Edward followed master Tarquin to the fighting area. His eyes kept tracking the movements of the two warriors.

The man was moving incredibly fast, and each of his strikes held a tremendous force. Despite that, the woman didn’t seem to struggle so far. Her figure flowed gracefully, like a serpent, evading each strike or redirecting them smoothly to the side.

When the man slashed towards her abdomen, she bent her torso, eluding the blade by an inch. She followed up with a strike of her own, seamlessly connecting the movement, but it was quickly met with her opponent's sword, who kept attacking with viscous speed.

Ed noticed that despite the fight seeming equal, the girl was almost constantly on the defensive. Soon after, one of the strikes reached her leg. Edward winced, knowing from experience that it’s going to leave a bad bruise.

“Stop!” a voice sounded loudly.

The fighters stepped back, the woman limping slightly.

“And that’s why we use wooden swords. When combat approaches a level beyond mortal capabilities things can get rough,” said Tarquin.

Each of the warriors grabbed a towel and a bottle of water. In the meantime the instructor finally introduced the duo to Edward.

“This is Layla, she awakened by defeating a Marked in a swordsmanship duel purely by her skill alone.” The girl responded with a curt nod.

“The other one is Marcus, the lucky bastard actually inherited a minor legend. It’s called a minor Legend of Strength.” The man greeted them with a mischievous smile.

“You’ve already seen them fight. Now it’s your turn.”

“My turn? I’m going to be fighting against THEM?” Edward asked doubtfully.

“Well not them, just him. But yes.”

“With all due respect it’s pretty clear I don’t stand a chance”

“Remind me, what’s your minor legend called again?”

“The Legend of Perseverance?”

“Go and persevere then,” said master Tarquin with a wide smile.

Edward reluctantly approached the weapon stand, and picked out a wooden sword. He positioned himself in the middle of the arena, facing his opponent. The one called Marcus was already waiting for him with a happy expression.

“Just try to hold on as long as you can, it’s just an assessment after all,” he said.

“I don’t know about that… You look like you’re enjoying this a bit too much.” Edward got into a fighting stance, putting his weapon between the two of them.

“Maybe just a bit.” Marcus responded in a playful fashion.

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Master Tarquin announced the start of the duel, and Edward immediately got buried under a flurry of strikes. Surprisingly, they did not turn out to be as fierce as he anticipated. Although Ed could barely keep up with the speed, his sword stayed firm during each clash. He parried another strike, redirecting it to the left, but his opponent carried the movement with a spin, attacking from the right in a fraction of a second. Edward barely had any time to respond. He managed to block the sword at the last moment, but lost his balance in the aftermath. He stumbled taking a couple steps backwards.

Fortunately, his opponent allowed him the chance to recover. They eyed each other for a moment, before quickly closing the distance once again. The duel continued in a similar fashion, with Edward mostly focused on blocking, and Marcus challenging him using more and more powerful strikes.

After ten minutes of their continuous exchange, Layla furrowed her brows. Ten minutes was a very long time for a duel. They rarely went on for longer than five. Despite that, Edward’s posture still held strong. His face betrayed only sharp focus, but no traces of exhaustion.

When Marcus started feeling short of breath, he also noticed something wrong. His relaxed expression turned serious, and suddenly his attacks got even faster. Edward has already gotten somewhat used to the pattern of the duel, this sudden change of tempo threw him off. He parried one strike after the other, his wooden sword creaking from the pressure. But alas, he came a bit short and his opponent's blade hit him in the knee. Then he immediately felt another one smashing into his side. The pain, accompanied by master Tarquin’s voice, announced the end of the fight.

“Alright, that’s enough.”

“Good job new guy, you’re pretty resilient.” The brown haired youth put back his sword, acting nonchalant. His breathing seemed strained and uneven.

Tarquin and Layla ignored his theatrics, more interested in Edward’s impressions. The young warrior inspected his bruises, but curiously enough, he didn’t seem to be in pain anymore. A moment later the red marks turned pink, and then a shade of purple. Couple seconds later, they already looked a day old.

The woman tilted her head. “Huh, that’s neat.”

“Indeed.” Tarquin affirmed, stroking his beard in thought. “Judging from what we’ve just seen, the name of your legend, as well as how it originally manifested, I believe we can safely conclude its effects. It seems to enhance your body’s regeneration abilities, and by extension your stamina as well.”

Edward nodded, that’s more or less what he anticipated.

“Okay but enough of that, I’m sure it’s been a hectic day for you Edward, so that’ll be all for today. Tomorrow we’ll meet in the training halls at 8. I already have some ideas regarding your new ability.”

For some reason Edward felt a shiver travel throughout his body. Disregarding the feeling, he politely bid farewell to everyone before leaving.

When he got back to the hallway, he finally had some time to stay alone with his thoughts. He slowly walked on the polished stone floors, accompanied only by the echo of his footsteps. A lot has happened in the last couple of days. Getting marked, potentially becoming a Legend, meeting Alexander in the flesh, and come to think of it, his instructor was also rather mysterious.

Being marked as a Legend candidate was an honor, but Ed also felt the weight of responsibility attached to this role. If he actually succeeded in his pursuit, he would become one of the key players in the world. People would pay attention to his every word, and his actions could affect thousands of others.

‘Am I actually ready for such a burden?’

“Ehh… I could really use a second opinion right about now,” he sighed, stopping for a moment.

Wait, that’s right, the whole day has almost passed, and he still hasn’t seen her. If she knew what happened, she must have been worried. Come to think of it, even Edward doesn’t know what went on after he split up from the group that day. Father didn’t mention anything so they should be fine…

‘Or maybe he just didn’t want to compromise my recovery’

It was always difficult for Ed to read his old man. He kept most of his thoughts to himself, and when he didn’t he usually omitted something anyway.

In any case, it’s better to just talk to Katrina. Edward arrived at a large room, with a dome ceiling made of marble. Here the paths branched out in different directions. He took a moment to orient himself, and followed the hallway leading to the living quarters.