Sargon took Pharis to the forest the next day. She was strong enough to run fast through the forest, but Sargon was still much faster. She was still happy that she didn't need to be carried anymore. She was eventually led to a pack of thorny wolves. These wolves had many thorns in their fur that acted as a defense. Their threat level was stone, besides the thorns, they were regular wolves. 'My first opponents, time to get started', Pharis charged the 12 strong pack with a grin. Using her sword, she cut them down easily. 'Using astra with Master's sword arts was complete overkill for these thorny wolves', she thought to herself.
Sargon beckoned her to follow him to her next opponent. They came upon a lone horned bear, an iron-level threat. Pharis attacked the bear with her sword again. This time she was had to put more effort into the fight. She could fight the bear fine as long as she focused. She filled the bear with wounds while suffering none of her own. The bear reeled back and made a considerable distance between them. Pharis decided to end it with her bow and launched an arrow that went through the bear's skull. "Yippy!", Pharis was happy about how she killed an iron-level enemy without too much difficulty. Sargon was happy that Pharis was grasping her strength. The next opponent would be steel-level.
Sargon led the confident Pharis to her next opponent. To prepare her for battle with the orc horde, the opponent needs to frightful as well as strong. He had chosen a steel-level wendigo. They went into an eerie part of the forest to reach the wendigo. Pharis's confident smile darkened when she spotted the bony wendigo eating a human corpse. Sargon spoke, "Pharis, that monster is a wendigo. It's power is not equal to yours, but it is barely weaker to you technically. You will have to fight seriously without holding anything back against this monster. I will not let you receive fatal injuries, but I won't stop other wounds. It will most likely make you bleed in this fight. You must continue fighting despite your wounds and fatigue."
Pharis replied with resolve, "I will not disappoint you Master, I will defeat the monster." Pharis first resorted to her bow. She knocked, aimed, and fired in a second. The wendigo attempted to dodge the danger it sensed, resulting in a graze from the arrow. It then let out a chilling shriek and moved to attack Pharis. She moved while shooting arrows. The wendigo could now dodge them all now that it had a target. Pharis then used her arrow control technique to land a shot. The arrow stuck, but no blood flowed from the wendigo and it barely slowed it down. She then had to think on the spot. Regular wounds didn't faze the wendigo. She decided to accumulate astra into the arrowhead, so the energy could be released on impact. Trying this technique she came up with during the fight, she landed an arrow. The arrowhead released the energy. The wendigo shrieked as a burned hole was made in its bony chest.
This enraged the wendigo. It picked up speed and ferocity, forcing Pharis to focus on dodging its claws, mouth, and horns. She juked it after a couple of seconds and readied another arrow. This time the arrow was sent to its skull. The arrowhead exploded, destroying the skull and killing the wendigo. She gave a heavy sigh after the exhausting fight. She then started to feel tingles and then pain on different parts of her body. The wendigo had still landed some hits on her despite her dodging. She had multiple cuts and a laceration on the right side of the abdomen made by a claw. 'I didn't even feel it when it injured me, not noticed until now.', Pharis said in her thoughts.
"Marvelous job Pharis. You did well against the wendigo. Coming up with a technique in the middle of a fight shows excellent adaptation. It is important to adapt to an enemy if need be. I am very proud of your performance. Now you know for a fact that you stand at the peak of the steel level." After hearing her Master, Pharis broke out in a wide smile. "Thank you Master, I now know exactly how strong I am.", Pharis said to her Master.
"Good, now let us get you patched up a little before we return to the inn to properly clean you up." Sargon then did some first aid on Pharis. While tending to Pharis, "The orcs that make up the bulk of the horde are peak bronze-level and lower iron-level. Only the chieftains and some exceptions will be in steel. The others won't be your problem so you won't have to worry about fighting opponents you can't defeat.
"Okay Master, I will be completely fine when the battle comes. I still got time to refine that new technique too. They won't be here for a while. Also, I never told you my birthday Master." Sargon then said, "I should have asked, but I was too excited to start your training. Sorry about that LittlePahris, when is your birthday?" Pharis replied with a smirk, "Today is my birthday Master, Auraghust 24th. I became 12 years old today!" Sargon said with a warm smile, "Then we will be eating very well tonight."
They began to leave the forest once Sargon finished the first aid. They made it back to Kesh to feast and started to prepare for the orc horde.