About two or three hours before dawn Maria decided to let me go. For about five or six hours I was being constantly assaulted with more or less sophisticated mental attacks which kept on clouding my mind. Usually, she just tried to force me into feeling a specific form of emotion or sending to my head some vision of her creation - and I have to admit. These were so real that while ‘dreaming’ I could nearly swear that everything she showed me actually happened.

Mental-magic appeared to be a specialty of hers. Maria was not a combat mage, instead, she helped injured to cope up with their pain. Sometimes, she sent the injured to sleep, sometimes, she helped them deal with their traumas. Though her main responsibility was studying the effects of dungeons on the psyche of adventurers. When I asked her if the dungeon could affect the way people thought, she would just spread her eyes saying “No idea - and that’s why I want to check that!”.

Each time I would lose myself a bit too much into daydreaming I would be “woken up” with a jolt of electricity spreading through my bones. As she finished tormenting training me I asked how I did.

“Even the longest journey starts with the very first step.” She said with a reassuring smile all over her face. “That was the nicest ‘terrible’ I have ever heard.” “You are too hard on yourself! You actually exceeded my expectations!...” “You must have been expecting awfully little from me…” “Gosh! Aster! You are terrible! Stop pitying yourself so much! You are not a mage and were just exposed to the spell which is my specialty! If you would fully block even one of them after your first day I would doubt myself to be a fitting instructor for you!... It must be the effect of already being put under powerful mind control before. You had some fragmentary resistance formed. For now, I was attacking it from all sides trying to see its weaknesses. You can somewhat detect more straightforward attempts of taking your mind over, but are still defenseless against weaker suggestions. And that’s where we will start from - the chain is as strong as its weakest link as they say. Leave for now, at dawn you are supposed to see the rest of the squad on the training field. Go, use this time to rest and prepare yourself!” “Will do… And Maria… Thank you.”

I left the armory, leaving the mage behind.

As soon as the undead soldier left the tent, the air shifted and twisted, densing into a shape of a man as an illusion was dispelled.

“Did you find anything?” Captain Friedrich asked her apprentice. “Nothing solid. After scanning through his surface-level memories and feelings I indeed confirm that he has no ill intentions regarding the House. Even when I lied about Adam bad-mouthing him he didn’t react aggressively, he was disappointed, slightly annoyed, but that’s it. “Good. Anything else?” “I tried suggesting his mind to show me more of his goals, but… It was hard to see past his death. Whatever he is trying to achieve, that’s highly personal. He identifies his suffering with a certain group of people, I couldn’t see faces nor names… But the part with being betrayed and backstabbed appears to be true, at least basing on pain which was transferred back to me when I read him.” With a pained expression, she massaged a non-existing wound on her liver. “Great. In that case, feel free to actually start training him. If we can help him exact his vengeance he will become a great help to the House… At least as long as we would keep him well-fed.” “And that’s where you crossed the line, Captain. Letting him feast on fellow warriors? Sir Nikolai would be greatly displeased, and Adam could actually demand you burned on the pyre, especially taking into consideration his attempts of making Silver Lions a Paladin group under the servitude of the Church.” “That’s highly unlikely to happen. Very well, deliver a message to Nicolai, tell him that extended examination confirmed the results of the lie-detection crystal.” “So be it. Just as you suggested, starting from tomorrow I will start measuring his magical aptitude. How much should I teach him?” Maria corrected her robes before once again facing her teacher. “Child, you need to answer this question yourself. He will be your student - a great practice before you would start lecturing a fellow mage. Bear in mind that you may study how his kin reacts to different magics - all we know is that they die when exposed to light and fire magic. But, how do they react to, for example, time-space altering spells? Your studies might change our views on the nature of undead or magic itself!”

She smiled, tempted with the vision of becoming a respected pioneer of uncharted fields of study.

“I will not disappoint you, teacher.” “My fair child, you will never disappoint me. As long as you seek knowledge, you are proving that I raised you well.”

The old man ruffled his students' hair, just like a grandfather spoiling the youngest kid in the house.

I was the first cadet on the training field, using free time I allowed myself to once again resume the training I was doing before Marie had interfered. I was training for a good hour or so, watching the skill-level-bar slowly increasing at a steady pace, till eventually, I heard someone calling me from the side.

“Training already!? As expected from my rival! Ha - Lucas should see you now! Before our yesterday's conversation he was so sure that you obtained your strength in some unfair way! But, it is just as you said - there is no shortcut to greatness! Only training!”

Quite a small man approached me from my side.

“Good day to you, Gregory… Carrying a shorter blade, I see... “ I said, noticing the weapon strapped to his belt. “Yes, to be honest, I was still hesitating, even after you told me how stupid it was to use a weapon which overweights you… But then again, you showed yourself as a person who truly understands the hardships of choosing your own path… And I can respect that. Say, would you mind if I join you in your training?” “Of course not, by any means, please do! I was recently scolded that training alone isn’t nearly as effective as having an instructor or partner.”

Greg stood in front of me taking a stance preparing his training sword. Taking turns we started attacking and defending ourselves from plain, simple attacks, gradually picking up the pace.

In the span of next hour the rest of the cadets joined us on the field, though some of them preferred just warming up, or doing nothing at all, still resting before the actual training started.

As soon as the sun appeared on the horizon a group of adventurers led by Captain Godric appeared coming from the direction of the tents. Walking in loose formation, but formation nonetheless, they stopped on the edge of the training ground. It wasn’t a merry company assisting their Captain for the sake of entertainment - it was an attack squad.

“Okay, listen up, maggots! Today our training will be slightly different. As you probably noticed, the Deadwood - the place we were tasked to purify - is gradually changing. The mist that surrounded this place has vanished and no new waves of undead have been spotted - that’s probably because the Undead Lord which was responsible for all of that was killed, that means that there is one last thing left to be done - our House will form a few smaller parties which will patrol the area and get rid of every remaining undead marauder that may still be roaming this land. Each team will be led by an instructor, who later on will be supervising your personal growth. Any questions?!”

A few cadets raised their hands, but…

“No?! That’s great! When the instructor calls your name, step forward, and join their ranks!”

… they were completely ignored.

“I will start - Greg! To me!” Sir Godric was first to call his future protege.

The smallest warrior among the cadets almost bolted toward his squad beaming with pride.

“Thomas! To me! We can use your raw strength and range.” A knight with a huge scar across his face called for another cadet. “Lucas! You know the drill, our squad lacks a skirmisher!” An instructor carrying a glaive and tower shield called forth another warrior to join his ranks.

Till eventually, I was the only one remaining. A warrior that I have never seen before walked toward me opening his mouth, yet was stopped by a woman who just appeared on the training ground.

“Stephen, I will be taking him.” she said, gripping his shoulder. “Natasha? But your group was not supposed to participate in this operation.” “My apologies for the confusion, just yesterday I was asked by my cousin to personally train him, we didn’t manage to change timetables. You won’t mind switching team responsibilities with me?”

There was a moment of silence, the tension in the air could almost be seen.

“That depends - what was your team responsibility for today?” the man asked cautiously. “We have just returned from the raid, so we were supposed to rest today.” “Are you joking?! Are you saying that…”

Her grip strengthened, slightly bending the metal on the warrior's armlet.

“I don’t joke about duties, Stephen. Yes - I just asked you to take a day off in our place. Seriously.” “... Paid vacation? You don’t need to ask me twice… Sure. Take him.” he said, turning around “... did you hear that lads?! First round is on me!” and then he turned toward The Lioness and whispered through clenched teeth “... Don’t you dare shame me in front of my soldiers again!” “That was not my intention.” she answered, lowering her head lightly in apology, though her gaze would suggest that she barely cared about other lieutenants renown. “Everything settled?! Good. We march out in one hour.”

Natasha the Lioness quickly turned on her feet and with a gesture of her head she ordered me to follow her. As I was leaving, I noticed a few strange looks directed at me and my new instructor.

“I hope you don’t mind being bullied by your fellow cadets a little. My team is mostly made up of females, very rarely do I take a male in, and they usually don’t have an easy life among fellow cadets.”

Oh, so that was the reason for those strange gazes.

“One - I already defeated them once. I would like to see them try to bully me. Two - I don’t care what people would say about me. Three - having a hard life would be impossible due to not being alive to begin with. Four - I have no idea what is wrong with studying under the guidance of a woman.” “I am glad to hear that. And there is nothing wrong with studying under a woman - no. I just tend to… collect not exactly polished diamonds, the one that no one else would take under their guidance. Some fellow warriors might think that your skills are inferior as a result.” “They would be right. I still have lots of training ahead.” “You already talk like a Lion, will you be able to act as one though?” “Try me.” “That’s my intention. Little kitten. That’s exactly my plan. But first, you will need to meet your fellow comrades in arms. Just be warned - all of them are quite… no, whatever you will see it yourself. My group is stationed outside of the main camp.”

That didn’t sound promising.

We left fortificated walls and walked toward a small hill at the edge of the forest where indeed a few smaller tents were erected. And from afar I could see that there was not a single male in sight.

Seeing us approaching, girls stopped doing their tasks and instead grouped up at the camp’s edge. All of them were peacefully waiting for us to get closer… All of them, except for one.

“Siiisttteeeer Naaataaaashaaaaaa...” A colossal cloud of dust raised in wake of the charge of certain glaive-user “... I WAS SO LOOONEEEELY!” “Cadet…” she looked toward me and with dead-serious eyes “... your first task. Stand in front of me, raise your shield, and brace for impact.”

First, I thought it was some kind of joke, but then I quickly remembered that she said that she never jokes about duties, so with barely any option left, I did what I was told. I took my place in front of her and raised my shield. Thinking about it now, that was rather pointless, the she-storm was still far away, and seeing something blocking her path would simply cause her to change her trajecto…

I was nearly blown off the ground by the sheer force of the thing that just rammed into me. I dug my feet deeper in the soil securing my stance, yet despite that, whatever just attacked me still managed to push me around two or three meters back.

“Sister! Sister! Why didn’t you take me with you!? That was mean! And Grumpy Godric was making fun of me! And I accidentally smashed Mister Purrington von Fluff! And we had a great battle with an Undead Lord when you were away! But all of that is completely unimportant! I finally met him! That one! The very and only! He was sooo cool! And, and, and brave! He totally saved me in my darkest hour, just like in that novel I borrowed from you! And…” “Agnes! Behave!...” Natasha yelled at she-storm “... you are making fun of your entire squad in front of our youngest cadet!” “Oh… who is she…” Agnes asked looking in my direction “... Or he…” she squinted her eyes trying to look past the dust which was still limiting her view “... weird. His armor looks just like HIS armor… size is roughly the same as well…” “Hello, Agnes, good to see you again.” I said finally putting my shield down. “No.” she said, getting red all over her face. “What no?” I asked, confused. “You didn’t hear anything!” she yelled becoming even redder “Hear what?!” I just decided to play along “... the noise of the collision was quite deafening…” I didn’t lie… well, at least not technically.

She exhaled air loudly, somewhat calming down.

“O-ho, I see you met our little disa-sister Agnes already.” Lioness noticed “YES! HE SAVED ME! HE WAS SO COOL!” Agnes was jumping in place, full of excitement. “You did?” the gaze of my new instructor quickly shifted to me. “I think I did… though, being honest, she didn’t need much help…” “You fool…” she whispered “... if I knew that Agnes liked you I would never have taken you in. I would wage a small war again my cousins Nicolai if I had to…” “U-um… I have no ill intentions, so you can rest assured that nothing would happen to Agnes and…” “I am not worrying about her, you moron. I am worrying about you! If you weren’t already dead I’d kill you now to spare you from what’s to come...”

The sun was shining. The birds were singing. And I had absolutely not the slightest clue what I had gotten myself into.