Koren's heart was racing as he let go of an arrow heading towards the distracted Demon King, it raced in the sky and pierced the Demon king's skull saving the elven king. He married the elven princess and had 3 kids with her living happily ever-

"Boy get up!"

Sebastian started slapping Koren, which did not do anything.

"Maaaster leave me alone." Koren started crying

"I had such a nice dream too…"

"Boy, if you don't get up I'll start haunting your dreams."

Koren did not know if Sebastian could do that but he decided not to test him and got up.

"Grab a dagger, a bow, and arrows."

Sebastian then took Koren out to train in the same secluded forest.

"Ok, before you start running we need to talk."

Koren nodded sitting down facing Sebastian.

"First things first, I didn't check out your bow and arrow skills yesterday, so let's do that now."

Sebastian walked over to a tree

"Take out an arrow and a dagger."

Koren followed his master's instructions and took out a dagger and an arrow.

"Now come here and carve a circle over the tip of the arrow."

Koren grabbed the arrow and carved a small hole into the tree that even a pebble could not fit in.

"Good, now walk back 20 meters and shoot the arrow inside the hole."

Only extremely experienced archers could pull this off, and Koren knew this. But unlike before he trusted his master and started preparing for his shot.

'Breathe in, 1. Breathe out 2.'

'Steady the arrow.'

'It's somewhat far so I should hold it up 15 degrees upwards.'

'Try to measure the wind resistance, it's calm luckily.'

'Pull back enough to hit the hole directly and perfect.'

'NOW.'

Koren let go of the bowstring and the arrow looked like it would go perfectly into the hole.

But right as the arrow was about to hit the tree, a strong wind current came in and pushed the arrow west which made the arrow land somewhere into the forest.

"Pfft."

Sebastian was trying to hold in his laughter, but Koren's face of confusion was the nail in the coffin.

"Hahahah."

"Hey don't look so sad, I was expecting this,"

".."

"But for it to go exactly how I planned for it to go." Sebastian giggled

After Sebastian calmed himself he explained to Koren why he did this test.

"Do you know why I'm making you run?"

"To raise my stamina?"

"Well, why do you need to raise your stamina?"

Koren paused

"I don't know.."

"Do you think an archer stays in one spot constantly?"

"Depends."

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"Depends on what?"

Koren thought for a second but responded confidently.

"If you're on an expedition, an archer usually leads the charge, but archers during a war are positioned in the backline."

"That is true, however, it depends on how skilled the archer is. Obviously they will put the newbie in the back. When we went to war with the Demon King, I always led the charge.

"..."

"Another question I have for you is, what do you do when you're fighting a swordsman and he closes the gap in on you?"

"You use a dagger or something?"

"Well unless this swordsman is a total novice how would you beat him with a dagger?"

"You use a stronger weapon."

Sebastian smiled

"Bingo."

"Now what weapon you use is up to you."

".."

"Now… GET RUNNING."

Koren started running, but this time he had something on his mind.

2 hours passed and Koren finished his training for today. He walked home where he met his mom in the kitchen who was surprised to see him up even earlier than yesterday. He walked to the bathroom to take a shower but noticed his thighs were a lot stronger than before. Koren shrugged it off and got ready for class. He walked downstairs to see his family eating breakfast.

"You're up early," Aaron remarked in surprise

"I know right, he was up early yesterday too," Sasha said in awe

Koren was a night time person, he would study and work in the night and would sleep in the morning. He often talked about how it was quieter and more peaceful.

"It's not that big of a deal." Koren muttered

He quickly ate breakfast and walked with Steve and Sebastian to the train station.

"Ow…"

"Are you alright?" Steve said worryingly

"My legs feel like they're going to fall off."

"Stop overreacting."

"I'm not…"

Koren boarded the train and saw Kien who was sitting down reading something intently. He walked over to him and sat down across from him.

"Hey Kien."

"Oh hey Koren, you off of suspension?"

"Yep."

"Hey who's this kid?"

Sebastian asked before moving himself next to Kien.

Since Koren was the only person to have touched Sebastian's bow, only he could see or talk to him.

"Oh, he's my friend." Koren blurted out, facing Sebastian.

"Koren, who are you talking to?"

Kien looked confused

'Talk to me by thinking.' Sebastian said without moving his mouth

Koren in his head started talking to Sebastian

'Master can you hear me?'

'Yes, now talk to me like this when we are in public'

'Unn*'

Koren moved his eyes from Sebastian to Kien.

"Oh nothing, anyways what happened to the blue haired kid?"

Kien, who knew Koren was attempting to change the subject, decided to drop it and tell Koren about what happened.

"Well, Jacob got suspended for a week and was moved to another class."

"Jacob?"

"Yeah, that's his name."

"Mhmm."

Koren and Kien talked all the way to the school before heading out for their first period class.

'Master'

'Yeah'

'Can you tell me the answers to all the tests I have from now on?'

Sebastian paused for a second

'Maybe..'

'LETS GOO'

Sebastian chucked

Koren made his way to his classes tuning out most of the lectures, thinking about what his master asked him earlier.

'I obviously can't use a spear or a sword because they are too large to keep around. A dagger is too weak like master said, so what should I use.'

'I need a weapon that I can throw and that can overpower a sword..'

Koren moved his attention to Ricio who was talking about dwarves.

"Does anyone know what weapon Dwarves mostly used to support their short stature and inhuman strength?"

Koren raised his hand

"Dwarves primarily used Battle Axes."

"Correct."

'Huh, why don't I use a battle axe. 1, I can throw it and 2, It can easily overcome a sword.'

Sebastian, who was listening to Koren's thoughts, had a big grin on his face.

'A battle axe huh, that would work well.' Sebastian said grinning

*RING RING*

Koren left the classroom cheerfully after solving his dilemma. Instead of going to lunch, Koren decided to go to the school's armory where you could buy weapons for your classes.

An old man who was working there saw Koren looking at the Battle Axes and decided to help him out.

"What are you looking for, son?"

Koren who was intently looking at the axes moved his eyes to the old man.

"Well, I'm looking for a small axe that I can throw easily. But also be able to easily parry a sword or spear."

The old man paused before responding.

"I have something that fits your criteria, however, it is very heavy to hold."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure, but be careful, last time I gave this to a student they dropped it and it cut off one of their toes." The old man chucked before heading deep into the armory

Koren who was excited became very cautious due to the old man's tale. He came back dragging a black one edged axe before pulling it up onto the counter.

"Well, this is it, in all of its glory."

Koren placed his hand onto the axe, unlike most axes it was fully made of some sort of black ore. The axe was about 2 feet long, long enough to fight with, but short enough to be able to pull out easily.

Sebastian who was observing Koren decided to say something.

'Hmm, from what I can tell.. It's made by a master blacksmith who knows how to make an axe, probably a dwarf.'

Koren listened to Sebastian's comment and decided to hold up the axe. He put both hands on the axe's hand and tried to hold it up. Koren who was expecting the weight was still surprised by how heavy the axe was.

"How heavy is this?"

"Hmm, well about 100 pounds"

Koren was able to hold the axe well enough to fight with it, but not enough to throw it.

'I guess your training will need to have some strength and axe combat involved.'

Sebastian said stroking his beard.

"How much does this cost?"

"20 silvers."

Koren groaned, 1 silver is about 100 dollars. Koren's allowance money could barely cover for the axe which left Koren in a bad mood. Angrily he placed the axe which was covered in cloth in his bag.

"My money." Koren cried

'It's fine, you won't need to buy another axe for a while.'

Koren groaned as he walked over to his potions class. He sat next to Maria who had her head down once again. However, once Koren sat down, she raised her head and stared at him.

"What's up."

Koren said still bummed out

"Oh, so you're off of suspension?"

"Yeah.."

Maria looked over at Kien

"Why did you help out that commoner?"

"What?"

"I'm joking, I'm a commoner too, I was just wondering why you helped him out." Maria chuckled

Koren sighed a sigh of relief, he did not want to fight another person, especially a cute girl.

"Well, he's my friend and I don't really care if you're a noble or a commoner."

Koren started speaking again.

"Hierarchy is a flawed idea anyways."

Maria looked astonished

"Watch what you say, you could get yourself killed for saying that."

"Well answer this, what makes a noble a noble?"

"Well, money, power, looks-"

Koren cut her off

"Well for one, I prefer girls like you over some pampered spoiled princess."

Maria was blushing but was also looking shocked, Koren decided to get back to the question to save him from some embarrassment.

"Two, those are all superficial things, so you're saying a commoner could be a noble if they had power or wealth?"

Maria paused for a moment

"Ancestry."

"Exactly... now answer this. Why should your ancestor decide your fate for the rest of your life?"

Koren, who saw that Maria was still thinking, started to speak.

"They shouldn't.. let's say a king orders all commoners to kill themselves and uses military force. What should you do?"

"Start a revolt," Maria said instantly

"Well, if it was that easy anyone could do that." Koren giggled

"The point I'm trying to get across is that hierarchy was made to fail and one day will fall apart for the empire."

"Thankfully currently we have a capable King and Queen, who enforce rules and are not cruel. But one day it will not be like this."

Koren and Maria started warming up to each other during class and discussed other ideas.

"Koren, can you come here and answer this question."

The Professor saw Koren talking to Maria and decided to embarrass him; however, right when he called Koren's name he saw Maria glaring at him.

"Ah never mind, hey you Nicholas answer this."

Sebastian who was watching this all happen was skeptical.

*RING* *RING*

"Well, that was a nice conversation, Koren."

Maria said sweetly

"Yeah it was."

Koren smiled before walking away. The Professor then walked over to Maria, and kneeled in front of her.

"Princess, why did you cover for that brat?"

Maria looked down with disgust.

"You.. did you not see I was talking to him?"

"I did.. but I thought he was bothering you.."

The Professor said wearily

Maria sighed and started walking towards the exit door.

"Also, do not kneel in front of me like that. Someone might see you."

"Yes, your highness."

However, they were not aware that Sebastian was watching this whole event unfold.