+++

Come morning, Larc had already recovered from his earlier predicament. 

Waking up earlier than usual, he stood in the woods near the estate, examining his body under the cover of dawn. Surprisingly, instead of feeling under the weather or fatigued, he felt surprisingly good, better than usual actually. His body that should've been sore from his injuries felt lighter and stronger. His mana that should've been drained to the last drop felt deeper and thicker, even his eyes seemed to have been sharper.

[Strange..] He thought while opening and closing his fists.

He unsheathed the training sword he had brought out with him and started practicing his swings.

Having no memories of what transpired after he exhausted his mana reserves, he could only listen to the explanation that Juliette gave him, which she in turn got from her brother Jorgé.

"Tch"He clicked his tongue while thinking to himself; [My weakness once again became evident.]

"?!!"

Just as he was staring to exert more force into his swings, he suddenly felt a presence lurking behind him. There was no way that Larc would not feel this overwhelming violent intent, akin to a beast stalking it's prey. Quickly turning around, he readied his training sword and surveyed the surroundings.

"Who's there?" He bellowed. "Show yourself this instant!"

Sporting a grin, as if saying "I found something interesting." A large, well built  man walked out of the trees. Larc was already fairly tall himself, standing over most people of his age, but this man here stood two whole heads taller than he is, quite possibly even taller than Lennox.

Dressed in fine garments, the man looked to be atleast 60 years old, but his body was anything but old. He was muscular and lean, not an ounce of fat or sagging could be seen. Sporting a scar that ran from his left eye all the way to his left cheek, his gray hair and braided beard fluttered about with the wind.

*Gulp*

[...This is bad..] Larc thought to himself as he unconsciously gulped.

"Heya, kid!" The old man bellowed as he showed a shit-eating grin. "Care for a match with this old fool?"

Hearing this, Larc tightened his grip to his training sword. He assumed the stance that was drilled into him by the head butler Alford.

"Who are you?!" He asked the old man. "You are trespassing in the estate of the Carmine household, identify yourself this instant or face dire consequences!"

"Why, I'm just an old fool looking for my friend" The man answered, but not before taking a stance himself.

"Fortunately, I seemed to have stumbled upon an interesting prey" He continued while grinning and crouching down, similar to how Larc crouches down when he prepares for an attack.

[?!]

Surprised by the man's stance, Larc unconsciously relaxed his body. A fact that the man did not miss.

"You're wide open!"

The man kicked off the ground and propelled himself at an astonishing speed.

[?!! He's fast--]

Before he could even finish his thought, Larc found his vision spinning as he was sent flying by a strong blow.

"Gah!" He gasped as he felt the wind get taken away from his lungs.

Sent tumbling a good distance, Larc struggled to control his breathing. Using his training sword, he propped himself up and tried to regain his bearings.

[Kuh! H-he's fast! Faster than sir Alford! And the strength of his blow is incomparable!]

Readying his stance once more, the man's grin grew even wider. He planted both his hands on the ground, looking as if to tear the soil from it, and dragged one of his feet backwards, much like how a sprinter would prepare for a sudden burst of speed.

[Tch! He's gonna charge again?!]

This time however, Larc was anticipating his attacks and strengthened his entire body. Having realized the difference in their corresponding strength and speed, he drew a defensive stance that allowed one to parry a larger and stronger opponent.

He casted his legs wide and held his sword to the side of his head, pointed towards his assailant.

"Hohh?"

Seeing this, the man's eyebrow perked up.

"That's good! But it won't matter much!!" He scoffed as he once again blitzed Larc with overwhelming speed.

[There it is!] Larc thought to himself.

Having realized that the man and him uses almost identical stances, Larc knew that the weakness of that move was that it was destructive in a straight-line but at the expense of not being able to change directions mid dash, much like how a boar would charge in one direction until it hits something.

[I have you know!] He exclaimed in his head as he leapt to the side and swing his sword diagonally to the side of the man's head.

[?!! What?!]

To his surprise however, his full force swing hit nothing but air.

The man had stopped his dash at the same time Larc leapt to the side and crouched down low. He then twisted his body and kicked Larc off his feet with a sweeping motion.

"You really think I'd fall for that??" The man scoffed. "Guhahaaha you underestimate me, boy!"

Having exerted force in his swing and getting swept off his feet, Larc was not able to defend himself against the man's fist and was blown away once again. Fortunately this time, he had body strengthening on his entire body, so the damage he took was significantly lighter than before. Unfortunately though, it was not enough to completely negate the damage.

"Guuuh!" He grimaced as he tumbled back a good distance once more.

"Haah.. haah.. haah.."

He panted as he struggled to get back to his feet.

[Damnit! How the fuck is this guy able to stop and change directions mid dash???] He cursed inside his mind.

The man leisurely walked towards Larc while mocking him and showing a shit-eating grin once more.

"Two's enough for you? I pity the woman you'd call your wife Guahahahha!"

+++

"---ey.. hey.. brat!"

The voice of an old man, as well as the light tapping of his cheek woke Larc from his, for a lack of better term, sleep.

Opening his eyes, what he saw was the grinning face of the old man that was illuminated by the morning sun.

"You're finally awake! Guhahaaha." The man remarked as he sat down beside him.

Larc wanted to quickly stand up and get away, but his body was not properly responding to his commands.

Seeing him struggling, the old man chuckled a bit before patting him on the chest.

"Oh don't be so sensitive, boy. I made sure that no real damage would be done to you! Guhahaaha!" He laughed as he propped Larc to sit.

"Your body is just in shock!" He added.

Greatly confused at the words of the old man, Larc rubbed his head and his chest while paying close attention to the man.

[..eh?]

Strangely enough, although his body did feel fatigued, the last attack that he took was quite powerful, so he was certain that he should have a couple of ribs broken, or even ruptured organs. But he didn't feel any of that, just the small bruises he had on his arms and face.

He once again gave a suspicious look at the old man, which was met by another shit-eating grin.

"...Who are you anyway, Old man?" He asked as he tried to stand up.

The man looked to his direction and gave him a dumb look.

"Ehh? I'm just as you say, an old man."

"Quit fucking with me! Who are you?!"

Unable to contain his emotions Larc lashed out at the man while glaring at him.

"Haaah.. finee finee, you don't have to be angry about it." Said the man nonchalantly while raising his hands in a gesture that seemed to say "it can't be helped".

"My name's Vilka, I'm the--"

"Headmaster! So you were here all along."

Before the old man could finish his introduction, Jorgé emerged from within the castle wearing an exhausted look.

"The guards told me you arrived early, then suddenly vanished. You caused them quite a bit of trouble you know?" Jorgé complained as he drew closer to the two.

"Oho? I see you've already made each other's acquaintance?" He continued.

In response the old man stood up and made a hearty laugh.

"Guahahahhaha! That's right, Jorgé. When I arrived, the guards said that you were.. how do I say this.. still preoccupied with your fiancé. So I opted to just look around."

Hearing this, Jorgé ears turned slightly red.

"Ah, about that, I apologize, Headmaster."

"Guahahahhaha! No need to apologize you know?? A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Guahahahha!"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't phrase it like that haha."

Seeing the two interact like this, Larc couldn't help but hold his head in confusion.

"Excuse me, my lord. But do you know this old man?" He asked as he stood up groggily.

"This old man here came out of nowhere and attacked me." He continued.

Jorgé rubbed his forehead and lightly shooked his head after he heard Larc. Looking up he gave the old man a tired look.

"I believe I've said this before, but please refrain from attacking my retainers."

"Guahahahha I just thought I'd exercise for a bit before meeting with you."

"Even so."

"Finee finee Guahahahha!"

Although the man agreed, both Jorgé and Larc knew that it was highly unlikely that he'd actually follow through.

"Ah, that's right!" Seemingly remembering something, Jorgé snapped his finger and turned towards the confused butler. "Larc, this here is the headmaster of the Academy, as well as the Wall of the North, Lord Vilka of House Denver, the Grey Wolf."

"That's me! Although, I'm no longer called the Wall of the North, I lost some of the territory to Ferahim afterall, Guahahahhaha!"

Hearing this, Larc couldn't help but show a dumb look to his face.

"..eh?" He muttered as the old man laughed heartily while Jorgé smiled wryly.