“Remember. These are just the whispers of your inner devils. They aren’t real.” Halt reminded one last time before closing the entrance and enclosing Vincent in darkness.

This time when Vincent closed his eyes and opened them again, he was leaning against the window while sitting up on his bed. The hospital room was as cold as ever, but Vincent kept reminding himself that this was nothing but an illusion. Just a super realistic illusion complete with the beeping machinery and sickly smell.

He felt his heart rate rise, but after a few deep breaths, was able to calm it down once more. Like that, he spent the whole evening inside the cave, with his resolve controlling his fears.

Halt was worried about the youth inside the cave at first, and continued to wait outside in case the same thing happened like the previous time. He waited for a while, but after not hearing any commotion, he let out a relieved sigh.

“You’ve changed quite a lot, Halt.” Aster commented as he approached Halt.

“Aster, so how’s the result of your investigations?” Halt asked curiously.

“The Redwall boy? Well… The rumors about kidnapping girls were unfounded. They were just rumors. Although the rest of them were true. He’s a womanizer. He drinks. He extorts commoners using his title as the son of a noble. He gambles. Even though he’s trash, it seems that all his ‘relationships’ were… consensual.” Aster scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“A real lady killer, huh?” Halt chuckled. “That’s good. It’s best ta enjoy youth when ya have the chance. I can’t say the same for ya though, Aster.”

“Shut up.” Aster replied in a huff.

“Ya just hafta go and knock up your superior and got her pregnant on your first time too, shame haha!” Halt laughed and clapped Aster’s shaking shoulders. In truth, Aster had gotten drunk during a celebration and had slept with his commanding officer and later found out she was pregnant. The officer was a fierce lady and soon forced a marriage upon him even though he was a noble; it just goes to show how fierce the lady was.

Not long after, a low grinding sound sounded out and the entrance opened up. A pale youth hobbled out. Vincent looked as if he hadn’t slept in days as he walked over to Halt. He spoke with a relieved smile on his face,

“Thanks for giving me this opportunity.” Just like that, he left the two bewildered pair and returned to back to camp.

After a while, Halt asked Aster, “A real lady killer indeed…”

“Right…” Aster softly answered as he grimaced.

Vincent crashed into his bed after what seemed like an eternity. Even though his body wasn’t sore or aching he felt like he had just ran a marathon. However, it was well worth the effort. Not only was he facing his fears, he also gained something from it.

“Status.”

===

Status

[Strength] (20)

[Endurance] (21)

[Agility] (23.2)

[Perception] (14)

[Magic] (6)

Talents

[Flexible Body] (null)

Titles

[Inheritor of the Aion Ring]

===

“My perception increased by over one point. I remember checking when it increased the last time, so it was because of that training room.” He said with a satisfied smile and finally drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

Over the next few weeks, Vincent would train himself in the cave. Even though his physical attributes no longer increased, his perception was increasing at a monstrous pace. Often times he would remain there throughout the night, only to return in the morning. People have taken to calling him a night owl. Finally, late one autumn morning, Halt once again appeared before him.

“Working hard as always, Kid.” Halt was no longer so strict and cold, his attitude towards Vincent now was like night and day since the first time they’ve met. “Lookit here. Today ya don’t hafta go ta the training cave. I’m gonna teach ya something good.”

“Really? What is it?” Vincent asked. Lately, his view of Halt had changed from unreasonable strict drill instructor to more of a shy uncle who doesn’t know how to express himself. It was quite cute.

“Be grateful, Kid. Cadets only learn this after a year of physical training.” Halt said as he took out practice swords from under a tent. “This is the Evergreen Swordsmanship. HAH!” He started brandishing the sword.

Vincent looked on with expectant eyes as Halt began demonstrating the different forms of Evergreen Swordsmanship. As Halt waved his sword around wildly, Vincent couldn’t think much of it. But, Vincent would get a weird feeling once in a while it felt as if Halt’s movements had a sort of rhythm to it.

“There. Did ya see me, Kid?” Halt asked calmly. He wasn’t sweating nor did that short exertion cause him to breathe harder. “The essence of Evergreen Swordsmanship, if you’re able to grasp this, it’ll help you in things you do every day.”

“Let me guess, you’re not going to tell me what it is?” Vincent asked grimly.

“Smart kid! Of course ya hafta learn it yourself!” Halt laughed boisterously and patted his shoulder and left.

Vincent sighed and shook his head and assumed the basic stance that he remembered Halt returning to after every move. It was a standard horse stance with his legs bent and his body low to the ground. When Vincent crouched down into the stance, he felt himself become more stable. Surprised, Vincent’s eyes widened and continued practicing the basic set of moves. He sliced, he stabbed, he chopped; Vincent practiced these basic moves constantly. Due to the amount of training he had done whilst in the cave, his focus and concentration allowed him to tune out the eyes of the other cadets practicing nearby.

“What’s that trash doing here? Isn’t it only for us 2nd years?” A cadet muttered to his buddy.

“SHH! Not too loud he might hear you!” his buddy hastily whispered back.

“Special privilege for being a noble I bet.” Someone sneered from the side.

“Whatever, let’s just do our own thing, people like that won’t last long anyways.” Conversations like these were rapidly spreading around in the clearing and even Halt and Aster caught wind of it, but the person in question was off in his own world.