Izick and Mill followed Foster Braun down the ancient stone and moss-covered steps. Izick yawned as the cold morning air seeped through his clothes.

  They got through the night without issue, but the place Foster Braun wanted to show them remained a mystery.

  The stone steps ended at the base, where a large clearing of stones set into a giant arena-like circle came into view.

  Braun stepped into the circle of stones and then turned back to Izick and Mill. He brought his hands from behind his back to lift them to his sides.

  "Welcome to the official Druid training grounds."

  Mill studied the training grounds with a discerning eye before sighing.

  "I was expecting something a little more grand, to be honest, when you mentioned you had something to show us. No offense, but this looks like a dump," Mill said as she kicked a fallen tree branch away.

  "Come on, Mill, don't be so mean," Izick said as he chided Mill while elbowing her in the ribs.

  "I'm not being mean, just honest. I sense ancient wards on those stones, likely Shielding Mysteria, but that's about it. Something like this has nothing to do with the Malevolence inside of the Honor Rod," Mill said as she narrowed her eyes and gripped her Healer staff. She motioned for Izick to stop walking and not enter the circle.

  "It's almost like you want us to fight here."

  Braun gave an awkward smile as he nodded his head.

  "I do wish to have a light sparring session to test the boy and his capabilities with the Honor Rod."

  Mill gritted her teeth as she stepped in front of Izick while raising her staff. A dozen translucent green hexagonal shields appeared in front of her and Izick.

  Izick stepped forward while remaining behind the Mill's shield.

  "Foster Braun, what would fighting me accomplish? What are you planning here?"

  "Nothing insidious, I promise," Braun said while smiling. "Besides, I know that you're a very capable Healer with vast Mana reserves, young Milletta, but your Shielding Skills need work. I could have killed both of you if I wished."

  Braun spoke a few strange words and then waved his hand, sending a great wind at Mill's shields, which then trembled and faded away like they never existed.

  "H-how did you do that?" Mill said, stunned as she and Izick looked anxiously at Braun.

  "I was once a very competent Shield Mage in the Arekian army before becoming a Druid," Foster Braun said as he motioned with his hands for both of them to join him in the circle.

  "Remember what I said yesterday. There's a bigger picture to all of this that I want both of you to understand. Please join me. It is not my intention to harm you. I know very little about the Blessing due to my rank, but there is something I might be able to help young Izick with."

  "Why should we trust you? You didn't tell us we would be fighting you," Mill said as she still held her staff defensively.

  Braun lightly chuckled.

  "Would you have shown up if I told you? Our very brief relationship was not founded upon trust in the first place. It's founded on common interests and circumstances brought upon by a traitorous summoned hero," Braun said as his smile faded and raised an eyebrow at Izick.

  "Your story about how you came into possession of the Blessing and the Honor Rod has some 'curious' holes and leaps in logic that I ignored, yet I'm still willing to help you without prying too deeply into the connection that the two of you had with the former Staff Hero."

  Izick and Mill winced as Braun alternated glances between them. Silence followed until Mill grunted, walked towards the stone circle, and stopped to kneel and inspect the wards carved into the stones with an Inspection Skill.

  Braun and Izick watched as Mill went around the entire training circle, inspecting the wards on each stone. She grumbled as she stood up after checking the wards on the last stone.

  "Before we step inside, tell us what this 'bigger picture' is in the first place. I still don't see any reason why you would want Izick to fight with the Honor Rod," Mill said while carefully watching Braun.

  Braun turned to Izick with a serious expression.

  "The bigger picture is that young Izick needs to learn how to use the Honor Rod since he is the current Staff Hero of Arekia."

  Izick reeled back and shook his head.

  "T-that's just a title that was dumped on me by the former Staff Hero. I'm not the true Staff Hero, and I'm no Mage either."

  "True, but the title of Staff Hero wasn't the only thing that you inherited. You also now have the responsibility of the Staff Hero. We, Druids, are responsible for summoning Heroes into the world of Estra from the Elseworld, so we have stringent standards on who we choose for each role that every Hero plays."

  Braun walked toward Izick, causing Mill to step in between them. He stopped his stride before continuing to talk to Izick.

  "The Staff Hero, also known as the Hero of Light, has always played a special role. He is the Hero who will illuminate the path to victory. This is more than the personal bias of an old man when I say this. People will look to you to guide them and save them from the darkness in this world, especially since the former Staff Hero decided to abandon the light for power."

  "So you're saying there's no hiding for Izick when he leaves this place?" Mill said apprehensively.

  "Yes, young Izick is a target now, a shining city at the top of a mountain for all to see. Many people will look to him for guidance as the true Staff Hero or will try to kill him, take the Honor Rod, or simply hate his existence, even if you believe you are the Staff Hero in name only," Braun said as he adjusted his glasses. Izick looked at the Honor Rod in his hand and shook his head.

  "I can't bear that kind of responsibility."

  "You have to. Otherwise, you may very well die within the coming weeks, which was likely the former Staff Hero's plan in the first place. The less you understand your position in all of this, the closer you are to death. You can't afford half measures here."

  Izick paused for a moment and then sighed deeply. He wanted to give up twice now. Once at the hospital yesterday, and now at this very moment.

  But he couldn't keep running away when he understood nothing about his situation. Like Foster Braun said, this was likely what Alister wanted to happen.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Cowering away would not solve any of his issues. He had to take steps forward. He stepped into the circle and began to unravel the warding cloth from the Honor Rod.

  Mill stepped in after Izick and walked up to him.

  "Izick, are you sure about this? This seems a bit risky. Remember, Druids are powerful Mages."

  "No, I'm not sure at all. I'm anxious, actually. But, it's like you said, Mill, I have to take things one step at a time. My ignorance will likely get me, and maybe even you, killed if I don't address my weaknesses," Izick said as he held the Honor Rod in his hands like a shotgun instead of a staff.

  "Foster Braun is right that I have to learn how to use this thing if it will be in my hands all the time for the foreseeable future."

  Mill looked at Izick with worry before turning to Braun.

  "Foster Braun, does Malevolence affect any of the core functions of the Honor Rod?"

  "Not that I know of, but it's better to find out here in this warded space than out in the field. I'll be raising these wards now," Braun said before muttering a few words and snapping his fingers.

  Gold light trickled from the stones encircling the three of them, forming a nearly invisible force field.

  "Foster Braun, what are the rules for this sparring session?" Izick said as he aimed the Honor Rod towards the ground.

  "The rules are simple. I will not attack you under any circumstances, but you are to shoot at me using the Honor Rod. If you are unaware, there is a lever on the bottom that you must pull to fire the Honor Rod since this function is modeled after the shotgun, which originated in the Elseworld," Braun said as he pointed to the Honor Rod.

  Izick frowned as he lowered the Honor Rod even more.

  "I'm familiar with this function, but you want me to shoot you?" Izick said as memories of Alister's explosive attacks over the years came flooding in.

  "Yes, but don't worry about hurting me, I'll be fine. Do you understand the rules of this engagement?" Braun said, looking to Izick for a response.

  Izick shook away the flooding memories before nodding to Braun.

  "I do."

  "Then shoot."

  Mill got behind Izick as he raised the Honor Rod and aimed at Braun. Izick took a deep breath and then pulled the trigger.

  A puny spark flickered at the end of the Honor Rod, followed by a meek speck of light that swirled out a few feet from where Izick stood before fading away.

  Izick's face turned red with embarrassment as he pulled the trigger once more, giving no response this time, but a blue System message appeared in front of him.

  [ WARNING: Honor Rod internal battery is empty ]

  [ SYMBOL LINK STATUS: INACTIVE ]

  [ SYMBOL LINK: 0% ]

  Braun furrowed his brow as he stroked his beard.

  "Do you see any messages from the Blessing?"

  "Yeah…I have a message from the Blessing saying that the Honor Rod's 'battery' or whatever is empty," Izick said as he stared at the message with confusion.

  "Ah, that 'battery' refers to the Honor Rod's internal Mana base, which is called the Symbol Link. It stores Mana inside the Honor Rod by slowly pulling small amounts of Mana from your body over time. It is likely depleted at the moment," Braun said before placing his hands behind his back and frowning.

  "You must push your own Mana into the Honor Rod to activate the Symbol Link. However, I must warn you. Establishing the Symbol Link for the first time will sap away most of your Mana into the Honor Rod. It likely will not kill you, but it will take a toll on your body. Do you wish to continue?"

  Izick nodded as he readied the Honor Rod once more. Mill tapped Izick on the shoulder while glancing over to Braun.

  "This could be dangerous. Completely draining your Mana will cause Mana Sickness and possibly break your Mana Base, which could kill you."

  "That is true, but remember. The Malevolence afflicting young Izick is either 'time' or 'distance' and not 'Mana', so channeling his Mana in the Honor Rod should safely establish the Symbol Link as designed," Braun said, sighing deeply.

  "Your life as a simple Scout is behind you. You will be forced to fire that Honor Rod someday. Might as well be now when your life is not in imminent danger."

  Izick thought over both Mill and Braun's words. Both sides seemed logical, but his answer was clear. He nodded to Braun and took a deep breath as he then aimed at Braun one more time.

  "Mill, I'm trying this one more time. I need to face this problem head-on. I can't run away from something that will always be attached to me going forward."

  "If that's your decision, then I won't stop you. I'll be right here if anything goes wrong."

  He closed his eyes while focusing his thoughts on the Honor Rod. Painful memories involving the weapon and its various acts of destruction caused by its former wielder, Alister, flooded his mind.

  He shook his head to push the thoughts away. He couldn't focus on those things right now.

  Izick remembered the sensation of channeling Mana into his trap cubes and did the same thing to channel a small amount of Mana into the Honor Rod before pulling the trigger, causing a blue status message to appear.

  [ WARNING: Honor Rod internal battery is empty. Now pulling Mana from Player's Mana Base ]

  [ Initializing Player and Honor Rod Symbol link ]

  Izick gasped as he felt the Mana inside his body get ripped out and flow into the Honor Rod.

  A large ball of light formed at the end of the white shotgun before blasting off towards Braun at high speeds.

  Braun stretched out his hands. The ball of light slowed to a stop in front of him.

  He stared intently into the ball of light for a few seconds before flicking it away from him with his left hand, sending it into the wall of golden light where it exploded into a show of blinding light.

  Mill covered her eyes to avoid being blinded as streams of light flew past her. Izick breathed heavily as his nerves calmed down, but he felt his body quickly weakening.

  [ New Skill: [Bang Bullet] learned! ]

  [ BANG BULLET: creates a ball of super compressed light that explodes on impact to create a blinding blast of light for distracting enemies or AOE damage ]

  Izick couldn't even see the entire System message; he began to fall backwards in exhaustion. Mill quickly grabbed Izick and held him in her arms as she lowered him to the ground.

  "Izick! Stay awake! Do you still have Mana?"

  "I-I'm alright. I have some Mana left. It stopped draining my Mana right before nothing was left."

  Braun came up to Izick and knelt beside Izick. Mill watched him carefully for his next move.

  "The effects of the Symbol Link are more drastic than expected. For that, I sincerely apologise, young Izick. It seems that I overestimated your level of Mana Shaping. But we both learned some very valuable things from this experience. I want you to rest up and return in two days. I will give you an adjusted training regimen to help improve your control with the Honor Rod." Braun said as he stood back up to snap his fingers again to dispel the warding shields.

  "Let's slow down a bit, Foster Braun. It seems to me that you're running blind tests on Izick without knowing what will happen. Do you truly understand what is going on here?"

  Braun brought his hands behind his back and began to walk towards the stairs to leave.

  "I am running tests on young Izick, but I'm not doing this blindly. That blast created a connection between Izick and the Honor Rod, creating a symbiotic relationship allowing the Honor Rod to pull from Izick's Mana but also allowing Izick to pull from the Honor Rod's Mana as well."

  "So it's like a secondary Mana Base for Izick to use?" Mill said, staring at the Honor Rod in Izick's hands.

  "Correct. The Malevolence inside the Honor Rod was already tied to Izick's Mana Base before the Symbol Link, and that is something I still cannot change. I'll explain in more detail when I see both of you tomorrow," Braun said as he looked at Mill.

  "I also have a valuable lesson to teach you, young Milletta. Your Shield Mysteria is very impressive, but some cracks in your foundation must be addressed."

  Mill grunted at Braun, but Izick lightly grabbed Mill's arm.

  "I'll see you tomorrow, Foster Braun. Thank you for your instruction," Izick said between bated breaths. Braun nodded, then ascended the stone stairs.

  "Izick, you're going to keep doing this?"

  "I think so. He's my best shot at even having a vague understanding of all of this. I can even see confirmation of what he said in front of me."

  [ Congratulations! [Symbol Link] established! ]

  [ The [Honor Rod] will now passively charge when in range of the [Player], allowing independent use of the [Honor Rod]'s internal Mana without using the [Player]'s own Mana via [Symbol Link] ]

  [ SYMBOL LINK: 90% ]

  Izick rolled onto his back and groaned deeply. He had to skip town to avoid investigators and make it back home to his sister, but now he had Mana Sickness to deal with.

  All of this is because of his former boss and his selfish decisions.

  His resolution flared once more as he gripped the Honor Rod in his hands. He had to get better than this.

  No way he was letting that excuse of a Hero get away with ruining his life. Not a chance.