Soon, they were back at the beach, sitting at the outdoor tavern. Over the counter, Jon watched the cook stick several objects on a wooden stick and left it on the grill.

“Do you want one?” the cook asked Jon when he noticed him staring.

Jon quickly nodded. He then turned back to the action.

Sabez was talking with Mercy and Hector further up on the beach.

Eventually, Mercy turned away and made her way back to Jon.

“I’m going back towards the forest with Tallow,” she said. “We’re gonna train more.”

“Okay,” Jon said.

“You should stay here,” Mercy said. “Is that fine?”

Jon nodded.

“...I’ll miss you,” she added.

“Ah, really?" Tallow asked, "It’ll only be for a few minutes.” She was leaning on the side of the building.

“You're challenging me already?” Mercy asked. She and Tallow walked off the beach towards the forest, still trading insults and threats.

Does that mean they’re getting along? Jon wondered. Their voices had lost the edge that had existed in their earlier spats. He was surprised that letting them attack each other had actually solved the problem. Sabez was right to tell him to stay back.

He’s smart. Jon thought. I want to be smart and helpful.

Now, Sabez was talking to just Hector, who actually seemed to be listening to everything being told. His face didn’t scrunch up with anger, much like it usually did when he had to listen to someone.

He wondered why Hector always seemed to be bothered by people. Despite his serious demeanor, Hector did always seem to care about everyone and their safety. Whenever he yelled at Mercy, it was because he was worried about her.

Wasn’t it?

Eventually, Hector drew his sword and took several steps back. Jon wondered what was going to happen next.

Hector started waving his sword around. As he did, streaks of flame erupted from the ground around him. As Hector continued to move his sword, the streaks made different patterns through the air, before eventually merging into a single large pillar.

Jon was impressed. Most of Hector’s flame movements often consisted of direct attacks to whatever he was swinging at. Now it seemed Hector could control large amounts of fire without necessarily directing it.

Hector swing his sword down. The fire brought itself down to the floor extinguishing just close enough to Sazbez, whose cloak bellowed as the flames fizzled out in front of him.

Jon expected Hector to be excited. Instead, Hector threw his sword down onto the floor in frustration and walked away.

He slouched in the chair next to Jon.

“This is a whole bunch of bull…” he muttered. Jon had no idea if it was meant for him to hear or not.

Mallory suddenly ran up to the chairs.

“Did you do that?” Mallory asked. “Cause that was amazing!”

“...It’s not fair…” Hector said. He still didn’t seem to be looking at anything or anyone.

Jon shook in his chair when Hector turned to him.

“...I wish I had a gun like you,” Hector said. “It would be a lot simpler.”

“Well, Jon’s a simple guy, with simple goals,” Mallory said. ‘You’re not.”

“I’m… I’m simple. I’m normal, aren’t I?” Hector sat up properly on the stool. "I mean, I may be talented in a number of very specific and particular areas..."

"Uh-huh..." Mallory nodded with his mouth wide open, "Sure."

"I'm serious," Hector insisted. "Why do I have to be stinkin’ special.”

“I didn’t say you were special because of your family,” Mallory said. “You’re special to us.”

“...Thanks…” Hector said. “I don’t know why, but that makes me feel really good and really horrible at the same time."

The cook then put the plate with the skewered food on the table. Jon was excited to be able to start eating, but Hector had immediately reached for it and picked it up.

Jon watched as Hector ate the skewer absentmindedly. Jon was looking forward to it, but he decided that Hector needed it more than he did.

Meanwhile, Hector began to speak through his food-filled mouth.

“I wunda’ wha' ma sista' is gonna mae us do afterward... “I mean, tha’s Amalia-”

“Jon!” Even far out on the beach, Jon heard Sabez's call and could see that Sabez held his hand up next to his head.

“It’s your turn,” Mallory said. “Good luck.”

Jon didn’t know why he needed good luck. He was intrigued to see Hector in such a vulnerable moment, but it probably made sense not to keep Sabez waiting.

Jon stood up and went to Sabez.

“Hello, Jon,” Sabez said. “I hope you’ve been enjoying your evening.”

Jon nodded. He looked out towards the sunset.

He lived on the farm, so the sun had always set behind the trees of the forests, and it rose from the mountains on the other side of the land. Here, it sat on the horizon, right where the water was.

“That… is where my homeland resides,” Sabez said, taking note of the direction Jon was staring at. “It feels so far away, and yet, the water makes me feel connected to it. I know that as soon as I pass the sea, I shall be where I feel most at peace once more.”

Jon understood the sentiment. His home was probably closer, and yet, he felt so far away from it. He had seen so many things that happened in between the farm and where he was at now, normal felt forever away.

Stolen story; please report.

Suddenly, Mallory walked into the picture. He picked up Hector's sword.

"Excuse me," he said before he stepped away from the beach.

Sabez finally broke the silence after some more water-watching.

“Pardon my wistfulness. Shall we start?”

Jon nodded.

“Alright. Say someone was standing in front of you. Like about where I’m standing right now."

Sabez stood just a few feet away from Jon.

“What would you do?” Sabez asked.

“Uh…” Jon took his gun off of his back.

“Show me,” Sabez urged.

Jon gestured with the gun towards Sabez.

He sighed. “You can shoot the gun at me, Jon. It’s fine.”

Jon nodded. If anyone would be able to handle a shot, it would be Sabez.

Jon raised the gun and fired.

He was stunned to see Sabez in front of him.

His hand was weighing the barrel of the gun down, pointing it towards the floor.

Jon couldn’t believe it. The fizzles of the blast still continued past them, and Sabez’s cape wavered from the shot.

“That… was fast…” Jon said.

“Very fast,” Sabez said, “but it’s not all about speed.”

He let go of the gun. Only then did Jon realize how hard it was to pull his gun out of Sabez’s grip.

He felt scared. It wasn’t because of Sabez, since Jon felt that Sabez would never hurt him intentionally,

It was the fact that Jon would have been hurt had it been anyone else he was shooting at.

“...Cool your head,” Sabez said. “And check your feet.”

Jon looked down. His foot was wavering over Sabez’s.

“Had I really attacked you, you would have stepped on my foot and used it to move out of the way.

Jon didn’t know he would do that.

“Of course, it is not good to rely solely on instinct,” Sabez said, “but you seem to have picked up quite a lot from watching your teammates fight.”

Picked up? Jon had watched Mercy and Hector fight a lot, but he never considered himself good enough to replicate any of what they did.

“Don’t think too hard, Jon,” Sabez said. “You have good instincts. Let’s just train you to think more and we’ll worry about the other things later.”

Jon nodded.

“Well, first, we can talk about your place in battle,” Sabez said. “If things were too bad, where would your place be?”

Where would Jon stand in battle?

“Far away,” Jon said. “Where I can shoot things.”

“That is part of the right answer,” Sabez responded. “But I don't think you should restrict yourself to staying out of harm's way.”

He patted Jon on the back.

“During our battle, I was sure to watch your movements in and around the battlefield,” Sabez said. “You are quite adept at watching your surroundings and putting yourself when you’re most needed.”

Jon was amazed Sabez was able to pay attention during that entire night.

“I listen… to Hector… and Mallory,” Jon said.

“You do,” Sabez said. “But any way you choose to listen to them is up to you. I think you should get involved with battles directly,”

“I… think I should stay out the way,” Jon answered.

“I think you should be in the way… and trust your instincts…”

He drew his sword. Jon held up his gun and hid behind its barrel.

“...Jon… you shouldn’t close your eyes…”

Jon opened his eyes.

“Ha!” Sabez screamed as he stabbed forward.

Jon quickly deflected a sword blow with the side of his gun. He stumbled backward.

“Good!” Sabez said. He walked forward, swinging again.

Jon deflected once more holding on to the gun with both hands. He was afraid of getting his fingers chopped off, but for now, he would just have to worry the same not happening to himself.

“Go high, Jon!” Hector called. “Don’t let him scare you!”

“Look at me, Jon,” Sabez said. “Don’t hide from me!”

Jon realized that every time Sabez swung at him, he held his sword up and blinked every time it deflected off the gun. Jon also figured that if he had one of the normal guns from the farm, it might have been broken in half by now.

Finally, Sabez braced himself low for a kick. Jon suddenly seized up and readied himself for the kick.

“Good!” Sabez swipe at Jon again with the sword, knocking Jon back. “Your eyes are open!”

“It’s a trick, Jon!” Hector called.

Jon appreciated Hector’s enthusiasm.

Eventually, Jon stopped moving. He realized he was breathing heavily. He tried to oblige Sabez's comments to keep his eyes open.

“Your gun… it reacts with your mana. It takes steps to make sure that you’re protected…” Sabez explained. “But, now it’s up to you to fulfill the rest of the burden. Hard, right?”

Jon nodded.

“...It’s a lot easier when you’re thinking about your friends,” Sabez said. “You don’t think twice about putting yourself in danger for them.”

Jon began to nod, but he was knocked away by another swiped.

“Now, think of yourself!” Even if Sabez wasn’t yelling, Jon felt the command shake him to his bone.

Think of myself? What could Jon do to get away from this situation?

Get away. Jon fired the gun. Sabez stepped to the side, dodging the projectile, but Jon fulfilled his goal, the recoil of the gun forcing him to flip backward over his own head so that he was standing again.

Despite rolling on the ground, it felt incredibly soft, as if he had rturned over a pillow. When he was standing back up again, Sabez was already closing in.

Jon panicked and fired again, pushing himself back even more.

Even as the world rotated around him he could still see the Vindanzi man running after him.

Fast... Jon didn’t know what else to do other than tell himself clearly obvious things.

Suddenly, before he finished turning all the way over, he heard the scraping of blades happening in front of him.

When he stopped rolling, he saw that Hector had come between them, blocking Sabez’s attack.

“You know… this is Jon’s training, right?” Sabez asked.

“It doesn’t look like training,” Hector said. “Looks like you’re just coming after him with a sword.”

“Then what would you suggest I do?” Sabez replied.

“Jon does his best when he’s helping out others in their objective,” Hector said. “So, let him help me kick your ass.”

“...You think your assessments of Jon’s abilities are stronger than mine?” Sabez asked.

Jon wanted to tell Hector that Sabez had already told him that, but Sabez didn’t seem very intent on correcting him.

“I… I think so… yeah!” Hector pulled his sword back.

“Alright then,” Sabez stood straight. “See if you can knock my sword out of my hand.”

“That’s-” Hector received a kick to the side of the face, knocking him back towards Jon.

“That was dirty!” Hector yelled. “Jon!” Let’s”

He deflected another blow. Jon put his blunderbuss over Hector’s shoulder and fired.

Sabez swiftly moved out of the line of fine and rushed forward.

“Jon, stay-” Hector couldn’t say anything while he fended off more blows. Sabez must have gone easy when training with Jon. There was less time in between strikes, and they came in all directions. Still, Hector held his sword in one hand, keeping back whatever attacks Sabez had to throw at him.

Jon decided to help out. He shot the gun to the side, pushing himself so that he was at Sabez’s blindside.

“Good, good!” Sabez yelled as he turned and deflected Jon’s next shot, while also using his hand to redirect a charging Hector towards Jon’s way.

“I’m tired of this guy tossing me around!” Hector said, stopping his own momentum. That was when he and Jon noticed that Mercy had stepped up to the battle as well, holding off Sabez with her blade of pure energy.

“This looks fun,” Mercy said, “can I join?”

Jon noticed that she was breathing heavily. She had probably just come back from her training with Tallow.

“It’s not like you were gonna wait for wait for an answer anyway…” Hector muttered.

“Sure, we can have fun for a few minutes,” Sabez said. “Then we must resume your-”

Sabez knocked away the energy blade coming for his face. Mercy drew her Vindazi sword in her other hand, and she began to chase after him.

Hector joined her, swinging after she did. Fire followed Hector as he and Mercy both attacked Sabez. It reminded Jon of their battle with Bal the swordsman, except in this case they looked like they were having… fun.

Not only that, but each had adopted a different style of fighting than before. Mercy was much more fierce with her dual-wielding style, and she chose to keep her ground much more often, not leaping into the air as much.

Hector, however, had transitioned to a more agile fighting style. He leaped and rolled and was quick to incorporate more fire attacks while keeping his distance. It was like they had exchanged fighting styles since the last battle.

“Jon… help!” Hector yelled desperatly.

Jon nodded. He was afraid to shoot, for fear of hitting someone.

Would he hit someone?

He fired. Mercy quickly ducked out of the way, and Sabez deflected the blast.

More… Jon closed his eyes and ran with his gun held above his head.

Scared, he brought the gun down.

It hit something hard.

He opened his eyes. Sabez was looking down at Jon. The butt of Jon’s gun was laying on Sabez’s arm.

The entire fight had stopped so that they could all look at Jon.

“Good job, Jon,” Sabez said. “Wonderful. Now, the games are over.”

He clapped. “It’s time for Mercy’s training. Be off now.”

“But... we just got… ah!” Hector, despite his complaining, was holding himself up by his thighs. “Fine… come on...Jon…”

“Can Jon stay?” Mercy asked.

“...Sure…” Sabez said. “I don’t see why not.”

“Whatever…” Hector made his way back to the tavern. Jon could see Mallory and Tallow watching from afar.

“I thought my training was with Tallow,” Mercy said, bringing Jons’ attention back to the two.

“No, that was just to get you in the mindset of your training,” Sabez said.

“Oh… but I’m… tired…”

“Of course you are…” Sabez said. “That is your training.”

“Ahhh….” She sighed while throwing her head back into the air.