"That was close", a strange man remarked. Just like him and Cale, almost all the travelers sat in the street and watched the fight between William, Ben, Elijas, Mats and Sylas. They had literally made a performance out of it. Even a soldier commented on each of their attacks, entertaining the spectators.

Evening had already arrived and the sun was turning the sky red. The colony had stopped for the night and set up camp, while Cale's group with the three soldiers had caught up with Sir Nolan to the front. The man was, as Cale had imagined, definitely an experienced swordsman. His muscular, scarred arms, stern gaze and brisk movements were strongly reminiscent of Ben, though the man was also a good 10 years older than his friend.

At first, Yuma Nolan was a little sceptical about his students' request, but in the end he let them do it. Cale suspects that the man was simply curious to see how other swordsmen from Sylve would fight. What had visibly surprised Sir Nolan, however, was the fact that William and Ben held their own very well despite being outnumbered. He stood a good yard behind Cale, occasionally making noises when an attack narrowly missed his pupils.

"Wouldn't it have been better if you had joined Liam and Ben?", asked Aletta quietly. She squatted on the ground a little way in front of him, right next to Philippa, also watching the spectacle.

"No, that would have been unfair to the others", Cale explained, rubbing his face sheepishly. Cale could sense Sir Nolan giving him a puzzled look, but did not respond. He was pretty sure by now that he knew the face, but since Yuma Nolan had not indicated anything, their encounter must have happened in another life.

"Also true", Aletta murmured anxiously.

"Do you think they'll win?", interjected Philippa her question a moment later, turning to Cale who merely shrugged. In his opinion, the odds were pretty good, but he wouldn't be so open about his guess, especially when Sir Nolan could hear him.

"Hard to say, the three of them are definitely not bad, that's for sure. On the other hand, Liam and Ben haven't used their full strength so far. They're wary of unknown fighters, which itself isn't stupid. I just don't know if they're deliberately holding back to observe the opponent first, or because they can't gauge whether the three of them would be able to take a real punch."

"What do you think?", asked Aletta without turning away from what was happening. She watched tensely as William lunged for a blow, but his opponent Mats dodged it and in the next moment Sylas shot his sword towards William. Ben, however, reacted quickly enough and parried the blow, thereby protecting William, who thanked him briefly and then continued his attack.

"I don't think any of the three could withstand a real attack, especially from Ben."

Aletta only murmured in confirmation as Philippa turned her attention back to the action. Cale too watched his two students proudly. Their training was undoubtedly showing fruit and that pleased him. They were working very well together, coordinating their attacks and helping each other. He could see that William was slowly but surely increasing his speed, and the others were suddenly having trouble following him. At one point he appeared right behind Mats, tearing the ground from under his feet, before he shot his sword towards the young soldier, who rolled to the side at the last second.

"Sometimes I forget that those two are actually pretty good", Philippa murmured in amazement.

In the next moment, the crowd could see Ben parry two swords at once before William appeared behind him like lightning and flung both attackers aside with a powerful kick. They had agreed before the fight that anything was allowed. For a moment the two were quite surprised, but quickly straightened up again before Ben came running after them with his sword. He shot his blade at them both before the third opponent appeared, tried to block the attack but could not withstand the force and he lost his sword. Before his friends could react, William was already beside them, knocking Mats to the ground with his free hand and placing a foot on his chest while threatening the second with his sword. The latter could not help it, both his friends could not defend themselves, so he dropped his weapons and surrendered.

"Unbelievable."

"Did you see that!"

"That's madness."

"Two against three and they won?"

"How good are they, please?"

"Sylves' offspring can really be seen!"

Immediately, loud chatter arose among the people, before Sir Nolan disappeared behind Cale and reappeared next to his students in the next moment. William and Ben had already pocketed their swords again and were helping up the men lying on the ground before the five of them started a conversation with Sir Nolan. At a distance, no one could really understand what they were talking about, but judging by the gestures, Nolan put off defeating his students and then turned his attention to Ben.

"That was kind of quicker than I thought it would be", Aletta remarked, and then had a brief conversation with Philippa. Cale tuned out their conversation, watching the six swordsmen instead.

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How on earth did he know Yuma Nolan? He wasn't wearing any royal equipment, so Cale really had trouble assigning him to a group. This was completely different from when he met Adjest Insing, even if Cale didn't know that the swordmaster had a son. Adjest was one of the soldiers who had helped him in the fight in Kutam, so he was one of the few men who knew Cale's real identity. Accordingly, Cale was quick to say who the soldier was. But he was at a loss when it came to Sir Nolan. Maybe he should just ask him inconspicuously, without revealing himself, Ben or William?

According to the appearance, Ben chatted a little about their past and their sword teachers before he brought a witty comment and everyone burst out laughing. With the exception of Sir Nolan. Cale couldn't decipher exactly what Sir Nolan asked Ben afterwards, but Ben started to list something on his fingers, after a few moments, however, Ben pointed to his group, so the other five turned their attention to the crowd as well. Immediately, Cale got a queasy feeling and guessed what Sir Nolan had just asked him. When Ben then waved insistently and called on Cale, his suspicions was only confirmed.

"I think they mean you, Cale."

Philippa's statement made Cale groan in annoyance before he stood up and patted his trousers clean. Aletta and Philippa's eyes were glued on him as he wordlessly walked past them and meandered down the slope past the seated people. With a composed stride, he crossed the meadow and reached the group, who greeted him cheerfully. Before she could even say anything, Cale praised his two friends, who thanked him, visibly embarrassed.

"Sir Nolan had asked us about our sword teachers and I mentioned you", Ben explained, to which Cale nodded. As expected, Ben had become careless. Why was Ben telling about his sword teachers when he should be hiding their identity and why did he have to drag Cale into it too?

"Sorry, I was just curious. I wouldn't have taken you for a swordsman, Sir", Sir Nolan politely spoke up, yet Cale could feel the man undressing him with his gaze.

"Believe me, I get that a lot", Cale replied in a relaxed manner, putting on his best smile even though he didn't like the situation. He wanted to avoid the man noticing that he himself was a mage and not a swordsman. Usually it was the experienced people who pestered him with awkward questions. Especially those who were able to find out more about his identity. The royal house and the Magistrat were probably the biggest problems. Inevitably, he couldn't help but think of Grischa and the day his current friend had created a huge issue for him. One that had brought his whole plan to a halt at the time.

"Would you duel me once?", Sir Nolan now voiced the question Cale was desperately trying to avoid. He could also see William and Ben giving him a surprised look, but both remained silent and gave him a downright desperate look. They were well aware that Cale was in an awkward position at the moment.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think this is a good idea. No offense", Cale tried to extricate himself from the situation, but Nolan's students came to his aid instantly.

"Please. Sir Nolan never fights us seriously, as he doesn't want to hurt us. Would you follow his request this one time? I would love to see two real swordsmen fight each other", Mats spoke up excitedly, but Cale only gave him a gloomy look, so the young man immediately fell silent. Cale said nothing in reply to the request and was about to apologise again, but Sir Nolan intervened.

"I do not force you at all, mister. But I must confess... I too am somewhat curious. Being a swordmaster myself, I always train with the same men, so I would welcome some variety. You are also a swordmaster, aren't you?"

"He's a swordmaster?", Sylvas spoke up in astonishment. When Ben wanted to interject something, Cale merely raised his hand and prevented him from even dropping another word. Sylve's swordmasters knew each other, even if Cale had not known that they often trained together. This was probably only because many worked for the palace and therefore maintained close contact.

"What gave me away?", confirmed Cale quietly.

"Was merely a feeling, to be honest", Sir Nolan evaded a specific comment. It was quite possible that the man had merely been bluffing to draw Cale out, in which case he would have succeeded. "So, what do you say? Will you comply with my request?"

"Alright, I don't mind", Cale replied finally. Excitedly, Nolan's three students jumped to their feet, while Ben and William exchanged worried glances.

"Very nice!", replied Sir Nolan with satisfaction, thanking him and turning to his students. Cale, on the other hand, grabbed William and Ben and pulled them aside a bit as well.

"Nice mess you've gotten me into", he threw softly at Ben as he undressed.

"I didn't think he would challenge you. I'm sorry", Ben whispered to him, which only made Cale sigh. In a way, it was his own fault too, so what exactly was the point of making Ben feel guilty?

"It's okay, forget about it", he therefore only replied and let a ribbon appear in his hand. He carefully tied his long, dark hair and handed Ben his cloak, with which he had hitherto hidden his appearance. By then he had long since made the beautiful dark silver sword with the noble decorations appear and fastened it to his waistband. "From now on, please don't tell anyone that I am a High-Mage. It would only cause me some serious trouble."

"Can you handle him?", spoke up William anxiously.

"Against an inexperienced swordmaster like Sir Nolan?", Cale announced his intentions proudly and grinned before turning away from his and walking towards Sir Nolan. "Watch well, you will see some things now."

The three adventures also parted company with Sir Nolan and mingled with the crowd, who had also caught on that another duel was about to take place. As a precaution, Cale increased his mana output a little that Yuma Nolen must have taken as a declaration of battle, the way he grinned.

"I must ask you something first, Sir Nolan. How do you feel about the use of mana during combat?", Cale inquired in a relaxed manner, motioning with a wave of his hand for William and Ben to clear the field as well. After a brief pause, he added, "Of the large variety."

"I'm asking for it. Otherwise, it would be boring", Sir Nolan interjected, almost a little condescendingly. They both realised that no one would hold back. Some spectators seemed to wonder what the two men were talking about, but both Cale and Sir Nolan ignored the statement. Elegantly, Cale unsheathed his sword and held it in his left hand while he did some short stretches to loosen his arms and legs. Since his last fight with Master Paseru, Cale had not fought a swordmaster, so even he had some hopes. But he was well aware that, despite his limitation, he was clearly superior to Sir Nolan. Not necessarily because Cale was simply stronger, but rather because Cale's fighting technique was superior to that of Sylve. In his eyes, it was a good thing that he decided not to stay in Bellator and go to Frignez instead, back in his 4th life.

Sir Nolan had already lost the fight.