"It was incredible." Amon answered with a weary gaze. He had slept for a few hour in the carriage, but he was still feeling exhausted.

"Tell me about it later. Go rest, I can see how tired you are." Rebecca said as she gave him a firm hug and a light kiss on his cheek. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, mom." Amon said before slowly making his way to his own room, where he fell on the bed and immediately entered a deep sleep.

Rebecca stood in her own bed, gently tapping the wall with her slender fingers as she waited. It didn't take long for the air to distort next to her and Lya materialized by her side.

"It's been a while." Rebecca greeted her with a nod. Her green eyes shone with anxiety as she looked at Lya with a somewhat eager expression.

"Yes, it's been a while." Lya greeted her back with a smile.

"So, how was it?" She repeated her question to Lya.

"His progress was far above what I expected." Lya said as her smile widened. There was a hint of pride in her blue eyes as she thought of the past two weeks. "He has talent. He might not be a genius, but he has talent."

Rebecca laughed aloud as she heard that. Her laugh was clear and reverberated through the room like the chimes of a bell. She showed her white teeth as she smiled widely and her eyes reddened.

She laughed for a very long time, so much that she lost her breath. When she finally stopped laughing, she started sobbing. Clear tears fell down her eyes, but she was still smiling.

"You know, this is the first time someone said my son was talented." She said as she hurriedly wiped her tears. It was a strange feeling, a mix of pride and relief. She loved her son more than anything in the world, but this was the very first time someone said he had good prospects in his path to cultivation.

Lya stood silent for a long time as she heard Rebecca's words. She couldn't help but feel touched. She looked intently at Rebecca's eyes.

"We will spend the next three months or so further developing his Sword Arts, his Movement Techniques and his use of divine sense." Lya was serious as she spoke. "Then, we will use the last two weeks before the compet.i.tion in the Warrior Hall again, to make sure he gets enough experience."

"I promise you; by the end of the Promotion Compet.i.tion a lot more people will say that your son is talented." She said as her blue eyes shone with determination. This was a promise, and Lya would make sure she followed through with it.

Rebecca smiled gently hearing that. As she looked at Lya, there was nothing but gratefulness, a completely different situation than their first meeting. "Thank, you Lya. I will never be able to repay you."

"There is no need to repay me, Rebecca." Lya's tone was gentle as she looked at Rebecca. Her body started to disperse as her words echoed in the room. "Just be sure to keep being a great mother."

"This is also the first time someone said I was doing a good job." Rebecca looked at the place Lya had been as tears started falling from her eyes again.

Rebecca Skoller needed no recognition from others. She spent her whole life doing her best and she slowly reached out for the peak with nothing but her own efforts. Still, the moment Amon was born, cultivation gained a new meaning for her.

It was not about proving to herself that she was as good as everyone else anymore. She was strong to protect him, and nothing more. She did not hesitate to put his life above hers when Lloyd betrayed the sect and left them alone to deal with the aftermath.

She did not hesitate to use her power to fight for her rights against the backlash her husband's betrayal brought them. Her rampage had been so violent that even Sect Master Borgin had to give in, even if he was the one enraged the most in the situation. She was sent to the Outer Sect to be 'observed' as they judged if she was involved in Lloyd's betrayal.

She also did not hesitate to put her life on the line to protect her son when the Silveback Wolf attacked. The result as her losing all of the strength she once had, but she did so with a smile on her face.

She was not kicked out of the sect after this. Not because people respected her and what she did, but because she was not a threat anymore. There was no reason to keep her and her son under surveillance, and there was no reason to keep them at bay and fear them. They held no importance anymore, so Rebecca was promptly forgotten.

Rebecca never once regretted what she did for her son, but she was incredibly bitter about the fact that she could do nothing but be under his care. She did her utmost to counsel and support him, but that was the limits of what her situation allowed her to do.

Daniel had been of great to help to her in that regard, but now he was gravely injured too, and it was her fault. She was the one that proposed the idea of going to the Scavenging. If she hadn't done that, Daniel wouldn't have been hurt and Amon wouldn't have been in danger.

She had to raise her son alone, dealing with the trauma of abandonment and not even being able to properly move out of the bed. She still had delusions of Lloyd Kressler one day returning to take them away, but she knew deep down that it would never happen.

She gripped the green necklace and the bedsheets tightly, looking at its beautiful glow.

She was doing all that she could, but she always felt it was not enough. She felt that she would break down at any time, but somehow her son managed to help her to hold it together. All she could do every day was look out the window in her room and remember how it had been when she could take Amon for a walk through the sect, when they both were still happy.

All she could do was imagine how it felt to walk outside, because Rebecca had been stranded in that bed for years. She would never be able to move forward again.

That was why she was so glad when Lya said that he had talent. Because this meant Amon would be able to move forward. He would obtain strength and he would grow.

Rebecca Skoller needed no recognition from others, but she still felt immensely glad when she received it. Because she was truly doing her best.

---

'Clang!'

'Clang! Clang! Clang!'

Sparks flew everywhere in a dark room as a sword collided over and over again with a spear and a saber.

Amon's golden eyes were icy-cold and focused as he carefully dodged and blocked the strikes of the two puppets facing him in a frenetic rhythm.

He blocked a saber strike coming at his right. The sound of sc.r.a.ping metal echoed in the room as he moved in the direction of the puppet, making his sword run through the saber release sparks.

Amon charged at the puppet with his left shoulder, sending it tumbling back. He made use of his momentum to spin clock-wise, blocking a stab aimed at his back.

The spear puppet took a step back as soon as his strike failed, but instead of advancing, Amon stood still for a moment.

"A feint." He could see that, even if the puppet stood back, its body was slightly leaning forward. He was about to charge at Amon again.

Amon took a step back and twisted his body to the right. The stab he was expecting came a heartbeat later, sc.r.a.pping his clothes. As the puppet went past Amon, his sword came cras.h.i.+ng down on its head.

'Pak!'

The blunt sword hit the spear puppet, and it fell to the ground like a ragdoll.

Amon had no time to enjoy the taste of victory, as a saber was slas.h.i.+ng at his neck from behind.

"Those guys are really fast." He couldn't help but think.

His sword was still in a low position thanks to his last strike and he would have no time to raise it and block the strike. Amon decided to take a step back, colliding with the saber puppet.

He managed to get out of the range of the saber's blade, and what hit his neck was the upper arm of the puppet. It hurt a lot, but did not count as a lethal blow. Amon lifted his left elbow and struck it with everything he had at the puppet's abdomen that was behind his back.

The puppet lost its balance and created some s.p.a.ce as it took a step back. Amon spun anti-clockwise, using his left foot as a pivot. The blunt sword made a whistling sound as it cut through the air, chopping at the puppet's left shoulder in a diagonal slash.

'Pak!'

The sword hit the puppet, which fell to the floor lifeless. The shadows in the room dissolved and the two puppets got up, stand still side by side in the center of the room, as expressionless as ever.

Amon let out a long breath as his tension subsided and he sat on the ground. His body was s.h.i.+vering and he was finding it hard to properly breathe. He felt his body was hot and he couldn't stop with the trembling. Was it the adrenaline?

"Not bad, not bad at all!" Lya's voice echoed in his mind as she complimented him. "It took you five whole days to get obtain a victory, but you still managed to do it in the end!"

Amon grunted hearing that. This was already their second round of training in the Warrior Hall. Lya decided that this time he would be facing two opponents at the same time in the Sparring Room instead of a single one like last time.

As such, Amon took longer than usual to obtain victories over the puppets. Still, he managed to pa.s.s the test twice counting this victory. He had faced two puppets that were at his level of strength. It was a very good result for him.

"The middle stages of Body Tempering are amazing." He managed to say. He could feel his body coursing with explosive power at every movement he made. He had managed to reach the middle stages of Body Tempering just a few days before he set out to the Warrior Hall again. He had needed more than ten rounds of tempering to advance from the initial stages to the middle stages of the realm.

The benefits to his soul had also been great. His divine sense was stable and he could grasp his surrounding better than ever. Coming to the Warrior Hall again before the Promotion Compet.i.tion had been the right call. Amon had gotten used to his new strength and had further developed his skills.

"Still, don't get overconfident." Lya was serious as she warned him. "This much puts you above average, nothing more."

Amon nodded hearing her words. It was true. The people living in the Inner Ring had combat training their whole lives, and they certainly visited the Warrior Hall every year. He was still far behind them.

"What are your expectations to this tournament?" Lya asked him.

"Top ten if I get lucky." He answered seriously. "But my greatest chances are in getting the attention of an Elder and turning into a disciple."

"Good. Have your expectations grounded in reality, this way you won't get disappointed." Lya approved his words. "Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't aim higher. It is what makes us improve, after all."

"I understand." Amon said as his eyes glinted with expectations.

"Now go rest. We will have a big day tomorrow." Lya advised him with a tender voice.

Amon made his way to his room, barely controlling his excitement. This was the fifteenth day of his second round of training in the Warrior Hall. It had been almost four months since he had finished his first training in it.

His cultivation had increased and his skills too. He was feeling confident, even if not excessively so. He looked at Windhowler standing again the dark wall, looking as if it was floating. He really wanted to use it in combat.

He lied down on the bed and closed his eyes, but sleeping well would be hard, because Amon was too excited and anxious. The Promotion Compet.i.tion would start the next day.

He wanted to prove to himself that he was stronger than he had been. He wanted to prove that he had worth. Because he was doing his best.