Dawn had not yet arrived when Sheeron woke Toley up. After some heavy shaking and gruff-voiced orders, Toley rolled out of his sleeping bag to groggily get ready for his day. After packing up his sleeping bag, he promptly began to go through the morning regimen, which he had done since he was young; it consisted of various forms of stretches as well as meditation. By the time he had finished, the sun had started to rise over the horizon and Sheeron was starting to nag him about hitting the road.

Toley quickly gathered his things and they headed towards Fira, he had hope that they would reach the city today. If they did, Toley wanted to pay a visit to the famous battle arena that allowed people to go all-out against each other without the risk of death. He looked forward to seeing just how far he had come since the beginning of his training while also gaining some battle experience, something which he sorely lacked. Sheeron seemed to be planning something too, Toley was not quite sure what it was yet, but the man seemed eager to reach Fira for reasons other than duty. He had been restraining himself from asking, but this close to the city he thought it would be acceptable.

“What are we going to do once we reach the city, just meet up with the others?” Toley said curiously, doing his best to figure out what he wanted to know without asking directly. He did not know why he felt the need to veil his question behind another, but something told him it was a good idea.

Sheeron's mood soured when he thought of meeting up with the others. More specifically, that imbecile Rox. He took a deep breath before replying, “We will do that, yes. However, we'll be meeting up with a former student of mine first. He's a member of the Fira family and a genius like Kara, except that he's more battle oriented. The man boasts an impressive undefeated record in the arena and I wish for you to have a match with him, so that you can experience the kind of power you're aiming to achieve.” The tall man seemed to take pride in the fact that this ‘Jeerae’ person was his student in the past. Just talking about him seemed to make him puff out his chest and regain his good mood. “Even though you're a physical type and he's a mage type, he should be able to show you what's past the line that separates normal people from the truly strong. A line that I have only been able to get my toe over. Kara and Jeerae, however, danced over that line as easily as breathing. I foresee you being able to do the same someday.”

Toley could not help but feel a bit bashful, “That's not true, Teacher. I could never surpass your strength so easily.”

Sheeron glanced at the young man quickly before returning his gaze to the road in front of them, the city of Fira in the distance. “No, you will. I've reached my peak. As long as I remain human, this is as far as I can go.” He said solemnly, returning his gaze to Toley. “That is why I teach you. You can go so much further than I ever could and I wish for nothing more than to see you succeed. I'm not much of a fighter anymore, but I can teach you to go beyond. I can guide you along the path that I could never take. You'll be greater than either of those two, I can already see it in you.”

After saying such things he went silent and stared ahead of them, lost in his thoughts. Toley could not help but feel sad for his teacher. Not pity, though, he could never pity him. This man was so great that he put aside his pride, aspirations, and goals just so that he could teach someone to reach the heights that he never could. No matter how much it pained him to admit that he would never reach them himself. Toley took great pride in receiving these expectations and made a silent promise to himself; that he would meet every one of them.

- - - -

After what seemed like years of walking due to the silence following their heavy conversation, they had finally reached the gates of Fira. After giving a letter of introduction to the guards, they were able to pass through without issue. After entering the city, Sheeron asked some of the locals about high-class inns around the city and quickly deduced which one Kara was staying at. It was not difficult. Apparently Kara had rented out an entire inn, near the center of the city, for the group. Toley and Sheeron were both exasperated, she said she wanted to keep things quiet yet she was doing things like that. At least they had a place to stay for the night, once they were ready to retire.

Once that had been sorted out, they headed towards the Fira family mansion. Sheeron assumed that even if Jeerae was not there, he could at least find out where he was while also greeting his former employer, the head of the Fira family.

Getting through the mansion's gate did not take long either, the private guards for the family seemed to recognize Sheeron instantly and opened up the gates as if welcoming an old friend. They actually stopped to chat with the guards for a while, in fact. While catching up, Toley mostly zoned out of the conversation and looked at the hustle of the city instead. Seeing everyone go about their daily business, shops calling out for customers, it was all so different from the place he came from.

He was brought back to reality when he heard Sheeron exclaim loudly, “What do you mean, he was defeated?!”

“We were surprised too, Sir. Over four hundred matches and he had never lost a single fight, until now, in front of his father and lover no less. His future wife even broke off their betrothal yesterday, although I can't say if the two situations are related.” The guard said all of this, which would normally risk getting him fired, quite casually.

Toley could see that Sheeron was having a hard time processing this information, even he was surprised after hearing about Jeerae just earlier that day. Although his teacher was far worse off. The man seemed to barely be holding himself together.

After excusing himself, Sheeron headed onto the property with Toley and began to look for the Fira family head. His search was almost frantic, seeming more desperate with every passing moment. Lee Fira was not in his study, gathering room, dining hall, or any of the other normal locations Sheeron thought he would find the man. Finally though, he stumbled across him in the outside garden along with a woman. They seemed to be having a tense conversation.

“I'm sorry Lee, no matter how many times you ask, I can't go through with the marriage after what I witnessed during my stay here. Jeerae was far too arrogant and cruel. Honestly, I’m glad he got a taste of his own medicine in his last fight.” She was shaking her head and had a serious look on her face, “My father gave me permission to reject this betrothal after staying with you for a month and that is exactly what I plan to do. I truly am sorry, I know how good this would be for both of our families, but I'm not willing to waste the rest of my life with someone like that.”

The woman finished speaking and stormed off, giving them a glance as she passed by. Lee said nothing as she left. He merely sighed and then looked at his new guests, which visibly brightened his mood. “Sheeron!” He said happily while reaching his arms out in welcome. “How excellent to see you in such trying times as these! To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you, and who is this young lad?”

“This is my new student, Toley. I wanted to introduce him to Jeerae since I used to teach him too. However, when I got here I found out that Jeerae has apparently lost a match? How did that happen?” Sheeron introduced Toley while asking a few questions. When he was addressed, Toley blushed in embarrassment and resisted the urge to hide behind Sheeron. He forced himself, red-faced, to stand up straight in front of the head of the Fira family as he was introduced.

Lee shook his head while looking at the ground before responding, “Yes, it's true. The man he was up against was simply too powerful. Even I could not gauge how powerful he truly was. He had to have been a true master of void magic, at least.” The two of them were silent for a few agonizing seconds, then the old elf continued. “That aside, I believe Jeerae is with Chiron, the barrier mage. He has been taking his apprentice position far more seriously since he lost the match. I have no idea why, though.”

Sheeron nodded, “Thank you, Lee. I'll be taking my leave, then, to go see him.” He said before turning to leave. Once again, Toley had been unable to get a word in edgewise while Sheeron was around. He did not mind though, Toley was quite shy around new people. It was regrettable that he could not at least greet anyone himself, though. Especially the rest of the party when he met them. Even Rox, who Sheeron hated with a passion, seemed like a decent person. Even if he was as weak as his teacher said, he still would like to get along with him.

“I still can't believe that Rox came back to the city, and the first thing he did was beat my son onto the proper path.” Lee said to himself as they left, Sheeron and Toley only barely catching his words.

Sheeron froze in his steps, “Who?”