The most obvious point so far was that he had many things in common with Chinui. He was a serious man that didn't like to use roundabout ways. He didn't like Emp's idea about not revealing his name and told Emp to be straight and honest in his letters. Aminui was also a man who would not believe anything unless he saw it for himself, he could not believe that Calla was a good wife for him as she didn't match his perspective and idea of a good women. Like Chinui, he was also a man who valued his family above his duty and mostly anything else. He seemed like someone that would do mostly anything for them. Like that, since he viewed Marcy as family, he had stood ready to help her all this time and he was now willing to show Emp as much as he could just because Chinui's blood ran through his veins.

He was not the same as Chinui in the sense that his idea of help wasn't exactly the same. Maybe it was just because Emp didn't know Chinui enough but Emp felt he would not have reacted the same to many of the subjects they brushed today.

Chinui valued his brother above his name and left when he died. Aminui valued the family as a whole more than Chijou alone and sat in Highsteel to keep it together while he waited for his son to come back. He was ready to help Marcy but felt tied to Highsteel and instead of going himself, he provided her with an amount of support Emp felt inadequate. In front of the possibility of him having a grandchild however, he didn't hesitate to leave his fortress and cross half the empire. Marcy was important family but Emp might be important future.

That was how Emp viewed the old man Muracier. He believed that unless Chinui had another child to present him, which he did not, the whole of Highsteel would support Emp through anything. Emp felt conflicted about this, he was still unsure about truly being a Muracier or not, he felt like he was taking advantage of this old man for his selfish goals. He wasn't born a Muracier, he was made by the G.o.ds instead. They took blood and soul form them but never asked for them, they had not been allowed to do so.

He did share many of their habits, enough to unknowingly pa.s.s the Muracier test, but he felt somewhat guilty about that too. He really needed their help so even though it pained him to do so, he needed to continue hiding his true origins to them.

Aside from all that, the thing he noticed most was the face of Aminui. The old man had a natural intimidating face while Chinui had a natural grumpy face. Neither ever seemed happy or resting at a glance and Emp started wondering if he did the same sort of strange resting face.

"Celtine, what does my resting face look like?"

< your="" brows="" crease="" a="" bit="" as="" if="" you="" were="" deep="" in="" thoughts.="" you="" look="" very="" serious.="" you="" look="" more="" peaceful="" when="" asleep="" though,="" lax="" would="" be="" a="" good="" word="" to="" describe="" you="" then.=""> She answered using the board.

So he did have the same sort of face then.

< is="" everything="" alright?=""> She soon added.

"It's fine, I just feel like I'm tricking him even though it isn't really my intention."

Her next answer took a long time to write down, she seemed to think her words over carefully.

< you="" are="" not="" tricking="" your="" grandfather.="" like="" i="" said="" before="" you="" walked="" in="" there,="" i="" think="" that="" you="" are="" truer="" to="" your="" name="" than="" you="" believe.="" even="" if="" you="" are="" unconvinced="" of="" it,="" i="" am="" certain,="" you="" are="" indeed="" one="" of="" the="" wall="" chiefs.="" i've="" seen="" a="" real="" one="" for="" the="" first="" time="" now="" and="" i="" can="" see="" you="" look="" alike,="" you="" said="" his="" character="" was="" somewhat="" alike="" too="" and="" his="" blood="" flows="" inside="" you="" too.="" why="" do="" you="" feel="" so="" distant="" to="" him?="">

She knew about his origins but it must be hard for her to picture it properly, she couldn't know how it felt like after all, to have never been born, to just exist. Explaining to her exactly how he felt might prove difficult. At best, Emp thought, he was a b.a.s.t.a.r.d son.

"I don't know how to explain it properly to you. Let's go get something to eat instead and tell Harriett about what just happened."

Celtine accepted to leave it be for now and they soon reached his room. Harriett got very nervous the second Emp started telling her what happened and became very fidgety. Everything had gone well this time but that in itself was enough to dazzle her and hinder her work because of the excitement.

Emp found it amusing and let her be as energetic as she wanted. As long as it all stemmed from good feelings rather than fear, everything was alright. She made them a meal swiftly and while they all ate, she relayed a message she received earlier saying that Brenia, Nessa, Penny and the usual spectators planned on going outside to train later. Apparently, Mable decided it was a beautiful day to laze outside and the others turned it into training.

Since the old man Aminui said that he meet him outside this afternoon, the timing made him nervous. They would likely all come across each other and knowing that Mable had some misgivings towards the Muraciers, he feared it might turn into something awkward. There was no way for him to stop them from going outside though and even if he did, Mable's balcony stood above the training grounds.

The only thing he could do was hope that everything would go relatively well. He spent some more time with Celtine and Harriett before they left for the training field. She prayed that he'd do well in the afternoon as well, sending them off with a polite bow.

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Knowing that Mable would go out, he felt it was probably best if he went to her room to accompany her outside.

As expected, she was chatting with Aglaya when he arrived. Their servants were packing some light snacks for later while the two discussed animatedly. Both wore some light clothing fit for the heat and Mable used his gift to tie up her hair away from her neck in order to make it more bearable. Emp felt really happy to see her wear it so often.

He greeted them warmly and decided to tell them right away about his grandfather. He didn't beat around the bush and went straight for the facts.

"Apparently, Aminui Muracier is here."

"What? You mean in Bêtéclair?" Mable asked with an annoyed frown. "I hope we won't have to meet him."

"No, he's in the school, I met him earlier, he said he wanted to show me some techniques outside this afternoon so he'll be on the training field later."

Mable seemed really displeased and made a long annoyed groan. Meanwhile Aglaya spoke her thoughts.

"So the Muracier elder came all the way here from Highsteel? I wonder what he's here for?"

She asked that last question in a playful tone and Emp glared her way while Mable wasn't looking.

"I don't care what he's here for, I just hope he goes away soon." Mable said in annoyance.

"Oh don't be like that Mable. The old man is really really strong, it would be a good thing if he helped teach some things to our friends."

Mable still seemed grumpy about this but Emp didn't know how to improve her mood. If he tried to side with his grandfather, she'd get upset with him but he could hardly side for her unreasonable reaction either. All he could do was wait for them to be ready to go downstairs with him.

He didn't feel that disturbed by her dislike of the name because just like earlier, he didn't feel like he was one of them without a doubt. He just wished she would notice that disliking a whole family was absurd, more so if she only did because of her father.

She refused to give up on her afternoon because the old man Muracier would be there and hurried her servants instead so that she would be there first. He just hoped that she wouldn't be unreasonable with the old man.

Outside, the heat was just as bad as this morning. Since he had already trained today, he still felt a bit tired but it didn't matter at all in comparison to the eagerness he felt towards the idea of learning from the old man Muracier.

Mable and Aglaya settled down at their usual spot and waited for someone else to show up with them.

Brenia was the first to arrive and joined up with them while stretching her limbs on the way. She wanted to have a spar with him right away but after she got told about the old man, she quickly grew curious and decided to wait with them.

Thinking about it, Emp felt it would be for the best if everyone showed up before his grandfather but this wasn't what happened. Penny and Nessa were still missing when a large group stepped around the corner of the school.

His grandfather was leading the group but wasn't actually leading them at all. He was walking in front and moving towards the training field with a single companion, everyone else just followed them of their own accord. All of them must have been extremely curious about the man who held the most authority in the empire after the emperor himself.

The old man walked in long strides fit for youthful knights and once he reached the field, he scanned it all, catching Emp's group at the other end of it. He started walking towards them right away with dozens of students on his heels.

"He's coming this way. He really wanted to teach you some things?" Brenia asked, curious about why this man that was bigger than life would come to them specifically.

"He looked at my files in the duke's office." Emp answered.

That wasn't a lie since he saw him do it but that wasn't really the reason.

"Maybe he saw yours too." He told Brenia.

After all, the man was very interested about any strong students since they might end up serving in the empire's armies.

"I doubt it, he must have looked at yours because the ancient here favors you." She answered, half mocking him and half doubting his words.

"I guess we'll find out." Aglaya said. "Please Mable, don't get too worked up."

"Why would I get worked up! I won't get worked up!" She said, clearly already frustrated. Maybe she was annoyed that Aminui came and disturbed her peaceful afternoon time with her friends.

Aminui came to meet them soon after and Emp was now able to see his companion properly for the first time. It was the same young knight that at rode at his side when they crossed Dark-glint. According to what he was told, she must be Kaisla Grovgar.

Her height was about the same as him, a bit under six feet, she seemed a bit older than his own physical age and was clearly done growing. She wore her knight armor but her well trained body showed trough it, she had a good figure and well proportioned muscles. She seemed a bit more slender than Brenia overall, but they weren't far apart. Maybe it was simply because her legs seemed a bit longer in comparison? Because of her armor, he couldn't tell anything about her chest but he didn't feel that interested to know about it either.

Her hair wasn't quite blond and had clear strands of darker brown hair mixed in. It was tied in a common ponytail kept relatively short to fit more easily under the helm she yet again tied at her hip.

Her face overall was pretty, or just feminine. Emp couldn't tell and she had no features standing out enough to grab his attention except for her eyes. Those were definitely out of the ordinary, they were green but not just green, pure emerald, greener than leaves and gra.s.s.

They were quite something to look at and in reverse, they seemed quite curious to look at every little thing around her. Those eyes would never stop jumping from a detail on his friends to the next, scanning every last one of them intently.

With her armor made in Highsteel, she carried sword and s.h.i.+eld. Emp felt the s.h.i.+eld was superfluous since she wore a full plate armor, but she must have had a reason for it. Even more ridiculous, the s.h.i.+eld was just made out of a single large piece of plain wood, not reinforced by any metal.

Behind her and his grandfather, there were a lot of students Emp knew including some from his group like Cyril and Norval and some from the group B like Noirantel and Jin.

His grandfather was seemingly ignoring them all for now, Emp hoped that he had at least acknowledged them earlier. He stepped up and used the same voice as loud as thunder he used this morning to reintroduce himself and the girl at his side.

"Hi, I'm sure you all know already but I'm Aminui Muracier. This girl here is Kaisla Grovgar, she's the daughter of the head of security back in Highsteel but I've been treating her like my own granddaughter so you all better be kind to her."

The girl seemed just as shocked to hear his words as the crowd following them and reddened a bit.

Noirantel shot Emp a look saying "See, I told you!" but he ignored him.

"Grandfather!" She protested under her breath. "You're not supposed to say that! It's embarra.s.sing."

Emp felt rather embarra.s.sed as well since he was supposed to be his actual grandson and was also told just earlier, and rather bluntly, that he wanted Kaisla to marry in the family. Because of the way she looked at him, he guessed his grandfather already told her about him. Her eyes seemed to be trying to peel every layers of him to get a feel of how strong he was and what sort of person he was but still hid some hint of nervousness.

"Sorry, I forgot again, It's not a secret that I'm dotting on you quite a bit though."

Mable wasn't impressed nor interested but managed to not complain right away and simply asked what Aminui wanted instead.

"Welcome, I'm Mable, what do you want with us?"

Aminui looked towards her for the first time since he came and seemed to recognize her right away.

"Oh, you're the girl he's protecting no? Aren't you/"

"Don't say it!" Mable shouted in a panic to interrupt him.

Did the duke tell Aminui about Emp protecting Mable?

While Emp was thinking that, the old man lowered himself closer to Kaisla.

"Is it a new fad I don't understand to not reveal one's name?" He asked her.

"No, I think she's just being rude."

Aminui smacked the top of her head right away and she reacted with a "Ow!".

"Now you're the one being rude."

Kaisla seemed puzzled about what she did wrong but she voiced an apology anyway.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."

"No offence taken. Oh, if I may introduce myself, I am Aglaya Pierail, I'm pleased to meet you both." Aglaya settled it politely for Mable.

"But she "is" rude." Noirantel pointed out, ignoring Aglaya.

Again, right as his words left his lips, he got smacked on the top of the head by Aminui. This one was much stronger than the last however and Noirantel was sent into the ground by its strength. Thankfully he didn't look really hurt, just stunned.

"The next one that says that will need a healer." Aminui promised the rest along with an ice cold gaze.

Someone must have told him for Emp and Mable for him to react like that. The others unanimously decided to shut their mouth as Noirantel slowly got back up on his feet while rubbing a hand into his hair. Mable usually laughed for that sort of thing but maybe because it was Aminui that did it, she found it less funny and barely smiled.

Aglaya spoke again while Noirantel bitterly decided to shut up.

"So are you here for Emp?"

"Yes I am but first, I wanted to see this girl and another one that's missing."

The old man pointed a finger towards Brenia

"Really, me?" Even though Emp suggested something like that earlier, she had not thought it was a real possibility.

Emp as well felt a bit confused, he had no idea what his grandfather wanted Brenia for. He was impatient to learn something new too so he hoped this wouldn't be long.

"Yes, your name is Brenia Harmaton, correct? According to my old friend, you and lady Hasting are currently the strongest girls of this crop of students. I wanted to have Kaisla challenge you two to test all three of your progress. I wanted to know just how strong are the students here."

Brenia started smiling right away at the prospect of a fight.

"Alright, it could be fun, I guess my spar with Emp can wait."

Emp felt that even if they didn't come for that, Brenia would have challenged Kaisla at some point, she liked fighting too much to let such an interesting new opponent go.

On the other side, Kaisla probably knew about the old man's intentions already because she wasn't surprised by his words at all, she was more interested by how Brenia answered.

Aminui made some gestures to have everyone back off from the field and Emp followed the group out of it to stand close to Mable. His grandfather stood on the other side of him as if it was the most natural thing to do. His position irritated some of the students that followed him since earlier and Mable as well since he stood to close to her protector.

Emp decided to leave all that aside and placed his attention on the field. It didn't take long until only the two girls remained on the field.

Brenia was eager while Kaisla seemed hesitant. The young knight's curiosity finally took the better of herself and she asked Brenia some more details about what she just said.

"Do you spar often with... ... ... Emp?"

That pause was so long! It was impossible to not notice it. She must have been struggling to find a proper way to call him. Since she knew who he was and was so close to his grandfather, she must have hesitated between a whole slew of t.i.tles like lord or young master, maybe even, and embarra.s.singly enough, big brother. In the end, she had to go for simply Emp to keep his ident.i.ty secret as instructed.

However, no one else but him and Aminui saw it this way, they all thought she had forgot his name right after hearing it.

This ended up angering Mable quite a bit, she felt offended for Emp even though it was just a misunderstanding. Emp could feel her boil beside him, he wouldn't have been surprised to see smoke rise from her ears.

"She's looking down on us too much! Brenia, do your best and show her what's what!"

Brenia made a noise in agreement and untied her axe. She seemed strangely more eager than earlier. Kaisla opened her mouth to defend herself but found nothing to say without revealing too much and closed it back up with a bitter expression. Instead, she moved her hand towards her sword.

"Wait! I almost forgot, Kaisla, I forbid you to use the sap sipper. It's too dangerous." Aminui said before they could start.

Kaisla was a bit disappointed but Brenia was much more angered than her. That one sentence from Aminui had reinforced the idea that they were looking down on them by a lot. Emp was pretty certain it wasn't the case though, it couldn't be helped if it was too dangerous.

"Emp, do you have some spares on you?" He asked

"Yes, of course I have."

He crossed the field under the gaze of everyone and stopped in front of Kaisla.

"A sword?"

"A s.h.i.+eld too please." She said in an apologetic tone.

"Alright."

Emp searched into his bag and got her a straight sword and a s.h.i.+eld with an equivalent size to her own.

"Thank you very much. Could you please hold on to this for me?"

She switched her s.h.i.+eld with his' and placed it carefully in his hands.

"It's really precious." She told him.

For Emp, it just seemed like a less than ordinary wooden s.h.i.+eld but he knew that some simple looking things were sometimes much more than they seemed.

"I'll be careful, good luck."

"Thank you."

She smiled wryly and let him walk back to the group with her s.h.i.+eld while she practiced a few swings with the sword he just lent her. Brenia was doing some light jumps on the spot as a form of preparation.

"Then we'll be able to begin, I'll stop you if either of you go to far. Both of you do your best and show me what you're made of. The first one to land a hit wins." Aminui said loudly.

"I won't disappoint you my lord. The groves guide me."

"Here I come!" Brenia warned her simply before rus.h.i.+ng forward.

She didn't place her axe high or low at the ready for an attack but kept it secured in front of her to remain flexible in her charge. Her boots gripped strongly into the dirt and her elixir enhanced body made her gain a lot of speed in her charge. In no time, she had neared her opponent and widened her grip on the weapon in preparation of an attack.

Kaisla didn't let her make the first move and sent a quick jab of her sword towards her chest while keeping the s.h.i.+eld high at her side. Brenia grinned at the sword flying her way and twisted her upper body to let it fly past her. Using that movement, she also rammed the haft of her axe into the s.h.i.+eld with as much strength as she could.

Brenia wasn't the quickest but she was very strong even before she drank the elixir. A loud bang rang out in the field and the lower end of the s.h.i.+eld was bent towards Kaisla. Even then, the shock was strong enough to break her balance and have her fall to the side.

Aminui made an impressed noise but Emp could tell from both his face and hers that this was far from over.

Even though she had been surprised by the strength of her opponent, Kaisla didn't panic and turned the fall into a roll, ending on her feet just in time to receive Brenia's true attack. Her axe came falling down from above in a loud hiss and Kaisla raised her s.h.i.+eld to meet it. Trying to stop it head on would have been insane so she just pushed it aside and let it slide on the s.h.i.+eld and down to her side. As it was happening, she quickly brought her sword back for a swing of her own aimed at the stomach of Brenia.

She looked very serious as she fought Brenia so Emp noticed that Brenia didn't seem to have as much fun as usual. As he understood it, Brenia enjoyed herself most when her opponent seemed to share the feeling. Kaisla was too serious for her and combined with how she seemed to look down on them, her enjoyment was greatly diminished. She looked more resolute than what Emp was used to.

While he was thinking about all that, Brenia jumped over the sword of Kaisla. The head of her axe dug deeply into the dirt after her swing and she used it as an anchor to make a flip over Kaisla who only slashed air yet again. Her feet rose high up in the air and over her head. Her fingers danced on her axe and her grip on it was reversed in an instant in order to land facing the knight again.

Kaisla followed the arc of Brenia over her with her eyes and spun on herself to slash towards were Brenia would land in advance. However, something unexpected happened again and Brenia, tensing all her muscles and kicking the air, dislodged the axe from the ground and spun it on the spot, smacking Kaisla in the leg with the flat of its blade weakly.

That only slightly distracted the knight but it also delayed her landing just enough to escape the attack she had prepared. Brenia landed safely and tried to trip her opponent using the axe perfectly placed at Kaisla's foot but she managed to move it just in time for it to not get caught in the axe head. In return, she threw many attack in a row towards Brenia to hopefully stop her from moving so much.

"That girl is really strong, she bent that s.h.i.+eld like it was a big leaf. Are you related to this?" Aminui asked Emp casually.

Everyone was too busy looking at the match to pay any attention to their conversation so Emp didn't hold that answer back.

"I gave her an elixir of the black tulip of the crystal spring."

"Oh? That's an unexpected answer. What was your reason?"

"I drank one myself and I didn't want my sparing partner to fall behind."

"I would have done the same." He approved. "She's talented, she would have won already if this wasn't a simple spar."

Emp nodded in agreement. The Problem with Brenia's style was that most of her moves were made to kill outright. She couldn't do quick hits suitable for spars with that large axe of hers and if she just swung like usual, she might gravelly injure Kaisla, she was at a great disadvantage.

While they were having such a conversation, the spar kept on going and Kaisla quickly got used to the style of her opponent. Now that she knew that blocking was futile and that Brenia favored acrobatics over the usual minimal movements, she made full use of her training and locked Brenia in a defensive battle she couldn't get away from.

Kaisla had been a bit shaken at the start by the surprising strength and agility of her opponent but she had quickly took her bearings and her sword was now cutting towards Brenia at high speed.

Brenia was forced to dodge and block all the time to escape defeat and without a s.h.i.+eld, she could only defend using her axe. To land a hit, she would have to retreat, makes some distance between them and use the length advantage of her weapon however, Kaisla didn't let her do so and made a point of staying as close as possible from her opponent.

Every time Brenia tried to kick or push her away, the knight would dodge effectively or deviate the attack to the sides. One time, she even tried to bait a kick from Brenia to cut at her leg. She saw it just in time and twisting her leg mid-kick, escaped the hit by a hair's breath.

"Hang on Brenia! Don't lose!" Mable encouraged her from the side.

The rest of the guys all watched in curiosity, many of them who weren't in Emp's group had never seen Brenia fight before and were impressed that she could stand against a knight serving the old Muracier while those in his group were impressed in reverse that Kaisla managed to drive Brenia in a corner.

Being unable to make any move at all frustrated Brenia and she ended up jumping far backwards to put as much distance between them as possible. She landed close to the treeline bordering the field and Kaisla rushed after her right away.

While Brenia was taking a breath to prepare herself for the next clash Emp caught Nessa walking towards them with his eyes. She must have been wondering what was all this but didn't disturb Brenia and Kaisla and watched like the rest instead.

Brenia prepared her axe to receive Kaisla and almost fell forward, suddenly loosing her balance. She shrieked in surprise and slammed the handle of her axe into the ground in front of her to stop her fall. Everyone got confused about what happened and Emp noticed at the same time as Brenia herself. A bunch of roots had wormed their way under her, pierced the ground and ensnared her feet.

When she tried to move, her feet didn't budge even though she had already moved her center of gravity forward and it almost made her fall. This must be some sort of spell Kaisla used even though Emp didn't see her chant anything at all.

While Kaisla was getting close, Brenia exerted all her strength and stretched the roots to their limits, she barely managed to get one of her feet out while the roots snaked around her other leg to hold her in place.

"There's no escaping me anymore!" Kaisla shouted in triumph as she finished closing in the gap.

Brenia's huge axe was too unwieldy to use to free herself and she was now unable to move, so her only possible answer was to hit Kaisla as she charged. She took the best stance she could in those conditions, turned her axe to attack with the blunt end of it and took a real swing towards Kaisla.

The air screamed so loud in front of it the crowd heard it from were they stood. The weapon split the air and rushed to Kaisla's side who pushed her s.h.i.+eld upward as she let herself fall down. She slid on the ground but would have still gotten hit if not for the s.h.i.+eld which slightly b.u.mped on the fast moving axe and sent it upwards wildly. In the next instant, Kaisla's sword was poking Brenia's breastplate. She had won.

While the rest was either clapping or complaining with Mable about the outcome, Emp asked his grandfather about the roots.

"What happened there at the end, has she found a way to cast spells without words?"

"No, not at all." The old man said with a smile. "That was Forest's blessing. She was gifted with the ability to make all plants obey her will. The moment the girl stepped close to the trees, she was sure to loose. I'm impressed instead that she managed to free one of her legs."

Oh, that was one impressive blessing. That ability must be really practical in a forest.

In the field, the roots quickly released Brenia and the two girls stepped back.

"Well fought, it's your win this time."

"Thank you, I was impressed by your ma.s.sive strength as well, my arm is still sort of numb." Kaisla answered Brenia while taking a look at the bent s.h.i.+eld.

She seemed very pleased of her victory.

The two of them started walking back to the crowd and Nessa who had just now arrived took this time to ask everyone what was happening.

"Hi, why are there so many people here today? Am I unaware of some event?"

"Were being invaded, that's what's happening!" Mable answered grumpily.

Nessa turned her eyes to the others for some better explanation. Emp provided her a more complete answer.

"Hi Nessa, this here is Aminui Muracier. He wanted to test the abilities of Brenia and asked for her to spar with Kaisla Grovgar over there who's a young knight he's doting on. She used the blessing of forest to win and now Mable's irritated."

"I see..."

Nessa nodded at the explanation. She felt impressed and surprised about Aminui being here today but thanks to Emp explanation, she roughly understood what happened.

"It's a pleasure to meet you on this day Lord Muracier." She said while bowing to Aminui.

"No need for bows, young lady I'm the one having the most fun today." He answered. "I'll come back to you in a moment."

He put his talk with Nessa away for a moment to address the two returning fighters instead.

"That was good, Kaisla, you showed some good forms like always."

"Thanks you my lord, that was expected of me."

The knight seemed very pleased to be praised.

"As for you miss Harmaton, I thought that this display of your prowess was pretty impressive too. Despite being disadvantaged by the rules of a friendly spar, you kept it going for a long time. Your muscular strength is impressive and your acrobatics were quite a crowd-pleaser for what I saw. I believe that if you were shown some proper techniques and taught some ways to deal with such a close encounter, things might have ended differently. In any case, I can guess that in a real fight, you must show a much more aggressive and efficient style, it reminds me of how the bear tribe fights. I look forward to your future growth. If I have some time, would you allow me to show you some tips? Maybe I know a self magic that would fit you too."

Brenia liked the idea as she really wanted to get as strong as humanly possible. If the old Man Muracier wanted to help her, there was no way she would say no.

All the guys at the back turned green from jealousy, they too wanted an opportunity to impress the old legend and receive some of his teachings. They couldn't believe that Brenia received such a reward even though she lost.

"I'd like that, please."

"Great, then I... No, I guess its fine for now. Instead, aren't you the young lady Hasting?"

He turned his eyes back to the nearby Nessa.

"Yes indeed." She answered politely.

"You are the second girl I was looking for, won't you have a spar with Kaisla as well? My friend the duke mentioned you have a technique I had never seen before."

Nessa hesitated a bit at his request.

"I'm not sure I should, I just came to practice."

"You have to Nessa! You need to avenge Brenia and win for us!" Mable intervened.

"I think this is a great opportunity too, I'd like to see if Kaisla has a way to deal with your technique, I'm curious." Emp helped his grandfather.

"Then I guess I have no choice."

That new answer pleased everyone present and soon after, Kaisla and Nessa where back in the field.

Since Kaisla s.h.i.+eld was already bent, Emp moved up to her and proposed to replace it. She agreed right away and he switched it for a new one. He still had her other s.h.i.+eld in his hands as he didn't want to place it in his bag but it did not bother him as he changed the s.h.i.+elds.

"Thank you, much appreciated." She said.

She didn't seem that worried, maybe she felt confident after her first victory.

Emp hesitated on whether he should warn her about Nessa or not but in the end, he chose not to. He enjoyed long and interesting spars but he also wanted to properly see how Kaisla would fare and telling her about the sword dance wouldn't be fair. Instead, he just gave her a few simple words.

"Good luck and don't underestimate Nessa."

She nodded to his words with serious and he walked back to the sidelines.