Weeks have passed since the first days of training. The freshmen had found their collective strive. Avryn had scheduled simulation training for the day. His squad mates wondered what he had planned for this time. He explained now that they had more weapons in their arsenal in the form of team maneuvers, they will redo the final part of their trial.

  “We ready for the rematch?” he asked them.

  They nodded in unison as they drew their weapons. Avryn activated the simulator. They returned to the site where they faced the Corpse dire wolf.

  “Oh, and he’s extra beefy to compensate for last time,” Avryn pointed out.

  “Good,” Valoche expressed his determination.

  The dire wolf, now more ferocious, descended into battle. Its demeanor was more bloodthirsty than ever. Avryn signalled to the squad for a coordinated attack. Valoche charged ahead to serve as the diversion. Avryn, Rinna and Tvira flanked the sides and unleashed an absolute storm of bullets and magical arrows.

  The wolf attempted to retreat but Valoche wrestled it in place as projectiles flew into its body. Desperate, the wolf slammed its paws into the ground. Stone and dirt moved up and formed into improvised walls.

  “Valoche, get outta there!” Avryn commanded.

  He broke free and regrouped with the squad. A few moments passed. Avryn, Rinna, and Valoche approached to where the wolf was. The dust settled and it was nowhere to be found. Tvira alerted the squad. She saw its silhouette retreat northward.

  They sheathed their weapons and went into pursuit mode. They fought against the bushes and miles of trees. Nature itself seemed bent on slowing them down. Tvira and Valoche’s expertise nullified such a disadvantage.

  “What’s the next plan?” Rinna asked.

  “Make sure it can’t run away,” Avryn answered.

  The wolf still retained its regenerative powers. It could only regenerate wounds, not limbs. They need a powerful attack to blow its legs away. They stumbled onto one of the Lost Land’s many mountain ranges. Judging by the glances of purple patches of flora, they were dangerously deep.

  Rocks tumbled from the mountain as the wolf forced them down with its magic. Valoche summoned his ancestral spirit to empower him. He cleaved through the rocks like knife through butter. The wolf used the debris to ambush Valoche from behind.

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  Avryn ran up and used his gunblade to counter. He pulled its trigger to accelerate the speed further, cutting the wolf’s leg cleanly off its body.

  It quickly regained its balance and opened its jaws wide to prepare its howl. Tvira fired off a magical ice arrow right into its throat. The ice quickly spread and encased itself around the dire wolf’s neck.

  Rinna came in for the kill as she jumped high, swung the halberd down, and cut off the wolf’s head. A perfect finish to have capped off today’s training. Avryn came up to the wolf’s head and lifted it up, admiring Rinna’s handiwork.

  The purple glow faded from its eyes as its tongue stuck down from its jaws. He looked at the surroundings. Trees were devastated from the rock slide.

  “Looks like the big bad wolf made a big bad mistake facing us,” Avryn was particularly proud of that line.

  Rinna did not hide her displeasure as she sighed and facepalmed.

  “In all seriousness guys, we did well today,” Avryn praised them. “Let’s keep it up, yeah?”

  They all agreed on that. Avryn turned off the simulation and concluded today’s training. Valoche looked at the clock, it was nearing lunch time.

  “Alright, we should grab some lunch and get into our homework for our next classes,” Avryn suggested.

  They enjoyed their lunch for the day. Steak was on the menu. A luxury meal to Avryn. He never ate such luxurious meat before. It smelled like it was the best food in the entire world. They shared some light conversation over the table.

  Avryn checked around and saw a familiar face among Leifren’s squad. He excused himself from the table and came closer. The man he was looking at was lean, slightly taller than Avryn. His hair was dark blue and two sections of his hair helped frame his face.

  He greeted the Rosenfaust siblings first and then asked the man,

  “Hey there, I know this might sound odd but is your name Harver Olesin, by any chance?”

  The man paused and looked back at Avryn. Made one good look and familiarity struck him at last.

  “That you, Avryn? Avryn Starbright?” he replied.

  Avryn was pleased at the answer,

  “My man,”he offered his hand.

  The two had a firm handshake and a hug. Finally, someone Avryn knew. He felt less lonelier having now reunited with Harver.

  “You’ve grown so much, Avryn,” he smiled.

  “Not as much as you. You’ve been drinking a lot of milk since then, huh?”

  The two shared a laugh. Leifren couldn’t help but smile.

  “You two know each other, then?” he looked to his squad mate.

  Harver explained they only knew each other for a short amount of time. He and his father had a business trip in Kuldrin. Avryn was one of the other kids he made friends with, but connected with the most. They shared their love of fighting and learning weaponry.

  It may have been for a short couple weeks, but they had a blast spending time with each other. Harver offered his sympathies, as he heard about Avryn’s case. Another was for not having met him sooner. His demeanor slightly changed upon saying the reasons,

  “It was some family matter, I only came back just this week,” he explained.

  Avryn’s squad mates caught up with him. The two teams introduced each other. Leifren’s squad comprised of himself, Jenilah, Harver, and Kiria Dunnsteady. They were all children of nobles. A fact that strengthened their bonds.

  Avryn burrowed Harver for a sec. He stated he needed to ask him something important. Avryn proposed for some one-on-one sparring sessions to help each other get stronger for the years to come. Harver was already on board and they exchanged their contact details on their Scribes.

  The two teams retreated to their dorms after finishing up for the day. Avryn and Rinna shared a talk at the dining table.

  “So, what was Sir Iver like?” he asked.

  “What’s with the sudden interest?” she retorted.

  “Well, you obviously had a different perception of him. We were just strangers. You two shared stronger bonds. Plus, I’d like to know the story behind the man, at least,” he eyed the gunblade.

  “You know that he trained me when I started in the Academy.” she leaned back, recollecting her memories. “He was the closest thing to a hero in my lifetime.”

  She recalled how he loved to tell stories. A common theme among them was hope. He was fairly down to earth for being a fabled knight of the order. She used to train alone at the Academy, even after sessions with her instructors. He made it fun to do so.

  Avryn smiled. It was the same feeling he had with his own father figure in life. He felt remorse having had done what he did. Iver had probably touch plenty of people’s lives, and now he was gone.

  “Don’t be sad, Avryn. I already forgave you,” she assured him. “I’m sure Lerosa there is in good hands.”

  “Thanks,” Avryn was appreciative. “I won’t let either you and Sir Iver down.”