Ramin convinced Hugo not to go after the stronger leaf monsters yet. Hugo worked with Yasmin to slowly kill most of the leaf monsters in the area over the course of the next two weeks. In between attacking the thrips, Parisa trained them. Hugo got much better at using the glaive, and Yasmin got passible. Each fight still required Hugo to do the majority of the work. He didn’t mind. It wouldn’t be fair of him to assume that a mundane person could keep pace with a soulmarked.

Still, Hugo was getting itchy. He wanted to rank up to at least sixteen. It would unlock more choices for him, chief amongst them being wards. He was sick of jumping at every sound during his watch every night. If he had a few wards set up, he could finally relax at night.

He had decided today was going to be the day. He had practiced various arguments in his head, and he wasn’t going to let himself be dissuaded. He planned on talking to the huntmaster during their midday break.

Before that time came, something strange happened. Right after Hugo and Yasmin finished killing their most recent batch of thrips, she fell on her butt as if she was exhausted. Hugo was about to make a joke about how lazy she was when she closed her eyes and collapsed to the ground. Hugo rushed over to her, but couldn’t see anything wrong with her.

“Give her some space,” Ramin said. He was standing just a few feet away. Hugo was surprised to see the huntmaster there. He had never even gotten close to the thrips before.

Hugo stood up and said, “Why? What’s going on?”

“The Mother is generous and kind,” Ramin said as if that explained everything.

Hugo looked back at Yasmin and saw that she was softly glowing. Now he understood. Something magical was going on, and his reference to The Mother indicated that this was Yasmin getting “blessed.” That was interesting. He had been led to believe that took years for most people, not weeks. He wondered if that meant that Yasmin was some sort of prodigy.

Parisa walked up and said, “That was quick. Just goes to show how special your hunting spot is. I wonder what gift she will unlock.”

“Depends on the person, and what The Mother decides we need at the moment. Good job on teaching her the glaive by the way. I have always suspected that learning a new weapon increases the chance of The Mother noticing you,” Ramin said.

“I just wish The Mother noticed me when I was younger,” Parisa said.

“I am convinced that she did notice you, but she decided you didn’t need any extra help to be great,” Ramin siad.

Parisa smiled at the compliment. The three of them stood there for half an hour, waiting and watching as Yasmin went through whatever transformation she was going through. Eventually, she woke up from her trance and Hugo helped her to her feet.

“Welcome back, young woman. Congratulations on your blessing,” Ramin said.

“Thank you. I.. It all so different now,” she said and looked around the forest.

“That’s your nature sight. You have an extra connection to anything living. All blessed gain that. What is your specific gift?”

“The gift of the leaf. I know it’s not much, but I think it’s fantastic,” Yasmin said. She faced the sun and closed her eyes with her arms out wide.

Hugo gave her a curious look. Could she get energy from the sun now? That is what leaves did and she did seem to enjoy the sun on her face a lot more now. He would have to ask her all about it next time they were hunting alone.

“Well, I was going to suggest leaving in a few days anyway. No reason to delay now. We can head back soon,” Ramin said. He turned to Hugo and said, “Lina, do you still want to attempt a fight with a sovereign?”

“Haven’t you been watching? I don’t want to just make an attempt, I will kill the sovereign thrip,” Hugo said.

Ramin just chuckled and told them to get ready. The huntmaster walked up to the nearest baluwt tree and broke off the lower branches. This sent the remaining thrips into a frenzy and they all shot down towards him. Ramin calmly killed them, three at a time until only one remained. He turned and ran behind Hugo and said, “All yours, girls.”

Hugo held his glaive at the ready, waiting for the sovereign thrip to come to him. Yasmin stood at his side, seemingly more confident than before. As the monster barreled towards them, Hugo stepped forward and sliced down at its head. To his surprise, the monster danced out of the way. The edge of its leaf arm snuck under his guard and cut a deep groove in Hugo’s wooden chestplate.

Now it was his turn to dance back. He had expected the higher ranked monster to be stronger and faster, but this was different. Cautiously, Hugo threw a few probing strikes at the monster. It didn’t fall for either attack, it continued to circle them carefully. Yasmin decided to split off to the side to get behind the monster. The thrip wouldn’t let her though, every time she got close, it would dart off to the side so it could keep both riese in sight.

That was it. This monster was intelligent enough to think through his attacks and not rush in foolishly. It was like fighting another person. Hugo smiled and attacked. There were tactics that he knew that would work better against a monster that actually had a sense of self preservation. He slid forward with a wicked slice of his glaive. Predictably, the thrip ducked under the strike and right into the path of the knife Hugo had thrown.

Hugo didn’t stop to enjoy the shriek of pain he caused, he just continued the motion with his glaive and spun around, bringing it down once more. The thrip ducked out of the way again, but not quick enough and Hugo sent a spray of green blood into the air. At the same time, Yasmin went for its legs, sweeping her glaive from the side as Hugo came from the top. Her glaive took a chunk out of its leg.

The sovereign thrip disengaged and the cuts healed right before their eyes. They expected that though, and ran forward, pressing their attack. He stabbed at the thrip, over and over again as fast as he could. This made the monster backpedal. From weeks of practice, Hugo knew the leaf monsters were slower moving backwards, so he kept up the pressure and started drawing blood.

Hugo spun his glaive towards the monster’s head but the thrip saw it coming in time and knocked it up and away. Yasmin stepped closer and stabbed, but the thrip saw her coming and slid to the side. She was too slow to draw the glaive back and thrip cut it in half. She stared at the shaft in her hand in shock.

The thrip tried to punish her inattentiveness, but Hugo was used to saving her and did so again with a flurry of attacks. Yasmin seemed to snap out of it and dropped the pole. She stuck her hand out at the monster and a gust of air swept out, knocking the thrip off its feet.

Hugo took advantage of the moment of weakness and lopped off the monster’s head. A gout of green blood sprayed into the air and the monster fell to the ground. Yasmin stepped out of the way of the fountain and smiled at Hugo. Ramin hadn’t gone far and he walked back up to the pair of them.

“Good job, Yasmin. You are adapting to your blessing well. Just remember that your wind ability produces bad air. You don’t want to use it inside,” Ramin said.

“Yes, sir,” Yasmin said.

Hugo grumbled to himself when no compliment came for him too, and he used his dagger to extract the mana crystal from the monster’s corpse. It’s true that he didn’t use any new techniques, but still. He had killed a tier two monster, that was something. At least he had enough points to rank up to sixteen now. That would have to be enough for him.

...

“It’s just that I have no freedom at all now,” Yasmin said as she flopped onto Hugo’s bed. It was a week after their hunting trip. “I am used to the hard work, but I am not used to someone telling me what to do every second of every day.”

Hugo laughed, “Poor baby, dealing with the consequences of getting exactly what you wanted. You know, most people would love to be part of the guard for a royal grove tree.”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t get me wrong, I really am grateful. I have dreamed of being in the blessed guard since I was five, and you made that possible. But that doesn’t mean that this training doesn’t suck,” Yasmin said.

“Don’t worry, the training is only supposed to last four months, you can last four months, right?” Hugo said and turned back to the vanity. Getting his hair right was tough, but he could do that. It was the makeup that seemed almost impossible.

“Ug, I don’t want to even think about doing this for four months. I am going to graduate early, just you watch. Let’s talk about something else. When is your dad’s challenge? Do you think he will succeed?” Yasmin said.

“Yes, I think he will win. The challenge is this afternoon. Why do you think I am having you help me with my makeup? I have to look good, everyone is going to be looking at us while the challenge is being read out. Speaking of which, how about now? Is that better?” Hugo turned to look at Yasmin.

“Yeah, no. You still suck at this. I don’t know how monster killing is so easy for you but basic makeup escapes you. Wipe it off, let me do this,” Yasmin said and got up.

Hugo talked as he grabbed the makeup remover and got to work, “This isn’t easy, trust me. You just have way more experience than I do.”

“You have more experience than I do, you just don’t remember any of it,” Yasmin said, “Hopefully your memory will come back soon.”

Hugo just grunted noncommitally. The rest of the makeup session was awkward and he was glad when it was done. He thanked her and checked his dress before he walked out. He needed to look perfect. Yasmin wasn’t coming with him, so she wished them all luck and went back to her apartment.

It was still an hour before the scheduled time, but his mother had told him to be early, so he walked out and nodded to his guard to escort him. He had one posted outside his room at all times now. Mercenaries had been caught at Buhayra Lake, the place that Ramin claimed they were going hunting. It seemed likely they were there for Hugo. He didn't mind the constant guard since it seemed like his life was in danger.

The two of them walked towards the city. Hugo was getting better about dealing with the heights. It still gave him pain in the pit of his stomach, but he found he could ignore it better now. Eventually, they made it to the center of the city and walked down to the surface.

There was a large pond in the center of the city, surrounded by a spiked fence. It was shorter than a riese, but it practically blazed with magic. Hugo saw the shimmer vein nearby and wondered if it was powered by mana or shimmer. His guard led him to a checkpoint out front where a quartet of nox guards stood. They were the first nox he had seen in Ettel.

“This is a restricted area, only those with identification and authorization are allowed in,” one of the nox recited by rote.

Hugo’s guard produced a token about the size of the palm of his hand and gave it to the guard, “This is the daughter of the First Prince. She is authorized for today.”

The nox took the token and stared at it, eyes glowing. It was huge in his hands, almost as big as his head. He passed it off to another nox that scrutinized it as well. The other two nox checked a ledger. When they were all in agreement, they begrudgingly allowed Hugo inside. His personal guard had to wait outside.

Hugo followed a small path forward. A pair of nox stood at a tiny dock, and motioned for Hugo to get on the small raft. Hugo climbed aboard, but nothing happened. They just stood there for a few moments. Finally, he realized what the holdup was for. Another riese was coming up behind him. It was another riese girl, about his age.

She smiled faintly as she walked up and stood near Hugo. She curtsied and said, “Lina, good to see you.”

Hugo curtsied and said, “Good to see you too.”

The nox walked onto the raft and grabbed a pair of long poles. One of them turned to the riese and said, “I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but don’t touch the water. I am told it’s a painful death.”

They slowly started poling across the pond, heading towards a strangely shaped grove tree in the middle of the pond. At the rate they were going, it would take a few minutes to cross.

The girl turned to Hugo and said, “Have I offended you in some way?”

Great. Hugo thought furiously. Had he been rude to this girl? He didn’t even know her name, let alone why she was saying that.