The group left the surroundings of the capital and started their journey towards Duskwood. The forest was located to the east of Kalafrana, but the path was blocked by a mountain range, so they had no choice but to take a roundabout route. It had been many days since they left the comfort of the capital and today was just like any other day.

-

“Don’t let them surround you!”

After hearing Fang Chu’s shout, Ben quickly jumped backwards and began circling his enemies, trying to keep the three of them in his line of sight. The rest of the group watched from afar as the orcs pounced on him with their crude weapons, trying to end his life.

“Isn’t this too much since he’s unarmed?” asked Liza with furrowed brows.

“Nah, the goblins last time were too easy and the bandits the other day were too unskilled. Thankfully we spotted these orcs from afar so he could rush over to fight them. They will be just the right amount of difficulty for the current Ben.”

“This is boring, Fanu! Why do we have to leave everything to Ben all the time?”

“Don’t worry about it, Eliot. I’ll spar with you later if you want to.”

“Really? Hurray! This time I’ll hit you for sure!”

“Hahaha, you’re still too green. I told you before, you’re never going to hit me if all you do is rely on your speed and strength. You’ll need to start using your head If you want to get a good strike in.”

“Ben is too slow. If it was me, I would have sent them flying with one swing of my club,” said Boro as he rose his eyes from the book in his hand to look at the fight far away.

Realizing that things would take a while, Liza sat beside Boro and peeked at the book from over his shoulder. “What spell are you learning this time?”

“It’s called |magic hand|. It lets you manipulate small objects from a distance like you’re touching them, but the range is small. Do you want to see it?” he asked with excitement.

“Sure.”

After a brief incantation, an ethereal hand appeared in front of them. Boro controlled it and began grabbing small objects and moving them around. When he tried to grab and lift his club however, the ethereal hand crumbled and disappeared.

“Tsc, that’s it? I wish Ben had bought more advanced magic books instead of this crap. If I knew magic was this fun I’d have asked for some too.”

“We can always buy more later. Also, don’t call them crap. Travelling now that you know |clean| and |no-smell| is much more pleasant. But dragons sure are something, you only need to read it once and you can soon conjure it. Ben is still trying to cast |candlelight| after all this time.”

“Of course. I’m just that awesome,” said Boro with a smug face. “But what a disappointment. I was hoping I could swing my weapon around with |magic hand|. Imagine how cool I’d look if I just sat back with my hands behind my head while my weapon trashed the enemies.”

While the trio was relaxing and watching from afar, Ben was sweating buckets and dodging nonstop. Under Fang Chu’s orders, he ran at top speed to reach these orcs, so he started the fight already somewhat spent. As if that wasn’t enough, the enemies outnumbered him, they had longer reach due to their weapons and they were orcs. Orcs were typically muscular and bursting with vitality, so trying to take one down with your fists was quite the ordeal, let alone three. The fight had been going for almost a minute now and it seemed like neither side could finish the other off.

Ben rushed forward and prepared to punch one of them, but he ended up having to retreat as an axe came whistling down in an attempt to cut his outstretched arm. As he retreated, he was beset again by multiple attacks from the orcs and had no other option but to keep dodging.

[Damn it, they keep covering for each other. I didn’t manage to land a single clear hit so far. If it keeps going like this, I’ll get exhausted and lose.]

“Fanu, I can’t do it at this rate! Let me take the weights off!” he shouted.

“Fine!”

[Now we’re talking!]

After this quick exchange, Ben did something that perplexed the orcs. He dodged one last attack, turned his back against them and ran away. Seeing their opponent show such clear weakness after the long struggle made the orcs delighted. They hacked towards Ben’s back, but ended up missing the mark due to his speed.

As he ran, Ben undid the straps that were keeping the weights around his arms, torso and legs. One by one, they fell to the ground. When they were all gone, Ben felt a liberating sensation of weightlessness and freedom.

[Ah, much better! I feel like I can reach the moon with one jump now, though that is absolute nonsense.]

He faced the orcs again, this time with much more confidence. The monsters soon reached him and their struggle began anew. Ben didn’t rush it and remained cautious. Whenever he took out the weights, he needed some time to adjust his control, otherwise all his movements would overshoot his desired target.

[Jump back. Lean left. Step forward. Rush sideways at the club, dodge the axe. Good, I got this. After this swing I’ll get one down.]

After stepping backwards to dodge an axe swing, Ben rushed forward with all his might and jumped towards one of the orcs. He grabbed the head of the monster with his two hands and firmly pulled it against his incoming knee. The sound of a broken nose and a muffled grunt soon followed. Ben let go of the head and the tall orc fell to the ground unconscious. The other two kept attacking fervently, but now that they were one down, things proceed much more smoothly. Twenty seconds later, all the orcs were passed out on the ground. Ben took the enemy’s axe and sighed.

“I know you’re just trying to live, but I’m just trying to live too. It’s funny right? We don’t even know the point to it all, yet we still struggle to keep going. I wish I could let you guys go, but then you might attack a village or some traders on the road, so I can’t do that. Sorry.”

*Chop* *Chop* *Chop*

“Are you finished?” asked the redhead.

“Yup,” said Ben as he let go of the bloody axe.

“Then put your weights back on,” said Fang Chu as she extended her hand that was holding all the strapped weights.

Ben sighed and took the weights to put back on.

“You had more trouble this time.”

“Yeah, since they covered for each other I only managed to hit them in the arms most of the time. Only without the weights did I managed to be fast enough to hit them where it hurts. The five bandits from last time were much easier.”

“Of course. Mana-wise, those bandits were at the same level as these orcs, but you can’t compare their physique. However, your inability to hurt them easily tells me your fists are still not strong enough. It’s time you stop punching bark. You need something sturdier. From now on you’ll use a metal plate for your training. Liza already prepared another batch of ointments to treat your hands and keep them from crippling.”

“Ah~, I guess I won’t be able to eat without making a mess for a while.”

“That’s what you’re worried about? Your shaky hands after training? Hahaha, I like your mentality. Don’t worry, I can spoon-feed you for the first days.”

[Well, that’s because I figured there’s no point complaining,] thought Ben. “Though it’s a bit embarrassing, I’ll count on you then.”

Later that day, during dinner.

“When are we arriving in Tirin, Liza?” asked Eliot.

“We should reach it tomorrow before noon.”

“Do you think your grampa will be there?

“I hope so, it’s been a while since I’ve last seen him and I also want to tell him the news. If he’s not there I guess I’ll have to be content with leaving a message for him.”

“Hum? What is this about?” asked Ben.

“Oh, yeah, you were out training when we talked about it the other day. Remember the story I told you way back? That someone took me in after my village was destroyed?”

“Yeah.”

“His name is Otto Clemens, a travelling apothecary. He took me from the wreckage and healed me, both in body and mind. I grew up following him as he went from one village to the next, offering his services and saving those in need. He taught me everything that I know about medicine. He’s a remarkable man, my master. Tirin is his base of operations, of sorts. Whenever he isn’t on a route or needs more time and equipment to refine medicine, he stays at Tirin. He saved the residents there from a plague many years ago, so they built a house for him as gratitude and take care of him whenever he stays.”

“Wow, that’s awesome. I hope we can meet him.”

“Here Ben, open up.”

“Oh, thanks, Fanu.”

*munch* *munch*

“How is it Ben? Do your hands still hurt much?” asked Eliot.

“It’s a bit better now. It doesn’t sting as much and I can feel the cool sensation of the herbs doing their work.”

“Your training was really something. The best part was when those peddlers passed by our camp,” laughed Boro. “They were about to offer some goods to sell us when they saw you teary-eyed and with bloodied fists. Those guys can run, let me tell you!”

“Yeah, with your strange appearance and savage aura back then, who knows what they thought,” nodded the redhead.

“Give me a break, guys. No one can strike their fists at full force against a metal plate with a smile on their faces while having a casual conversation. I needed to psych myself up to gain the courage and bear the pain. They just came at a bad time, that’s all.”