There were other knight cadets other than Orph and Eric there. Cadets under Knight Dave was expected but there were some other who may have joined just to see what the top student Orph was up to.

One of them was Cess, who suddenly joined as a knight cadet under Knight Dave.

Eric never saw her before this, maybe he did and never paid attention but he did now. She reminded him of someone special but not quite. Eric may have stared a little too hard at her which may have caused her to look at him and their eyes to meet. Instead of her being rightfully disgusted which Eric had hoped for, she just smiled. Eric took his time to realize what he was doing wasn’t socially correct and was making her uncomfortable so he stopped and just stared where there weren’t any people.

Orph noticed this happening and spoke,” That’s Cess. She joined the knight cadets about a month ago. She’s stro... Wait, you’ve really never seen her before, have you?”

Eric looked up at Orph and didn’t speak.

Orph sighed and spoke again, “I guess that’s to be expected from you.”

Eric didn’t hear that and was lost in his own world again.

The journey was tiresome. The knights and the cadets only bought the bare necessities which helped with the journey. But it also meant that they had to hunt for their own food and the Slaver traders were quite far away. Knight Dave thought that it would be a good idea to pair the cadets together and for them to hunt food for the entire crew. He told them that it was for training and also because he wasn’t nimble enough to hunt animals.

“The best knight in our kingdom does have a weakness. Not being able to move comfortably enough.”, spoke Orph.

It wasn’t loud enough to be heard by others except for Eric but Eric never really hunted before and he was scared.

Orph looked over and saw Eric being a nervous wreck and spoke, “It’s going to be fine; you can’t possibly be bad at this. You’re probably the best hunter here. At least at this point in time. And we’re going to be paired together anyways.”

Orph’s words calmed Eric down and gave him enough time to think that he was correct.

That didn’t last for long, however.

“Orph, I want to talk with you. We’re going to set up the camp and I require your assistance.”, said Dave.

“Oh.”, he continued after seeing Eric right beside Orph.

Dave put his hands near his face and went into deep thought which confused both Eric and Orph.

“I know!”, he exclaimed.

“You can be our first hunter... along with Cess! I hope you guys get along and I wish you the best.”, he continued.

Eric was a nervous mess again.

Orph put one of his hands on Eric’s shoulders and spoke, “Trust in yourself.”

Eric nodded. He thought that thinking about this isn’t going to do him any good. He picked up his weapon and went straight into a nearby forest. He saw some rabbits nearby, pulled out his sword from his sheath, and chased after them. Eric would receive a harsh lesson that day, he wasn’t faster than a rabbit. But he didn’t give up, he kept chasing after them again and again. No matter how many times he failed. And he would’ve kept on going but thankfully someone spoke.

“Hey.”

Eric looked behind; it came from right his side when he was chasing his prey.

“I was looking at you go at that poor rabbit,” spoke Cess. As soon as she said that the rabbit which Eric was after getting stuck in a trap

“I’ve got to thank you for this, my snare would’ve taken a lot more time if you hadn’t done this.”, she continued.

Eric dropped down to the ground, trying his best to catch his breath.

“Why didn’t you tell me you going to hunt, hunting partner?”, asked Cess.

Eric was still catching his breath.

Cess decided that Eric wasn’t going to catch his breath just like how he was unable to catch the rabbit and decided to take care of the rabbit first. She went near the snare, took out her knife, and did the deed.

Eric got up, after finally catching something, and went near Cess. He spoke, “What are you doing?”

Cess looked up for a second and then turned back. She then spoke, “So, he does speak!”

Eric put back his sword on his sheathe and spoke while ignoring what Cess just said, “Is that a trap?”

“Yes, yes, it is. You should’ve done this instead of chasing the rabbit without really thinking about a plan.”, replied Cess.

Eric nodded.

He saw her skin the rabbit with skill.

“You’re pretty good at this.”, said Eric.

“Learned it from the best.”, replied Cess.

“I assume it’s one or both of your parents?”

“Wow, look at you talk,” replied Cess, while smiling.

The smile soon disappeared and she continued, “Yes, my mother. She’s a hunter.”

“Makes sense. My parents are farmers...”

“Too bad that we weren’t allowed to hunt crops. Otherwise, you would’ve shown me my place.”

The comment irked Eric somewhat but he decided to laugh it off, awkwardly.

When Eric first saw Cess, she reminded him of someone special to him, but now after talking to her. They seemed very different. He didn’t know what he saw before.

“It’s fine. I’m sure Knight Dave thought this through when he paired me with the useless you.”, said Cess while smiling.

Even Eric knew now that she wasn’t really fond of him.

“Are you sure...?”, replied Eric without thinking much, it came out of his instinct of him trying to save face.

“Of course, I am! Knight Dave is the best knight in this kingdom. No. He is the best knight in the world. I aspire to become like him one day.”, replied Cess with her eyes glowing with admiration.

Eric didn’t like the comment about him being useless and replied, “He’s alright...”.

And before he could finish what he was saying, the glow from Cess’s eyes vanished and she spoke in a monotone voice,” Oh. What are your aspirations?

It was now time for Eric’s eyes to glow up, he began to speak, “I want to save a princess from a dragon...”

“That’s childish.”

Eric heard Cess, but just to make sure he heard correct he asked her, “What?”.

“It’s childish.”

“Oh.”

Meanwhile back at the camp.

Both Dave and Orph were sitting near the campfire they both made a few moments ago.

“Your ability is really useful.”, said Dave with admiration in his voice.

Orph chuckled and said, “Thank you.”

“I want you to join under me when you become a knight in the future.”, said Dave while smiling.

“Is that why you asked me to make the camp alongside you? Were you testing me?”, asked Orph.

Dave looked at Orph, looking very confused.

“The whole not being able to hunt part that you spoke of...”, said Orph.

“Oh! I really can’t hunt.”

“I see.”