"Father!", Ben shouted as loud as he could while shaking a Gardell off his leg and impaling it with his sword. A whole group had ambushed him and Ben was busy for minutes getting rid of the small creatures, so he lost his father in the crowd.

A swift, large creature came at Ben, which he immediately identified as a Sortman. Without hesitation, he swung his sword at the Sortman and killed it when he noticed a small, blue flame on the scabbard of his sword. He had, without realizing it himself at that moment, begun to let mana flow into the weapon.

"Father!", Ben repeated now a good deal more desperately. He was completely alone in the middle of the great battlefield and no longer saw a soul. Wherever he looked, all he could see were creatures and the remains of the civilization that had stood here some time ago.

, Ben admonished himself and took a deep breath. He recalled Cale's lessons and remembered the first lesson the High-Magician had urged him to learn.

Ben had to keep an eye on his surroundings.

Where was he? Somewhere near Krya, but since he could no longer see the city, he must have been pushed quite a distance back toward the trading city Herdel. Automatically, Ben looked around and searched for the river, but he could not find it. Therefore, he let his eyes wander toward the mountains of Sylve to be able tell where north was. When he got his bearings, he could better judge that the river must be to his left, but neither the river nor Herdel could be seen. At that moment, however, he spotted one of the destroyed watchtowers, so he knew it couldn't be too far away.

Therefore, he started to sprint and ran in the direction where Krya should be. His father had stayed in the city because of the warning of the creatures' attack. Together with thousands of soldiers and swordmasters, the Duke of Freigoud had besieged the city to prevent a fight right in front of the capital Bellator. Ben, just like his father, was assigned to the first line of defense. William, on the other hand, had remained in Bellator to guarantee the safety of the people with the help of the barriers of Cale. Even if the prince didn't like it, he had stayed there and had said goodbye to Ben in the morning with tears in his eyes.

When he thought of that moment, Ben had to smile. At first, he had not gotten along with William at all. Neither with him nor with either of the other two princes. Which wasn't necessarily because of them, but rather because of how Ben himself used to be. A shy little boy who wanted to become as confident and strong as his father, even if he used to have a greater interest in his father's sword.

Unconsciously, Ben's hand wandered to the communication crystal on his neck and he held it tightly while thinking of William. At the same time, however, he wondered how Aletta, Cale, and Philippa were doing in Altona. He had only heard casually from his father that a large number of the leaders had been spotted near Exarion and that the High-Magicians had attacked them. According to the warning Cale had sent to Sylve about the dragons, there was a chance that two leaders and the chairman himself were here in Sylve. If the assumption was true. Ben wasn't sure if the Thormod who had the 2nd Prince Marion on his conscience could be trusted. Therefore, he basically expected the worst.

After walking forever and killing dozens of creatures along the way, he finally spotted people. A group of soldiers were just fighting for their survival and Ben immediately rejoined them. With fresh energy, he descended on one of the creatures from above, unwillingly releasing a massive wave of mana that instantly turned into bright flames. As Ben crashed to the ground with his sky strike, splitting the creature in half, he simultaneously ripped a straight line of fire into the ground that burrowed forward about 20 meters. But Ben paid no attention to this, for he sensed a strange mana mass behind him and swung his sword backward. At the right moment, he thus killed the creature that had crept up behind him and breathed a sigh of relief.

"A swordmaster?", one of the younger soldiers who, according to the uniform, belonged to the royal house, spoke up. Ben approached the man and stood at his side, backing each other up. Instinctively, the three other men who were also present followed this movement and so they all lined up in a circle.

"Aren't you the son of Duke of Freigoud? Benjamin of Freigoud", one of the older men replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Long story", Ben threw back, unaware that he was just talking to Adjust Insing. A soldier who belonged to the 1st Company and was also a master swordsman. At the moment of the skirmish, Ben hadn't recognized him. "What unit do you belong to?"

"The First."

"Where did the rest of your unit go?"

"We split up. According to the Duke of Freigoud, a leader of the Thormods was spotted in the east", the soldier replied, who actually belonged to the shadow unit of the royal house and usually accompanied the king or princes in person.

"Did my father go there?"

"Yes, sir Freigoud", Adjust confirmed, killing the same creature at the same time as Ben. A moment later, a slender figure appeared before them, rapidly approaching. Jerking Ben back by the collar, Adjust parried the attack, causing Ben to stagger somewhat in surprise and take a moment to realize what had just happened.

The creature was faster than William and he had not been able to react at all when it had approached them. Casually, he killed another attacker as he watched Adjust try to hold its own against the creature.

"It's an Uachref, aim for its feet", Ben commanded as he recognized the creature and remembered the lessons in the arena. "It's not particularly strong, just fairly fast, and it prefers to attack with its feet."

"Thanks for the tip", the soldier replied, immediately taking the statement to heart. Deliberately, he aimed at one of the creature's 6 feet. The Uachref, of course, realized what his opponent was up to and dodged the attack, so that it literally began to dance in front of Adjust.

Ben, however, did not get to really watch the spectacle. A second Uachref appeared and instinctively Ben bent to the side, knowing full well that otherwise he would react too slowly. At that moment, the sharp claw of the Uachref closed past his chest and caught his communication crystal. Ben skillfully rolled backwards and immediately one of the other soldiers interposed himself to defend him at that moment. With horror, Ben had to realize that his chain had tied itself to the creature's leg. However, when he heard a loud scream behind him, followed by the dominant smell of blood, he ignored his crystal and attacked the first Uachref. This one just drilled its foremost left foot into Adjust's shoulder, while the man pushed his sword into the creature's chest. Ben didn't hesitate a second and severed that leg, kicking the large creature aside with his foot before gaining momentum and severing the second leg. Then the third, the fourth and the fifth. He didn't get to the last one because a loud scream could be heard.

The scream of a Derphan, which immediately took away his sense of balance.

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The other soldiers were no different, as they also covered their ears and tried not to lose consciousness. With narrow eyes, he examined the surroundings and could see dozens of meters away that a broadly built man was already fighting with the Derphan. Despite the tremendous noise, which hit Ben like a hammering on the head, he managed to kill the Uachref in front of him and turned to the second Uachref, which had long since taken flight.

"Damn it", Ben grumbled, holding a hand against his ear as he frantically looked for his communication crystal. With one hand, he checked to see if he still had the Sky Fire Crystal, which he did. The small crystal was in a small pouch with some things Ben could use in the fight. In addition to the crystal, he carried around some medicine and bandages, as well as some water.

Shortly after, the whole ground began to shake, causing all the soldiers, including Ben, to fall to the ground. Surprised, he held himself in an upright position with the help of his sword, as he glanced back at the man who was engaged in a fight with the Derphan in the distance.

"To think he could stand it", Ben muttered, impressed, and approached Adjust, who was tearing the creature's severed foot from his chest and trying to stop the bleeding with his hand. Ben saw this and forced himself to stand up again before coming to a stop in front of Adjust, ramming his sword into the ground and ripping an entire sleeve off his uniform. Neatly folding this scrap of cloth, he reached for his water pouch before kneeling in front of Adjust. Without asking permission, he took his hand to the side and ran some water over the open wound, so he could get a better look.

The injury was not particularly large, but all the deeper for it. Ben would certainly not have been able to bear this sight a year ago, but since his fight in Exarion and the many deaths, he was quite used to it know. Remembering what Aletta had told him about such injuries back then, he pressed the scrap of cloth onto the open area, causing Adjust to make a muffled, suffering sound. Ben dropped his water bag on the floor and rummaged out the bandage he had fortunately taken with him. Ignoring the soldier's pain, he bandaged the wound, tightly enough to apply enough pressure to the open area that he didn't have to worry about bleeding.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Withdraw, there's no way you can continue fighting with that injury. You'd lose way too much blood", Ben explained, partially quoting Aletta's words. He straightened up and reached for his sword before turning backwards, towards the man and the Derphan. "You would only be in our way."

"Please be careful", Ben could still make out the man's voice as the Derphan's scream abruptly died away. All at once, Ben felt his body become noticeably lighter and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of course. Now get out of here", he merely commented, running towards the man in the distance, who fell to the ground, holding his mouth with his hand. The other soldiers, on the other hand, accepted the order without comment and fled to the south.

Ben could see a creature lunge at the man, but the soldier merely made a wall of earth appear behind him, blocking the attack. He was a true swordmaster, Ben knew that from the beginning. But it wasn't until he saw this kind of magic that he realized that he knew the man. Not only knew, much of his knowledge of swordsmanship he had learned from him.

"Father!", Ben roared as he finally recognized his own father. Whatever had happened, the Duke of Freigoud had been through a nasty attack. So bad, in fact, that Ben hadn't even recognized him. With long strides, Ben hurried toward his father, who turned in his direction in surprise and also seemed to realize that his own son was just coming toward him. At the same moment, the Duke dropped the earth wall and killed the creature next to him before running towards him with heavy steps.

"Benjamin!", Duke Loys of Freigoud shouted towards him, tripping over a small rock so that he almost fell to the ground. As he did so, Ben realized that his father was covered in blood and half his armor was falling apart.

But when Ben could feel a source of mana without seeing a creature, sheer horror gripped him. Without hesitation, he swung his sword forward, causing a shallow yet swift wall of fire to appear, coming straight at his father. Only by a hand's length, the fire shot at Loys in the process and kicked an invisible creature, which immediately dropped his cloak of invisibility.

"Look out, it's an Elosien!", Ben roared, not daring to take his eyes off the mana source. He could clearly see the black soot the creature emitted as the Mana Source separated from the flames and became invisible again. It was almost as if the Elosien had sacrificed part of its body to be able to become invisible again, but Ben could still feel it. He could also clearly see the black line on the ground that the creature trailed behind it. "Can you feel its mana?"

"Yes", the Duke confirmed quietly as he realized the gravity of the situation.

"Watch the black soot and don't look away. Leave the attacking to me", Ben directed without waiting for his father's confirmation. He had been lucky to catch the creature, but now he would not have it so easy. Clutching his gun with both hands, he fired toward the creature. However, when he blinked, the creature immediately disappeared and appeared directly in front of him. Surprised, Ben ducked to the ground and could feel himself rolling through the creature's mana body. However, losing sight of the creature again, he immediately enveloped its body in flames, catching the Elosien that had attacked him again at that moment. Ben felt a brief sting on his neck as he hurled his sword through the creature's body, striking the real thing. At the same moment, the creature's cloak of invisibility came off and its real, black body fell to the ground, split in half.

But the Elosien had caught Ben, for he felt the poison on his skin and touched the spot with his hand before turning to his father. The duke had collapsed on the floor and a small pool of blood was forming beneath him.

"Father!", Ben shouted, coming toward the Duke as he felt his whole body go numb. He lost his sword halfway and after a few steps crashed to the ground in front of his father. His entire body shook as Ben realized that his father was just dying and he could not move, due to the nerve agent.

"I'm... sorry. I...", the duke brought forth, while blood flowed from his mouth. With tears in his eyes, Loys looked over at his son and forced himself to smile. "You've... become a swordmaster?"

"Looks like it", Ben replied, trying to move his arm, but his body had almost no reaction at all. At least it hadn't been the gas of a pachedran, or Ben would have lost consciousness long ago. "I don't know when it came to this. From one moment to the next...it was just...there."

"You've really grown up", the duke muttered, coughing before he started breathing heavily.

"What happened?"

"I killed one of the leaders", the Duke merely commented. "Wasn't ... easy at all. Do you have a communication crystal... with you?"

"No, it was stolen from me unintentionally", Ben replied, tears welling in his eyes as he watched his father try to do his job despite himself. "But I have a sky fire crystal in my pouch."

"Good", the duke brought out, raising his bloodied hand to reach for the pouch on Ben's waistband. With one hand, he managed to pull out the crystal and let some mana flow into it as a small light shot into the sky. A few moments later, a loud bang was heard, followed by a massive golden flower that lit up the sky with its beauty. Ben couldn't see it, but he knew exactly how beautiful it looked, so he closed his eyes as he remembered the New Year's celebrations in Exarion.

"I'm so sorry, Father."

"No, I'm sorry", the duke replied with a gasp. "I shouldn't have... taken you... onto the battlefield... I'm a... horrible father."

"It was my... own decision", Ben replied, and could feel the poison now reaching almost every muscle in his body, making it increasingly difficult for him to speak. But he didn't want it to come to this. He didn't want the poison to take away his words and watch powerlessly as his father died before his eyes. Not like this. "I couldn't have asked for a better father."

At the same moment, a creature stepped between the two men lying on the ground, ignoring them completely. Surprised, Ben tried to open his eyes, but his lids were so heavy that he could only see his father in a blur.

"I wasn't. What father... hurts his own son so that he... has to live his whole life with a scar on his face?", Loys of Freigoud weakly said.

"I'm proud of that scar", Ben replied, smiling, though he wasn't sure if his face could reflect the smile. "Even though it was an accident, it always reminds me of who I am and what my job is."

Duke of Freigoud just laughed softly at the comment and raised his hand before touching Ben's chin with it, tears streaming down his face. Ben could feel his father's strength leave him and when he let his hand fall loosely next to his chin, Ben felt an extreme twinge in his heart.

"I will always protect our family and think of them when no one else will. Even the ones the gods have taken from us, father", he brought forth as he realized he could no longer hear his father's breathing. "I will protect us."