max. You're a seven-affinity born under special circumstances. You are more special than any of them. You have already made something of a name for yourself. That's why people look at you and whisper about you back at the guild. They can't just off you, Max. There would be a full investigation by the guild.

After all, it's already known there that you are powerful and you are advancing quickly. If you died or disappeared with this many powerful people around? It would be suspicious. They wouldn't care that you're a kid from the slums.

They'd care that you were a powerful kid who consistently killed powerful monsters.

My pep talk to myself done, I meet Thomas's gaze.

"I said 'no'," I tell him. "I demolished this thing once before. I'm the one who wanted to check out this place. You can be my backup."

[The Arcane Prince] Earned!