Arata makes his way back up to the top of the dam with Morgan. But something felt off. There was no one but themselves yet Arata felt watched.

  Several knights appear to be lounging around the area, some doing half assed training. Others were chatting about girls; meanwhile, one of the men was just dozing off.

  Morgan takes a second to clear their throat before shouting, “Attention! We have a new recruit, line up, there's some news!”

  What the? Are these really knights? Arata blinks for a mere second; when he opens his eyes again, they're all perfectly straight, with mathematical precision.

  In unison they shouted, “Yes sir, Arata, our humble squad welcomes you!”

  Arata's eyes widen with shock, “ye- yeah… thanks for having me-” Arata stows away his sweaty palms inside his pockets while looking past the group into nothing yet before he even got a chance to finish talking, Morgan clears her throat.

  Morgan shouts louder, “As decreed by the Baker's speech, which you all failed to attend, we are going to attack the great forest in a month! You would’ve known that if you attended the speech! We need our squadron to be in proper condition by then, understood. Leon, give Arata a tour of the base, squire!”

  Squire… Selena was Cayden’s squire. This guy is one too. Am I strange for being worried about the working conditions? Arata sweats a little bit; his worries are immediately put to rest.

  The boy Leon was very energetic, constantly talking throughout the tour, “Hello Arata! Since we’re both the same age, I hope we can have some friendly competition. I remember seeing you back on our expedition. You were that amnesiac, right? How’d you manage to beat that monster? Are you actually super powerful!? You also got to fight Beelzebub with the captain, I’m super jealous! The captain’s awesome, rumor has it that there was someone else in the fight, but no one knows who they are! Anyway, this is the mess hall, right next to that is our dorms, so you can stay here if you have no place to stay. You have to take laundry duty if you do!”

  His excitement, he certainly comes off a little strong. It’s almost infectious. I don’t exactly hate that, though. Arata smriks, “I’ve got my own place nearby, thanks for the offer. How long have you known the captain? You hold Morgan in very high regard, I see.”

  Leon’s eyes light up even further, “Yes, Sir Morgan is quite the esteemed individual in my book. I used to be a simple farmer boy, but upon learning my potential for magic, I was brought on board two years ago! But that’s a story for another time. I look forward to working with you.”

  Arata reaches out his hand, connecting to Leon’s firm grip, and they shake hands. Marking off the last thing on Arata’s agenda for the day?

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  Ravenna never told me everything I wanted to know about the fishing manual. Like hell I’m leaving that. Arata encourages himself, heading back out to the beach to make a prayer. Ravenna shows her face.

  “Arata- I guess I already know what you planned on asking. The fishing manual’s points of interest, I did spot one… Rachamah is your new instructor.” Ravenna states.

  Arata groans, “What do you mean instructor? She’s gone already… right?”

  Realizing this might need a bit more context, she explains, “This book’s full of techniques used to effectively hunt lots of creatures… It’s a great basis for learning combat. I think I got a good introductory point. We’ll start with something easier like range, engagement and the sand spider crab.”

  Ravenna grabs Arata’s wrist. Crabs? It’s gonna be something fucked up, isn’t it… I swear to god, Ravenna said easier. Not easy. Major red flag. Arata finds himself being brought out towards a cave near the beach. Ravenna then points.

  “Sleeping on the floor is your target, your goal is to kill the creature, the creature has long legs, so you are expected to learn how to engage on your own terms even when your opponent would usually always strike first.” Ravenna points out.

  Nestled in the sand is the giant crab, it’s using camouflage and yet most of its body is buried deeper. This lesson… is eerily familiar- Beelzebub. The main difficulty against Beelzebub was the fact that it felt impossible to get a hit off… that’s why Ravenna wanted me to use this to train. I’m not fighting humans.

  Arata does as Ravenna asks, before the fight begins, he focuses using Demiurge Foundry to identify the mana, forming a silhouette in the sand. Peering at the crab, he recognizes the area poking above the sand is a leg, his vision shifting to create an outline of the limb against the background.

  Tread carefully… if this lesson’s all about engaging the opponent on my terms, such a fight begins before the bell is rung. Come to think of it, Rachamah fought Beelzebub on her terms… she aimed to immobilize the target… Beelzebub showed abilities far beyond what Rachamah could probably have done at that time, but it didn’t matter.

  The mana rich water begins to latch onto Arata’s blade. With his Idea, his sword erupts in flames, and a thin glowing line is driven through, slashing into the tendon of the crab’s leg. Enhancing my strength is useless against an armored target… I need precision. Arata’s strike enters the bug yet gets caught inside, the bug now awaking and screaming. Arata tries dashing back from the creature, luckily being able to pull out his blade.

  The whip… maybe I need the extra range. Arata channels his mana into the blade. Luckily, the vessel is perfect. The steel was made to be indestructible, and such a material would still need heat to be forged. Thus, it was possible to reshape. Cauterizer felt somehow more comfortable in his hand when he used this sword.

  Meanwhile, the crab’s limbs shake. The thing’s head pokes out from under the sand. Its legs were standard despite their staggering size. Underneath the head of the crab was a mouth and a nose. It unhinged itself, hanging down loosely as the creature began its labored breaths, the pain sinking in from Arata’s cut into its leg.

  Inside its mouth and covering its shell is a pulsating black coral, like a tumorous growth that seems to influence its movement.