8th of Season of Air, 57th year of the 32nd imperial era

The frozen ground shook as the enraged frostworm's bellows rattled Newt's bones and made his molars buzz.

"It's furious," he said aloud what they already knew.

"At the fifth realm, manabeasts are as intelligent as humans, and most of the frostworms here are this one's direct descendants." Everlast said and glanced at Dandelion. "How many fifth realm ones are inside?"

The former townlord shrugged. "Three confirmed, could be more. Rumors said there is even a sixth realm one, but nobody has confirmed that claim."

"And why don't they exterminate them to mine the ice jade?" Newt asked, and Dandelion glanced at Everfrost, who in turn looked at Puresnow.

The woman crossed her arms and huffed. "Because battling frostworms is good training, they dislike wandering far from their den, and if you let some of them mature enough to reach the fifth realm, their bones will turn to ice jade. And if you let them live long enough, they might even develop ice jade marrow. Leaving them alone is more profitable in the long run."

"Exactly," Dandelion nodded at Puresnow, who blushed in embarrassment, no longer seeming angry with him. "You are an awakened, Newstar, you will live an extremely long life, and you need to think of the long-term benefits, rather than immediate wins."

"Sir Dandelion—" Everlast started, but Dandelion interrupted her before she voiced her thoughts.

"Could you please just call me Dandelion? Everyone calls me Dandelion."

Everlast nodded, her face tinged with red.

"Only if you call me Everlast." Her voice was soft, her words barely audible.

"Sure, Everlast." Dandelion smiled, and while Everlast blushed at her name used in such a familiar way, the one who turned crimson was Puresnow.

"What I wanted to say, Dandelion, was that you seem very comfortable giving pointers. Do you mind sharing some with me?" Everlast's voice went from loud and clear down to a whisper one step at a time with every word she said, and suddenly, Newt felt like he wanted to be anywhere but in a small enclosed space with her and Dandelion.

He glanced at Puresnow, and if the woman's face was any indication, she would have preferred to be back in the Noble Dragon, or perhaps in a frostworm's segmented maw.

"I doubt you need pointers like Newstar, is it about the sword lessons you mentioned earlier?"

Everlast nodded, and Dandelion sighed.

"That fifth realm frostworm will stay on the upper levels for a few days, searching for intruders, making it off limits for us. We could leave the region and train in the meantime…"

Five hours later, Newt was sparring with Puresnow, his short-sword in his hand. Dandelion forbade the use of any techniques while training their weapon skills, including active reinforcement of their bodies. The point of the exercise was to practice skill and finesse, not flex with greater realm.

Newt was loath to admit it, but Puresnow was demolishing him. Utterly. And, unlike Dandelion, the woman offered no helpful feedback, smacking his flank, head, and arms with her sheeted sword, forcing him to figure out things on his own, grunting words like, 'Sloppy' or 'Slow'.

Meanwhile, Everlast was receiving the royal treatment. Dandelion corrected her bearing, the angle of her wrist, and how much force she invested in her strikes. Newt failed to catch all of it, on account of getting smacked on the head whenever his attention strayed, but he could tell Everlast was benefitting and improving with each passing hour.

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When not using their mana, mageknights above the second realm could fight or run for hours. Their physical bodies were powerful enough that even scrawny little Newt could dance circles around the fastest commoner runner and thoroughly humble even the toughest strongman.

Two days passed in mundane training, and Newt's body approached its limit. He was sore and tired and hungry, but his discomfort came with rewards.

While Newt wouldn't dare claim himself a master of the sword path, he had greatly increased the number of exchanges it took Puresnow to clobber him with her sheathed blade. He went from two to seventeen on average, his combat senses slowly allowing him to avoid Puresnow's sudden attacks and to see through her feints.

"You are getting better," Puresnow complimented, but her voice didn't match the praise.

"We would have had to throw him to the frostworms if he was not improving," Dandelion chipped in from a dozen yards away, fending off Everlast's flurry of slashes. "All right, time for rest, we eat, then sleep for some six hours. After that we will change partners. Everlast, by teaching others, we learn a lot ourselves, so try to help Puresnow improve. I will help Newstar, and he will owe me yet another favor."

"Why do you keep repeating that?" Dandelion mentioning over and over again about how Newt owed him felt like rubbing it into his face.

Dandelion didn't blink. He seemed to have expected the question. "Because you need to be aware that I am not doing this as charity, because you need to earn your knowledge, resources, and skills. Until you grow powerful enough, you cannot expect gifts, and if I stop reminding you, you might think this is something you are entitled to, instead of something you must prove yourself worthy of."

Newt opened his mouth to jokingly ask when he can expect the gifts to start, but Dandelion kept talking.

"Now, enough of your silly questions and childish sulking. Eat." He tossed Newt a greasy sack full of jerky, while he handed it to the ladies with considerably more decorum. Newt tore into the meat like longclaws tore into spikebacks, his stomach rumbling with joy.

"I have a suggestion, if you are interested, Newstar," Dandelion said halfway through their humble meal, and Newt motioned him to speak. "I just so happen to have a third realm spear with me."

Dandelion unwrapped the package Newt had assumed was a spare staff in case Dandelion's main weapon broke, but instead the staff turned out to be a spear. "If you want, I can teach you how to use a spear, and once we are done, I leave it up to you to estimate how much my lessons and advice were worth."

Newt swallowed his jerky half-chewed, his superhuman physique the only thing saving him from choking. "Did you buy a third realm spear and carry it all the way here? When did you even buy it?"

"While you were taking your test at the scribes' guild, when I realized you had no money for it and that you would not risk further debt just to test something."

Newt stared at Dandelion, not even sure if he should be angry. "You're that confident?"

"I am a weaponmaster, and polearms are your weapons, glaive seeming the most appropriate. Unfortunately, I failed to find a proper glaive in a single afternoon, it is an uncommon weapon." Newt wasn't the only one giving Dandelion an odd look. Everlast and Puresnow also watched with disbelief, but remained silent.

"However, if my offer does not entice you, we can train with your new short-sword." Dandelion concluded, looking Newt in the eye while waiting for his answer.

"I think you should take his offer," Everlast said before Newt could speak his mind. "Dandelion seems really keen on teaching you, and after two days, I can tell he is an excellent swordsman, he has no reason not to teach you swordsmanship, especially since you two are friends."

Newt knew that too, and with a heavy heart, he grumbled in agreement.

"Excellent, basic training for a non-awakened can be done in a moon, but with your enhanced mind and body, we can get the basics covered in a day or two." Dandelion paused and smiled. "In general, the basics of the spear are simple - poke the enemy with the pointy end. And even without training, humans have used them since the dawn of time. But to stand your ground against trained warriors, you will need to devote a week or two to training. Mastery will take a year or three, meaning mastering the spear is less time consuming than mastering the sword and for you will yield a better result."

"You really are obsessed with me learning the spear."

Dandelion pressed his lips together before relaxing and exhaling. "Maybe. Seeing someone of your talent wielding a poorly conceived weapon, using half-baked techniques, hurts me as a professional warrior."

Newt wanted to argue, but Dandelion wasn't mocking him, and with what he knew about the man, and the meaningful look Everlast was piercing him with, he surrendered.

"Fine, we will practice with the spear tomorrow. Are you happy?"

"I am," Dandelion replied seriously to Newt's snarky comment. "Now, I will take the first watch while the three of you rest. Lady Puresnow, do you mind taking the second watch?"

Puresnow nearly jumped at the mention of her name before shaking her head. "I don't mind."

"Great, let us rest, and tomorrow, we keep practicing. The frostworm should give up on searching the tunnels by the end of the week."

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