Time flew, and two weeks of training had passed. Vern had to fulfill his duties from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, he met up with Alvyn, Kieran, and Irina.

Today was one of those days. However, as the harvest festivities were on the horizon, all of them had the next week off entirely.

In their previous meetings, they had planned out a trip during this time.

Currently, Vern arrived at the Feuerstein mansion, where Alvyn was already waiting for him. They exchanged a quick hug and greeted each other.

»Do you have all you need on you?«, Alvyn asked.

»Yes. I am ready.«

They headed over to the backside, approaching the two horses standing there.

After storing all the equipment in the bags attached to the saddle, they mounted the horses and headed to the city gate.

There they spotted Irina and Kieran, waiting aside the road.

When they met up, they greeted each other and quickly discussed the route they wanted to take.

Since their estimated travel time was around eight hours, they didn't waste any more time and resumed riding southward.

They followed the main roads that passed through forests and fields. Velvet occasionally came out to have a look around, but mostly stayed inside.

No incidents hindered their progress, and they reached the next town before sunset.

From here on, Vern took the lead, and they traveled westwards to the mid-range mountains nearby.

Eventually, they arrived at a manor located on a hill, their final destination.

The four of them took care of the horses and moved the language inside.

»Quite a nice residence you've got here«, Kieran said and took in the view from this vantage point.

»Yeah, it's always been my favorite place to be«, replied Alvyn. »You are out in this beautiful nature, and yet the city isn't too far away. And best of all, a bailiwick is just a few hundred meters away. So it's the perfect place to train and relax.«

In the meantime, Irina and Vern finished their tasks and went inside to inspect the pantry. It was full, as they had sent their intent of staying beforehand to the manor's caretaker.

»So, how has your week been? Do you still have that substitute instructor?«, asked Irina while they took out some food for dinner.

»Yes, unfortunately. We'll still have to deal with him for a few more weeks. However, the week wasn't too bad, a lot more relaxed, actually. It seems that Marlow cares less and less about what we're doing as long as we take care of his housework. On Wednesday, he even overslept a full hour.«

»Oh well, doesn't sound like he is really teaching you effectively then.«

»Yeah, that's probably the downside of it.«

Alvyn and Kieran arrived in the kitchen.

»Oh, I see you've already started«, Alvyn said. »That's great. I only want to eat something and go to bed. Traveling like that is too taxing.«

»Well, it seems we've finally found a reliable way of making you sleep on your own accord«, Kieran threw in. »Eight hours of horseback riding every day from now on it is.«

»Well, you don't seem too tired yet«, Irina said. »Mind giving us a hand?«

Kieran and Alvyn joined in on their efforts, and an hour later, they enjoyed the result together.

»So we should probably go through the plan again«, mumbled Alvyn while chewing on some bread. »Tomorrow, we will go into the bailiwick and have a first look. We will check out the monsters there, our teamwork, and what my little brother has learned in his training.« He winked, but Vern rolled his eyes nonetheless. »Depending on how that's going, we will plan rest and exploration days. I want to reach the core at least once in our time here, so no slacking off is allowed. Does everyone feel ready to take this on?«

He looked at the other's faces, but there weren't hyped up at all.

»Maybe, you should ask that again when we had a night's rest«, Kieran said and smiled. His eyes were almost falling shut by themselves.

»Yes, I agree«, Vern said and yawned. »I'll even go to bed right now. I was on watch last night and didn't get much sleep there. So I'll hope you excuse me.«

»I think it would be best if we all go to sleep now«, Irina said and took a look at the mess of a kitchen. »We can always do the cleanup tomorrow.«

»Oh my, it seems that our bad influence finally started to show.« Kieran grinned and stood up just as Alvyn finished his meal as the last of them.

Since nobody objected Irina, they all went to bed right after, deferring any work to the next day.

They had agreed to let everyone get the sleep they needed. Thus Vern slept until noon without interruption. As he woke up by the bright sunlight penetrating through his eyelids, he quickly stood up and dressed.

Meanwhile, the others had already finished all of yesterday's work and were busy preparing breakfast.

When Vern showed up, Alvyn smiled playfully. »Oh, you're finally awake? I was about to check on you. Wasn't sure if you were still alive, to be honest.«

»Well, surprisingly, I am. But now I feel fit and ready for today.«

»Good morning. Just take a seat«, said Irina. »Breakfast will be done soon.«

After breakfast, they went off to put on their equipment. Vern decided on some light leather armor and his sword, not that he had much choice to begin with. Additionally, he took the shurikens he had bought the Sunday before in a weapon shop. xxx

Half an hour later, they assembled outside the manor.

»So, let's try that again«, said Alvyn as he stood in front of the other three. »Are you all excited to slay some monsters?«

»Yeah, yeah«, the others answered rather unconvincingly.

»Well, we'll try that tomorrow again, I guess. Anyway, down to business. Since it's already quite late due to certain slugabed …« He glanced at Vern. »We won't be making a lot of progress today. Which is, of course, totally fine.« He added the last sentence after Vern had glanced back coldly.

»Yeah, well. Maybe we should just skip the talking and go already?«, suggested Irina and stepped ahead.

Kieran and Vern followed her, and Alvyn, who wasn't happy about being interrupted like that, had no choice but to follow.

›Another forest, great‹, commented Velvet as they entered it.

›Well, the terrain will be a bit different soon. More stones, general steepness, and cliffs, so don't complain yet.‹

›I get it. I get it.‹ He jumped out of Vern's body and started to look around.

»Here is the border«, said Irina and stopped, so the other could catch up.

»Formation-wise, we will do the following«, Alvyn announced and went in the front. »I will be the spearhead, Vern and Irina will be behind, and then Kieran as our rearguard.«

»Hahaha, no«, said Kieran and moved next to Alvyn. »You just want to get all the kills while forcing me to stay passive in the back.«

»No, no. It's the safest formation like that, trust me«, Alvyn tried to assure.

»Well, you can both go to the front. I think Vern and I can handle our backs well enough«, Irina commented, leaving Alvyn no choice but to give in.

He took a look at Vern, who had just silently been standing there. »Don't fall back too far behind, brother. Do you remember what we talked about back then? About what you're important role is?«

Vern nodded but wasn't paying attention and instead lost in thought. He wondered if this bailiwick would react the same to his presence as the last one, and if so, how he would deal with that.

They positioned themselves accordingly and passed through the barrier.

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Alvyn and Kieran were next to each other and ten meters ahead of Irina and Vern. However, Velvet was their real vanguard as they moved forward.

»So … shouldn't we stay close to the border for now?«, Vern asked hesitantly. »I mean just at first so that we can see how many monsters roam around and we don't get encircled.«

Alvyn turned around and smiled back. »Don't worry, little brother. I'll protect you. Besides, that's not how it works. Even though this area doesn't get regularly hunted, we won't constantly have to fight monsters.«

»Well …« Vern thought about how to respond, but Velvet disrupted them.

›Several monster souls about 50 meters ahead, closing in on us.‹ He came back to Vern's side. ›I also see one coming from the left.‹

Vern answered instinctively by nodding, and Irina looked at him confused.

»What is it?«, she asked. »Do you not feel well?«

»Err … I'm fine, don't worry.«

»We have company!«, shouted Alvyn from the front. »Get ready!«

A raccoon and a lynx appeared from the bushes ahead and ran straight at them.

However, Vern concentrated on his left side, where he spotted a fox almost as big as Velvet that flanked them.

He took out a shuriken and threw it in its trajectory. It cleanly hit the body, and the fox stumbled on the ground collapsing lifelessly a few meters later.

In the meantime, Alvyn and Kieran still dealt with the ones from the front, taking a lot Vern had expected.

›I am sorry that I killed one of your kind, Velvet‹, Vern said.

›Hahaha, don't worry. Those monsters have nothing in common with me. By the way, there are a lot more coming. From all sides.‹

Irina assisted Alvyn and Kieran in finishing them off.

»I think we should retreat before we get overwhelmed«, he shouted so the others could hear him.«

»Nah, we're fine. They stopped coming, we …«, Vern went silent as a new wave of monsters came and this time from more angles.

›Just always tell me the closest threat‹, Vern told Velvet and jumped into the action, his body brimming with mana.

›One is above Alvyn at the tree.‹

Vern looked over and saw a black bird the size of a dog, that was about to fly down.

He jumped up to intercept and swung his sword at the right moment cutting off one of its wings. It screamed as it spiraled to the ground next to Alyvn and Kieran. Alvyn noticed and finished it off quickly.

»Maybe we should retreat!«, he suggested loudly.

»Yeah, well that's not that easy!«, answered Kieran, who had to deal with two lynxes, his back already against a tree.«

›There are more threats in the sky closing in‹, said Velvet and jumped around the battlefield, pretending to fight the monster as well.

»Irina«, Vern shouted. »Come closer and focus on the ones in the air. I'll deal with the ground targets.«

Irina, who had been shouting at everything so far and at a rather slow pace, did as she was told and focused upwards.

Alvyn had come to Kieran's help, and they drove back the lynx together.

»Let's retreat«, commanded Vern. »They already starting to fully encircle us. Follow me. Kieran and Alvyn defend our backs if necessary, but focus on running first.«

He started to move and occasionally looked behind to make sure they followed him. He hurled a shuriken at a big squirrel that was about to jump onto Kieran from above while Irina took out a bird flying at Alvyn.

›One in the left tree next to the rock. Two behind the ridge on the right.‹ Velvet kept feeding him information, and Vern tried to navigate them around the danger hot spots.

It only took them two minutes to reach the border again, but those felt like an eternity.

When he passed the barrier, he turned around to help out the others.

»There is another one coming through the trees from the left!«, Vern shouted as Alvyn was busy running from a boar.

He looked over. A second later, the leaf rustled, and a squirrel flung itself at him. As he was ready, he could easily cut it down while running.

Meanwhile, Irina assisted Kieran in his escape.

When all of them had crossed the border, the monsters came to a sudden stop, staring at them with their fierce red eyes. More of them appeared and they started to line up at the border.

»What in the world«, Alvyn uttered while catching his breath. He went close to the border and swung his sword, cutting off a lynx head that was just standing there.

The other monster screamed and started to disperse away from the border.

»There sure seems to be a lot more than expected«, said Kieran and glanced at Vern. »Anybody hurt?«

Everyone shook their heads.

»Well, so how do we continue?«, asked Irina. »Should we try a different entry point and hope that they're fewer of them?«

They looked at one another, but no one answered her.

Eventually, Alvyn spoke up. »Vern, what's your opinion on this? Do you think a different spot would lead to a different result?«

Vern could tell by his tone that he knew that he had something to do with what just happened.

»Well … I don't think so«, he answered truthfully, knowing it was about time to share his secrets — at least some of them.

Kieran and Alvyn looked at each other before Alvyn turned to Vern with a smile on his face.

»I knew it!«, he exclaimed. »You're some kind of monster magnet, aren't you?«

When Vern didn't answer immediately, everyone just silently stared at him.

»Well, I guess so … I am not entirely sure why it's the case«, he said apologetically.

»Hell, yes!«, Alvyn replied. »That's so awesome. With you in our team, we can lure the monsters and kill them all ourselves.«

»I don't think that's something good«, Irina said. »It seems quite dangerous, considering what has just happened.«

But Alvyn didn't really care about her worries and disagreed.

»So, do you know anything?«, Kieran asked. »Why it is the case? How does it work? We kind of suspected something the last time around but weren't really sure back then.«

»Well, I'll better tell you all the backstory. It is time for that, after all. But we should head back first. I doubt we will have time to enter the bailiwick once more today, anyway.«

He went ahead, and the rest of them followed. After they had taken off their equipment, they gathered in the living room. They all looked at him, eagerly awaiting for him to speak up.

Vern glanced at Velvet, who sat with them in the circle, and wondered how he wanted to tell this story.

»Well … so … how to begin. Ah yes. Alvyn, do you remember when I had this nightmare and you came into my room?«

Alvyn nodded.

»It turns out that two things I told you back then were not entirely correct. Firstly, I didn't tell you the real ending, and secondly, I later found out that this wasn't just a nightmare.«

He paused looking at the others, waiting for any comment on the matter, but they all silently listened, not saying anything.

So he continued.

»While the three of you explored the bailiwick and I stayed behind, something happened to me. All of the sudden, memories came back to me of a life that I had lived, and that ended with the events in the nightmare.«

He roughly recounted the events that he saw happening, leaving out a lot of details and especially focusing on the part about his death.

When he finished, he looked at the others, awaiting a response.

»So you say that you basically traveled back in time when you died, still remembering the future?«, Alvyn asked.

»Yes, essentially like that.«

»And how many years was that? It sounded like a long time.«

»Well, it was about seven years. I skipped all the unimportant stuff. The ending is probably most relevant.«

Vern wasn't sure if they believed him yet. But he knew that he could trust all of them. After all, they were still the same he had spent all these years with.

»Oh, man. That would mean you would be so much older than me … but well, I guess it explains a lot. The fact that you had this big improvement in your swordplay and all.«

Alvyn didn't even challenge his claims which surprised Vern a little.

»Yes, I agree«, Kieran said. »It's hard to believe at first, but the more I think about it, the more it seems like you knew all of us so well from the beginning, even though we only had just met.«

Vern nodded and was relieved hearing his words. He looked at Irina, who hadn't said a word yet.

»Well, I don't think you're lying either«, she said. »That would be kind of weird anyway. I am wondering, however, what that has to do with the fact that you attract all those monsters.«

»Yes, thanks. Well, I am also not entirely sure about that. Maybe it's some kind of side effect …«

»I mean, it's definitely an asset«, Alvyn interjected. »When we enter regularly hunted bailiwicks, we can easily steal all their prey, and we shouldn't get overwhelmed like earlier.«

Irina still didn't seem convinced by that claim pointing out the dangers again.

›You're really not going to tell them about me?‹, Velvet asked curiously.

›I mean, it doesn't matter, really. It isn't relevant. I also want to have an ace up my sleeve. You never know.‹

›I am not sure if you just called me 'irrelevant' but that's definitely not nice …‹

›Don't just twist my words, so that you can play the victim.‹

»So, Vern«, Kieran said after Irina and Alvyn had finished discussing. »If I understand correctly, you could greatly help us with our training, right? After all, you know our future potential quite well.«

»Good point«, Vern replied. »I was planning on doing that. No matter the exact reason how I came back to this point, it should be clear that we need to destroy whatever lurks within the northern mountains.«

»This is the part that is still hard to believe«, Alvyn said and his face darkened. »That I was possessed and just killed all of you like that …«

»You shouldn't take that too hard«, Irina said. »As far as I understand, it could have happened to any of us with the same result.«

Vern nodded. »Most definitely. I tried to find out more about it and visited the library, but I haven't made any progress. So we should—«

»Wait, a moment«, Alvyn interrupted, and he looked intensely at Vern. »You could've told us a few weeks earlier, right? Before the horse race? So that we could have made enormous amounts of money off your future knowledge?!«

Vern tried to construct an answer, but Kieran beat him to it.

»I think that's one of the least relevant things right now. Besides, I totally understand that Vern didn't want to do something shady like that. It's not like any of us need the money.«

»Oh, well. I just thought of using this as an opportunity «, Alvyn responded. »After all, having a private fund that we can use in addition to our regular allowance is not a bad thing.«

»Yeah, well. I actually did abuse that just a tiny bit, to be honest«, Vern said. »When I went off to get the snacks, I placed another bet. But as Alvyn has mentioned, only to help out buying equipment and stuff on my own, totally not shady.«

»Hahaha. That's my brother for you«, Alvyn exclaimed as if he had won an argument against Kieran, who just shrugged in response.

»So I wonder about something as well«, said Irina after Alvyn had calmed down. »When we entered the bailiwick, you seemed to know where the monsters were coming from. Can you also sense their presence in return?«

»Hmm … yes. In close vicinity I can«, Vern said, half lying.

»Oh, that makes this monster attraction actually useful«, said Kieran, taking Alvyn's side after he had been quite neutral on it so far. »Not only are you great at fighting, but also a great scout now. How exactly does it work, though? Can you tell the exact locations and monster types?«

»Well, let me think a moment on how to best explain«, Vern said, stalling for time.

›Velvet, how does it work exactly?‹

›Well, I think I would much rather see what explanations you can come up with on the spot, and if you get in trouble for it‹, the fox answered and grinned at him from behind the others.

›Please stop playing around. I am doing that for both of us!‹ Vern wanted to give Kieran a good answer, so he didn't want to lie about what Velvet could and couldn't do.

›I guess, it can't be helped‹, Velvet said after a while of Vern just being silent, pretending to think.

›I can see souls, as I told you before. Up to 100 meters if there are no obstacles, probably. It is a glow around the heart, which is red for monsters and white for all non-monsters. I can't tell the monster type or their size, but their exact location.‹

Vern relayed this information to the others but left out the seeing of the souls of non-monster types.

»Ah, very interesting «, Kieran said after Vern had finished. »That's certainly something I've never heard of before, but well, you have already told us a lot of that today.«

Vern nodded and looked at the three, waiting for more questions to come. As there weren't any, he raised his voice again.

»So now that we've talked about the most important things, we should probably train, so that we can deal with all the monsters in the bailiwick. If any questions come up, feel free to ask.«

They put on their equipment again and went outside, ready to fill the rest of the day with training.