Adam's mind first wildly spun with imaginations of what he could possibly do if his theory actually worked. He then calmed his mind down to try and figure out the process he should use to go about it. He couldn't just first learn human martial arts and then try to apply it to the sword, that would just be the same as just recklessly learning human martial arts without worrying about the consequences. What Adam needed to do was to learn how to deftly control every movement of the sword with his song. After that, he would have to figure out how to twist that song to move in a fashion that is similar to human martial arts.

The first thing that Adam did was to sit down and place his sword across his lap. He then proceeded to use that song that would spiritually enhance the sword. He did not use his flute and hummed instead, this time. The reason for this was that he might disturb the others' practice as well as because when he would use this song to fight there would be no way for him to use a flute.

While he was re-familiarizing himself with the song, Adam felt a faint and gentle resonance with the sword. After he got comfortable, he finally stood up and started to practice his stances and forms. He was trying to make it so he could effortlessly hum out his attack as his body moved to follow the sword. This may sound simple, but the smallest exertion of force would easily cause Adam to miss a beat in the tune. He had to find a delicate balance between breathing, humming, moving, and attacking.

While Adam started his training, he would occasionally cast his elemental sight over to Silber, to see if he had woken up. At one point, he did wake up and Adam went to check on him. Silber was still too tired to train some more, so he just ate and went back to sleep. It wasn't until the afternoon when Silber had enough rest to train and play.

The next day passed much the same, as Adam started to fall into a routine. Even at Madame's, it was similar. Adam would train his new method with his sword and also occasionally train Silber at home as well. Adam had come to refer to his humming as a sword song since it sounded better. These days were comfortable and Adam enjoyed watching Silber grow.

During the next two months of training, everyone vastly improved themselves. Alfred and the others were getting better at executing their techniques. Adam's sword song had become close to a second nature so he could more easily fight on par with Alfred and the others. His movements and attacks became faster and stronger so it was harder for their techniques to work on him. Adam had yet to try and use his sword song to use martial art techniques since he felt there was still something more he had to learn first. Adam followed this intuition he felt and had only worked on perfecting his sword song instead of adding to it. Silber had also grown nicely during this time, though they had yet to train him how to truly hunt or attack.

Alfred's sixteenth birthday was just a week away. He was getting a little anxious as he wanted to ask the Silver Saviors if he could fully join them. He felt that he still wasn't quite up to their cut, but they were the best place for him to learn how to become stronger. He knew he still only had a meager strength compared to many adults and he still wanted to be strong enough to protect Helen.

When they went to train with the Silver Saviors again, Alfred finally decided to ask if he could join. His birthday was going to be in three days. Just as they walked up, Clayton met them and boisterously spoke: “Hey Alfred, I hear that you are turning sixteen in a few days. Since you'll be able to leave Madame's why don't you join the Silver Saviors?”

Alfred just stared at Clayton, stunned. Why exactly was he feeling anxious about asking if they were going to accept him before he even asked? Clayton said with a broad grin: “I will take that stunned expression as a yes.”

Alfred finally got out of his stunned state and said: “Yes, of course I'll join! But, I thought I was not quite up to the standard of the Silver Saviors. Why did you so freely accept me?”

Clayton said: “You are still wet behind the ears, but we look for more than strength. The Silver Saviors look for people with a good sense of morality and have the mental strength to do what is right, even if it is hard. We see that in each of you boys and wish to invite you all when you are finally adults! You can gain a more appropriate strength after you join us.”

Each of the boy's eyes gleamed as they heard this. This was at least one definite route the boy's could take for their lives in the near future. The Silver Saviors were all around a great bunch of people to socialize with. They had the strength to take many types of contracts that could pay well as a mercenary. It could be a good life that payed well and could be satisfying.

Clayton gave a firm nod. “Good. I don't think we have talked much about the contracts that the Silver Saviors take and what positions would be available to you. We take many types of contracts from protecting caravans to exterminating some rampant wild life. We will never hire ourselves out to any war but we will take commission from the military to subjugate bandits!”

Darren scratched his head as he asked: “Not that it really matters but why don't you take contracts to join a war but will take contracts to kill bandits?”

Clayton rubbed his stubble as he said: “I suppose we have never told you boys much about our background either. Simply, I formed the Silver Saviors after the end of a war I had hired myself out to. The horrors I saw were far too plentiful. The civilians of both sides were the first to suffer from the war and suffered worse than the soldiers themselves! Such deplorable acts, I will never join in again! Many of our members share similar sentiments. Bandits really only attack civilians and subjugating them will typically not lead to attacking innocents. So killing bandits is as close to war as you will ever get with the Silver Saviors!”

The boys did not know what to think about when Clayton described the war. He did not give any specific examples so they only had their imagination to go off of. Still, the Silver Saviors were clearly a group that did not want to hurt either civilians or their members. Some mercenary bands really did not care about repercussions and were nearly as bad as bandits. The Silver Saviors were a fantastic group that were not elitists and would accept the boys into their fold.

On the day of Alfred's birthday they also threw a farewell party for him. He and a few others at Madame's had turned sixteen and had decided to leave. Alfred was just going to the Silver Saviors so it wasn't like they were not going to ever see him again. Before Alfred left he stood before Helen with a red face and said: “Helen, I still love you! If you won't be my girlfriend now I will ask again later. I will keep asking you again and again as I get stronger. One day you will say yes to me!”

Alfred then quickly ran away with his face burning hot from embarrassment. When Adam saw this he could only grumble in a low voice to himself: “But I like her too!”

There were a few chuckles around Adam as he still spoke loud enough for others to hear him. When he realized this Adam also quickly departed from the scene with a red face.

A few days after Alfred's birthday, Janette finally told Adam that Silber was too big to continue keeping at Madame's. Silber was still relatively small but he was quickly growing. He had also started to become adventurous and started wandering around more. This made it so Silber wanted to go places he shouldn't, like the kitchen larder. Silber also had to move to the Silver Saviors, much to Helen's dismay.

Shortly after that they started taking Silber on some hunts. Not to hunt himself but just so he could get used to the environment. Silber was enthralled to go back to the forest. Though he was a little scared when the darkness of night came. Silber could only remember that a terrible beast had come during the night to attack his pack. He was a little afraid that it would come back but it never did. Silber also enjoyed howling into the sky when he heard other wolf howls.

Another month passed on by and Helen became twelve years old. Her birthday was a rather standard affair and nothing special happened. A few days later, though, Adam encountered Helen at the wall garden. She was looking out over the battlements and she seemed to have a rather depressed mood. Adam easily noticed her mood from afar but had no idea what to do about it. He thought that she might be reminiscing about her parents or something similar. Does he go up and ask her what's wrong or just walk the other way?

In the end he decided to ask her what was wrong. He could do nothing to help if did nothing at all. He went up and started with a simple: “H-hi Helen.”

Helen only gave Adam a momentary glance as she said: “Oh, hello Adam.” and then looked back out across the battlements.

Adam started fidgeting as he did not know what to do next. Luckily Helen suddenly started talking on her own: “You know, you are the only person I have told that I come here when I think too much about my parents. I really did not want to talk to anyone about it but I was so angry with you I just shouted it out! I felt a little relieved after that though. Ever since you came, this place has no longer been just a spot to think about mom and dad and try to relieve my mood. It became something more. I have not had these thoughts about mom and dad for a long time. But for some reason I started thinking about them and how they died after my birthday...”

After saying that much Helen stopped talking for a while. Adam started getting more nervous. He had really no idea if he was supposed to say something here or not. Finally he started speaking: “When my dad and sister died I tried everything I could to not think about them. It was a wound in my heart that would not close. It hurt when ever I thought about them. I did not really talk to anyone about them being dead since that would be thinking about them too much. After I came to Madame's I managed to release much of my frustration and sorrow into the songs I played with my flute. It was very refreshing. Even if I was not directly talking about their deaths it was still in my mind at that time. If you talk about it, it may finally relieve some of the stress of keeping it all in. I still have not fully talked about their deaths with anyone before. If I tell you about my father and sister will you tell me about your parents?”

Helen was a little startled about Adam's suggestion. This was not the first time someone told her to talk about her parents. She felt guilty deep down about her parents and really did not want to talk to others about it. She had always refused the offers of others. Adam had been the only person she had briefly talked to in a fit of anger. Thinking of that she thought she might be able to talk to him about what had happened. She finally gave a small nod to Adam.

Adam felt a little relieved when he saw her nod. Talking a deep breath Adam started to talk about his father and his sister. He first told a couple of his favorite memories of his father and sister. Then he talked about that night where the ghouls attacked. How he felt inside that he had failed to protect his mother and sister. How both his father and sister died protecting him and his mother. How that was the last time that Adam saw anything with his eyes.

The few remaining painful emotions Adam felt about the deaths of his father and sister began to recede farther away. There were a few spots where tears came to his eyes but he continued on talking. Helen sat with rapt attention as Adam told his story. She could connect herself to parts of Adam's own story. She also felt guilty about her parents death. In the end, they too had died to try and protect her. After Adam finished, it took Helen a few minutes to muster the courage to start talking about what happened to her parents.

Her parents were part of a trading caravan. They were simple hired hands but got payed well and lived happily. In one of the more populous towns close to Hessler she had been abducted. She had gotten lost in the crowd at the trading market of the town. A kind man had said he would help her and took her by the hand down an alley. Her parents, who had been looking for her, had seen this and quickly ran after this suspicious man. When they confronted the man, he panicked and stabbed the couple to keep them quiet. He then fled with Helen in tow. He would occasionally smack her to make her shut up or continue moving as he hurried out of town.

The man eventually took her to a secluded house in a forested area near the town. He locked her up in cage in the cellar of the house. There were a few other children in cages along with her. In fact Alfred had been caged up down there too! She had not noticed at that time as she was unceasingly crying. She knew her parents were dead. She had seen them turned lifeless under that man's sudden assault. The man had apparently been abducting children to sell off. The authorities at Hessler had been investigating these rumors and had finally come to that house around a week after Helen was abducted. The man was swiftly captured and the children were finally released from their torment.

Most the children still had home to go back to. The caravan Helen's parents were hired to had to move on so there was no one to take her in. Helen was not entirely sure of Alfred's situation but he also did not have anyone to take him in. They were both given to an orphanage and later taken in by Madame's.

During her telling, Helen had to pause at many spots. It was still hard for her to say what had happened and she cried when she recounted many parts. Adam could only try to comfort her with a comforting pat or hug while he listened to her tale. At the end Adam finally told her something she had wanted to hear: “It wasn't your fault Helen. That man was simply bad to the bone.”

Afterwards, Helen felt a little relieved to finally talk about what had happened. Talking about it had made many of her emotions surge back up but she felt it was good. It was now a little easier to think back about her parents. After a moment of silence, Helen said: “Thank you.”

Adam gave her a gentle smile and said: “Anytime.”

Helen looked back out across the battlements. Adam could see that her soul was still turbulent from recounting her memories, but it wasn't quite as depressed as it was when he first arrived. Adam then picked up his flute and played a gentle consoling song from his heart. Helen relaxed a little as she listened to the song. She continued to look out across the battlements for quite a while before she walked back to Madame's with Adam. After that day Helen had become much more open and comfortable with Adam. She even got occasionally teased for being too close to Adam.

Another couple months passed by and Silber was growing to be big enough to start hunting smaller game. They had even started to use Silber to sniff out the trail of larger game but the Silver Saviors would hold him back from actually hunting things as large as boars.

During these two months the boys had been praised for their progress. Even in the army only some basic martial arts were taught. With Clayton helping out the boys, they improved at a fast pace. The boys could now easily compare to squad commanders who were typically seasoned soldiers. Perhaps the boys could not compare in being able to actually kill someone in a battle but they would be able evenly fight with any squad commander in a spar. Even Adam's strength was just shy of the others. He was younger than the others but he had his sword song to make his strikes at least as strong as an adult male. Bruno and Clyde were getting anxious to go out and make a difference by subjugating bandits or taking similar types of contracts.

Clayton had seen a similar look in the other boy's eyes. Even Adam wanted to go out and actually test his strength against something more than a few hogs. During these past couple of months the tension between Heider and Luxom had been getting higher. With this higher tension both sides were preparing for another war. Because of this Hessler started recalling some of the troops that normally patrol the roads so they could be deployed for war at a moments notice. Many bandit groups started to act more brazenly. Just enough for them to let loose without gathering enough attention for Hessler to send the soldiers out again.

During this time before the war started Heider would be hiring many mercenary groups for both the war and taking down various bandit groups that would be popping up with the military's absence. Clayton had decided to look for a bandit group that would be easy to take down. The Silver Saviors planned to take the boys along, not to fight but to show them the battle field.

Clayton knew how big a step this was for the boys so he personally went to meet with Janette and Vivienne. They were extremely hesitant to allow this. “Is this really necessary? The boys are still very young.”

Clayton responded: “I might agree in the case of Adam but the rest of them are not too far off from being adults. Adam is just a couple years behind the rest. The battlefield is something they will have to truly see at some point. Whether guarding a caravan or deciding to take a subjugation contract. Even if they don't join the Silver Saviors they may have to fight bandits someday. Hansen has already given a good start for these boys to survive any adversity. Let me polish these boys so they have the ability to stand up and do what is right!”

It took Clayton a few visits to convince Vivienne and Janette to let them take the boys along. The boys all became excited and apprehensive when they heard the news. This was the next step for them to take to go out and make a difference.

Clayton searched around to find some weak bandits to subjugate. With Clayton nearly all bandits would be considered weak but he did not want an accident to happen and get the boys caught up in it. He finally found a small bandit gang, that was made recently, around a weeks worth of travel from Hessler.

Everyone started to prepare for the journey that would be at least a two week round trip. Silber was going to come along as well. He was Adam's companion, not just a hunting dog. If Adam was going to fight in a battlefield, Silber would likely be found beside him.

The initial journey was care free. With just the forest to surround them it was rather tranquil. When they finally got close to their destination, however, their mood quickly turned sour. Noticing large amounts of faint smoke nearby, the Silver Saviors quieted down and became serious. The boys quietly followed as the Silver Saviors sped up to approach the smoke.

The place they approached was not the bandit encampment but a town! A few of the buildings in the town were on fire! The townsmen had been able to put most of the fire out and only a small amount remained.

The Silver Saviors could hear the sound of some sobbing and shouting as towns men ran everywhere. Not only were they trying to put out the fire, they were trying to access the state of the town. When some of the townsfolk noticed the approach of the Silver Saviors, they became very edgy.

Everyone in the Silver Saviors had a somber mood as they came into the town. No matter where you looked, everyone in the town had a very exhausted and depressed look about them. Doors were bust in every where and it looked like the place had been looted. This had to be the work of bandits!

[AN: So I won't change the terms. I may look more into it when the second draft rolls around but some parts of my story play off the word 'spiritualist' so keeping it for now. oh, and forgot to say sorry if the time jumps seem a little awkward. i need adam to get a little older to move forward.]