As it turns out, Tiela meant she was going to start training Kaelum immediately.

After that awesome pastry, Kaelum wanted nothing more than to dive into bed. But it looked like Tiela had other plans, it seemed that sleep was going to be pretty far from Kaelum for a while.

‘Enter your soul space.‘ She commanded with an authoritative tone.

Before heading in, Kaelum quickly stashed the remainder of his coins behind his cupboard. After buying his slightly expensive pastry, he was left with just under fifty copper. It was worth it, though.

After leaning against the wall on his bed, Kaelum closed his eyes and focused in preparation to enter his soul space.

Right then he heard some movement outside, a head popped up by his window. Or rather, wall hole shortly thereafter.

The face opened its eyes wide in surprise before relief washed over it.

“Oh thank goodness, I thought the monster got you, Kaelum!” Said the person Kaelum now recognized to be Peake, the cheeky bastard that left to him to do all that heavy lifting.

“Huh, Peake? What are you talking about?” asked Kaelum in confusion. Peake hadn’t visited Kaelum’s home in quite a while.

“The flesh-eater, I haven’t seen you over the past week so I thought the flesh-eater got you!” Said Peake, as if that explained anything.

“Oh, I’ve been working until sundown for the past week” Kaelum explained his new working situation.

Peake replied in understanding “That would explain why I haven’t seen you, everyone’s been hiding indoors before the sun sets. Nobody wants to get caught by the flesh-eater.”

A second later, he processed Kaelum’s words, “Wait, you got a job? Like a real job where they pay you?” He asked incredulously. He then asked with concern “Are you working for one of the gangs? that’s dangerous!”

Not letting himself get sidetracked, Kaelums said “No, I’m not. But what’s this about a ‘flesh-eater’?”

“You haven’t heard?!” Peake asked in shock.

Peake waited until Kaelum shook his head to continue “People have been hearing strange noises in the slums at night and finding torn up animal carcasses in the morning. I’ve even heard some people have gone missing!”

Taking Kaelum’s look of horror as his sign to continue, Peake then said, “It must be some kind of monster that got into the slums, maybe a werewolf or a demon!”

Kaelum asked Tiela worriedly in his head Could there really be a demon or a monster on the loose?

‘It’s not unheard of that a demon might sneak into a city, but it isn’t likely. If there really is, the guards will deal with it eventually. Nothing to get worried over.’ She said confidently.

Peake took Kaelum’s silence while he was talking to Tiela as Kaelum being petrified in fear. Rather than keep talking on the flesh-eater, he decided to change the subject for Kaelum’s sake.

“So what’s this about a new job? If you’re not working for a gang, then where are you working?” Peake asked. There weren’t many jobs available for unskilled kids like them, a fact Peake knew well.

“Remember when all of us got rounded up by the guards? The day you snuck out of work and left me behind to carry heavy stuff all day?” Kaelum asked, laying the guilt-tripping on hard. After seeing Peake nod guiltily, he told him about his interactions with Karrow and his weird stares.

“Well that Karrow guy does seem weird, but at least he’s paying you…” Peake said after hearing Kaelum’s explanation.

Peake suddenly asked “Oh yeah, speaking of Karrow. Have you heard that the princess left Arum?”

Seeing Kaelum nod in affirmation, Peake continued “Well some people think she left a day early because of the flesh-eater. But I know better” He said with a sly smile.

This piqued Kaelum and Tiela’s interest, so Kaelum asked “Then why did she leave early?”

“The real reason is…” Sensing Kaelum’s interest, Peake paused before saying “Because one of the people trying to impress the princess actually snuck past her guards to meet her in her very bedroom!” He said with a dramatic flourish.

Kaelum’s reaction was far less than satisfying, he only nodded, thinking Oh, so that’s why.

‘Well, that was a useful bit of information that we didn’t know before’ Said Tiela sarcastically.

Peake’s sudden revelation didn’t seem to impress Kaelum, so he decided to continue saying “Not only did the person sneak all the way to her bedroom, the person was a mortal! Not even having a shred of mana!”

Peake stood, waiting for Kaelum’s surprised gasp, shocked look. Heck, he’d even settle for Kaelum widening his eyes. Alas, Kaelum still gave no reaction. It’s hard to be surprised when somebody recounts your own actions to you.

“Oh” was Kaelum’s only response.

“Man you’re no fun at all, I thought you’d be interested since you got caught too. At least all the other knight trainees in the city got mad that someone beat them to the chase.” Said Peake glumly.

Though Kaelum didn’t care much, this last part caught Tiela’s attention. Surely a bunch of young jealous knights aren’t going to become a problem in the future… Hopefully… At least nobody knows Kaelum is the one who did it. She thought to herself.

A few seconds after Peake’s grand reveal and Kaelum’s nonreaction the last slivers of sunlight shone through the hole in Kaelum’s wall. Upon seeing the last rays of sunlight fading quickly, Peake made a sour face at Kaelum’s seeming disinterest in the topic and hurriedly got up. Saying “Well, I’m glad you’re not dead.”

Peake laughed, saying “But I’m gonna run home before the sun sets, I really don’t wanna be out alone after it gets dark.” It seemed the talk of a monster running around the slums had spooked even Peake. Kaelum had never actually seen Peake scared, he always held the image of a brave older brother in Kaelum’s mind.

After bidding Peake goodbye, Kaelum went back to his bed, only slightly worried about a monster running around the slums, he wasn’t a kid anymore, after all.

‘Alright, come into your soul space so we can begin.’ Said Tiela, glad to have gotten rid of the distraction and wanting to start their training immediately.

Kaelum had almost forgotten about their training but quickly entered his soul space at Tiela’s behest. Opening his eyes to the realm of pure darkness, the only lights coming from himself and the pink-haired woman clad in golden light. She looked the same as ever.

He asked with a yawn “What kind of training are we doing? It’s kind of late…”

“We’ve already wasted enough time, if we want to meet our deadline of one year then sacrificing a little sleep is worth it,” Tiela said, not impressed with Kaelum’s lack of enthusiasm. Now that she was his master, she’d have to beat some motivation into him.

Smiling at the thought, she continued “You’ve been training your body with work over the past week, but we need to clear the rest of your veins before we can do anything else.”

Kaelum nodded. That made sense to him.

She explained “Right now you’re being held back by your inability to fully cycle mana. A lot of the mana you take in with your breathing technique is being released back into the air because it can’t complete a full path through your veins.”

“I’ve felt that,” Kaelum said, “And I’m collecting even more now than I was before we cleared my right arm’s veins.”

Tiela said “That’s because you’re now able to complete more of a circuit now. The closer to a full revolution through your body, the more mana you’ll be able to absorb.”

She then said, “There are a number of spells and techniques that every knight worth his salt should know, you also can’t learn these until you’ve opened all of your veins.”

“It seems a lot of my training is being held back by my veins,” Kaelum said with a sigh.

Tiela replied, “Exactly, so currently we need to clear this bottleneck before we can actually train you in earnest.”

Having explained the first steps of his training in earnest, she had him sit down cross-legged in preparation. Though this time she didn’t push any mana into his body after putting her hands on his soul body’s back.

Tiela explained “We’ll be using your newly acquired mana to clear the rest of your veins, rather than mine. Start circulating your mana and then I’ll take control.”

Kaelum did as his master told him, starting his breathing technique to circulate his mana. He thought he had amassed quite a bit until Tiela popped his bubble with her words.

“Alright, this much is barely enough to work,” Tiela said as she took control of his mana. “Hmm, this feels similar to my mana but slightly different.”

Always eager to know more, Kaelum asked “Everyone’s mana feels different?”

“Yes, everyone has an affinity and after taking in environmental mana into their bodies, the mana starts taking the attributes of the mana that they have an affinity to. Mine is ice, by the way.” She explained.

Tiela’s explanation came just as she shaped his mana into a drill and started laying into his unopened veins.

It hurt just as much as he remembered, forcing his thoughts away from whatever question he was going to ask next. He was single-mindedly focused on not screaming in pain.

After about an hour of Tiela drilling into his veins with mana, she called it quits and Kaelum was able to take a deep breath. It wasn’t a fun experience by any stretch, but his body felt amazing afterwards, it almost made the pain worth it… Almost.

Though their session lasted a far shorter amount of time than their first, it was still just as unpleasant. Tiela hadn’t used up all of Kaelum’s mana but she had been able to clear all the way down to his left elbow today.

She explained “Alright, we don’t want to use all of your mana so we’ll stop here tonight. With more of your veins opened you should be able to absorb more mana while practicing your breathing technique tomorrow. At this rate, it shouldn’t take more than a week until we’re done opening all of your veins.”

Thinking of his days ahead, working and training from sun up to sundown, Kaelum thought aloud “That doesn’t leave me a lot of time to find food, what with working and training all day…”

“That reminds me,” Said Tiela “We need to set some ground rules!” She said with a glare that bore through him.

“What… what kind of ground rules?” Kaelum asked nervously. Tiela seemed very serious all of a sudden.

“First of all, no more eating trash!” Just as he was about to protest, she continued “Before, you didn’t have any money, so I could understand that. But now that you have some money, you will be buying at the very least some bread every morning. Besides, you need way more nutrients if you’re going to be training and working so hard.”

He finally nodded in assent, it’s not like he enjoyed eating from the trash like a raccoon, after all.

After ensuring that she wouldn’t be tasting trash any time in the future, Tiela shooed Kaelum from his soul space for the night.

The whole process had taken a while, so it was about eleven at night by the time Kaelum left his soul space.

Coming back into his real body, he immediately started his breathing technique. Tiela had told him to practice it every waking moment. After nearly a week, he was pretty proficient in it and didn’t have to solely focus on it to keep it up.

He felt it would probably become second nature over the next few days if he kept at it. After actively practicing his breathing for a while, Kaelum got ready to go to sleep. He’d be waking up early for the foreseeable future so he needed to get some good rest.

He kept up his breathing technique until he slipped into sleep. He managed to get a good night’s sleep.

His princess alarm clock woke him up early by circulating ice-cold mana through his veins. Waking him with a jolt.

“What the hell is that” he shouted into the air sluggishly. After regaining some clarity he heard Tiela’s laugh in his mind and said aloud with an angry tone “Don’t wake me up like that!”

‘I tried waking you by shouting, but it seems you didn’t hear me.’ She said between bouts of laughter ‘Besides, I like this reaction much more.’ She finished deviously.

Why are you even awake right now? Do you even sleep? Kaelum asked indignantly.

‘Yes, but being such a powerful mage, I’m naturally less reliant on rest. My soul is much stronger than a mortal’s, after all.’ Kaelum didn’t know why, but her tone grated on his ears this early in the morning.

How powerful are you anyways? His irritation slightly faded and replaced with curiosity. She had never actually told him what tier she was.

‘I was… Not powerful enough…’ She said glumly, seemingly thinking of the past. Before continuing ‘Anyway, let’s start training.’

After getting up, Tiela had him leave the slums and towards the west gate that he usually took to Miller’s camp. The sun had yet to rise as he walked the empty streets in the chilly morning air.

Usually, the shopkeepers and merchants would take this time to start getting ready, but it looked like they were hiding indoors until sunrise these days. This slum monster seemed to have everyone spooked.

Kaelum felt a chill up his spine as he walked, he didn’t think it was just the morning air and he couldn’t shake the feeling that a pair of eyes were on him the whole time. It’s probably one of the merchants he thought while trying to shake the feeling.

After reaching the western gate he asked aloud with a whisper “Where am I going now? Isn’t it dangerous to leave the city alone?” Thinking that it would make it easier for whatever monster was prowling to eat him if he was alone in the woods.

‘Head to the forest that Miller’s camp cuts trees from, we’ll find a good spot to train in that forest from now on. Besides, you’re not alone.’ Tiela said reassuringly, reminding him of her presence.

The two guards at the gate let him through without any trouble after seeing his face, they were used to seeing him leave over the past week for work at Miller’s camp. Kaelum was glad to see another person’s face, even if they were the guards he usually hid from.

It took Kaelum about thirty minutes to reach the gate from the slums, much faster than when he was sneaking earlier in the week, especially when the fear of a monster put a hop in his step.

He soon reached the edge of the forest and Tiela had him walk around, looking for a good spot to claim as a training ground. All the while he had a slight nagging sensation in the back of his telling him he was still being watched.

While he walked around the forest, he asked Tiela about it. Deciding to talk aloud to dispel any weird tension in the air “Does it feel like we’re being watched? I’ve felt eyes on me since I left this morning”

‘Oh? Maybe it’s the flesh-eater’ she answered, teasing him.

After sensing him tense up a bit more, she laughed and said ‘There’s nothing to worry about, nothing in your immediate vicinity possesses mana and if anything directs ill intent at you, I’ll let you know’

Seeing that he was still sneaking glances at his surroundings, Tiela sighed and said ‘I may not be as powerful as I once was, but if anything tries to attack you I can guarantee your safety from some mana less attacker.‘ She reminded him he was under the protection of a powerful mage

His fears finally assuaged, and his curiosity piqued, Kaelum asked in his mind How are you even able to sense things I can’t see? Everyone always seems to be able to sense whenever someone’s about to open a door before they even do it!

Tiela chuckled and said ‘By using the mana in the air to sense things, it’s also how people can tell other mages power‘

After pacing around for a bit, she had him stop at a small clearing about five meters in diameter. It was only a short walk into the forest, but it was far enough to conceal any sights or sounds of his “training ground” from the outside world.

After settling the training ground, she had him search around for ironwood trees to find some branches. Ironwood trees are extremely tough grey trees, a lot of weapons and tools that need a strong grip utilize them.

‘Until we can buy some proper weapons, we’ll have to make do with ironwood that’s similar in weight and shape’ Tiela explained.

Kaelum found a branch that was just over two meters and in a diameter that wasn’t too unwieldy. It was much heavier than a normal tree branch and was a dull grey colour. It felt as if it weighed as much as iron, doing the name ‘ironwood’ proud.

‘Perfect’ Said Tiela in his mind ‘We can use that as a stand-in for a spear. Then that’s the weapon type we’ll start with.’

By the time they had gotten started, the sun was already over Kaelum’s head.

She had him start by getting into position while holding his makeshift spear, before making slight corrections to his stance.

‘Spread your legs slightly farther apart… a little farther… good.‘ She corrected his stance

“Like this?” Kaelum asked aloud after following her instructions.

‘Yes, but lower your body more, if you try to attack like that you’ll throw your balance off completely.‘

Once he was in position, Tiela continued ‘Good, but try to loosen your leg muscles. If you tense that much during a fight you won’t last long.’

Finally satisfied with his stance, she said ‘Alright your stance is good, try thrusting the branch forward like you want to stab something with the tip.‘

After hearing the go-ahead, Kaelum thrust his makeshift spear forward.

‘Good try, but wrong. Don’t try to thrust with just your arms, put your whole body into the strike.’ Tiela said, after seeing his attack ‘That threw your stance off so correct it as best you remember.‘

As he went back to his stance, Tiela pointed out small mistakes until she declared ‘Good enough, try thrusting again.’

It seemed his attack still wasn’t up to snuff, she said ‘Correct your stance and try again. When you strike, fully extend your arms, but don’t lock them.’

The training continued in this manner for what felt like hours to Kaelum, the feeling that he was being watched never left him. Though at this point it was easy to just ignore.

Tiela eventually had him stop for a break, just in time too. He felt like he was about to collapse from the physical exertion. As he slumped to the ground and took a deep breath, he heard Tiela’s voice in his mind.

While panting, Kaelum asked aloud “Why does this feel way worse than carrying wood all day?”

Tiela answered him with a chuckle, ‘You’re using a lot of muscles that don’t normally get a lot of action, after a short break we’ll continue.’

And continue they did, the day of practise mainly consisted of Tiela correcting Kaelum’s stance and him performing a single thrust, before doing it over again. Kaelum thought he’d be learning to fight, but he was just repeating the same stance and thrust over and over again! Not only was it painful, but it was also boring!

Just as the sun reached high overhead, Tiela told him ‘It’s getting close to noon so we’ll stop here for today… Good job today.’

His tired muscles seemed rejuvenated from the unexpected praise as he made his way out of the clearing and towards Miller’s camp to work.