"You dodge that huh? How about this?" Asked the crimson-haired woman as she twirled her daggers with a flourish before throwing them both towards her target.

"That might work against weaklings, but against skilled opponents, it's like you're asking for them to dodge your attacks. Like this." Artreus then took a half step to the side and easily dodged the thrown daggers.

"That's why I have more." Mikaela drew more daggers from her bandolier and threw them towards him in a flurry, quickly moving around the field to find an opening on his defense.

"Futile effort." With numerous projectiles flying towards him, Artreus calmly dodged and parried away Mikaela's daggers, not letting a single one of them touch his clothes. Seeing that her attacks were not working, Mikaela grabbed her two remaining daggers tightly and rushed towards him, her agile feet enabling her to close down the ten-meter distance between them in a single second. "We have danced this song before, and time and time again, I have the range advantage." Artreus declared as he thrust his sword to reiterate his point.

How many times have they clashed weapons like this in the past two days?

Since two days ago they have been camping in the woods and sparring with each other in their spare time. Why were they camping in the woods? It's because they have been accused of setting the Riverside Inn on fire. It's an outrageous claim since Artreus was present for the whole time to see due to him being in a life and death duel against Joe Nathan at the time that the fire started and while Mikaela left the vicinity of the stage, there have been people who witnessed her leaving with the half-elf guild receptionist Amara along with the kids. Thus, it should be illogical to pin such a crime on them when it was clear that they were innocent and have an alibi.

Unfortunately, those who are blinded by fear rarely think logically and they were forced to leave Mukala if just to avoid the angry mob from rioting. Guard Captain Dan apologized to them profusely for having the innocent leave town though not a fault of their own, but to his inadequacy in being unable to control the crowd, which is not surprising since the whole situation stinks of manipulation with the outrageous accusation spread around town at an astonishing speed, lighting the fuse of the agitated people that was about to blow, forcing the accused, Artreus and Mikaela, to leave town. To further appease the angry mob, both Mayor Adam Longley and Adventurer's Guild Master Paul Brett Anderson each assigned one of their trustworthy men to ensure that both he and Mikaela doesn't cause further trouble.

Artreus expected the hot-headed Mikaela to cause a scene and refuse to have to leave town. Surprisingly, she has gracefully accepted the situation and even urged Artreus to leave the town as quickly as possible. He wondered what has gotten into her, but her reason was soon revealed as soon as they arrived in the forest clearing as she asked Artreus for advice in using her newfound abilities.

At first, Artreus hesitated in helping her. Not because he doesn't want to help, but training while being under the supervision of people who they don't trust is dangerous. A person's skills and abilities are akin to a trump card. The more cards you kept hidden from your opponent and the more that you know of your opponent's own cards, the higher the chances that you would win. While such things as hiding their skills are a trivial thing to those who have such strength that they could defeat most enemies as easily as turning their hand, to those who have yet to reach their level, even a single hidden skill or technique could tip the balance of life and death in a battle. Mikaela might have demonstrated her newly found skill in front of the public, that was but a taste of what her skills have in store and vast arrays of skills are waiting to be discovered.

Thankfully, the men that were sent to supervise them agreed to give them privacy. They sent for mages to draw a magic circle encompassing a hundred meters in diameter where Artreus and Mikaela could train hidden from the eyes of other people, the only gist is that they are not allowed to leave the circle.

While it was generous of them to go to such lengths to give them their privacy, being confined even in an open area with people guarding over them doesn't sit well with Artreus.

Still, since his companion doesn't seem to mind, Artreus just needs to brush aside his apprehensions and put his mind into something productive, like getting stronger.

While she is undoubtedly outmatched by Joe in both power and fighting abilities, Mikaela has the advantage in her agility. Her quick feet allow her to dodge attacks and keep a safe distance away from opponents before closing in for the kill when the chance presents itself, it was clear that she doesn't have much experience fighting someone who is not just standing there waiting to be attacked like Drogo, but someone who is actively exploiting her weaknesses.

Her first weakness is her range.

Her being a dagger user means that she must be extremely close to her opponents to be effective, which means she must also dodge the attacks of her opponents who would surely try to keep her at a distance where her daggers pose little to no threat. Her quickness might have covered this weakness of hers in all the fights that she's been, but against Artreus who is an expert at keeping multiple enemies at bay as he fought countless Demons whose primary weapons are their sharp claws and fangs, finding a way around his defense would be a tough nut to crack. She could try to be creative and find new ways to overcome her weakness, but this is where her second weakness comes in.

Her attacks are easy to read.

While straightforward attacks are effective against opponents who are too slow to react even when they see the attack coming thus swiftly dispatching the trash, against high-level opponents who not only has the quickness to react to her attacks but also has the ability to punish her for it, it could mean her defeat, something that Artreus made the point time and time again in their spars. Although it is commendable how quickly she learned about that weakness of hers and swiftly took steps to improve. She has already devised quite a few tricks and developed new techniques for the purpose of defeating him. Few of them, Artreus find quite clever, like her purposely missing a knife throw only for it to ricochet back at an unusual angle or the one where she tries to distract him with the daggers in her hands only to kick on of the daggers that are strewn about towards him. Tricks that against would have scored her a win if she fought with any other opponent.

Unfortunately, her opponent is Artreus.

Decades of fighting demons under the moonless sky of the Void Plains, Artreus has lots of battle experience. Decades of experience.

The gap between their experience is clearly emphasized as he planted his foot on Mikaela's stomach as the woman materialized behind him. She tried to misdirect his attention as she launched a wild frontal assault, the daggers in her hands flash in a flutter of attacks all the while emptying her bandolier of throwing knives and kicking the knives that fell in the ground towards him. All to make him believe that she is betting it all in a full-on frontal assault, only to shadow step behind him at the very last moment for a sneak attack. Another clever move. But it won't work against Artreus who have fought countless demons who are not only sneakier than her but are also attacking in droves.

"Guaah!" Mikaela groaned as she clenched her stomach.

"That was a fine attack. You have improved much in the two days we have sparred compared to when we sparred for a month."

"Did I really improve? I feel that the more we spar, the gap between our strengths is just getting wider. For God's sake, I only realized now that you haven't even taken a single step in our spars. Not even the old man could make me feel as helpless as when I am fighting against you."

Her rant makes Artreus relive one of his fondest memories, one where he was also complaining how he couldn't land a single hit against Captain Marius even after a whole year of sparring. Believing that he is not improving even after a year of training and live combat against the demon horde, he tried to confide his woes to Devin, thinking that the man who joined the Order in pursuit of the man who has defeated him in combat would have some useful advice for him, only for the bear of a berserker tell him to just get better at fighting before laughing his ass off and slapped Artreus' back so hard that Moira has to cast healing magic on him. Oh, how Moira scolded Devin that day saying that if he is going to injure someone, at least do it in a spar so that at least I might learn something and that the injury I have incurred would at least reinforce a lesson on me or something.

"You're smiling. Do you find my misery amusing?" She frowned as she picked up a stone and threw it at Artreus.

Catching the stone, Artreus replied. "Of course I don't. It's just you remind me of myself in the past."

"The way you say those words makes you sound like one of those old men reminiscing their youth. Argh." She groaned. "I think you broke a rib or two. Are you just going to watch me groan in pain or are you going to help me tend my injury?"

"I apologize." Artreus then took the first aid pack that Mikaela took out from her dimensional pouch. Taking out a healing potion, yesterday, they had five 500 ml bottles of health potions, but now, they only have half a potion bottle left, which only signifies how hard Mikaela is pushing herself. Letting her drink the rest of the potion, he then ground a few medicinal herbs to apply on her bruised sides. But before he could, Mikaela stopped him.

"No need for you to do that. I'll apply it myself. Thanks." She quickly grabbed the poultice and winced as she applied it to her sides. Groaning every time she taps the injured area, she complained. "The cheap healing potion's effect is too slow, and the herbs only help a bit in alleviating my pain. Wouldn't it be better if you cast a heal spell on me so that we could get on with the training quicker?"

"I told you before, Heal spells lessen the impact of training. You will retain more of the strength you gain if you let your body heal naturally. In any case, you could use the time that you're recuperating to meditate on what you could improve on in our spar."

"But..." She tried to argue but Artreus cut her off.

"I can sense your intense desire to get stronger as soon as possible. But trust me. Training the mind is as important as training the body, if not more. A stronger arm may defeat an enemy weaker than you, but a strong and sharp mind will help you defeat those who are stronger than you." Artreus feels like he is starting to sound like Moira, but he couldn't help it. He doesn't know anyone better than her when it comes to training, something that he experiences with his body. Sensing that the fiery red-head is not convinced, he asked. "Why are you in a rush? Haven't you already reached one of your goals? You have Awakened. You are already getting the hang of the basics of Mana, not to mention the innate skills that you are Awakened with. You are already far stronger than you were a week ago. Why the rush?" He asked Mikaela, and for once, the usually strong-headed woman was silent. Opting to not push any further, Artreus stated. "If you don't want to tell, it is fine. I will still help you get stronger." He owes her and her party for letting him, a suspicious naked man in the middle of the forest, accompany them and even help him without asking anything in return. They also didn't try to interrogate him of his past, thus, he would do the same and let them keep theirs.

A sigh from Mikaela broke the silence. "Haaa... It's not that I don't want to tell. But..." She winced as she tried to get up on her feet, Artreus offered to help her but she held out her hand, stopping him. Leaning against a tree, she looked to the sky. "You know, before I have Awakened, people always talk behind my back, that I only got to A-rank because of the White Wolf., or I am too weak to be an A-rank. Worse is that I have bewitched the old man so that I could ride his coattails and live luxuriously as an A-rank. Which is a load of shit." The tree shook as her fist landed upon its trunk. "Not once did I try to ride the coattails of the old man. I always take my job seriously, I make sure that the intel I gathered is as accurate as possible so as to not burden or endanger the party. All the time that I am free I train myself to the bones so that I could surpass the limitation of my Unawakened self so that I could proudly say that I am a valued member of the White Wolves and not just some random orphan that the old man took under his wing and took advantage of his compassion. That I could be useful." Then, with her back leaned against the tree, her eyes turned to the ground below her feet. "But you know. Somehow, deep in my heart. I do believe that I am weighing him down." Her face then turned red and turned away from Artreus. "I don't even know what has gotten into me, telling you all of this. I must be feeling unwell from all the beatings I got from you. Just forget what I said."

"That's not true. Drogo trusts you completely. I can see it in his eyes. You have also Awakened. You are far stronger than you were before."

"But that's just it." She said abruptly. "I thought that I would reach my goal after I have Awakened. But when I did, it only opened my eyes to how high the heavens are... and how much I'm lacking."

A feeling Artreus knew too well. After decades of waging a losing war against the demon horde, Artreus gained unbelievable strength. Demons that he was having a difficult time fighting when he was but a few years in the Void Plains became just a nuisance to him near the end of his journey. But even with all the strength that he has gained, there were still beings that he could not hold a candle.

A memory of the demon who even after sacrificing his life to unleash an attack that contained all the experience and power he has accumulated, only earned him a minor injury.

The Demon Lord Astaroth

While he wanted to console her, Artreus couldn't. After all, he also still couldn't get over his own weakness. But that doesn't mean they should just wallow in grief. The battle isn't over when you're down for the count, it is when you refuse to get up and fight again. "The stronger a person is, the more they know how lacking they are. There are always people who are stronger than you." He could see the usually fiery woman slump in dejection. "But that doesn't mean you just give up. Who cares if there are people who are ahead of you in strength? Or that there are people who are advancing faster than you in the path? All you have to do is take a step forward. Then another. Then another. Each step you take will take you closer to where you want to be. Then, before you know it, you're there." He stretched his hand towards her.

"Heh. You sure know how to lift one's spirit. The way you speak, it's like one of the commanders or even one of the Paladins of the Trinity giving motivational speeches. But you're right. I won't accomplish anything just by sitting around. If I wish to catch up with the old man, then I have to train both my body and mind." She said as she reached for Artreus' outstretched hand. "And hey. Having someone to accompany me in the path is not so bad." A smile appeared on her face.

"Of course. I will accompany you on your journey to strength till our paths diverge." He has his own mission. When he finds out what the Goddess wants him to do, then he would venture on his own. The White Wolves are good people, and because they are good people that Artreus doesn't want to get them involved with his mission. For if the Goddess had to get involved and bring Artreus back from the afterlife, that means that the mission ahead of him is something that is extremely dangerous. If somehow these people who he owes much gratitude came to harm or Gods forbid, lose their life, because of him...

I don't want to lose any more friends...

"So... You plan to leave us?" Artreus' thoughts were cut short at the sound of Mikaela's voice. It must be his imagination, but she sounded sad.

"Not in the foreseeable future. No." He answered.

What he heard earlier is not a figment of imagination as the sadness is clearly etched on her face. "Is it about your past?" She asked in a quiet tone.

Artreus didn't answer.

"I see. I will not ask of it any further." She breathe deeply and sat down by a tree.

"Thank you." An awkward silence then filled the atmosphere.

Artreus is not used to the redheaded firebrand being unusually silent. Why is she being sad? Is it because she will miss his company? Artreus shook those thoughts out of his mind. While it was true that they have become closer these past weeks, he has no delusion that the sharp-tongued woman considers him a close friend enough to become sad about their future parting. As an A-rank, she must've lots of friends and acquaintances that she views Artreus as just another person who came into her life and leaves, not leaving a big impact on her. This is different with Artreus who has been alone for how many decades, thus each person that he has considered close to him is important. She must be sad because she won't have anyone for her to train with. Yes, that must be it. Her goal is to become stronger. With Drogo as the person training her, Artreus can imagine the bear of a man going easy on her to avoid injuring her. But doing so also slows her progress. Compare that to the training she gets with Artreus who prefers live combat. It is dangerous, yes, but the strength and experience she would gain would be far greater. Pain is the greatest teacher after all, or so says a certain great silver-toungued Paladin as he shower him with his compassion, with his compassion being numerous bruises and even quite a few bone fractures each time he imparts Artreus with his overflowing knowledge.

Oh how he would love to hear the long winded speeches of his. Bran was a prideful man which borders arrogance. But unlike common braggart nobles who are mostly talk, Bran has enough strength that when he started to call himself as the Sword Of Light, no one opposed it even the Elders and Grandmaster. He was a fallen noble if his tall tales could be trusted, with their noble household brought to ruin by the elders of their family siding with the demon worshipers. Upon uncovering their vile plots, to save his innocent family members, Bran slaughtered the elders, which means murdering his own father and uncle with his own two hands. An epic battle against powerful opponents that he would've normally bragged about but instead he tells it with a sombre expression on his face. Alas, not even pulling the roots of evil was enough to save their household and their noble status was taken away. Him and the rest of his family would've also been executed for suspicion of collaborating with demon worshipers if not for Bran and his impassioned speech of innocence, purity and loyalty to Gods and Country, all of his claims were found true by the Paladins of the Order of the Blazing Sun, one of the Paladin Orders along with the Order of the Brilliant Moon and Order of the Blue Seas who came to investigate a lead that few of the noble houses are secretly colluding with the demon worshipers. Even with their innocence proven, none of the Paladin Orders are keen on letting members of a known fallen household free and wishes to detain them so that they would be observed closely.

Except for the Order of the Brilliant Moon. According to Bran, the Goddess Yue has descended herself from the heavens and chose him as her vessel to proclaim that the sin of the father are not the sin of the children thus must not pay the price of the transgression of their predecessors. She then proclaimed that Bran and his family are therefore under her protection and those that disagree would have her as their enemy. When none of the Paladins voiced their disagreement, the Goddess left her body and as soon as he regained his senses, he pledged his undying loyalty to her.

As Artreus drowned himself with the memory of the prideful paladin, the sound of rustling leaves brought him back to reality. He quickly reaches for his sword but as soon as his Sense washed over the intruders, he relaxed. "We have company." He told the still frowning Mikaela.

"Indeed we do. Come out you two. We know you are there."

"Ow... We got found out. I told you to be careful, big brother. I wanted to surprise them."

"Sorry, Julie. My shirt got stuck on a branch."

"No need to fight, you two." Beckoning them to come close. Juliet energetically ran towards him and gave him a hug before letting go and hugging Mikaela next. Timothy then approached them, more sheepishly than his sister as if he's a child that was caught by his parents doing naughty things and is waiting to be scolded. Instead, Artreus patted his head. "You two have improved much since we last trained together. It takes much skill to be able to get this close to Mikaela and me without being detected. You did well." Timothy's face beamed with joy and puffed his chest in pride.

"No fair." Juliet stopped hugging Mikaela to run towards Artreus. Leaping in the air like a feather in the wind, she landed upon Artreus' shoulder. Sitting upon his shoulder, little Juliet proudly declared. "Praise me too, Mister Artreus. I was the one responsible for my clumsy big brother to get this close without getting caught,"

"Wow. Little Julie, you already got the hang of Lightening yourself." Artreus lifted Juliet off his shoulder and raised her up high.

Juliet giggled in delight as she is hoisted up high. "It's all thanks to you, Mister Artreus. I put to heart all the lessons you teach."

"Indeed. You are such a great student. I am proud to be able to teach you what little I know." Indeed, he was proud to teach the two smiling children in front of him. But he doesn't delude himself that he's a great teacher.

Even without him to instruct them, TImothy and Juliet would've learned all the things he have thought on their own sooner rather than later. When he started to teach them, the two are already Mana sensitive and are in the cusps of Awakening. Especially little Juliet. Everything he taught, little Juliet quickly learned like it was as simple as breathing that Artreus almost didn't notice the little girl's Awakening which happened almost instantly after he finished his instruction on how to harness the ambient Mana to form their own Mana Core. Timothy then Awakened a few days later, and while he took longer than his little sister in learning basic Mana skills, the rate they are learning how to manipulate Mana is so absurd that Artreus is wondering if the two were blessed by the God of Magic 'Arcanum' from birth.

Seeing Timothy's shoulder slump down, his ego took a hit from his sister's words, Artreus placed little Juliet down. "I am glad that you put my teachings to heart. While we're at it, I will give you another lesson." The two kids' ears perk up, Juliet seemingly delighted to hear another lesson from him while Timothy seems eager to learn, no doubt in an effort to outdo his little sister. "A good warrior may stand above others, but it takes a greater warrior to raise others up. Thus, instead of rejoicing in other people's shortcomings, help them overcome them. Who knows, one day when you find yourself lacking, the hands of those that you helped will be the ones that will help you in your time of weakness. Especially you and your brother. When push comes to shove, you have to be someone that the other could depend on."

Both Timothy and Juliet's spirit are down from his sermon. While his heart becomes heavy whenever he saw the two sad, guiding them to the correct path while they were still early will do them good in the long run. What remains to be seen is if the two would put to heart what he has said.

After a few seconds, Juliet was the first to speak. "I'm sorry, big brother. I should've helped you improve your skills instead of boasting about my own. I just wanted to be praised by Mister Artreus. I didn't consider that I have hurt your feelings." The little girl was on the verge of tears as those words leave her lips.

Mikaela moved to comfort the little girl but Artreus stopped her. "What are you doing? Have you no heart?" Mikaela whispered to him.

"To move forward, they must resolve their difference on their own." He answered in a quiet tone. The ball is in Timothy's court. Will he be able to swallow his pride as the elder brother who has been surpassed by his little sister, and accept her apology and help?

It didn't take long till Timothy answered. "I must be the one who's apologizing, little sister. I was the one who failed to follow your instruction earlier which led us to get discovered. To be honest, I was jealous of how you are quickly you are progressing. But don't worry, even if I am lacking, this big brother of yours will work even harder so that I would not be a burden to you."

"You big dummy, you are not a burden. Don't worry, I will help you whenever you are having trouble understanding Mister Artreus' teachings." The teary-eyed Juliet hit his big brother in the shoulder before hugging his arm.

"Thanks, little Julie." Timothy then hugged his little sister back.

Artreus smiled as he watched the two make up when Mikaela hit him in the shoulder. The red-haired woman then whispered. "You are going to be a great father."

Artreus didn't reply to her teasing and just smiled. A great father huh? He thought to himself. There was a time that he dreamt of having his own family, and while the time and place when those dreams were floating in his head were not appropriate since a split second of distraction meant death, he couldn't help dreaming of it at that time especially when the woman in his dreams is only a few meters away from him.

Alas, that dream is now forever out of reach...

Walking towards the siblings, he placed a hand on each of their heads. "I am glad that you two have made up. However, I have a question. How were the two of you able to sneak in here?" It should've been impossible for the kids to be able to enter the perimeter that was set up by the mages without alerting the people who are supervising them, and while the kids are indeed talented, their skills are still lacking to come this far without activating the alarm. While he is glad to see them, he doesn't want the kids to get in trouble.

The two of them looked at each other like they were caught with their hands inside a cookie jar.

It was little Timmy who spoke first. "It was all my fault, Mister Artreus." He then told the tale where the two of them wanted to see both him and Mikaela but they were unable to, for even if they are able to sneak past the men guarding the area, the barrier that is surrounding the place was impossible for them to bypass without triggering the alarm. Seeing his little sister's spirit down, Timothy then concocted a plan where they ran towards the barrier before stopping short and hiding their presence. Such an action would've done nothing if it's just the two of them, but the little boy is indeed crafty as he took into consideration another factor.

The two idiot who are always following them.

While the two men are always following the kids at a distance, thinking that Artreus and the others haven't noticed them, so far the two didn't show any hostilities and are content in just observing the kids.

Artreus had half a mind to beat those two up for continuing to stalk the kids if only Juliet didn't stop him. According to the little girl, the two are good men, they have even protected her and his brother from the mean kids in town, and occasionally, the two pretends to be passersby and gives the kids some candy before bidding them farewell.

Why the men are doing this, Artreus doesn't have a clue.

Still, Timothy was crafty enough to use the two's stalking to their advantage and deliberately run towards the direction of the barrier before hiding behind some bushes. The two men then chased after them, unknowingly setting off the barrier in which the men supervising the area quickly chased after the two intruders. Timothy and Juliet then used the commotion and quietly sneaked past the guards.

"I hope those uncles doesn't get in much trouble. We just wanted to see you and Mimi so much. Those mean people in town may think badly of you and Mimi, but we know that you are good people. You took care of us. You take care of people, and even if they turn their backs on you, we never will. You are our friends, and father told us to always stand with our friends." TImothy declared.

Artreus could feel the sincerity behind their clear blue eyes. He can't be mad at them. Instead, he admire how they could have so much conviction despite their young age. Compared to how he lived when he was their age.

He shook his head to drive away the shameful memories of his childhood.

Centuries has already passed since he was that bloodstained kid, still, the demons of his past still haunts him.

But that is just it.

The past.

He left that past when he entered the Order.

Now, he must look into the future. He must find what the Goddess wants him to do if he wants to protect the bright innocent gazes of these children.

To do that, he must gain power first.

As Artreus kneel to praise the children of their clever thinking, he felt something in the air.

This feeling he knew so well.

As if a malevolent storm is approaching.

Gazing towards the direction where the vile energies are coming from, it took only a few seconds till he recognized what was coming.

His eyes darted towards Mikaela who seem to have Sensed the same.

As if they were heaven sent, The four men who were assigned to watch over them has arrived with the two stalkers walking behind them with their wrists tied with ropes. One of the warriors greeted them "Pardon me, Adventurers. We have caught men who are scurrying around. They said they know you, and..." seeing their agitated expressions and asked. "Did something happen?"

"You arrived just in time. Ready yourselves. Something big is coming!" Artreus infused his voice with Aura as he barked his orders, and while they are apparently still confused, they jumped to follow his lead. He then turned towards Mikaela. "Take the kids and get out of here! We must inform the town!"

Glaring the monster hordes direction, he declared. "A monster horde is approaching!"