Kian Goldmaul POV

  It had been a month since the meeting where Thaddeus had brought me along with Nicolas.

  I was currently at my biological parents’ house—to be exact, in the backyard.

  I had not gone to the military training ground for what I just did because I did not want others to see what I was doing, and mostly because I needed my father’s help.

  I had been experimenting with different uses for the Fool’s Line lately, even after expanding beyond three points of Veythar per second, I saw nothing new beyond the original three applications.

  So I was trying to find a new method—if one even existed.

  I noted from my past experience that I could not interact with the lines.

  The first time I tried was within the month I learned the Fool’s Line, but my hand just passed through them as if they did not exist, just like how my hand moves through air.

  The lines did not react at all; their shapes did not change in the slightest and neither did their color.

  I tried to interact with them in different ways—for example, using fire magic, water magic, light magic… every type and kind of magic I knew—but none of them worked. All gave me the same result. It seemed the lines were ignoring anything physical entirely.

  My father had tried to help me on the side with different magics that I could not currently perform.

  He did this by me showing him the exact location of a line, from its start to where it cut off in the air.

  He tried to use multiple physical magics—for example: extremely hot fire, anti-healing sword magic, light barrier, space-cutting slash, separating all the atoms and antimatter.

  And he used non-physical magic too: space expansion, space deletion, Veythar to create an empty void at one spot and many other

  None of them worked. Still the same result.

  After those continuous failures, my father even debated whether we should stop the experimenting until I was able to use Veythar magic—the superior magic—or until I learned some high-power offensive magic myself, as it might differ at that time.

  As we finished experimenting, I went to the Balburg house, changed into training clothes, and went to the training ground with Niko.

  After an hour and a half of training, we finished.

  As we returned home, Niko said he had something to tell us.

  We sat on the couch as he sat in front of us.

  “You two, in three days, will be coming with me. Thaddeus asked me to bring you two along.”

  “To where?” I asked risin my arm.

  “I was getting to that. Ahem. Well, you see—there’s a big forest near this city, and from time to time, the animals—evolved animals, to be exact they repopulate too much. We have to go clear a portion of them so the ecosystem of that forest stays balanced and to ensure that evolved or mutated animals don’t go toward the city.”

  “They might spread here after being surpassed by a stronger race, or just because there isn’t enough space for them to feel comfortable.”

  I nodded. “By the way, how strong are the animals in that forest?” I asked.

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  Niko thought for a few seconds. “The forest where I took you hunting that time is considered a slightly safe forest, since it doesn’t have any dangerous predators or ones that can threaten an adult. But this one is filled with them. The weakest among them is as strong as a fifth-tier soldier, and the strongest is at first-tier soldier level of strength.”

  “How strong am I compared to a fifth-tier soldier?” I asked.

  After hearing my question, Niko paused and looked at me, blinking for a while.

  After thinking, he said, “You are probably as strong as a fifth-tier soldier who’s in his first three weeks in the military service—and that’s just because you can use your Fool’s Line ability. Otherwise, you’re inferior to them in everything, besides of course swordsmanship and bow…”

  “Well, they’re only better than you at the things military personnel can learn. After all, you’re not allowed to learn many types of magic yet.”

  I stared at him confused and stated my confusion. “Why wouldn’t I be able to beat a fifth-tier soldier after three weeks? Can’t I just use my bow and shoot them from afar while keeping my distance?”

  Niko shook his head. “Their first three weeks are physical training and weapon training. After that, they will start to learn defensive magic and some offensive magic, and by around their fourth week, they should be able to fight using them.”

  I nodded. “Who will come with us for the clearing mission?”

  “Six second-tier knights and me—a first-tier—will be going. It is required by law to prevent any casualties,” Niko said. “And it’s good for us too, as we can stretch our limbs from time to time.”

  …

  …

  …

  It had been a few days, and we were currently in the forest.

  We had come here through a portal a mage had opened for us.

  Niko was next to me and Nicolas, and as for the other knights, they were walking ahead, taking the front.

  Niko looked at us before starting to explain. “The knights are going to split up to cover more ground. You two will be with me, with another knight accompanying us.”

  After saying that, he looked at the others. “Before you guys split up, don’t go as fast as usual, or else those two kids won’t learn anything. So go slower. Understood?”

  “Yes,” they said.

  “Okay, go.”

  After he said that, they split up and disappeared as if they’re teleporting, moving faster than my eyes could perceive, leaving only me, Nicolas, Niko, and the other knight.

  Niko picked me up, and the other knight picked Nicolas up. After that, they both started running at what seemed to be sixty kilometers per hour.

  After a minute, we arrived in front of an evolved animal, which appeared to be a bear—but unlike other bears, it had two sharp horns sticking from its head, and instead of hair, there were gray and orange, snake-like scales covering its body.

  “This is an evolved bear, as you can tell,” Niko said. “It has the strength of a fourth-tier soldier. Its skin is tough, coupled with scales, and it’s agile and fast compared to its bulky size. Although it’s slower than the mutated rabbits you saw before.”

  We both nodded as the second knight put Nicolas down next to Niko and me and started walking toward the bear.

  “Do not kill it instantly. Those kids still need to see something, or it will be no different from staying at home.” Niko said.

  He nodded, pausing momentarily—likely thinking about how to proceed. As he paused, the bear ran toward him at high speed, and just as Niko said, it was fast, but just slightly slower than the mutated rabbit’s speed.

  The knight sidestepped, dodging its dash. After doing that, he lifted his sword half-heartedly and, at the same time, used magic on the sword’s edge, which seemed to dull it a little, before swinging at the bear without using any form. As the sword connected, it didn’t leave any mark besides some white marks.

  Niko noticed our surprise and nodded. “Well, since you saw it, he can now finish it. No need to spend a lot of time on one animal.”

  “Alright, you can kill him,” he told the knight. The knight immediately appeared next to the bear and cut its head off.

  After doing that, he used a weird type of magic I’d never seen, which caused the bear’s corpse to disappear instantly—or at least, that’s what my limited perception could see.

  “By the way, why did he dull the sword?” I asked Niko.

  “The normal knight’s sword is sharp enough to cut through it, even if its skin is tougher.”

  “Sadly, we cannot give this type of sword to non-knights, as it’s too heavy. That one alone weighs over a ton. Well, to get that amount of sharpness, the sword’s material needs to be stronger than most.”

  Over a ton?! It looked no different than a normal sword, other than its length!

  “Alright, let’s get going,” Niko finished.

  After saying that, we continued walking through the forest as the knight demonstrated on the animals before killing them.

  Chapter End