Rotten leaves and dead twigs snapped, crackled and popped under his feet. Gerhard stopped after four steps and shook his head; there was no way he can stroll around the forest in silence. It felt more like dragging on leadened legs than walking; Gerhard couldn't believe that all the time he spent in bed would make him feel less active than before.

"Pull yourself together again. Your stay at the infirmary made you too lazy."

He still couldn't figure out why decided to go for a walk at a time like this; the entire network was warned about the increasing military patrols roaming inside the forests. The Empire had not planted its men deep into the Antikwald, but it did not stop three to four sentries from taking a view of the place since the Guilenfrau incident. Trevalyn Faricy still did not show interest in telling what happened at that day, but word has spread among the ranks that a monster was caught by the syndicate and locked down at the deepest caverns of the facility. Gerhard might pay the good master a visit sometime soon, as soon as this matter that bothers his mind is given an answer.

She would be there of course: her so-called perfect place.

Gerhard never understood why a clearing in the forest can be 'perfect'. Sure, it was the one of the very few places in the Antikwald where the sun could come down without negotiating with the sea of trees before hitting the ground. It must be the air that found its way here to move in a weak current unobstructed by the surrounding woods. Perhaps the flat earth was best to move around and test reflexes - all of which could be done better at the neutral flooring of the facility's training center. A whiff of air carried the sweat from his face; what remained of it became a cooling mist that was carried away by the wind. He looked beyond the clearing; the forest canopy only allowed few of the sun's fingers to enter the woods. Gerhard's eyes wandered in hopes of seeing that person's outline.

What was this place anyway? There were patches of low grass that disturbed the bare earth. An outlying root served as a seat; Gerhard could imagine her sitting there, easing herself after a bout of training. He would hear her stirring about of course, and throw a random joke or more before standing up throwing a few stretches while at it. Going beyond this clearing proved to be a dangerous prospect; the swordswoman would have known that by now. She could have ventured somewhere else, perhaps a new place to train without being seen by anyone else. He judged that she did not know about the forest that much, although all his time spent in the Gray Fox's Antikwald installation did not give him any better sense of familiarity with the woods. He wouldn't be able to look for her farther away from the facility without getting lost in the old woods himself.

"Looks like someone here decided to go out and take a walk."

That voice: low, subtle yet it had its own air of strength. Gerhard could have heard of it in a noisy street and could still get to the source with little problem.

"I should say that to you as well. You're not the one who goes beyond this place."

Gerhard turned around and found Cornelia sitting on one of the large, twisting roots around the clearing. He also saw that she wasn't carrying the wooden mockup used for her training, but rather the long, staff-like weapon that the mercenary wielded during her first day at the Gray Fox's lair. Her face wasn't glistening with sweat - something that the wizard would notice right at first glance.

"Not on your usual training routine?"

"Went with walking around this place as the better idea for today." Cornelia stretched her legs and placed them on the sloping region of the roots. "And how's your arm? Are you any better now?"

"It feels weak. Too light. I should be moving it around more often. I'll be a lot better in two months." Gerhard went to where the swordswoman was and stood beside her. "Seems that the Master hasn't been sending you out too often."

"Well, it's Green-Eye who's in charge of those things for now. The Old Fox hasn't been out of the laboratory for the longest time." Cornelia propped her weapon on the tree trunk. "One day, I'll find a way to sneak inside his chambers and get to see for myself what he does there."

"I wouldn't advise that you'd go through with that. He's quite the perceptive man." Gerhard hopped onto one of the giant roots, securing a spot beside Cornelia. "He would have noticed somebody else was with him there within a moment. Old as he is, he's got his senses intact."

"Now that, makes me even more curious about it." Cornelia let out a short burst of laughter. "Odd place to be with you alone. These woods are too quiet at this time. Want to talk about something to lighten up?"

"Lighten up? What for?"

"You lived here longer than I do, so you might have gotten used to it." Cornelia stared at the sky. No clouds hindered her from seeing a clear area of blue. "It's not like I wasn't living this kind of life before the Old Fox hired me. At least my place wasn't a hole in the ground."

"That hole in the ground has saved us more often than we are aware of."

"Sure hides us from the Empire pretty well. Anyway, why don't I hear something from you?"

"Hear what?"

"About you: who you were before this, what you were doing before you ended up in the Fox's payroll, family, friends, or anything."

Gerhard was getting it: this life was somewhat boring. Much of the time was spent working on things inside the facility; a home that had to remain hidden from the rest of the world. He was remembering it again: those walks with the Gray Fox about the promise of a new world. That vision of a realm that would have no need for their likes to be forced into hiding; that new empire where their contributions would be seen in society as a start of true glory. Cornelia still wasn't looking at him, but the deep silence told him that he was out thinking for too long.

"About what you want to know. I did tell you that I was a student of magical affinities at Luminberg."

"Kind of known that. I want to know something more than just that." Cornelia's voice was almost breaking into another bout of laughter. "That's as obvious as telling you that I'm a hired sword."

"Oh, that." Gerhard's pause was longer. He started talking again after exhaling. "There were 'special' students in the Academy - those who did not need to learn how to channel and manipulate mana using the school's methods. Those who could course it to their hands just by thinking of it. I was one of them. They said I was the best among all, but something else happened."

"This is getting interesting. Tell me more."

"I was removed from my class, all because of something about the Academy's instructors fearing my talents. They said I would become worse if I continue studying with them. I might have been viewed as a threat, like being unable to control my abilities and becoming mad because of it."

"So, something like your gift backfiring huh?"

"I wouldn't know." Gerhard looked at the sky. "The Academy raised their standards on me too much. Of course I'll fail my marks since there was no way I could hit them. I wanted to speak to the rector about it, but there never was a time."

"That means you left the place for good...?"

"Yes. I still wonder up to this day why they had to do that. I couldn't put that thought to rest." There was a tinge of weakness in Gerhard's voice. "I would want to return to Luminberg someday to settle that."

"You could have gone up there and asked." Cornelia stretched her arms up and sideways. "It's not like the Old Fox is going to stop you from getting your few minutes with the Meisters there. What's not allowing you to do just that?"

"I have to have a reason."

"Is that question running in your head not reason enough?"

She had a point. Gerhard couldn't draw any words to respond to the question. What was stopping him anyway? He thought that the talk would lighten things up, but then it ended up being worse than the silence of the Antikwald. He then decided to bring up a topic of his own.

"Since we are talking about our lives before joining the Master, why don't I hear your story?"

"Then you'd better prepare your jaws." Cornelia's voice burst with activity. "You'll be yawning a lot. That I guarantee you."

"Try me, madam."

"Where should I start? I was a daughter of a merchant. We were immigrants, from Frankland. Opportunity there seemed to have closed on us so, my father decided to try it here. The first years went out very well for us. That was until..."

Her enthusiasm halted; a sigh here, and an attempt to giggle there. Gerhard felt that the conversation was becoming worse for them both. He was about to stand up to have a look at Cornelia until she resumed:

"...some group decided to put us out of the game using weapons. My father died protecting us, and we had to leave home with practically nothing. Not a hard choice, really - run away or become the next ones to be killed. Mother followed him not long, and I was taught to fend for myself ever since."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Did your father teach you how to use the sword?"

"He did, but I had to learn the rest of it. He was very good with it, despite having little training with the art. I still know all of the tricks he taught me with the blade, and those helped me get on by. This one here is a souvenir from the Far East." Cornelia gave Gerhard a closer look of her weapon. What seemed to be a staff at first glance was a scabbard in reality; the blade it hid was slim, yet very long. "Let's just say that I also 'studied' the art of a sellsword when I was there."

"Being able to be at par with the Empire's officers at swordplay is proof of that."

"Thanks. To hear that from you is... something else." Cornelia kept her hold on the sword. "Going back to my story. I eventually had the chance to avenge Mother and Father when I was hired by a rival group to fight them. I wished that I personally made them pay, but then I only managed to take on four of them and the rest were slaughtered by my employer's men. There wasn't much for me after that, and all I could do is to be better at this and live long enough to finally get out of this industry."

"Get out?"

"I want a woman's life, not a life like this. The type who goes out to market, cooks for somebody else and probably make that person happy in other ways. Don't you want that too?"

"I... I guess so. I wonder how long I've left Mom and Dad behind at Connsbruick... I don't really know how to face them again."

Nobody spoke for a few moments; neither of them turned the other way to face each other. This must have been the "lightening up" the mercenary was talking about. It relieved some of the burden; Gerhard had not really offered to talk about anything regarding himself since he was under the Gray Fox's employ. He could imagine Cornelia breaking into tears by now, and what he was to do if that really happened. He was not able to hear any cues leading to it so far.

"I want us to talk more like this, and maybe get to do something else than waiting on the Old Fox to give us orders. Thanks for listening to me."

"This wasn't the result I was looking forward to, Cor-, Cornelia."

"Not going to ask why, but then you'll admit someday that it helped you, even a little."

"Let's... see about that."

Darkness was slowly overtaking the green of the old wood; the sun also began its descent. None of them said a word; they were on their feet and were facing the entrance back to the Gray Fox's facility.

"The Master shall see to it that our wishes will come true."