After successfully finishing Olaf's session, Samael took a short break as he reminisced about all that happened. Once he was okay, he swiftly went towards the training hall, only to see Mendez waiting there.

"You finally decided to come," Samael said as he approached the man, his footsteps leaving metallic echoes in the air.

"Why? Miss me?" Mendez asked as he sheathed his dagger.

"I thought you were dead," Samael replied.

"Bah, enough of the chitchat," Mendez said.

"So what's your purpose of visit?" Samael asked.

"To check on you, especially after what happened here," Mendez said as he looked around the ruined battle hall. "This place would need complete remodelling."

"Well, I already finished the first training you gave me," Samael said.

"I can see that much," Mendez answered as he gazed at Samael's blood-red, faintly glowing eyes. "It's quite impressive and scary how fast you managed to do it. But even more terrifying what method you could have possibly used."

"Does that even matter? I finished, and that's it," Samael said.

"I suppose," Mendez said as he hopped down from his seat. "That means we can now proceed to the next phase of your training."

Snapping his fingers, the entire room began to emit a low pitch hum as the metal components began to release steam and move, cranking and shifting as they formed multiple structures.

"What's all this for?" Samael asked.

"This is for your tracking training," Mendez said. "It's simple, really."

Taking out a plethora of discs, Mendez threw it in the air as they began to float. "You just need to follow those, and each stage, which is around 10, increases in difficulty."

"How would you even know if I miss?" Samael asked.

"Trust me, I'll know. And if I see you lose contact with the objective, I'll restart the entire test from the beginning," Mendez said.

A sigh escaped Samuel's lips. Each stage was varying in difficulty. Not in the way that they're just faster but in many ways more than one.

Some of them were simply so fast that some humans will definitely be unable to follow. Some were employing the use of interchanging trajectories that form an illusion that the objective has changed. Some had structures blocking it's way.

"If you're ready, begin," Mendez said as he leaned back. "Just press that button, and it'll begin."

Samael nodded as he pressed the button; doing so, the green light above the machine glew bright as the discs began to rotate and move rapidly.

Stepping onto the first platform, Samael focused his vision on the fast-moving disc, tracking its trajectory as it moved from left to right and taking sharp turns to try and leave him. Fortunately, it was rather easy, as Samael had already faced a few opponents that moved as such.

When the machine labelled stage 1 glew bright, Mendez spoke. "Move to the next."

Doing so, Samael shot a look at the disc as it began to blast forth with astounding speed, nearly causing Samael to lose contact with the device.

The 2nd stage would keep employing this tactic of suddenly slowing down and speeding up with varying degrees of intensity, which left Samael on the edge of his seat. By the time he was done, he was already sweating.

"Harder than it looks, huh," Mendez taunted as he chuckled.

"Shut up," Samael said as he focused again.

The third stage began as the disc rapidly rotated before separating into multiple different discs, many of which were of similar appearance.

Without a second wasted, the device released a blaring alarm, startling Samael as he gazed at the glowing red beacon of the machine.

"You've failed," Mendez said. "Not everything needs to be fast; you need to not only be able to catch up but to remember who you're chasing. Restart from the top."

Samael swallowed as he restarted from the top once more.

Like earlier, he toppled the first test and had some difficulties for the second, as the patterns and movements of the discs do change every restart. But upon arrival at the third stage, Samael took a sharp breath as he kept in mind Mendez's tip.

As the green buzzer cast shadows upon the room, Samael sharpened his focus to the max as he watched the disc with great intent.

Perfectly circular, has a small speck at the bottom, medium pac—

Samael's eyes widened as the discs began to rapidly collide and retract, completely throwing Samael off. With that, the red alarm went off again.

"You need to think faster!" Mendez taunted as Samael gritted his teeth in frustration.

Restarting from the top, Samael did the same as earlier as he honed his focus to the max, following everything without missing even a single time.

He breezed through the first stage and with a little less difficulty on the second, but when the third came, Samael was met with only the blaring sounds of the machine and the constant mockery of Mendez.

Eventually, the man left after Samael failed countless times, giving him some peace for himself. But Samael did understand that in combat, silence was a luxury, for enemies would use everything just to get an edge on you.

After countlessly repeating the same trials over and over and being fed up with the buzzer sounds, Samael finally managed to make it pass stage 3.

A sigh escaped Samael's lips as he wiped the bullets of sweat trailing down his forehead. Although it looks easy, it's much harder than he thought.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

As he glanced at the fourth stage, Samael couldn't help but swallow. If he fails, that means he will have to redo everything from the start.

Samael grated his teeth as he urged himself to pace forward, his hand halting a few centimetres from the red button.

Taking a deep breath, Samael pushed as the machine ignited to life.

Looking at the floating disc, Samael noticed straight away other floating machines that began to block his vision.

Fortunately, he managed to pull through for the first few moves until the third, where the disc would hide behind the pillar and randomly choose a direction to reveal itself from, meaning Samael has to rely on his reaction time to catch up.

Without a second thought, the machine released the same blaring sound in the air as Samael grunted. He was back to stage 1.

Samael repeated the process endlessly, failing multiple times at the third stage and ultimately falling at the fourth. This cycle was almost nightmarish as the grating sounds of the machine had begun to imprint itself in his mind.

When it came time to finally call it a day, Samael realised that it was already dark outside, and yet he barely managed to make it stage 5.

Samael glanced at the machine as he sat down, contemplating what had just occurred and where his mistakes lie.

The first and second were a matter of skill alone, something that he can hone upon multiple trials. But the third and fourth involved luck—

No, not luck, another aspect...

Reaction time.

Yes, the third and fourth trials involved reaction time, something that is quite foreign to Samael. Not in the sense that he doesn't know of it, but rather the thought of having faster reaction time with his eyes was hard to imagine.

Samael knows in himself that he has a good reaction speed, that is, bodily speaking. But in terms of his eye speed, that's a different topic.

In the first place, in all the years of his venture out in the world, he has never once trained his eyes to do such strenuous activities; he has always relied on the upgrades the Codex gave.

Turns out, it's his fault nonetheless.

But now he has a goal. But how will he achieve it?

Or perhaps...

***

As Samael finished his training session with Olaf, he put down the hammer beside the anvil. Today, he made it to the second fold and nearly to the third. However, just like yesterday, he found it nearly impossible to make it to the third fold.

"Keep working hard, and you'll make it past the second fold eventually," Olaf said. "Do not be discouraged, for many blacksmiths find the second stage the hardest to surpass."

Samael nodded as he wiped the beads of sweat trickling down his chin. "Sir."

Olaf shot a glance at the boy. "What?"

"I'd like to ask for a favour," Samael said.

"Favour? What kind?" Olaf asked.

"Can you craft something for me?" Samuel asked.

"Craft?" Olaf asked, his brows furrowed. "Is this an insult?"

Samael's eyes widened. "No, I didn't mean it that way. It's just that this device I need isn't something that's commonly made, more so of my imagination."

Olaf's facial muscles began to soften as he gave the boy a nod. "I see. Well, spill it."

Samael took out a drawing from inside his dragon horde remnant before giving it towards the grandmaster.

"Interesting," Olaf said. "But for what purpose will this serve?"

"Training," Samael answered.

"Well, it's not difficult to make, so it should be ready by noon," Olaf said.

The device is simple, as the grandmaster said. It's basically a device that can be mounted on surfaces and act similar to sentry weapons.

Above the machine is a mounted ballista that fires not an arrow but rather a steel sphere. The strength of the draw isn't enough to penetrate his skin but enough to inflict some pain. Not only that, but the speed and rate of fire can be adjusted.

With that device, not only can he train his eye reaction time but also his body so that he may be able to make it pass the second fold.

Without further delay, Olaf went straight to work while Samael continued to attempt passing stage 4 of Mendez's training device but to no avail.

When night came, Samael was visited by a Mellagun carrying two large boxes of machinery that he requested.

Not wasting time, Samael set them up ahead and began his training. To ensure he'll progress just right, he made sure to adjust the speed so that he can still react and see, but just enough that he's on the edge of his seat. That added with the amount he put on was enough to let a couple bullets pass through.

As the machines began to fire, Samael tools out Crimson Raven as he began to deflect the steel balls using the flat edge of the axe.

The sound of steel ringing bounced off the steel walls of the training hall as Samael deflected one sphere after the other.

However, due to the sheer number of machines, Samael had no time to breathe or relax as his arm weaved back and forth, contesting the plethora of attacks hurling his way.

His eyes darted forward and back with great speed as he sharpened his focus to its maximum, making sure to not miss a single bolt.

But of course mistakes were bound to follow as Samael watched a single steel ball pass by Crimson Raven, the axe missing by an inch as the attack hit him in the abdomen.

Samael grunted as he more and more attacks began to break through his defense. Fortunately, the round was over soon enough as the machine had run out of ammunition.

Samael's chest rose up and down as he swept his gaze around, dozens of steel balls laying around, some closer to him.

However, a smirk formed in Samael's lips. Although difficult, he knew it was working.

"I must say, that worked better than I thought," Olaf said as he walked out from the shadows, luring Samael's attention.

"Sir," Samael said.

"This invention of yours can be quite useful for our soldiers," Olaf said as he tapped one of the machines.

"Yes, yes it is," Samael muttered as he watched his reflection over the steel sphere.

"Boy," Olaf said as Samael shot a glance at the man. "I've seen the way you use your weapon."

Samael's brows furrowed. "Sir...?"

"In Mellagun tradition, showing one your blade work is only given to mellaguns you trust your life with," Olaf said as he began to draw something out of his storage space.

Pulling out the weapon, Samael's eyes were glued to the blade.

It was a glaive.

The glaive was taller than Olaf himself and had a silver and gold sleek design that emanated an aura of elegance and power. The blade of the weapon was nearly the length of an arm and had beautiful glowing blue runic instructions on the surface, releasing a soft hum.

"Now, allow me to show you mine," Olaf said as he slammed the butt of his weapon down the steel floor, causing a loud bang that ripped through the room.

As he did, the atmosphere around him shifted, as though he were watching some general in a war. Not only that, but Olaf's demeanour morphed as well as this wise veil surrounded him.

"Observe," he said. "Observe why they call me the God of War."

Samael felt a chill run down his spine as Olaf lay his blade behind him, and like thunder, he thrust, a simple push, yet the force behind it was enough to rupture the training dummies on the other side of the room.

Withdrawing the glaive back, Olaf swung down the opposite direction, the blade halting mere centimetres from the floor, still as a rock yet appearing as light as a feather.

The force of his movements almost felt as though they were sending ripples throughout the entire room.

But this was just the beginning.

As Olaf opened his eyes, he began to move at a great speed, startling Samael with the sudden shift in the blade work. What seemed to be the gentle yet elegant movements have become sharp and destructive.

Each slash he did stirred the wind and left thunderous explosions as the red cloth at the end of his glaive weaved in the air.

Leaping in the air, Olaf did a circular attack down as he took a low stance, his face nearly hitting the floor but halting mere inches from it.

Dragging the blade in a circular motion, he sent waves of wind through the surrounding area, blowing Samuel's hair back as he recoiled. The wind almost felt sharp to the skin.

Planting the Glaive back, Olaf stood upon its tip as he fell down before catching himself and kicking the blade back to his hand.

As he did, he swiped to the left, the tip of his weapon cutting through the thick layers of steel on the floor.

As he finished his demonstration, he slammed the butt of his weapon for the final time as Samael's eyes widened.

Below the man was the illustration of a large dragon soaring in the sky with flames escaping its mouth.

When and how he did it without so much as a grating sound was beyond Samael's understanding.

Samael blinked as he took a deep breath, realising he had not been breathing throughout the demonstration Olaf showed.

Samael's fist tightened as he bowed.

"Please teach me how to wield Crimson Raven," Samael said, and for the first time in his stay here, he saw the grandmaster smirk.

"I thought you'd never ask."