After befriending the blacksmith and carpenter known as Richard Hicks, as well as aquiring new weapons for their revenge mission, Orin and Daron proudly marched toward the hill they had first tried to build their new home, with newfound knowledge of construction.
As they made their way to the top of the hill, they quickly noticed that the powerful winds that almost blew them away the day before, now barely bothered them at all. They could, strangely, move freely without worrying about losing their footing to the strong winds.
They put their newfound equipment and weapons behind a large rock, which blocked the wind, allowing them to safely store their items without losing them. They then layed out the blueprints behind the same rock and started building the foundation.
After an hour of work, they were starting to feel a bit sore from all of the heavy lifting. Despite needing to carry large logs to set the foundation of the house, they had both noticed that the heavy lifting had made them grow stronger at an abnormal pace. The logs were still heavy and they could not lift them alone, but they could feel the time needed to carry a single one was greatly reduced.
Daron walked back to the rock to grab his waterskin and have a sip of water. He then saw that Cassandra was sitting by it, reading a textbook for an academic nursing program of seemingly high class, as the textbook looked quite new with elegant engravings on the hard cover.
"You two have made progress, unlike yesterday."
"Yeah, we took some time ta learn some stuff about this whole construction thing. Whaddaya think?"
The foundation was mostly complete, with logs buried partially into the ground as supporting beams. It was almost complete enough to start building the ondol heating and laying the floor, before starting to work their way up with the walls.
Daron picked up his waterskin and drank the last bit of water from it. He looked at Cassandra and his face suddenly went red from how nervous he was, not knowing if or how he should strike a conversation with her, as he was not used to talking with girls. Him and Orin had made some short term friends with other boys in towns they had visited before, but they were not used to communing with girls.
"So… Whydya stop by?"
Cassandra could see how nervous Daron was and chuckled lightly to herself.
"Hehe. It's been two hours and the two of you haven't dropped down yet, so I had to come up and chack on you, as per master Mike's request."
"Great! We've made some progress now and we even got ourselves some new weapons. They'll do nicely fer trainin', Heh."
"I suppose so. But the two of you look a little worn out, so I think it's time I do my part in this. Stand still."
Cassandra put her hands on Daron's shoulders and spectral blue dust started floating around him and her. He could feel the tension in his muscles fade away, as well as feeling more energized and a feeling of newfound strength.
"Wait a minute… So this's why I was able ta run faster today, and why the wind ain't botherin' us anymore. Thanks, Cassie! You're amazin'! Believe me, I'm gonna catch up to ya soon enough and then you'll be the one in awe, not me."
"Brother, this is no time to strike up a tea party with the young lass who happened to stop by. Either get back to work or keep conversing somewhere else."
Orin walked up to them and tied his hair in a half-knot.
"Apologies. I do not mean to be rude, but we want to finish as fast as possible to so you can start teaching us sooner. If you are here to heal our fatigue for us, please do."
"Very well, apology accepted. I'll heal you right up!"
Cassandra did the same to Orin as she did to Daron and he suddenly felt as if a new breath of life had been swept into him. He took a final sip of his waterskin and handed both his and Daron's to Cassandra.
"Could you do us a favor and fill these up before coming back next time?"
"That would be no problem at all. Until next time, Daron! You too, Orin."
Daron blushed once more and tried to hide it by wiping his sweat with a towel. Orin was able to clearly see that he was blushing and nudged his elbow into his arm. He waited until he knew Cassandra was gone to say anything.
"You like her, do you not?"
"Shaddup, bro! I only met her yesterday."
"Yet you still blush when she is close and you could not even properly start a conversation when she was close to you. Not to mention what you told me during last night's bath, about her temporarily silencing that curse of yours."
"Just quit ir, Ora! I wouldn't just fall head over heels for some random, cute girl I meet on the spot. Yer just tryin' ta tease me."
"Can you really say that I am trying to tease you when we both know that it is working? Also, you called her cute just now, so you are not really doing yourself any favors, hehehe."
"Can ya just quit it already!?"
"Alright, I was only joking with you. But to be frank with you, I was hoping you would get worked up over it."
"And why's that?"
"Because now you have no reason to deny me a sperring match. I know you well enough to know that I would not even have to ask you at this point."
"Funny thing is, I know you're playin' me, but you're right. You're on, then, let's rock!"
"Hold on."
Orin picked up his new rapier and unsheathed it. He also picked up Daron's coat and threw it to him.
"I wish to have a match with these new weapons of ours. How about a duel until satisfaction?"
"Duel accepted, bro."
Daron put on his coat and put his hands in his pockets. Orin rushed towards him and thrusted his blade toward him. Daron was able to move out of the way and moved to kick orin with his shin. As Daron was about to land his kick, Orin suddenly vanished in front of his eyes.
Daron looked around himself and was able to see that orin was behind him and ready to thrust. He rapidly turned around and deflected the blade with one of his knives. He made an attempt to give Orin a small cut on the cheek with another knife, but Orin used the same trick as earlier to move backwards.
"Y'know, that trick o' yers can be a bit annoyin' sometimes. Luckily for me, I know exactly how it works."
"I could say the same about your spheres. But I think it is about time I try something new."
"Now I'm interested."
Daron threw both the knives he held towards Orin. Orin was able to see the same visions as he did at Richard's workshop. He saw the older man in the field move his sword both left and right before lunging forward.
He once again decided to replicate those moves, and deflected both of Daron's thrown knives before flashing towards Daron with a thrust of his blade. Daron leaned backwards, knocked the blade away with his right forearm and moved to hit a sideway kick in Orin's stomach.
Daron's forearm got cut by Orin's thrust and the blade drew blood from it. His kick also landed in Orin's stomach and he keeled over. Both Orin and Daron fell down from pain and looked each other in the eyes.
"Well, I'm satisfied. Wanna call it a draw?"
Orin slapped Daron across the face and slowly stood up.
"I'm satisfied as well, looks like I won."
"Hey, that one was unfair. Let's have a rematch, right now! No weapons!"
"No thank you, Dara. I know you win that one easily, plus we already dueled until satisfaction. We should get back to work now."
Orin and Daron spent the remaining time until sunset building, wearing themselves out and being healed by Cassandra. As the sun set, they met up with Michael and Cassandra to eat dinner at Alfonso's again.
This time, they all each enjoyed their own bowl of stew made with meat from various animals hunted in the forests that surround Whistlefreid. The Whistlefreid stew was a delicacy that would be common for travelers to add to their palate, as the meats there had a unique flavor that had not been successfully replicated anywhere else.
"So, how's the house coming along, boys? Should I expect it to be done by the end of the week? Starting tomorrow, there will only be five more days until the original deadline."
"We have our doubts, master, but we will not give up our endeavors. That house will be finished by the end of the week."
"I certainly admire your determination, but I guess we'll have to see when the time comes. Won't we, Cass? You stopped by a few times. Tell me, how does the progress look this far?"
"They're determined and hard working, I can tell you that much. Though based on how they are now, I don't think they can finish it in a week."
Orin and Daron both started feeling irritated, but none of them were able to say anything against it. They quickly finished their bowls of stew and stood up.
"Thank you for the meal, master. Now if you would excuse us, we have work to do."
"Work? What kind? Are you going back to work on the house or something like that?"
"Nah. We're payin' a new frien o' ours a lil' visit. He's in some trouble'n we're helpin' 'im. In exchange, he gave us some cool new weapons."
Orin lifted up his sheethed rapier and showed it to Michael. Michael was clearly surprised upon seeing the carvings on the handguards.
"Where did you get that sword?"
"A blacksmith that lives here in WHistlefreid gave it to me. We are helping him with some trouble he is in, for… let us just say personal reasons, for now."
"Alright. You're excused."
Orin and Daron left the resturant and headed towards Richard's hut. Michael looked at Cassandra with an impressed look on his face.
"Did you see that? How did a novice fourteen-year-old like him get such a sword? One of the nine wands of unification, in his hands. I could even tell from scanning him, that sword is already attuning itself to him."
"It's already attuning to him? Does that mean…?"
"Exactly! There seems to be much more to those two boys than we, and even themselves realize. Orin's eye, Daron's mouth, and that strange talent they have. You remember I told them what they had accomplished through their studies were nothing to be proud of, right?"
"Yeah, I do. I did find it quite strange at first, as it did seem like they had a fundamental understanding on how to utilize their mana in combat. Though not with actual spells, of course."
"Well, not only does it seem like they have some strange talent for quick learning… I'm also curious of who Daron's father was, if they only studied his father's books. I'll speak with some friends of mine when I take my next trip to Pendleton, and have them run some investigations."
"So when will the next trip be?"
"In a month from now. That's why I set that new deadline. Me and Coveto will be heading to Pendleton after I've evaluated how well you've been teaching the boys. However this time, you won't be tagging along with me. I'll trust you to get them through the first three chapters until I'm back."
"Understood. I'll make sure they learn well, so they can start making their own spells as soon as possible."
"Well, there's still no need to rush. If they're done learning the fundamentals of the aspects of mana when I'm back, they should be able to train to master the basics for about half a year or so, before the late stages of training."
"And what about the house? There's no way those two can finish before the week is over."
"This is exactly why you're my best student, Cass. You see the harsh truth, but still question how it's going to be done, rather than how it's possible. Regardless, the answers will be revealed to the both of us soon enough…"