Derb was putting on the cloak his teacher gave him, everyone awkwardly staring at him while he did it. Why were they looking, Tiffany and Hannah had their own gifts for heaven’s sake… The hood fit loosely around his head but hid his face rather well. Every part of his features was hidden in a dark film even when the light was hitting against them. It was weird but he just experienced a hundred-foot drop without hurting anything so he wasn’t really surprised at such a small thing. “What, is it like dark magic-infused or something? The belt too?” He left the weird-looking thing on the table since he didn’t know how to put it on at the moment.

“It’s a bit bigger than I thought… no, you just got a lot skinnier,” Gerald said, going around Derb as he positioned him in front of the mirror. The Cloak was torn but a little less than he’d expected. It looked brand new despite them, as if they were there for a purely aesthetic reason. Gerald grabbed the belt and put it over Derb’s shoulder. “It’s a shoulder strap, keeps the cloak from flying off, you can also hold things onto it, like materials for summoning.”

With the strap on he realized how big the cloak was, draping over his body. “I don’t think I can fight with this on. It’s a bit flowy...” He said, hoping they could resize it. He was also worried about holding materials on the belt strap in case of a fight. Gerald just laughed at the skepticism. “Don’t worry, you think I wouldn't take into account your little obsession with sword fighting? Just get ready and come outside. Hang some bottles on your belt too, you need to get used to it.”

Tiffany and Hannah went first, excited to see Derb trip and ruin his gift. Gerald stopped them quickly. “Not you two. Hannah, there’s an amulet in that box over there. For Tiffany there’s a pair of earrings, each will increase your healing attribute so make sure to train dutifully, ok?” They seemed disappointed when they were told to stay but immediately perked up at the promise of presents. Derb and Gerald walked away while they ravenously talked about how pretty the gifts were.

Derb followed a silent Gerald, sword gently dragged alongside. How long had it been since he’d seen his teacher? The man changed his life and then left for a month, only to come back as if nothing happened. Was this normal for the girls? They were just kids still… it’d be horrible to accept such a life. Wait, he shouldn’t think that way, they were given an opportunity to grow beyond their limits. They were also orphans before and Derb couldn’t help but think that this world’s foster care was a bit lacking.

He kept brooding and thinking until he walked into teacher’s back. “Watch where you're going, boy. Get ready to activate your cloak, it’s a little different from your weapon but I’m sure you’ll be able to do it with your bloated mana control.” Gerald jumped a good fifteen feet away and motioned him to continue, to which Derb sighed and did so. He assumed he’d just infuse the mana like he did the sword and go from there.

His teacher told him it’d be different but didn’t tell him how. He assumed it’d just fizzle out or something but nothing too dangerous. He was surprised when the cloak became extremely heavy. Almost 200 pounds, he almost toppled over from the surprise but activated the boar and rabbit spell just in time. He looked at his teacher skeptically and was surprised to see the disappointment on his face. “I see you’ve gotten a little stronger… Well, no matter. Turn it off and try again.”

He did so and felt light again. “Try again but instead of outlining the outside of the material, try to infuse it in its mana center, ok?” Derb rolled his eyes at the obvious trick. After a bit of meditating, he found the inner orb inside him. It was the center of the cloak that was trying to meld with him. He allowed it to do just that and he felt the cloak become way lighter than before. The color became much darker and it started flowing even more.

He thought about how cool he’d look if it was yellow or green, like a power ranger in a movie. He just looked homeless now. “Ahah! You look amazing, boy! Like a demon in the night! Try to fight with it on, I guarantee you will enjoy the benefits.” Derb nodded, unsure about his teacher’s taste in fashion. He slathered His sword with dark mana, making sure to replicate it like he did the fight with Deitre. The sword was a lot less neat looking now, almost dripping the dark purple essence.

The cloak made his magic more… abundant, he guessed? It was quite nice to look at and after realizing that the dripping essence didn’t dirty his clothes he was much more excited. “This is amazing! How does this work? I don’t have this kind of mana capacity.” He spun the sword slowly, watching the thick mana try to keep up, he didn’t feel like he was losing mana any faster than usual. “People lose mana quite frequently when they use magic, the cloak takes in the mana and feeds it back into the person. It’s useless once you become masterful enough.”

Gerald clapped his hands loudly, ending the conversation. “Enough, practice the fancy dancing you called sword fighting. I swear, I can't believe he taught you that technique instead of any other...” Derb heard that last part despite it being mumbled. “He uses it too, though! I thought that was what was supposed to be used when you had big weapons. And it’s not dancing...” Gerald just clapped his hands again. “Training. Now.” He nodded, realizing he was wasting time and mana.

He stepped two times forward and stomped down on his right now, beginning with a spinning flourish into a jumping attack. He felt the slight tug of the cloak but it went as soon as it came. Confused, he turned on his snake eyes to see the situation more clearly. After a few more moves he realized that the cloak broke apart whenever his body moved through it, splitting like sand and then moving back together once there was nothing in its way. He couldn’t see himself clearly but he assumed the sight of his pale white skin moving out of dark cloth would look rather gross.

The training was also proving the cloak's effectiveness. He was a lot less tired thanks to it, feeding his mana back into the boar spell and making it a lot easier to carry the sword. It wouldn’t be good for training but it’d be a blessing in a real fight. The speed of his swings became a little faster as he tested his control for the first time in a while. If he went too fast the weight of the sword would send it flying but with the extra boost he assumed it would be fine- and there it went.

The sword rended itself into a nearby tree and caused it to fall. For a second Derb felt proud for being able to do that, then he felt the glare from his teacher. “Sorry! Sorry. I thought I'd be able to increase my speed with the sudden boost in strength.” He scratched his neck, apologetic for the destruction of land so close to the house. Gerald just sighed. “You should know by now that strength doesn’t mean everything, ask Deitre to show you the proper technique in speeding up, though I feel like you’re plenty fast enough as it is.”

Gerald cleared his throat, “So, how was the cloak? I was told that it wouldn’t affect a magic swordsman but I wasn't sure of its effectiveness.” Derb Just nodded and remembered how it worked. “It's amazing! It moves like sand and doesn’t stop me at all! I can’t believe how useful it is. Maybe I could include it into my fighting style as well.” He ran to get his sword, eager to try the training again. He was finally about to swing until Deitre appeared out of nowhere, grabbing the sword out of his hand.

“You forgot my present, boy. Let’s go to my workshop, you too Gerald.” He grinned at the two, obviously proud of what he had accomplished. Derb was unsure if he could follow orders until Gerald started walking alongside Deitre back to the village. “Oho, so you finally finished it? I’m sure it’s one of your best.” Gerald said, a bit of sarcasm in his voice. Deitre just scowled. “It’s my only, you rascal. You too, boy. Don’t expect the same quality as that sword.”

Derb was confused at the words but when he asked they didn’t explain any further. Was it a shield? He didn't know how that would work with his weapon so he scratched that out. A bow would be useful… especially with the new snake power he had. That could be it. He kept wondering what it’d be and the guessing only had him more and more excited. By the time they made it to the workshop he was already fantasizing himself shooting huge mana arrows into the trees and blowing up a field.

“Wait here, you two. I need to bring it out. And quit fidgeting, boy. It’s unbecoming of your age.” Derb froze, not realizing his excitement was showing. Gerald laughed and clapped his back as Deitre went into the backrooms. “So, what is it, teacher?” Gerald kept quiet with a smug look on his face. The man was enjoying Derb’s impatience and it only made him more impatient. Eventually, Deitre came out rolling something out almost as tall as he was. It was covered in a blanket but Derb’s eyes gaped as he realized what it was.

The blanket was torn off and Deitre looked at the two with a proud grin. “How do you like your present, boy?” The design was sleek and dark, it’s detail was insane; sharp and menacing from head to toe. The eye holes had the most detail, sharp and full of desperate rage. They looked exactly like Deitre’s. It looked too skinny to be a proper suit of armor. It was a full suit that seemed like a work of art. So fragile-looking yet so dangerous. “Whoa… Deitre.” He looked at Gerald and he had the same expression.

“Deitre… you shouldn’t give this to the boy. It’s too personal to give away.” Deitre just looked confused at the statement. “What do you mean? It might be my first piece of armor but it looks rather nice don’t you think?” Derb just looked down. Was this how Deitre felt all these years? What happened to him that had him feeling this way? To the point where he didn’t even recognize it… “Deitre, you can’t tell me you don’t realize the emotions you put into this armor. It looks like your son.”

Derb’s eyes widened in shock. He thought it just looked similar to Deitre. He didn’t expect that land mine. Deitre flew into a rage at the statement. “Who are you to say that in front of the boy!” The room grew hot as Deitre tried to keep his calm. “I told you there was nothing wrong with the armor, it was just a moment of inspiration is all.” Derb stepped in between them, forgetting that these powerhouses could sneeze on him and kill him on the spot.

“Wait! I need an explanation! The suit of armor looks amazing but I know there’s something wrong with it...” Derb looked at Deitre in a confident stance. “I don’t know anything about you, Deitre. But you’re slowly opening up now. What happened before I came here? You can’t expect me to wear the armor without clearing that up!” Gerald looked distraught, but nowhere near as devastated as Deitre. The blacksmith finally looked his age, his stern face drooping into a sad grimace. He walked over to a nearby stool and sat down.

“Fine, I agree that the armor looks a bit… too personal to just give away. I didn’t want to tell you because I assumed you’d get the wrong idea. Gerald.” Gerald just kept staring at the armor, remembering something that seemed so far away. “Yes, I had a son. He was everything to me.” He buried his head into his hands, voice cracking at the memories. “He was everything that made my world shine. I tried to teach him how to hold the sword at a young age but I was too coddling. He was decent with it by the time he was old enough to go to war but he had no talent.”

Derb knew where this was going. “I didn’t realize his lack of talent at the time. I was too proud of him to see any flaw in his technique.” Gerald was no longer staring at the statue, his eyes turned away as if he couldn’t stand the sight of it. “I never taught him how to truly fight. How to take a life. He died the moment he went into battle.” Derb couldn’t stand to hear the story. Of course he acted so vicious when they trained! Deitre was preparing him for the real thing to avoid ending up like the son… wait.

“You shouldn’t use me as his substitute Deitre… that’d make things much worse for you.” That was the only reason he assumed the armor looked so similar to the son, but Deitre quickly laughed it off. “See? I knew both of you would act like this. It isn’t meant to replace my boy. It’s meant to be a reminder, a reminder of how terrible of a teacher I was.” He stood from his chair and rested his arm on the suit of armor. “I won’t make that mistake again. Those were the feelings I tried to convey when I made this. By the time I was done it looked like this.”

Gerald still looked hesitant but Derb understood that he had to take it. It was a precious gift from his instructor. “A teacher for a day, a father for a lifetime...” The phrase shocked both of the teachers out of their thoughts. Gerald laughed at the phrase. He’d heard his student use it once before and knew the meaning behind it. “I guess he views you as his father as well, Deitre. How nice.” Deitre’s face flushed with anger. “I told you, the suit isn’t meant to be like that!” He was going to continue until Derb stepped towards the suit of armor.

“Of course I'll use it, Deitre. It’s something you made for me, after all.” He removed the helmet from the stand and placed it on his head, the metal snug against his face. “On an unrelated note, I do think of you as a father figure, you know? Thank you for everything you’ve done for me these past few months.” Deitre just kept his stoney face after hearing those words. Derb knew he had to say it then, or else he’d never get the chance to do it again. Besides, he could see how happy it made him to hear those words.

“It’s pretty good for a farewell gift. Isn’t it?” Gerald said. Derb nodded, the gift was amazing by any standard- Farewell what, now?