Ruith glared at her. She was really blunt.

“Maybe you’re just overly strong…what rank is your mana core anyway?”

He knew that at each rank the body would become a bit stronger and tougher, but he didn’t know it was this drastic.

“I just got to the brown rank a few weeks ago.”

“Well obviously I would lose then!”

Ruith stood from the ground, the pain mostly faded by now. Luckily, there was no injury. 

“Wait, you said a brown core? Aren’t you around my age?”

“Mhm. I’m 17.”

Ruith looked at her, shocked. She said it like it was nothing, but a brown core at 17 was impressive. It was only one rank away from being able to become a Sanctum Knight, and from what he had seen, they were at least in their late 20s.

Well, her father was one of the most powerful people in the Bastion, so it was to be expected.

“And you should still be able to last a few seconds against me in a fight like that, even if I’m a brown core and you’re a black core. The problem is you simply don’t know how to fight.”

“What do you mean? Your body is much more powerful than mine.”

“Power isn’t everything unless your opponent is much more powerful than you, especially in a fist fight. Let’s go again, I’ll teach you some things.”

Ruith agreed, now excited to learn something new.

“First, don’t throw punches like that. They are extremely easy to dodge.”

She proceeded to show Ruith how to punch and dodge correctly.

“Next, against me you have a reach advantage. Don’t try to get in too close, instead try to keep me from getting in close to you.”

After a bit more of instruction, they sparred once again.

This time, Ruith lasted a full 20 seconds before being beaten, though he didn’t manage to land a single punch. His endurance was excellent having worked in the mines for almost 2 years, but Vaeri was simply too fast and strong for him to keep up.

She helped him up from the ground. His learning speed was actually kind of frightening, to do that well against her after just some basic instruction.

“You’ll probably do fine against other humans, just practice for a bit each day. However, against Voidborne only dodging will work, especially with your low strength. So you’ll need a weapon.”

Vaeri pulled out a dagger from somewhere, and handed it to Ruith.

“Really, just dodge and then stab or slash. Pretty simple, you’ll do fine. Works against humans too, of course.”

Ruith frowned at her quick explanation, but he trusted her that it really was that simple.

“Oh right, father wanted me to give you a pair of new clothes, so come inside.”

‘New clothes finally, it’s been nearly a year.’

Ruith felt very grateful for Teran’s kindness towards him, even more so now.

Vaeri picked up some clothes that lay on the couch, handing them to him. A long sleeve shirt, pants, boots, and a pair of gloves. All of them were brown, it seemed like Teran was a fan of the color.

They were all made of a heavy and warm yet flexible material, perfect for the coming winter

“Wow, thank you…” These clothes were far nicer than anything he had ever owned. 

Vaeri shrugged. “Thank my father once he wakes up. They are all in his size, but they should be a good fit.”

Ruith nodded and headed to his room to put the new clothes on. They fit perfectly, and he became pleasantly warm. Vaeri also came to give him a belt, which had several pouches and a sheath for the dagger on it.

After putting everything on, he once again went outside to continue training. Vaeri was there, practicing with her sword. She slashed, pierced, and even acted as though she was dodging attacks.

The movements seemed strangely familiar to Ruith, and he realized why. Though not exactly the same, it resembled the style of the powerful Voidborne he had seen, just with a sword instead of claws.

Each movement flowed beautifully into the other, while every strike was quick and deadly.

Ruith watched her for a moment, before once again sitting under a tree. He began to train in silence while Vaeri was close by. 

He was getting a bit impatient now, very excited to ask Teran a few questions that could help increase his power much faster than now. 

An hour later, the man finally came out of the house.