»Well, you lasted longer than I had expected«, Durant said, relaxed, and lay down next to him, gazing into the clear, blue sky.

After Vern had caught his breath, he decided it was a good opportunity to continue their conversation from a week ago.

»Mind if I ask you some more questions?«, Vern asked as he also looked up into the endlessly stretching blueness.

»Well, I might not answer them.«

»What's with that sword … is it like the artifact weapons?«

»Well, kind of. It certainly is similar to the Hellfire Sword in that Eldritch can infuse it with mana, and therefore, it can cut through most things. I don't know anything else it can do. But that's already plenty annoying to deal with when it's in their hands.«

»Hmm. And what do you know about the Eldritch? I have never found any specifics on them, not in books or elsewhere.«

Durant sighed and didn't answer immediately. Just the sound of the birds chirping in the trees around along with their breathing filled the silence.

»I've also never known much about them, unfortunately. Back then, we lived alongside the Immortals. But that wasn't common knowledge, as they feared getting killed if exposed. They created all kinds of artifacts, but most weren't actually working. But they managed to make these mana rings in decent quantities, and some are still around today, as you know.

Then, I was about your age, perhaps, as the Eldritch Creatures appeared and wreaked havoc. Nobody knew where they had come from, but maybe the Immortals did. At least I suspect that, but they, of course, didn't tell anyone ever …

Anyway, the Eldritch started to transform the land they had conquered into these monster bailiwicks and–«

»Wait? The bailiwicks were created by the Eldritch?«, Vern interrupted.

»Yes, of course, dummy. Why do you think they're called 'bailiwicks' in the first place?«

»Oh …« Vern fell silent, and Durant grunted. »So where was I? Right. When the bailiwicks started, the Immortals actually cared a little and worked with the three ruling families of that time in order to create weapons that could kill them. They succeeded and made the three artifact weapons you know today. And yeah, fast forward after a lot of fights, we ended up in the cave where they fused to that new entity, and that's essentially it.«

Vern thought about what he had just heard until Velvet interrupted them.

›Ask him what he knows about me.‹

›Ah, good idea.‹

»You've lived so long, so you probably know something about Velvet as well, right? The fox? How can you see him?«

»Why I see him, well, I won't go into that. I only know that these kinds of foxes used to hang around the Immortals, so it's weird that he hasn't told you about it.«

»He says he doesn't remember the distant past well, but do you know how he ended up like this? I found him in the forest to the east that lies in both of the dukedoms.«

»The east? Yeah, sounds about right. That's where they hung out, mostly. But I think they all died. Don't know exactly how or who did it. After all, there was a lot of chaos at the time and many people died in general.«

»Ah, ok, thanks.«

The most pressing questions had been answered, and Vern decided to let the others rest to not annoy Durant too much. After all, it was very important to be on good terms with him as Vern had lost most of his doubts concerning his claimed identity.

Eventually, Durant sat up and stretched his body. »Well, that was some good variety in my everyday life.«

Vern rose up and followed him to the horses.

»So … are you free next Sunday too?«, he asked cautiously.

»Oh? You want me to beat you up again? Well, in that case … I'll probably find some time.«

»That would be great … but can we also have some variety next time? Like sword or —«

»No«, Durant cut him off. »First, you need to show me some progress.«

Vern nodded, seeing this as a partial victory.

They headed back to the city and separated at the place they had rented the horses.

›It makes so much more sense now‹, Vern told Velvet while he went to the fort. ›The fact that the monsters keep coming toward me … they can probably sense the Eldritch part within me.‹

›Yes, that seems to be the most likely explanation. But I noticed you didn't tell him about that.‹

›Well, I don't want to jeopardize this for now. After all, I am certain I can learn a lot from him. If it becomes relevant, I'll probably tell him.‹

Days passed, and Vern had to spend them training in the fort. Whenever he found time, he tried to implement what Durant had told him, essentially having sessions in between sessions. It bothered him, having to spend so much time on regular training that barely improved his skills. But he didn't see another option than to endure, eagerly waiting for the weekend to start.

On Friday evening, Marlow announced that their initial instructor was soon to take over again, significantly lightening up the mood of the recruits.

The next morning started, and Vern went off duty once again. This time, however, the carriage didn't stop at their regular training area but instead carried him into the city.

Shortly after, he arrived at the Feuerstein mansion, where a servant already awaited him at the gate.

As Vern entered the interior, he guided him to the living room, where Alvyn, Irina, and Kieran greeted him.

»What's this about this?«, he asked, taking a seat beside them.

»Father and the instructors are discussing the evaluation I've told you about«, Alvyn replied. »I hope it's gonna be fun.«

»Oh, guess we'll just have to wait then.«

After about 15 minutes, Ezra, Bertio, and Rewalt appeared in the doorframe. »You've already arrived«, Ezra said as she spotted Vern. »Good to see you again. I hope your training is going well.«

»Yes, thanks a lot for the opportunity«, Vern replied politely.

»Now that everyone is here, we should cut the chit-chat and get right down to business«, Rewalt said. »We will now disclose the details of the mission you'll be going on.«

While he spoke, Bertio took out a map and unfolded it on the table in front. It showed the capital and the surrounding area.

»On Monday, that means the day after tomorrow, we will be heading deep into the Black Forest.«

Bertio pointed toward a shaded area close to the city, underlining Rewalts words.

»It's one of the most lucrative bailiwicks for hunting, which also makes it quite most dangerous. Therefore, it is a big reason the capital is located close to it, as the Black Forest provides plenty of meat and other animal resources in significant quantities.«

Alvyn couldn't sit still hearing this and shifted his body around in excitement.

Now Ezra spoke up to continue Rewalts explanations.

»Yes, we will go in there on Monday and stay for several days, trying to only survive on what the bailiwick provides. Naturally, we will be there with you, but we're only there to watch.« xxx

»Nonetheless, you have to provide for as well, since we won't actively intervene«, Bertio interjected. »And I won't accept going without a meal for even a day.«

»Yes, that's right«, Ezra said. »At the same time, we'll try to go in as deep as we can. Usually, only the bailiwick's outskirts are used for hunting, as in the deeper parts, the monsters become too strong to handle for normal humans. So don't take this lightly. It can get very dangerous, even with those weapons of yours.«

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

»Yes, indeed«, Rewalt added. »It would be a shame if one of you died there. But then again, that's how life goes. Just try to not do anything stupid and it will probably be fine.«

»Exactly«, Ezra agreed, glancing at Alyvn. »It'll be mainly a test of the teamwork you've developed, and we want to see the reasons why we should continue to allow your weekend sessions as they stand now.«

»So what about me?«, Vern asked. »Will I be there too for the whole time?«

»Yes«, Ezra replied. »You will be exempt for the time we're in there. We've already arranged it. Any more questions?«

She waited for a moment, looking at each of the four in front of her. »No? Ok. You can train today on your own as usual, but allow yourself to rest on Sunday as we will head in there early morning the following day.«

The three instructors wished them a good training day and left them to their own volution.

»So we're going to train as usual?«, Kieran asked.

»Well, yes. But we'll do something new, I guess«, Vern replied vaguely.

They headed to the training area, and when they arrived, Vern explained today's objectives. »I think it's time to put to use what we've mainly focused on so far. Kieran will do the ice carpet, while Alvyn will protect us from its effects. Do you feel confident to do that?« He looked at Alvyn, whose face didn't suggest he had.

»Yeah, sure«, he replied, nonetheless.

»Good. Then you'll both act on my signal.«

Vern and Irina positioned themselves to his sides, and Kieran went a bit further away.

»3 … 2 … 1 … go!«, Vern shouted. On 'go', Kieran unleashed his attack while Alvyn created a sphere of flames around them.

Irina and Vern moved closer to its center to not get burned, as it wasn't quite big enough. Nevertheless, I did the job and protected them from the ice that had spread all around.

»Not too bad«, Vern said to them as they assembled. »The timing was great, but you need to increase the radius of your flames, Alvyn.«

His brother nodded, looking pleased with his performance.

»So you should probably work on that for today, then«, Vern said. »If we actually want to use it when we head in there, you'll have to create a sphere large enough to not only fit the two of us, but also our three observers.

Alvyn's face darkened a little. »Well, I'll try my best.«

»Great. I'll leave the two of you to it.«

He followed Irina to her usual training spot and watched her as she shot her bow.

After a while, she took a break and sat down beside Vern. »Any advice you can give me?«, she asked.

»Oh, you're doing alright as it stands now. It's difficult to replicate stress in training, so we will see on the excursion if you still have trouble with that.«

»By the way … do you like theater?«

»Err … what do you mean?«, Vern asked, caught off–guard.

»Well, tomorrow is essentially a free day, so I was wondering if you want to visit the theater together?«

»Oh … well …« Vern really wanted to say yes, but he couldn't miss his appointment with Durant.

»Unfortunately, I'm busy almost the entire day, so that will be difficult to do …«

»Hmm? What are you going to do?«

»I am … err … essentially going to do some investigation on the thing in the mountains«, he replied, somewhat telling the truth. »I'll be meeting someone I can't really ditch.«

»I don't mind doing that instead. I can accompany you if you want.«

It was great to see her try to spend time with him, which made it all the harder to say no.

»Personally, I would like that a lot. However, the person I'll be meeting dislikes human interactions, so I don't want to overwhelm him.«

As he noticed her disappointment, he added: »But we can visit the theater next weekend if you're up for it. The instructors probably won't mind if we manage the Black Forest successfully.«

»Yes, sounds good. I'll have a look theater's program then.«

She smiled happily and picked up her bow again to continue training.

In the afternoon, they went back to the mansion after a successful day of training. Everyone was excited for tomorrow and doing well.

Only Alvyn wasn't quite as happy, occasionally complaining about his cold feet that had almost frozen accidentally on time.

However, on the morning of the next day, these minor ailments had healed, so everyone was in good mood going into their day off.

Vern took his leave an hour before noon and walked to Durant's shop. Velvet also came out on the way and looked around even though there were a lot of people on the street.

›It's great to see you working on your shortcomings as well‹, Vern commented.

›I don't know what you're talking about. And you better stop suggesting things like that if you don't want to face my wrath‹, Velvet replied, positioning himself in the street in front of Vern.

›Forget, I ever said anything‹, Vern said as he walked through Velvet's massive body. ›But I didn't mean it in a mean way…‹

›I don't know what you're talking about.‹

Vern chuckled, and a few minutes later, they reached their destination.

Even Durant looked happy for once on this beautiful summer day – at least that's how Vern interpreted his expressionless face.

They put on the same cloaks as last time and followed the same route. However, unlike their first day, Durant carried a bag with him.

When they arrived at the foot of the cliff, Durant wasted no time and got into position immediately after taking care of the horses.

»Don't you want to show me what you got in that bag?«, Vern asked, looking at it lying next to a tree.

»No, what about you showing me that you deserve to find out?«

Vern smiled, enjoying this short moment of tranquility while putting his things down before the inevitable pain would commence.

Durant didn't go easy on him this time, which Vern realized in dismay. He put him down several times, immediately demanding of Vern to get up again.

Luckily though, Vern didn't need to suffer quite as long because Durant only kept this up for an hour.

While Vern recovered in the grass, he went to his bag and retrieved two wooden swords.

»Here«, he said, throwing one next to Vern on the ground. »You wanted to do something like this, so you better not be as bad as in hand-to-hand.«

»Yes … just … one more moment«, Vern replied, slowly picking himself up. Velvet had watched from the sideline, and his amusement correlated too much with Vern suffering to be a mere coincidence.

Vern carefully approached Durant with the sword in hand, expecting a quick attack, as he did the first time. But he didn't move at all from his spot and just started parrying the strikes Vern threw at him.

Therefore, Vern increased the intensity, so Durant had to move back. He succeeded in doing so, pushing him bit by bit backward, and they came closer to the edge of the glade. Putting even more force behind his attacks, Vern aimed to push Durant into the tree behind, making him unable to avoid his sword once and for all.

With just a few meters to go, Durant suddenly grabbed his hand as the wood briefly clashed and flicked his sword around at Vern's side, landing a hit and disarming Vern at the same time.

He fell to his knees, gasping for air. »Ouch, that was too hard«, Vern complained. »You could have broken my rips there.«

»Well, you should protect your body with mana at all times, so if you hadn't, you would've deserved to learn that lesson the hard way«, Durant replied, swinging both swords victoriously through the air. »And besides, you got way too cocky toward the end, so I hope that'll teach you. But to be honest, I didn't see any easily exploitable openings before, even though the way you move your body is quite ugly.

Vern didn't know if it was a compliment but took it as such nonetheless.

»So, should we go again?«, Vern asked, rubbing his ribs one last time.

»Nah, doesn't have much of a purpose like this«, Durant replied. »Your sword technique is good enough at it is. What really matters is how you can combine it with your mana. That's what you need to work on, so we should get back to the basics of movement.«

He dropped the swords and raised his fists.

»Really?«, Vern exclaimed. »Can't we just do sword fighting with mana, then? Or allow mana to be used in general?«

Durant sighed. »Kid, you still don't understand it. The basis for using mana is understanding one's body. That means being keenly aware of which muscles to channel it through at the right time. You don't learn that by just spamming mana into whatever part of the body you need it in. Instead, you need to understand how every movement works in depth beforehand so that you can effectively combine it with mana later. This way, you spend also spend much less while getting more power out of it.«

»Oh … that does make a lot of sense«, Vern admitted, realizing that Durant actually tried to help him improve.

»Of course it does. You should know that. Or don't they teach that anymore?«

Vern shook his head. »No, not really.«

»Well, at least that explains why you're so pathetic. Now quit stalling and come over here.«

Therefore, Vern had to suffer once more. But Durant seemed to have become a bit nicer as he at least allowed Vern to take more pauses in between. Or maybe that was just so Vern, his newly acquired toy, wouldn't break too fast.

»I … I know that this kind of training is important«, Vern said in one of those brief pauses. »But could I still have your opinion on the way I use my mana?« He took out one of the shurikens he had bought of Durant from his belongings on the side.

»Sure, I don't mind. But it'll be deducted from your future break time.«

Vern nodded and grimaced when Durant didn't look his way as they made their way over to a better spot.

He took one of the shuriken's edges between his thumb and index finger, making sure it lay in the perfect spot. Then he extended his arm, channeling mana at the same time, before moving it down fast and releasing the throwing star at the right moment.

It speeded through the air, hitting the tree a hundred meters ahead in less than a second.

Vern looked at Durant, who had carefully observed everything, waiting for him to give his opinion.

»Hmm, it really isn't that fast the way you do it«, he said. That actually was the answer Vern had hoped for, as it meant there was still room for improvement.

After they had gone retrieving the shuriken from the tree's trunk, Durant took it in his hand and started explaining.

»So, I am no expert on this kind of weaponry …« He shifted it a few times between his fingers. »But what I can tell from watching, is that you don't focus your mana enough on where it matters and just pump it into your arm. So if you manage to understand the act of throwing this kind of object better, you can probably double or triple its speed which translates into an increased effectiveness of four to nine times.«

Vern nodded and absorbed all the information he'd just heard. »Thanks, a lot. Could you maybe specify where to focus my mana a bit more?«

»Hmm, I've never used these kinds of things neither with nor without mana enhancement, so I can't really give you any tips on it.«

»Can't you just test it right now, then?«, Vern urged. »You'll probably figure it out in no time.«

But Durant shook his head, handing back the shuriken. »It's … hard for me to use mana as it is. I'm … too old, so I can't do it as I used to.«

»Really?«, Vern said, surprised. »That is a thing? Your body stayed the same, but your mana diminished.«

»Yeah … something like that.«

»So … that also applies to the mana in rings as well?« Vern asked curiously. »That would mean your threats back in the shop were kind of empty, weren't they?«

»Maybe«, he replied, ignoring the taunting tone in Vern's voice. »It's personal … so I don't want to talk about it.«

»Hmm.« As Vern remembered their second meeting, an idea formed in his mind. »If that's the case, do you even need that mana ring? Could you maybe lend it to me?«

»No.«

»But you can't use it anyway.«

»I've never said these exact words. And besides, why would I just hand out one of my most valuable possession to a stray kid I don't even know.«

»Oh, come on. We're family, after all. So it would stay in the right hands. View it as an inheritance.«

»Inheritance my ass. If you want to argue like this, you'll better prove that your worthy of carrying the same name as me.«

Without further warning, he tackled Vern to the ground. They spent another hour of training like this before Durant called it quits. Vern had attempted to convince him to hand over the ring once again but to no avail.

Therefore, Vern returned to the mansion empty-handed, but at least the anticipation of tomorrow kept him in high spirits.