After the wolves retreated, the rest of the night passed rather peacefully. Seeing Dillim show such a big amount of power for the first time, Keith was rather excited. He had become even more heated up for his own training. Rinza had almost been severely injured by a Three-Tailed Wolf, but he wasn’t really impacted. He was, after all, still someone who had a lot of experience.

After that encounter, they kept one person on guard and changed that responsibility between Dillim and Rinza after set intervals. They weren’t so scared that they wanted to guard the camp at the same time.

Dillim woke up early in the morning. A lot of birds could be heard, filling the surroundings with their music. The sun was shining through the tall trees, and the sky had fewer clouds than the day before. He walked towards Rinza's tent first, to prevent what had occurred the previous days. He kicked at the tent a few times, until a tired looking face emerged from the inside. Rinza leaned on all four of his limbs so he wouldn’t hit his head against the tent, resulting in him looking up at Dillim from an awkward position.

“Hey,” Dillim growled, “Go pack everything, then I’ll wake up Keith to train. That way we can depart immediately after we’re done.” After saying that, he turned around and started walking towards Keith’s tent.

“Good morning to you too…” Rinza said to himself as he watched Dillim walk away.

After waking up Keith, Dillim had him practice the basics for a while, and afterwards they sparred some more. He was growing more surprised as more sessions passed. Dillim had seen Keith’s test with his own eyes, so he saw how miserably Keith had failed. Normally, the test would be perfect to see through the level of talent a prince would possess, but after his sessions with Keith, he slowly started to doubt its credibility.

He had seen a lot of different fighters, and he knew how important it was to start training early. But because of this, he didn’t expect that Keith was rapidly becoming more familiar with the sword. It wasn’t at the level where Keith was using the wooden sword like it was an extension of his own body, but if someone could do that at his age, he would definitely be a monster. But at the same time, Keith wasn’t like most of the other children Dillim had seen wielding the sword. A lot of children would continue to use the sword as a foreign object and simply use it with very tense movements. Somewhat like how someone would chop wood with an axe, a way of wielding a weapon that isn’t actually optimal for using the sword. Swords require an arc in their movements, to make optimal slashes, while axes require a straight impact on the target. Great-swords are, of course, a different case.

Keith was actually already applying somewhat correct cutting motions; he had slight curves in his slashes. In addition to that, he was also figuring out how to use the momentum of his body to empower and quicken his attacks. Dillim could see that Keith didn’t understand what he was truly doing, but that made it all the more special. That would mean Keith was actually doing it simply because it felt better. Dillim had taught a heavenly prince once, and he could say that Keith’s talent was probably only slightly below theirs.

Dillim’s way of teaching was actually a little old school; he would first focus on basic techniques for a long time, every lesson. The techniques he wanted Keith to master would need to be repeated millions of times; only that way would he be able to start creating his own techniques with a good foundation. Then afterwards repeating the basics over and over again, he would spar with Keith. This way he wanted to make Keith familiar with seeing attacks. He would also emit slight hints of killing intent, making Keith slowly familiar with how real battles would feel later on.

There were two common routes to take when training people in martial arts. One is to slowly attack people and have them figure out what kind of blocks and attacks feel natural for themselves. When they have figured out how to deal with slow attacks and blocks in their own intuitive manner, the speed can slowly be increased. With minimal guidance, people can start to develop their own natural fighting style. But in general, this only works for very talented people. If someone less talented were to use this method, it would take him an extremely long time to intuitively find optimal ways of attack and defense that feel natural to him.

Another path, is to lay a correct foundation for people by exactly portraying how moves should be executed. These moves are simple to the core and can be learned by anyone with enough practice. This is the route Dillim chose for Keith. After seeing the result of the Royal Test, Dillim thought that he should simply show Keith exact blocks and attacks. After a while, when the foundation has been laid using simple motions that are in accordance with natural ways of using the human body, they can be developed further. This way the simple moves that have been ingrained into his body, can slowly be enhanced to fit his own style.

After their sparring session, Dillim and Keith walked back to the camp to see it all packed up. They then followed Rinza, marching on in the same direction as they had been going before their encounter with the wolves. They continued walking for a day or two, and eventually they reached the edge of the forest. They didn’t encounter any other strong Magical Beasts, resulting in a smooth time in the forest. Keith had continued his training, and because of the magical mood within the forest, Dillim figured it would be a good idea to increase the amount of training to twice a day, with one day of rest in between.

“Ah look!” Rinza exclaimed when they almost reached the edge of the forest. “The trees are getting smaller again. Soon we’ll have to travel across a grass plain for a little while, and then we’ll be able to spot the main road again.” He raised his eyes to look at the tree tops, seemingly thinking for a while. Then he nodded to no one in particular and spoke up again: “It should only be around one week on foot from here; we’re almost at the academy!”

Hearing this, a peculiar light flashed through Keith’s eyes. He would finally be able to live normally. He’d be able to focus on becoming stronger, until he would be able to get revenge. If he was stronger, then he wouldn’t have had to live through such awful things.

“Good, the sooner we get there, the better,” Dillim answered. He wanted to fulfill his promise with the king of Lirix as soon as possible. If the king would receive the other volumes he would probably pay less attention to Keith and Dillim. Only after a few years would he see if Keith had managed to learn anything new, and if not, he would discard him as a simple pawn. As for whether the volumes are real? That wasn’t a problem. Lirix and Erelath had fought before, Lirix knew some of their tactics, and so if the volumes would describe random tactics, they would know. Even if Erelath would change its ways of war, it wasn’t so easily done. This gave Lirix a slight advantage over Erelath.

They continued walking and finally encountered the main road again. There were just as many people as when they left it, loads of merchants with wagons and adventurers walking around. Some people were even selling things on the road, yelling loudly to gather costumers.

All three of them were equally familiar with the sight. They all had exceptional backgrounds for that matter. Rinza suddenly chuckled, “Hehe, even after going through all that, the journey has come along rather smoothly.” He said, smiling at Dillim before continuing: “There’s only a small distance between the main road here, and the academy.” Dillim simply continued walking without paying much attention to Rinza. Keith on the other hand didn’t show anything on his face, but Dillim could see that he was subconsciously starting to walk a little faster.

After they joined the main road and started walking alongside all the merchants and adventurers, Dillim asked Keith a question, “Hey Keith,” he started, “How many types of warriors do you know?”

Keith thought a little and then gave his answer, “Well, I know about swordsmen and mages,” he said, thinking some more before continuing, “I know there are a lot of different mages depending on their elements,” he said, looking at Rinza. “I also know that there are multiple types of swordsmen, some use two blades, while others use blades of different sizes.”

Dillim made a stiff smile and responded to Keith, “Well, that’s already a satisfying answer. There are of course not only swordsmen, but also spearmen and other weapon users.” Dillim took this time to explain some of the core knowledge a warrior should possess. He has been observing Keith for many years now and understood that Keith would probably understand most of what he was trying to impart on him, especially now that he had started wielding the sword more seriously.

“But this is something very important. A spearman will obviously not fight like a swordsman, because a spear has all kinds of different techniques altogether. But the same goes for swordsmen, some use a saber, while others use swords,” he said, pausing for a while, checking if Keith understood what he was saying. Keith didn’t display any confusion and simply nodded at Dillim, indicating that he could continue. Dillim continued explaining: “Why this is important, is because people who use a saber don’t use the same techniques someone with a sword would use.” He said, letting his words sink in for a short moment. “Sabers only have one edge that is used to cut through everything in its way. People who use them have slower movements, but their attacks are more powerful and destructive.” Dillim said, pointing at a mercenary who was guarding a nearby cart. The mercenary had a youthful face and was wielding a saber on his back. “Also, never wear your weapon on your back if you plan to use it. It’s only efficient to wear it on your back if you plan to travel a long distance without being attacked.”

At this point, Rinza couldn’t help but question Dillim, “Why would you say that? I have seen many warriors wear their weapons on their back and they were all very fast with drawing them.” He looked at Dillim with a face that already seemed to say that he was right.

Dillim didn’t answer Rinza himself, but instead asked Keith, “Do you know the answer to his question Keith?” He thought for a while, before speaking up with a slight smile, “I don’t really know, I just know that wielding a sword on your back looks cooler than wielding it on your hip!”

Rinza liked to make jokes himself and was vulnerable to laughing when he heard something funny, so he laughed out loud. Dillim just shook his head, barely suppressing his own smile. He then spoke up to clarify what he meant. “Real warriors should be able to attack and defend at any moment. You can immediately defend and attack when your sword is located on your hip, it’s also easier to resheath the weapon that way.”

Keith was silent for a while and then just nodded. It was pretty simple to understand after Dillim’s explanation. “I still think it looks cooler,” Keith couldn’t help but say.

Dillim scowled as response and spoke up again, “Do you want to look cool, or do you want to be a good warrior? If you can’t defend yourself, looking cool won’t help you,” he said, making sure that Keith heard him. He then continued, “But I’m straying from the subject, just like that mage,” he said, throwing a look over at Rinza. Rinza just pretended to ignore it and kept walking next to them. “What you are being trained in, is the way of the sword. It’s very different from the saber, or every other weapon.” Dillim took out a wooden sword he had been carrying and threw it over to Keith.

Keith hastily caught it and questioningly looked at Dillim. “Inspect it and feel its weight, it has two edges and can be used in uncountable ways. The sword has always been an elegant and graceful weapon. Not because nobles wear it, or because they look cool,” he grinned at Keith. “It’s because of their weight and length that they can be used to pierce and slash. There are innumerable methods of chaining different moves together. They can be used to defend and attack at the same time. It all depends on what style suits you what kind of opponent you are facing. Sometimes you have to be fierce and deadly, sometimes you have to be serene and patient.”

Dillim looked at Keith and saw a satisfactory sight. He could see that he had motivated Keith a little bit more. It’s always important for warriors to love and understand the type of weapon they are using. This way they can develop a better affinity for the weapon.

“It sounds like you understand those kinds of swords quite well. You even make it seem like those types of swords are the best weapons, but you use a great sword yourself?” Rinza looked at the great sword hanging at Dillim’s waist.

Dillim seemed to zone out for a moment after hearing that question, but the noise of some mercenaries quarrelling broke him out of his stupor. He then grimly replied like nothing happened, “Yeah, I once used the sword as well, but eventually I started using the great sword for some personal reasons,” he said, turning back to his usual self. “But what you said about swords being the best weapons isn’t true. There is no ‘best’ weapon. It all depends on the practitioner and their skill.”

After saying that, he remained silent and increased his pace a little, seemingly still affected by the earlier question. Keith also remained silent, pondering over everything Dillim had said. Even though Rinza was always playful, he read the mood and didn’t try to break the silence either. In this manner, they continued to traverse the main road.

Eventually, Rinza started to suddenly chuckle and he walked up to Keith, nudging him. Keith had been looking at the ground but when Rinza nudged him he blankly stared at him. Seeing Keith’s look, Rinza’s smile grew wider and he spoke up: “Well, if you’re set on the path to become a great mage, the place where you will be learning all of this will be right over there.” Without saying anything further he pointed at the horizon, where the main road split up with one path continuing onwards while another branch forked to the right side. Halfway that path two big pillars could be seen reaching up to skies. They had a variety of magical symbols inscribed on them and they looked like they were the tools of a god. They were emitting all kinds of elemental energy at a random interval, resulting in a grandiose sight. Further along the horizon, at the end of the path with the two pillars, multiple enormous buildings could be seen. They were almost as big as the castle Keith had lived in his whole life.

Dillim and Rinza both looked at Keith’s reaction and couldn’t refrain from smiling. Keith looked at the pillars, flabbergasted for a while. Every time a new burst of elements came from them, he would start walking a bit faster.

He had his sight set upon the academy and pillars the whole way. When he finally reached them, he couldn’t help but feel all kinds of emotions; expectant, determined, afraid and motivated. Just when the group walked past the pillars, they suddenly let out a big burst of red light, painting the surroundings red. Keith looked up at the same time and it was almost like a fire was flashing through his eyes. He looked ahead and mumbled, “We’re finally here.”