The 23rd day of Summer's, 256 (Malsonday)

The people in Lemor woke up to a warm morning, and as time passed by, the weather became even hotter. In this heat, only those villagers wanted to leave their homes who had to go to work to earn their daily wages. Yet there was also a mother-son pair, who in this burning sunlight were practicing close-quarters fighting under a big peach tree.

Zan's body was covered with a red layer of mana and was trying his best to block his mother's staff in a defensive stance. After each of her strikes, he was pushed to the right or to the left. Yet he managed to stay on his feet and never lost his balance so much that he would fall to the ground. He gritted his teeth so much that veins popped out on his sweaty forehead. His cream-colored shirt was wet from his struggles and stuck to his body.

"Let us end it here for today," Arilia suddenly said and stopped attacking.

"Already?" Zan was surprised. He didn't want to believe his mother. Until today, his training was only over when he used up all of his mana, and from the fatigue, he fell to his rear.

"Yes, it is over for today. We do not need to overdo it every day," she smiled.

"But, we've been overdoing it for fifty days."

"To be precise, we have been practicing for fifty-three days," she corrected her son. "You have made good progress. Your aura is now complete and even. You also move better, but you are still slow."

"I can't do anything about it. After I create my aura, my movements become slower," he said as he clenched his fist, and a red layer of mana covered his hand.

"How many times do I have to tell you?"Arilia asked as she shook her head in annoyance. " You only need to create your aura just before you get hit. Otherwise, it will only slow you down. It is true that now you can only use your mana for defense, but later, you will be able to use it to attack as well. You know that attacking and defending at the same time is almost impossible, that is why you need to learn how to use your mana the best way possible."

"It's easier said than done," he said, then looked at his palm and continued, "But I move much faster than at the beginning. At that time, I was just a punching bag standing in one place, but now my movements are as fast as an average person's."

"Your opponents are not going to be average people. Your enemies could be one or more stages above you, just like the Village Lord. I have already told you that he is at the master aura level. Although right now, his strength can only be considered on par with an advanced aura warrior," Arilia said, but as she saw her son's puzzlement, she continued, "If a sword is not cleaned and sharpened, what will happen to it?"

"It will get rusty and won't cut as well as before," Zan said, and after some thoughts, he added, "Can you fall back from your level?"

"Falling back is not the best word for it. I would rather say that he cannot make full use of his strength." Arilia said as she leaned her staff against the peach tree. "Ever since Kroth Lemor became the Village Lord, he stopped training, gained weight, became lazy, and the only thing he does is order the villagers around and threaten them. But all in all, he is still a warrior with experience."

"What are my odds against him, now?" Zan asked with eyes full of hopes.

"You have about twenty percent chance to win."

"So little?" he asked with a little sorrow in his voice. He hoped that his odds for victory would be much higher after his training.

"Even though he has gotten weaker, he is still two stages higher than you." She said as she dusted off her green robe. "However, if you set a trap and attack him with the right weapons at the right time, you could even defeat him."

"I'll never do that. That wouldn't be honorable," he struck his chest.

"One, you are not a knight. Two, honor only exists in fairy tales and is now only used by a few foolish people. What do you think who is writing history?" Arilia asked, but she didn't wait for her son to reply and immediately continued, "The winner. He writes history and will tell you how everything happened, even though that might be the complete opposite of the truth. So forget about this honorable thing quickly. Knights are not what they once used to be... Once again, I repeat myself: the strong rule and the weak obey. This is the golden rule of this world."

Zan felt somewhat low after hearing his mother's words and was looking at the ground. He listened to this one sentence too many times in his life, but he still didn't want to accept it. He believed that in big cities, life was different. He thought that his mother only had such a bad opinion of the nobles because she had only seen tyranny from the Village Lords and because no one helped her to search for her husband when he didn't return from the mountains. 'One day, I'll show you what a real hero looks like,' Zan thought to himself.

Arilia felt a little bad about making her son sad. She didn't like to hurt him, but she also knew that the sooner he accepts the truth, the sooner he could use it to his advantage. She felt a little sour that she could no longer be tender to her child, but she had to be strict and harsh with him because that was the only way to teach him how to stay alive in the world.

"Now that the last peach has fallen and I have cooked the jam. I have done all the things I wished to do," she said, then looked into her child's eyes. "Do you want to get stronger?"

"Yes!" Zan said without any hesitation, even though he didn't understand the relation between his mother's sentences at all.

"Then pack up for a trip, because we're going to the forest tomorrow."

"Really?! But why?"

"There is a special plant called starflower which can greatly quicken your progression. These flowers grow on the northern side of the hill, and from their petals, I can make a potion that is rich in mana. If you drink the brew while you train daily, you can reach the advanced stage in sixty to eighty days," she said. "But you should also know that although the plant accelerates your growth, it is only worth to drink one potion every fifth day, as its effect lasts for five days. If you consume it more often, you would just waste its power."

"Great!" Zan shouted with excitement. However, suddenly a thought came to his mind, and he gave voice to it, "How do you know that the starflowers grow there?"

"Seven years ago, when we arrived in Lemor, I heard a little rumor about the flowers. So I went to the forest and found them with many other interesting plants," Arilia replied, and after a little pause, she added, "But the point is that the starflowers grow on the north side of the hill at about six hundred feet height. So go pack up the things you wish to bring to the trip because if you want to grow faster, you will need those flowers."

"All right, I'm going right away to pack up my stuff," Zan said in a joyful voice. Before, he used to fear the beast living in the forest, but now he was no longer afraid of them. He awakened and learned how to use his mana properly. He was confident that if a beast would attack him, he could protect himself with his aura.

Zan quickly ran into the hut and began to pack his bag. The first thing he put in his sack was the tent he received from his mother for his twelfth birthday. For the second object, he put a small metal box in the bag, which was used for making fire. It contained a flint, a small steel rod, and some firelighter. After these important items were in his sack, he put two gourds, some food, some clothes, an iron jar, a pestle with a mortar, and all the tools for healing.

It already started to get dark when Zan finally finished packing away his stuff. So he decided to take a bath for the last time before their trip, as he was sure that in the woods, he wouldn't be able to clean himself too often.

He then went to bed early so that he would be refreshed in the morning, but because of his excitement, he couldn't fall asleep.

'Finally, a real adventure.' He could only think about this for a long time. Then suddenly, like a lightning strike, another thought appeared in his mind. 'What will happen to Liria?'