Arthur's Point of View

Pendragon Estate

“You cannot be serious?” Alwin asked in disbelief as we stood in the courtyard.

“Dead serious.” I told him as I stood next to him. We were alone since Typhon needed to rest after the previous day. “A surprise, or ambush, is no excuse to have failed so miserably.” The male Elf frowned at that. “Lucia’s memories revealed that no one was prepared, and while you were worried about Lucia, you couldn’t activate your magic fast enough.”

He just stared at me. “You do realize I am the General of the Elven forces, correct? Not many others are capable of casting spells quicker than me unless they are specialists or the Priestesses themselves.”

I matched his stare as I replied just as pointedly. “Aydan was much quicker at casting spells than anyone in this era. Even the Priestesses still lack compared to him. The problem is that the visualization process that was passed down is clearly not as extensive as it once was.”

Alwin’s nose wrinkled in frustration at that. “Being compared to The Great Sage and Knight of old is hardly fair.”

“Says the man who holds the title of Elven General and is his descendant. I don’t believe children should be held to the same standard as their parents or ancestors. After all, everything changes with time, but given your title and responsibilities, I think you should be held to a higher standard than most.” My eyes focused on his. “Far higher.”

He frowned. “Not all Elves are the same or have the same talents or magic reservoirs. Ayda surpassed me in terms of raw magic and power. Odds are she could replace me a in a few years.”

“Do you want to be replaced by your little sister?”

“It would be an honor, but I do not her to bear such a burden. Power is not as attractive as everyone makes it out to be.”

“On that,” I nodded as I spoke. “We can agree. Still, that changes nothing on your failure. The Succubae Queen wasn’t overly powerful. She would’ve been a challenge, but the fact is, you weren’t quick enough. I’ve seen your file. I know you have experience with expeditions, training exercises, monsters, and more, but Lestrania hasn’t been to war in your lifetime. If you cannot admit that you’re lacking, then you’re a fool.”

“Oh, and you’re perfect?”

I scoffed at his response. “Fuck no. At least I can admit it.”

That stumped him for a moment. “Okay, say you are being forthcoming… Is this really the best way to help me with my casting speed? What about helping me visualize like you are with Lucia?”

A sneer came to my lips at that. “I thought you said you could assist Lucia with that. If you truly were offering, shouldn’t you be more than capable of visualizing your own spells?” He frowned at that.

He paused. “You just want to hit me.” Alwin finally stated.

“As I stated before, this training is for you to increase your reaction time, casting time, and visualization under pressure. Doing so against other Elves can only do so much because you can immediately detect the magic of others. Since I don’t have any, you will no longer have that advantage. It’s perfect.” I explained and pointed out.

“…” The two of us just eyed on another for a moment. “Arthur, I know you just want to hit me.”

Rolling my eyes, I replied dryly. “Don’t make me out to sound so violent. This is for your benefit. You don’t want what happened to Lucia last time to happen again, do you?”

Taking a deep breath, he finally nodded. “Fine. So, what do I do?”

Waving over to the forest, I began instructing him. “You’re to run through the forest. Inside are ten red flags that I placed in random locations. They aren’t incredibly deep in the forest for safety reasons and to avoid any wildlife such as wolves or manticores.” I told him. “Collect three and we’ll call it a day.”

“And will Marina or Breeze be who I will be contending with? Should I expect attacks from them?”

“Not at all. Only me, and to make you feel more comfortable, I will only use this stick I found out there earlier while placing the flags.” It was a branch of sorts. Nothing too large or small. “You’ll be defending against this for the most part until I feel the need to change weapons.” The perfect size for a man-child to play pretend as a sword.

Alwin seemed more at ease at that. “That is… Much tamer than I was expecting.”

I patted his shoulder. “As I said, this is to help you improve.” Then I pointed with said stick. “Once you’re in the forest, I will attack you randomly, and when you least expect. So always be on guard.”

He nodded. “Very well. Should we start now?”

Nodding in return, I took a small step back. “You should. I will be keeping a close eye on you as soon as you get past the first tree.” He immediately took off running and I opened a portal as soon as he passed the first tree.

Alwin's Point of View

Hollow Forest

This wasn’t near as bad as I was expecting. A clear goal was in mind, and the training exercise made sense. Keeping on guard throughout the forest was a given, but Arthur was known to have a few tricks up his sleeve. No doubt he planned to make this challenging for me. However, he didn’t say anything about teleporting. I suspect that’s one of the things he wants me to do.

My suspicions were wrong as I had only gotten about twenty feet into the forest before a portal opened in front of me. “You misjudged the placement of your portal!” I told him as I instantly readied myself for him.

The next thing I knew is a whooshing sound could be heard beside me before something whipped into the side of my face. A horrible stinging feeling immediately could be felt as I was swept off my feet. Wood splintering could be heard as could the ringing in one of my ears.

On my back, my vision went hazy as Arthur stood over me. “I’m gonna need a new stick.” Was all I heard through the ringing before I passed out.