Heading back to the hoard, I reluctantly took a bath after the door guards stepped a full 10 feet away from the door that they were supposed to be guarding while I walked by.

Refreshed, and a little sad at the loss of the honeysuckle and apple blossom fragrance, I wandered around the Hoard in hopes of spotting the mercenaries, only to realize that they had all left.

Despondently making my way to the garden, I froze before I grinned widely at the man who was looking peacefully at me.

“Teacher,” I called out.

Sir Leonidas looked at me serenely before he flashed from his position, and faster than I could react-

Thwack.

Followed by another two thwacks.

Blinking, just in time to see the teacher resume his previous position, I cried out bitterly, “What was that for?”

“One! Arrogance. Two! Arrogance. Three! Stupidity.”

Wincing at each word, I looked down at my feet and twiddled my thumbs.

Continuing on, the teacher spoke, “the first was for your arrogance in going alone when you knew the odds were not high enough. You could have waited to obtain more flowers of thorns before going to the forest of death.”

“The second was for believing that you could change the outcome against a horde of spiders alone, instead of joining up with your allies-”

Questioningly, I looked at him and the teacher elaborated, “I heard the battle accounts from that woman named Cathy. Your movements were all focussed on the one principle we both agreed that you would not pursue. What was that principle, Faustus?”

Twiddling my thumbs even faster, I spoke in a low voice, “Mutual Destruction.”

“Exactly. You might have extraordinary healing capabilities but you are not invincible by any stretch of the imagination.” the teacher said in a severe voice.

Then, holding up a third and final finger, he spoke, “Stupidity for thinking a single blow was enough to kill a Lord monster.”

Raising my head, I was about to ask when the teacher brutally said, “I have taught you to use the least amount of effort possible to deal with a situation. But in this case, your situation was killing a monster. So your least effort was to stab into it, again, and again; until it was certain that it will die.”

Eyes wide, I nodded along as a bloodthirsty aura spread from the serene face of the teacher.

Then abruptly, the teacher stood up, and said, “Let’s go.”

Taken aback, I blurted out, “I didn’t even ask.”

Snorting, the teacher said, “Do you think I stayed back just to tell you of your mistakes?”

Scratching my head, I said, “Well, yes?”

Thwack.

“Learn to identify your mistakes yourself! Look back on every fight and constantly think of what you can do better! That is the way to keep yourself alive!”

Nodding, I sincerely said, “I will, teacher, I will.” and a faint feeling of having done that in the past flooded over me.

But then, we were off to Maeqil with the rickety carriage doing its faithful duty.

Soon, we were in front of Sir Galen, who held out his hand gleefully toward me.

Smiling, I pulled clumps of the flowers of thorns out, one after the other; causing Sir Galen to stiffen up as they came out.

Finally, with awe in his voice, he asked, “You didn’t loot the entire forest and come here, did you?”

Explaining the clearing that I found, Sir Galen looked at me incredulously and spoke, “You’re favored by Falka, boy! First time in the baling forest and you just happen to find a clearing full of the one thing you’re there for?”

Grinning, I ducked my head in assent as Sir Galen chuckled and began the process of creating the potions.

Answering all the questions that he shot at me as he worked, I replied, “One potion lasted for barely 1 hour, but it healed quite a few of my wounds. The other one, which was only half a potion, lasted for close to 8 hours, but I didn’t use much warforce during it.”

Nodding, Sir Galen spoke as he busily measured vials against each other, “Average time is six hours with normal warforce usage. One or two hours for maximum warforce usage. Acceptable. Also, this time with more flowers, I might be able to create a stronger dosage.”

Hearing that, it reminded me of something, and I quickly asked, “Calm Teacher, I swallowed a flower of thorns while I was running to Yamal, but it did nothing. Why?”

Sir Galen slowly turned his head and stared at me with bulging eyes, before he swallowed and spoke in a dry voice, “You ate… a flower of thorns?”

Nodding, I confirmed that I had indeed eaten a flower of thorns, at which Sir Galen clutched his head, and swore multiple times fluently.

Then he whispered in unison with the devil teacher standing behind me, “Little monster.”

Confused, I asked, “Why are you so surprised? Isn’t it a flower?”

Exchanging glances, the devil teacher cleared his throat and said, “It’s a flower… that’s a powerful catalyst for warforce. Without the correct ingredients to accompany it, it leads to a person burning their warforce with no end.”

Slapping his head, the devil teacher continued, “No wonder Patrick was so drained. He did keep mumbling about how you drained his warforce without stopping until he was almost empty.”

Intelligently picking up the thread of the conversation, I said, “So, I was burning warforce while I slept until the flower’s effects faded away?”

Nodding, the two teachers looked at me as I danced a happy jig.

Confused, Sir Galen asked, “Why are you so happy?”

Excitedly, I told them about how my wounds had healed when I had woken up in the guild, at which they both nodded.

Then I spoke. “My wounds were quite serious. But they healed because I could burn the warforce without affecting my nerves as Sir Patrick kept giving me a warforce infusion, right?”

Catching on, Sir Galen spoke in a hushed voice, “Which means, that as long as you have someone beside you who can supply you with warforce, that flower is practically a rapid healing potion for you!”

Grinning, I tapped my head and said, “Smart, aren’t I?”

Thwack.

“If your head was any harder, I would’ve suspected you were a rock. But I suppose you do have your rare moments of brilliance,” the devil teacher said, as he rubbed his fist.

Holding my head with a wronged expression, I said, “I’m always brilliant! It’s just that you’re not able to understand it.”

Snorting, Sir Leonidas turned his attention back to the calm teacher, who was looking at a flower of thorns with a thoughtful expression.

Then Sir Galen spoke. “I might be able to create another potion for you. It’s just, the potion would be a little bit dangerous.”

Excitedly nodding, I asked, “What does it do?”

Grinning at me, Sir Galen said, “It burns your warforce.”

The smile on my face grew even wider as I grinned back at him.

Then Sir Galen got to work, and as the hours flew by, he passed an armful of blue vials to me, and I carefully put them away.

“That should be enough for a month for you.” Sir Galen said with satisfaction.

At that moment, Sir Leonidas stepped forward with a frown on his face, and said, “One rule of using them. You will only use them when necessary. At all other times, you will find one of us to infuse warforce into you. Those flowers are precious, and there’s not much around Yamal for you to do that’s more than a day away. Especially since you’ve already reached awakened 5 stars again.” he ended cryptically.

Nodding in agreement, Sir Galen spoke, “and as for these other potions, I’ll have someone send them to you in Yamal. Speaking of which, what do you want to name them?”

Without hesitation, I said, “Ignition potions!”

“Ignition potions? That’s a good name. Let it be so!” and with that, we were ready to leave.

Except I had one last question.

Voicing it out, I asked, “Farrah said that near-death experiences can cause warforce ranks to increase. Is that true?”

It was the devil teacher who answered in the affirmative, and he added, “It’s not just near-death experiences. It’s also intense combat which can increase warforce ranks.”

Nodding with a gleam in my eyes, and thinking of the warforce potions in my ring, I knew what I had to do.

And I couldn’t wait to put it into action.