Isaak POV

The following morning, Isaak found himself in a better mood than he had been in a very long time. He wasn't sure if he could call it a date, but the quiet dinner between the two of them was so enjoyable, that he doubted that he could've done more to enjoy the night if he tried. Sure they didn't do much besides eat and quietly talk, but it was the time they spent together that meant a lot to him.

Now that he thought about it, he really didn't have much to say and did a lot more listening than anything else, though that was most likely due to how uncomfortable it was for him to talk nowadays. Thankfully, Miri was more than willing to talk enough for the two of them as they reflected on their experiences since coming to this place, idly gossiping about this and that or talking about Vitmori and his beasts.

All in all, he was looking forward to the next time they could do something like that again, though it was highly unlikely they'd get to eat alone all too often. Especially considering how it sounds like she's getting along with almost everyone, whereas he only has a select few of the group he's comfortable around. He shouldn't be too greedy when it comes to taking up her time, should he? Maybe if he was a little greedier, they might've gotten closer a long time ago.

He was pulled from his thoughts soon enough, his eyes opening as he stopped his meditating upon Joli's arrival with Vitmori, the two talking about something or another; he wasn't sure about what since he hadn't been paying attention until just now. He looked over at them as the two crossed through the empty threshold leading into the stone building they had been staying in, respectfully bobbing his head once at Joli while remaining in a kneeling position.

"So is that alright with you?" Joli asked, looking at Vitmori after taking a moment to acknowledge Isaak.

Vitmori flashed a small smile and shrugged a bit. "If you're fine with an old man like me, sure I don't mind." He mused kindly before looking over Isaak, beckoning him to get to his feet.

Isaak, for his part, just looked a little confused, getting to his feet before silently regarding Joli with a quirked brow.

Joli smiled, jutting a thumb over to Vitmori who stood by the entryway behind her. "We're gonna have you two spar for a little bit so I can best determine how to train you moving forward. I've heard about your sparring sessions with Zanitul, so I already have an idea of what you're capable of, but I still want to see you in action for myself." She explained simply enough before turning to look at Vitmori. "Don't rough him up too much, though I wanna see what you're capable of too." She enthused kindly.

"I'll do my best not to." Vitmori mused a little before looking over Isaak. "Well, come along then." He said as he beckoned Isaak to follow, soon making their way into the street of the fake neighborhood. Once outside, Vitmori proceeded to unbutton his armor and even pull off his shirt, leaving himself in just pants as the clothes and armor seemingly disappeared into thin air.

Isaak looked on with confusion as he glanced between Joli and Vitmori curiously. "Should I...?" He asked Joli quietly, not sure if he needed to also take off his shirt.

Joli didn't acknowledge Isaak just yet, instead walking closer and looking over Vitmori's simulated wounds and letting out a low whistle. "Geez, you've got more souvenirs than most veterans I know."

Vitmori just chuckled a bit, though it sounded vaguely hollow to Isaak, as he went about pulling out chunks of wood from seemingly nowhere and slowly shaping them into blunt swords. "Yeah, these aren't even half of them. This body Reyvyre made for me was of me in my thirties, I'm pretty sure I was in my sixties when I finally died." He mentioned offhandedly before looking down at himself, his left hand tracing a particularly nasty-looking scar before going back to shaping a second sword. "Not to discount your veterans, but this is the result of having to survive every day I was alive, rather than just fighting a war with rules and morals that could end any day." He explained before holding a wooden sword by the blade over to Isaak. "Here you go."

Joli nodded slowly, still looking over Vitmori's back with renewed curiosity before remembering that Isaak had asked her a question. "Ah, um... No, I don't think you have to." She said, glancing over at Vitmori for confirmation since it seemed he was taking the lead for this part.

Vitmori glanced between the two of them, having noticed both their gazes on him now as he flashed a bit of a smile. "Oh, you don't have to undress like me, I just didn't want my new clothes getting damaged, not to mention I don't actually need armor because this body can't feel pain." He explained before looking Isaak over. "If anything, I recommend getting whatever pieces of your own armor that still fit, at least your bracers for arm protection."

Isaak bobbed his head intently, making his way back into the building he'd been staying in for the last several days, and collected what gear still fit. Securely fastening the armor around his arms and shoulders, he made his way back outside to see Vitmori had built a sparring ring of stone and was quietly speaking with Joli about something or another.

As Isaak hopped the stone railing, Vitmori looked him over again before nodding in approval. "There we go, just be sure to make use of your armor if you're unable to fully dodge an attack. Your armor is there to take the hit, you just have to make sure to put it in the way of whatever is coming to hurt you."

Isaak nodded once more as he regarded Vitmori. "How are we doing this?" He asked quietly, holding up his wooden sword as he absently tested its weight and balance to get a feel for it.

Vitmori stroked his chin for a moment before flashing a bit of a smile. "I want you to do your very best to hurt me." He said simply, earning him a quirked brow from Isaak as he tilted his head in response. Vitmori just chuckled softly as he continued. "It's all about the mindset, as you've never killed before, and you're likely to hesitate or hold back if you're thinking like you're trying to kill me. So instead you need to think about hurting me, aim for my limbs, try to get me to slow down, and cripple my movement." He explained, sounding almost professional now, the air around him changing as Vitmori started taking up a defensive stance, wielding the sword in his right while keeping his left hand free. "As for me, every three times you fail to get a good hit on me, I'll strike you back, so be mindful, and don't forget to maintain your own defenses." He mentioned while flashing an almost teasing smile. "Whenever you're ready, go for the first swing."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Isaak couldn't help but swallow a little nervously, it was one thing to watch Vitmori fight someone else; though actually facing Vitmori head-on brought a sense of unease that Isaak wasn't expecting. He took a moment to consider what he wanted to do, his eyes glancing at Vitmori's shoulder before taking a step forward and performing a hard vertical slash.

Moving quickly, but not too fast, Vitmori closed the distance instead of dodging as he used his left forearm to smack away Isaak's blade before bringing up his own blade with his right hand and stopping short of chopping Isaak's neck. Vitmori flashed a bit of a smile while locking eyes with Isaak, disengaging as he took a step back. "That was alright, strong stance and good form. I can tell you're honest too, but you're not strong or fast enough to be that honest just yet." He said before taking up a defensive stance again. "Be more confident in your follow through. Remember, I'm just wood, I won't feel it."

Isaak could only swallow, his heart starting to race and pound as he felt a lingering sensation around his throat. If this hadn't been a training match, he was almost certain he would've lost his head without even realizing what happened. He felt a heat starting to swell in his chest as his heart continued to race, his senses sharpening distinctly as he readied himself again. He'd felt the sensation of a battle rush during training before, but it was never this pronounced. He briefly wondered if this was thanks to the changes caused by the drakewardens or perhaps his manaheart.

Regardless, Isaak turned his attention back on Vitmori and stepped forward again, moving faster than he anticipated while doing a horizontal slash and going for Vitmori's sword arm.

Vitmori responded by bringing his sword up and parrying the strike with a strong swipe which caused Isaak's sword arm to swing out wide, leaving him exposed for a strike that Vitmori didn't take advantage of.

Vitmori didn't say anything this time, but he looked rather intrigued as he seemed to stare at Isaak's chest for whatever reason while Isaak quickly stumbled back, retreating and fixing his stance.

Now on edge, Isaak attempted to score at least one hit on Vitmori as he launched forward with a lunge, aiming for Vitmori's center mass. Though even as he committed to the lunge, he could already see Vitmori starting to sidestep, easily dodging the desperate strike before kicking Isaak's legs out from beneath him, making him spill onto the stone floor with a pained grunt.

Vitmori was soon by Isaak's side, extending a hand out to help the young guard back up to his feet. Despite being vaguely frustrated at being so easily taken down even after everything he's gone through in the last several days, Isaak took up Vitmori's hand with little complaint; getting back to his feet before letting out a heavy sigh. "It doesn't feel like anything's changed despite all that has definitely changed already." He mentioned rather miserably.

At that, Vitmori couldn't help but chuckle before gently patting Isaak's shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with getting your ass kicked every now and again. Especially during training. Just make sure to keep picking yourself up and get ready for it to happen all over again until you're the one kicking ass." He enthused kindly when he pulled away, taking a step back before intently staring at Isaak's chest again.

Vitmori's words did bring a small smile to Isaak's face, though he did feel just a little put off by Vitmori's sudden intense staring. After a couple more moments he started to feel rather self-conscious as he brought his arms across his chest before quirking a brow at Vitmori. "W-what are you doing?"

"Studying the way your mana seems to be traveling through your body, it's flowing around like your blood." He explained before seemingly realizing something and glancing up to notice Isaak's expression. "Ah, sorry about that. I didn't mean to be rude." He mentioned rather apologetically while stepping back and standing tall once more.

Before Isaak could even ask his question again, Joli spoke up, sounding both intrigued and impressed. "You can actually see his manaheart and the way it moves mana around his body?"

Vitmori chuckled almost sheepishly as he scratched at the back of his head before looking back over at Isaak. "Yeah, though I suppose I got a little carried away. I swear I didn't mean to leer like that." He explained rather apologetically.

Isaak simply shook his head, having been more confused than anything. "No problem... It's fine. S-so what did you see?" He asked, now more curious than anything as he leaned back and relaxed against the stone railing. Joli also looked rather interested in what Vitmori had to say, coming over and leaning onto the stone railing from outside of the training ring.

Vitmori looked vaguely surprised by the question before seriously considering it, his wooden sword vanishing into thin air as he tucked a hand into his pocket while using the other to stroke his chin in a thoughtful way. "I'm... Not sure how to best put it into words... It's like... Well, it flowed around a lot like your blood, a fresh pulse of mana coursing to your extremities with every thump of your heart. It wasn't nearly as strong or even as intense compared to what I saw of Reonim 's manaheart during my match with him... But it was there. If I had to make a comparison, it was like the difference between a trickle of water from a waterskin, to the stream of water out of a spigot of a barrel."

Joli chuckled a little bit, gently smacking Isaak's arm with the back of her hand. "Hear that? A whole water skin." She mused before looking at Vitmori once more. “Let’s keep up this pace for now, I want Isaak facing off against someone who can’t make use of a manaheart before I start sparring with him myself.”

Vitmori seemed to be offended by Joli’s description, before clearly scoffing with mock exaggeration. “I see how it is, sure, I suppose I’ll do my best to challenge him.” He mused before looking to Isaak once more as he pulled the wooden sword from thin air and rested it against his shoulders. “Let’s get on with it.”

It was only now that Isaak realized that his day was just barely getting started and he had a lot of sparring ahead of him. At the very least, he wasn’t being used like some sort of punching bag for Zanitul anymore…

Ultimately, the training didn’t turn out to be as bad as he was anticipating. Vitmori never went too far, pushing Isaak just enough to make him try a little harder each time. Even when Isaak was hit or grappled, it was almost like he was being struck just hard enough with the flat of the blade to fall over with no follow up. Despite hours passing by, he wasn’t worked to exhaustion like he had been with Zanitul, and Vitmori actually took the time to teach him all sorts of interesting techniques for close combat that even Joli took an interest in learning about.

It took some time to really come to terms with it, but after spending the better half of the day with Vitmori as a sparring partner, the unsettling, anxious feeling he had about the wooden man just seemed to fade. The way Vitmori carried himself reminded him of a kindly older man who just really knew his way around a blade; and when that elf mage came over and asked Vitmori to join her for some kind of magic stuff, Isaak found himself surprisingly disappointed in having to stop so soon.

“Well, that’s it for me today. Let’s do this again soon.” Vitmori enthused, pulling his shirt from out of nowhere before putting it back on. He then looked to Isaak, approaching him and holding his hand out. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that talk we’re supposed to have. Come find me later when you’re feeling up to it.” He expressed kindly as he pulled away, saying his goodbyes to Joli as well when he followed Reyvyre out.

“Now then, time for part two of today’s training.” Joli suddenly said once they were alone again. “Same rules as before, you get three tries before I hit back.” She explained as she hopped the stone railing, conjuring a whip of water with one hand while taking up one of the wooden swords.

With a soft sigh, Isaak nodded in response as he took up his wooden sword again. Though this time, he felt just a little more confident with himself as his manaheart starts to pound with anticipation.