As much as Zaos wanted to take it easy, he couldn't. He was almost thirteen, and at that age, he couldn't stay still for too long. So, after unpacking his things, he only managed to relax in his room for a single day. The next morning, he showed up at the training camp of his home, and he found his father there. Despite everything, Laiex knew his son very well.

"You can't relax after staying on guard for several months," Laiex said. "I will help you relieve the tension with some training, you don't want to worry your mother more than you already did."

"Why did she have a fever yesterday?" Zaos asked.

"Like she said, we waited for you for several hours…" Laiex said and then closed his eyes when he saw Zaos's expression. "… and because her health hasn't been that good lately."

"Can't she be healed by magic?" Zaos asked. "Did she see any doctors lately?"

"Of course, she did, and they all said the same thing," Laiex said. "She is young but her body is weak and magic can only make her feel invigorated for so long. It isn't your fault; your mother always was the type who would worry endlessly about things."

That was easier said than done. Zaos had a duty to his family, and that was why he joined the army. Still, his mother had to pay the price for it. Zaos knew that he wouldn't be able to relax at home like before. Still, he already knew how he would spend all that extra energy and time he had in his hands… he would research healing magic to help his mother. Since he managed to customize several spells and learn a lot regarding magic in the North, he was confident that he could pull that off. In any case, before he could plan his next actions, his father threw a wooden sword at Zaos.

"… Really? A training sword?" Zaos frowned.

"Someone got pretty confident on the North after surviving a few battles," Laiex smiled. "Do you want to train with real swords and make your mother hear the steal colliding and then have a heart attack? Show me what you can do."

Zaos sighed. He knew that adults couldn't change that much in three years, but his father still was the same as always. Zaos dashed toward his father out of nowhere and tried to hit him in the stomach with the tip of the wooden sword. But his father blocked the attack with fearsome speed and precision. Even before Zaos's weapon could reach the halfway point, he had his sword ready to block it.

Zaos tried to surpass his defensive stance with brute strength, but as expected, that wasn't enough to defeat the man known as the king's shield. Zaos put all his body in that strike, but his father didn't move an inch. Zaos stepped back and then decided to hold his sword with both hands. It was a short weapon, and he wasn't used to it anymore, but he could make it do if he uses the momentum and his weight.

Once again, Zaos dashed toward him, and this time his father tried to counterattack. Since he had a longer reach, his attack would land faster, so he swung his sword down. Zaos jumped to the side and dodged the attack, but before the strike could land it, his father grabbed his right arm with his left hand.

"I heard stories about your accomplishments, but this is pretty disappointing," Laiex said.

For a second, Zaos considered using magic to boost his power, but he decided not to do it. He was doing that just to make his body move early in the morning since he was used to that kind of training. In the end, Zaos worked up a good sweat, but he didn't land a clean hit on his father, nor did his father hit him. He didn't want to get more serious than his son. Still, Zaos could at least see that he had progressed quite a bit. Now he could see his father moving and could react to it.

"What about your magic? Did you give up on using it in battles?" Laiex asked.

"No, I just don't use in spar anymore," Zaos said.

"And that made you win how many spars against Drannor?" Laiex asked.

"Not a single one," Zaos replied.

Laiex sighed since his son said that without showing any sign of disappointment on his face. It looked like he didn't care about winning or losing, and he was stubborn enough not to use his best weapons in a spar. While that could make him progress in some aspects, it was a pretty stupid way to do things, at least from his father's perspective.

"I haven't seen Nyana since I returned, where is she?" Zaos asked.

"Why do you ask?" Laiex frowned.

"Why can't I ask?" Zaos frowned as well. "I am just a bit worried if she is doing fine."

"… She is doing fine," Laiex replied. "She wasn't here when you returned because in the magic school, the students have to stay there the whole week, aside from the seventh day."

Now that Zaos thought about it, he heard about such a rule somewhere, and it wasn't strange that she didn't see him since it was only the fifth day of the week. Zaos was planning to talk with her if she knew any good teacher specialized in healing magic. But maybe she will find a good teacher before he finds her.

"I am worried about Mom's condition, so I am going to do some research on the magic school," Zaos said.

"First, you should present yourself to the royal family," Laiex said.

"Can't that wait?" Zaos frowned.

"If you intend to be rude to them, it certainly can, but you will need their permit anyway to enter the magic school," Laiex said. "Only His Majesty can grant to outsiders permission to enter the magic school."

"Such stiff rules…" Zaos said and then sighed.