Arthur Leywin P.O.V.
Upon exiting the other side of the teleportation gate I get the same nauseous feeling in my stomach I did back when we first arrived in Xyrus when I was four. This was the first time using a teleportation gate since then.
The sudden light from the sun blinds me making me cover my eyes until they adjust to the new lighting. Once my eyes adjust I start to look around the new landscape, we are at a base camp the other adventurers set up around the teleportation gate found here. There are wooden walls surrounding the camp to keep out some straggling mana beasts, beyond the wooden walls is a dense forest for what looks to span for miles.
"We will have plenty of time for sightseeing later Art, we should be in a hurry. We need to get to where we need to be by nightfall so we'll need to move fast. So get a move on brats." Adam proclaims as he is shoo-ing us forward to follow jasmine.
Ahead of us, Jasmine begins running out of the camp, I begin following behind while Lilia struggles to keep up. I guess they forgot she was a conjurer in a group of augmenters. She can't augment herself as we can. We slow down our pace and we eventually make it to where I assume Jasmine and Adam wanted to bring us.
Looking around it is a small flatland surrounded by trees, I guess this place is suitable for a campsite but why couldn't we just set up closer to the teleportation gate?
"It's getting late so we will spend our first day just setting up camp," Jasmine says before leaving to collect some wood to start a fire.
I start to get my stuff unpacked when Jasmine returns placing the wood down, she grabs my wrist and points it towards the wood, "Shoot fire." She says referring to me as some kind of human flamethrower.
I ignite the wood to start the fire and she lets go of my wrist. "What am I just a fire starter?" I ask.
"No, but you are the only one in this group who can use fire so this is your responsibility," she says while she sits down in front of the fire.
I finish setting up my stuff and sit down nearby the fire as well. Looking over I see Adam struggling to get his sleeping bag untied. Not long later Lilia sets up her stuff and also sits down near the fire.
Lilia turns to Jasmine and asks, "You and Kaspian Bladeheart seem to be on good terms. Are you two friends?"
"Not exactly but we met through my father's connections." She rarely ever talks about her family, even when she mentioned her father she spoke about him like it was some unpleasant memory.
Not catching the hint Lilia begins to ask more questions, "Oh wow, is your family famous?"
"Yeah I guess, they were important figures in the human-elf war. They helped a lot thanks to their use of fire magic." Jasmine says.
I can see Adam look over at us talking, He must have heard the conversation because he suddenly tried to change the subject. "Hey, you brats. If you are done unpacking your things then help me with my stuff, don't just laze around.
We go help Adam unpack his stuff, strangely enough, he has more stuff than all three of us combined. How could he fit all this in his bags? Looking through his stuff he has more self-care products than Jasmine and Lilia. By the time we finish going through his things the sun has fully set and we all go to sleep.
The next day I woke up after everyone else, they had already begun cooking breakfast.
"About time you woke up brat, If it weren't for you breathing I would have thought you were a corpse," Adam says.
"Ha Ha." I obviously fake a laugh.
We all eat breakfast and Jasmin gets up after she finished eating. "Before we start any mana beast hunting or dungeon crawling I want to have you guys train a bit."
The rest of us get up while Jasmine grabs her daggers. "I and Adam will face you both in a one-on-one. We are doing this to test your strengths, both of us saw aspects of your magic or fighting that can be improved so we will help you adjust." Jasmine continues.
I go and grab my swords while Lilia gets her staff, I have both my rapier and the short sword I had gotten from the storage room of the auction house. The quality of the short sword isn't good at all but it was the best of the bunch. I decide to unsheath my rapier which in comparison to the short sword was better crafted and will withstand a fight better. I had previously tested prior and learned the rapier can handle up to two elements at once, while the short sword can only handle one before it started to lose quality.
"Adam will face Lilia since his use of a spear can handle Lilia's long-range attacks. While I will face you, Arthur. Anyone using weapons will use mana to dull their blade."
I begin to stand opposing Jasmine, rapier in hand with my mana dulling the blade, even with mana covering it a hit from my blade or Jasmine's daggers will surely leave bruises or break bones. Not a preferred outcome.
"Ready when you are," Jasmine says waiting for the fight to begin.
We began the fight and without strengthening our bodies with mana it was an equal right at the beginning, my training with Kaspian had helped train my physical strength. While I'm not as strong or fit as I would like to be I was still stronger than most people my age. For the first several swings and attacks I was handling it well, with very little exhaustion even from this nine-year-old body. We continue the fight, her skill with daggers is impeccable.
I lunge out with a sharp thrust with my rapier aimed at Jasmine's sternum. She swung her daggers down to knock the blade down to miss her. I move my feet to keep balance while she brings her daggers back up. She goes in with another downward slash towards me. I pivot to dodge the blades.
We took turns attacking and defending, eventually, I was beginning to grow exhausted. Jasmine saw this and took advantage to trip me. "My win" She states, while I could have continued the fight it was only a matter of time before I would completely run out of energy.
I get up and sheath my rapier. Looking over to Lilia and Adam's fight they ended before us with Adam being the winner.
"You certainly have skill in fighting, if you spend time exercising your body you would be able to defeat me in a fight," Jasmine says.
I had three years to spend training, I certainly have time. I can use this time to train my body and progress my skill with magic.
"I guess I have a long road ahead of me before I am as strong as I hope to be."
"Thats right, you may be a prodigy but your still just a pipsqueak," Adam says while ruffling up my hair.
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