There is no time to bother with thinking or convincing. It was time for action. Even if the Tournament was approved, Neidr needed a sure-fire way to kill the man. If he could kill him in the tournament, then he could get away with murdering a prince in front of everyone. There was only one problem. 

Currently, the second prince could kick his ass. Thus, Neidr asked Laszlo for guidance. Fortunately, Laszlo gifted him three mediums. Two rings, and a pair of shoes. In order to better train himself, Neidr left on an expedition seeking to hone his skills. This time, he left towards the swamps of Magarbrad. Similarly to before, this too was something that Zalar was responsible for. Zalar though, looked haggard and beleaguered, he barely spoke, simply teleporting everyone away. After a short blackness in his vision, Neidr appeared in a bog. The ground was moist and soft, and a thick fog filled the area. The winding trees and vines cluttered the earth of the soft bubbling sounds of the water were the only things that could be heard. Neidr smiled, it was time to get started. He chanted using the ring on his left hand, a thin see through blue shield appeared. 

He tried his other ring, a shard of ice shot forward, piercing into a tree. Finally, Neidr tried his shoes, his body become mist and reassembled itself twenty feet away. Here in the swamp, Neidr practiced his aim with his ice first. Targeting trees farther and farther away. Then he tried to teleport into very specific locations using his shoes. Finally, he worked on the speed and thickness of his shield. He did this relatively unharried for about a week. 

As Neidr was practicing, he heard a movement in the swamp. Looking over, he saw a gargantuan beast. a story tall, this creature had two massive arms, and no legs. These five clawed arms dragged a giant scaly body across the ground. It had no eyes, but an enormous spherical head. Once opened, it had no teeth of its hardened jaws. Instead, it had hundreds of snake like tongues that were filled with teeth. Once the creature dragged itself up to a tree, it would open its mouth and a mass of  slithering appendages come out and chew the tree. Each tongue had its own mouth, swallowing the food into the massive stomach that dragged the earth. 

Neidr smiled, this was a Shambler, a perfect target to test his newfound abilities on. Neidr shifted into mist and traveled onto the branch of a tree. This creature can feel vibration through the ground. Thus, it would know everything that was walking on the earth for about a mile in diameter. Landing in a tree protected Neidr from detection. Neidr then waited until the creature opened its mouth and fired several shards of ice into its throat. 

Upon receiving the blow, the creature's tongues all launched towards Neidr. Neidr quickly chanted and reappeared on a different tree. The creature took aback its tongues and firmly shut its mouth. Neidr sighed, it was in turtle mode, there was no way for him to fight it now. Just as he was starting to walk away, he heard a shout. 

Turning around, he saw a spear flying at him. Neidr desperately tried to chant, but was too slow. The spear went through his gut and pinned him to the tree. Neidr finished the chant and appeared on the earth. He looked around to see his assailant. Deep into the swamp, he saw at least three figures wearing wooden masks. Neidr frowned, he should watch to see what their strength were or wait until they separate so he can defeat them more easily. 

Then, the Shambler started to move towards him in an aggressively fast fashion.

'Well shit.' 

Neidr didn't want to move, but he couldn't stay still. He charged through the brush, making his position apparent to the three masked men. Two more spears came flying towards him, Neidr lept downwards as the spears flew over his head. The earth shook as the shambler neared. Neidr leaped up, only the see two of the men draw their bows, while the last rushed forwards holding a knife. Neidr drew his sword a stood as his teacher taught him. The man dashed forward and plunged his knife towards Neidr's sternum. Neidr stepped to the side, wanting to slice downwards with his sword, but caught an arrow in the shoulder, causing him to miss. 

Neidr was now between the man with the mask and the men with the bows, if he wanted to engage in a sword fight, he would have to face his back to long-range fire. Neidr threw his sword at the man with the knife and rushed straight foward towards the archers. They both pulled their arrows back, but right as they loosed, Neidr slammed his body into the groung. This caused their arrows to fly into the man that was directly pursuing them. One of the men let out a mournful cry, Neidr pushed himself up as the other readied his arrow and rushed behind a nearby tree. Neidr stared as the Shambler knocked down trees in its dogged pursuit and started to chant raising his shield. He rushed out hiding behind it, but found that the two masked men had vanished. Neidr frowned, but didn't tarry. He quickly chanted and appeared on a tree limb, confusing the shambler. 

Neidr continued to repeatedly teleport away until he felt more safe and took a deep glance at his surroundings. The canopy of the swamp concealed the dangers that may lie within.