Training was still exhausting.
If anything, it had become stranger.
Spiro seemed to have an endless supply of new methods for making our days more difficult. Whenever we believed we had adapted to something, he altered it in ways none of us expected.
Sometimes he added weight.
Sometimes he removed sleep.
Sometimes he simply waited until we were already tired and then announced another exercise.
At some point, I stopped wondering why.
The only thing that mattered was whether my body could continue moving.
Because when my muscles were burning, and my lungs felt empty, sleep came more easily.
And when sleep came quickly, there was less time for other things.
One morning, while we were running toward the village, I said that out loud without thinking.
"It's good that training is getting harder," I said between breaths. "It makes me tired faster."
Theo, who was running beside me, turned his head sharply.
"What?"
Margaretha nearly tripped.
"You like it?" she asked.
"Yes."
Theo stared at me like I had said something completely unreasonable.
"That is not a normal statement, Rick."
Margaretha nodded strongly.
"That's insane."
Pritha, running slightly behind us, looked worried.
"Are you… okay?"
I thought about it for a moment.
"I think so."
Theo sighed dramatically.
"I knew it. Spiro has finally broken Rick's brain."
Margaretha crossed her arms while still running.
"You shouldn't say things like that."
"Why?"
"Because normal people don't enjoy suffering."
I considered her words.
"I don't enjoy suffering," I said calmly. "I just like sleeping."
That made Theo groan.
"That's even worse."
Pritha still looked concerned.
"You really sleep better when you're exhausted?"
"Yes."
She opened her mouth as if to say something else, but stopped.
Robert had been running quietly behind us the whole time.
When we slowed near the village entrance, he stepped forward and tapped my shoulder lightly.
He was smiling.
It was a small smile, but I noticed it.
"Exhaustion helps sometimes," he said quietly.
It sounded like he understood exactly what I meant.
***
That night, we were camping in the forest during a small patrol mission.
The fire burned low while the rest of the forest remained dark and quiet. Our camp has become more efficient over the past few months. The shelter was hidden between trees, supplies were arranged neatly, and the fire was kept small enough that it could not be seen easily from far away.
Margaretha was cooking.
Theo was trying to help.
Which meant he was mostly making things worse.
"You're cutting the vegetables wrong," Margaretha said.
"I am cutting them scientifically."
"You are mutilating them."
"It improves flavor distribution."
"That's not how cooking works."
Theo adjusted his knife.
"Cooking is merely chemistry."
Margaretha gave him a flat look.
"Then your chemistry tastes terrible."
Pritha laughed.
Agni stirred the pot quietly.
I sat near the edge of the firelight, sharpening my sword.
Even when resting, my eyes kept moving.
Watching the tree line.
Counting shadows.
Checking the same gaps between trees again and again.
After a while, Theo noticed.
"You're doing the guard thing again," he said.
"I am on guard."
"No, you're doing the Rick guard thing."
Margaretha looked up from the pot.
"What's the Rick guard thing?"
Theo pointed toward me.
"He's watching the same three trees repeatedly."
I paused.
Had I been?
Probably.
Margaretha followed my gaze.
"There's nothing there."
"I know."
Theo leaned back dramatically.
"Rick is preparing for the extremely dangerous possibility of… aggressive squirrels."
Agni snorted.
Pritha giggled softly.
Margaretha shook her head.
"You can relax a little."
"I am relaxed."
Theo looked unconvinced.
"Rick, that is the least convincing, relaxed person I have ever seen."
Robert was sitting nearby, repairing a strap on his armor.
Without looking up, he said quietly,
"Let him watch."
Margaretha looked at him.
"Why?"
Robert shrugged.
"Because someone should."
No one argued after that.
The forest stayed quiet.
But I still checked the same trees again before lying down to sleep.
***
Our next mission came soon after.
This time, we traveled south into the deeper wilderness.
The bounty described roaming brown orcs that had been harassing caravans and villages along the forest roads.
But when we reached the area, we discovered something unexpected.
It wasn't a roaming group.
It was a settlement.
Dozens of crude huts surrounded a central fire pit. Smoke rose through the trees, and the smell of cooked meat drifted through the air.
There were far more orcs than the bounty report suggested.
Spiro observed the settlement for a while from the hillside.
Then he smiled.
Which was usually not a good sign.
"This will be good practice," he said.
Theo immediately frowned.
"That sentence is concerning."
Spiro continued calmly.
"Competition."
Margaretha's eyes lit up.
"What kind?"
"Whoever kills the most orcs in a single day wins."
Robert was smiling.
"I like this already."
Theo groaned.
"Of course you do."
Pritha looked uncertain.
"We're… counting?"
Spiro nodded.
"Start at dawn."
***
The battle lasted most of the day.
The settlement exploded into chaos when we attacked.
Brown orcs were stronger than humans but slower.
Individually, they were not difficult.
But there were many of them.
The forest echoed with roars, clashing steel, and bursts of fire magic.
I moved through the settlement carefully.
Strike.
Step.
Strike again.
My Avenir Eyes helped track movement through smoke and dust.
Sometimes I found two or three enemies at once.
Sometimes none.
By the time the sun began to set, the clearing had gone quiet.
Smoke drifted between the huts.
Bodies lay scattered across the ground.
Spiro gathered us near the center.
"Well?" Margaretha asked eagerly.
Spiro counted briefly.
"I have twenty."
Margaretha grinned.
"Eighteen."
Robert said calmly, "Seventeen."
I checked my count.
"Twelve."
Theo raised his hand weakly.
"Ten."
Agni stretched his arms.
"Seven."
Pritha looked down at the ground.
"Five."
Margaretha laughed.
"Pritha, you're improving!"
Pritha smiled shyly.
"I was mostly trying not to get burned by Agni's fire."
"That's fair."
Theo wiped sweat from his forehead.
"I feel this competition was biased toward people who enjoy violence."
Margaretha pointed at him.
"You killed ten!"
"That was self-defense."
"You were chasing them."
"They were running aggressively."
Agni laughed loudly.
Even Robert chuckled quietly.
For some reason, we all started laughing.
Standing in the middle of a destroyed settlement.
Surrounded by smoke and bodies.
Theo laughed the hardest.
"I still think my ten were very dignified kills."
Margaretha rolled her eyes.
"Dignified?"
"Yes. Elegant even."
"You stabbed someone in the back."
"That was tactical elegance."
The laughter continued for a while.
I laughed too.
I wasn't sure why.
The sound felt strange in my chest.
Too loud.
Too light.
When the laughter finally faded, I looked around the clearing again.
The huts were burning slowly.
The air smelled like smoke and blood.
Twelve.
That was my number.
A few months ago, when I was running away with Frans, killing one person had felt overwhelming.
Now twelve felt like a normal result.
I realized something then.
None of us had hesitated today.
Not once.
We had moved through the settlement like it was simply another exercise.
Another training field.
Perhaps that was why we laughed.
Because laughing was easier than thinking about it.
Easier than asking what we were becoming.
The fire crackled softly behind us.
Spiro watched the burning settlement silently.
Then he said,
"Good work."
And we began the long walk back through the forest.