Author's Note:

Hey everyone! School is finally over and I am now the proud owner of an associate's degree!

I have a confession to make, though. I've actually been done for a while now and I really just wanted to take some time off to have a breather and take a good look at where the story is going. Doing a chapter every day was okay at first because I was very excited about getting started. But as time went on and I got farther in, I realized that I couldn't keep it up forever and it was hurting my quality. I can do better than this!

I won't be doing a chapter every day anymore, but I can promise that they'll likely be longer more often as well as higher quality. I'm simply adopting the policy of "It's done when it's done."

-----------------------------------

"Fen, why couldn't we tell Daddy about the paper?" Milena asked me.

When we returned to the mansion, we told Roland about the stalker, but I insisted on doing all the talking and made sure Milena didn't mention the paper. If Roland knew about it, I know he'd want to see it and that would mean he'd have to report on what was written on it. The less people who know about the frenzy thing, the better, I think.

Roland got a real serious look on his face and set off for the barracks and ordered us to stay at the mansion. Despite how much of a jerk he can be at times, it feels a little reassuring to know that he's going to be doing something about it.

"Fen, are you listening to me?" Milena asked again.

"Sorry, I was a little distracted. It's got personal stuff written about me on it. I'd rather not let other people see it," I replied.

"Now I really want to see!" She said as she jumped at the pocket in my coat.

I wasn't going to just let her have it, though, as I quickly ducked away and ran towards my room. She'd never catch me if I seriously made a run for it, but I felt like playing around a bit and lowered my speed. Every time she got close, I'd speed up again or dodge around her and go back the way we came. We made a big ruckus and some of the hired help tried to scold us for running in the halls, but we were gone around the next corner before they could get a word in.

The next day at school, I noticed that more of the city guard were posted in and around the academy grounds. That and Roland walked with us to and from school. A little embarrassing, but it's a lot better than having to stay alert all the time.

I ended up joining the Advanced Monster Studies course and didn't regret it one bit. Just like Wormy said, we were allowed to fight monsters in class. Milena joined the class, too! We were even introduced to the squad system a little early with temporary groups. They'd only last for the monster we fought that day or we could group up again multiple times if we wished. Needless to say, Wormy, Milena and I all fought together every chance we got.

The standard fighting style taught by the academy was to use magic first and rely on a sword when your affinity was bad against that particular monster. You would also use it when the monster managed to get in your face, then get some distance and try magic again. As a result, most students were only "okay" with a sword.

Then there were the exceptions, the vanguard. Vanguard students used the opposite fighting style. They'd get in the monster's face relying mostly on the sword and blasting it with magic only when they saw an opening and their affinity would work well against the opponent.

I was really thankful for this since that meant that everybody just assumed that I was training to be a vanguard, which hid the fact that I still couldn't use magic. My only complaint was that all the monsters we faced were just small fry, like kobolds and goblins. I could handle those things alone!

About a month before the end of the school year, though, something interesting happened. During morning sword practice Roland didn't bring out the usual swords. I had long since graduated from using wooden swords to train and was using metal ones recently. But the next step confused me a bit.

"Today, you'll be using this," he said while handing me this... thing.

I hesitated to call it a sword. It had a very large blade with an enlarged grip as well; clearly meant to be held by a full grown adult with two hands. The blade alone was bigger than I was. It was also very wide and very heavy with no slick curves, decoration or anything. It was plenty sharp, but I think that wasn't really the point as it's weight alone would be more than enough to cut something in two even if it wasn't sharpened at all. It'd be more appropriate to call this thing a slab of metal on a stick than a sword.

"What is it?" I asked.

"This is called a monster blade. It's used by the regular army vanguards to cleave through tougher monsters with brute force. I heard from one of the teachers at the academy that you've been fighting as a vanguard recently so I thought I'd train you how to use one next. With your strength you should be able to swing this one just fine. Just grip it with both hands tightly and-" he said, but I wasn't really listening.

I had just begun my growth spurt recently and my strength started increasing quite a bit along with it. Coupled with Roland's training, I can confidently say that I had become stronger than him when it comes to brute force. So, I started swinging it with both hands at first. But once I started to get used to the weight, I gave it a few swings with one hand, then the other and back again.

Roland sighed very loudly, "I'm not sure if the real monsters are the ones outside the walls or the one standing in front of me."

I took that as a complement and just grinned at him. We then began my training with the monster blade. Even with this bigger and heavier sword, I still couldn't beat him. That didn't bother me nearly as much as it used to, but it still pissed me off a bit. Nothing else interesting happened until near the end of the school year.

That day, Wormy, Milena and I were sitting out in the courtyard discussing what we were going to do over the Summer break. I was about to try one of the sandwiches Milena made when a large shadow passed over the courtyard and flew to the north with a deafening roar! Everyone in the school and the city as well went completely nuts!

The day that Roland chased me through the East Gate was nothing compared to the insanity that happened then. The regular army soldiers started popping up throughout the whole city alongside the city guard and the royal guard. Only a few minutes passed before Roland came dashing into the courtyard with about ten more of the royal guard.

Wasting no time, Milena asked, "Daddy, what's going on!?"

"A dragon has been spotted heading to the northern mountains," Roland replied.

________________

Remember, if you like the story, make a post or give a rating. Let me know! :D