“Don’t get your feathers all ruffled boy, it wasn’t as serious as I made it sound. Jokes do still exist you know. Just like the word joke I just played. Feathers ruffled? Because you merge with a bird? And your last name is Raven-Crest? No? Yeah lets move on.”

Whether his pun would be appreciated or not, it didn’t really matter to him, because Griswold appreciated it enough for the both of them. Besides, as much as he disliked getting sucker-punched, he knew that it wasn’t on purple, though he liked making the guy sweat a little bit. After all, it was the least he could do for knocking him out like that. But regardless of that, it had been made sufficiently clear that there was really not a whole lot he could do to hurt the guy aside from maybe a personal attack. Even if his solar magic attacks had hit their target, they didn’t deal the kind of damage he had hoped they would, not by a long shot. It just went to further prove that there was a long way for him to go if he was to ever be ready to take on any demons, which in turn meant he would have a lot less time to go around and help the people of the forsaken realm.

Even though he liked to believe that his spell would at the very least be useful in some situations, using it against single targets that were way stronger than he was did not seem to be one of those situations. Whereas clever usage of a spell might at some occasions be a game changer, there was only so much a person could do when facing someone who was just that much stronger than he was. Striking it off on his mental checklist as a potential thing to use as it clearly wasn’t, there was really not a whole lot that he could do as it was one of his most powerful spells currently present within his arsenal. This meant that if he wanted to be able to do even a little bit of damage against a demon, or an archdemon in case the worst case scenario were to turn into a reality, he would need to first be able to do a lot of damage against a guy like Hania. Because as much as they both wanted to believe otherwise, Griswold did not think Hania currently had what it took to take down an archdemon either.

And this was not even because he thought Hania was weak, as he was already way stronger than Griswold personally was, but because of the way these royal knights were being set up. If the wizard king believed Hania would be enough to take down an archdemon, he would not send in at least three captain class wizards in to fight alongside the other senior magic knights that managed to make it through the selection procedures. Besides, if someone like him would manage to make his way through the selection based on the training he’d get done here in the following days, or however long Hania intended to keep him around for, that meant that there were a lot of other people who were not fit for the task ahead. And that was saying something, because Griswold did not even believe he would be ready for it once the time came, which in turn just made those who had to drop out from the selection procedure that much weaker or more useless than he was.

All things considered, there really was a lot of work left to be done, and a lot of things he had left to figure out if any of this was to have any chance at bearing any fruit. But right now did not seem like the best time to go asking any questions as he did not want to risk lowering his guard just to get hit like before. But that was when something interesting happened that just might everything possible after all. For some reason, the merged state the two were in broke off, leaving Hania in what he could only explain as a weakened state, likely experiencing some sort of drawback as a result of having drawn on so much power for a while. It wasn’t the first time this had happened either, as he had seen him falling out of his merged spirit form before, so it made quite a bit of sense to him. Power like that had to come at some kind of cost, as nothing in this world was ever free, which was something a commoner such as himself knew all too well. The more you took, the more you had to pay for it, that was just the way of the world.

In a way, this made him feel better about himself too, as he did not have any spirit to draw power from, though that just meant that the power he had and built up as he trained himself and studied his own powers, that it would rest at a comfortable level without facing any drawbacks. Even if that would at time make him weaker and less capable of resisting enemy advances and attacks, at least it meant that his own power would always be a constant. So as cool as it was to have a spirit to merge with and become so much stronger, Griswold knew that that was not going to ever be his path. If he was to become a royal knight, or any kind of knight above his current station, it meant having to build himself up and rely on his own power instead of any external forces. Realizing such a thing was likely not the worst thing he could possibly have done on this day, what with him still being a rookie knight with plenty of room and time to grow into his role as a protector.

The more he thought about it, he imagined that if he was to be the kind of person that had to rely on himself and the strength of his arms, he might need to actually invest in something such as a weapon or some armor he could take with him. Because even if he could use his mana to draw upon temporary weapons, those weapons were still spells at the end of the day, and those required more and more of his mana the longer he kept them out. That, and he imagined that a sword made out of steel or whatever kind of materials these magic knights used in the formation of their weapons would likely be stronger than the average spell. Leaving that thought for later, he heard that they were about to be doing something else entirely after a few minutes, which was likely the amount of time he needed if he was to use his form again due to the current fatigue he was facing. Making it clear that Griswold would currently be having the upper hand if they were to continue fighting and should make his time count, he imagined that he would do just that.

“You know what? I am going to be making this time count, though not in the way you might imagine. I’m not that vindictive, at least I don’t think I am. So since you’re not going to be in much of a fighting shape for a bit, there are still a couple of things I would like to know. Things that I feel might be important as to how things might be playing out in the not too distant future.“

Had he been the vindictive kind, he would very much have liked to use this time to beat the kid with every ounce of weight he could put behind his fists. But the thing being that he wasn’t nearly as vindictive as people gave him credit for kept him from doing such a thing. Because for what it was worth, he had better things to do than to attack someone who was currently beneath him and had to struggle for air, which was relatively similar to the state he had been in earlier. The only real difference was that the wind had actually been slammed out of his lungs, whereas Hania was merely out of breath and fatigued due to the strain of merging with a bird spirit. So he was not going to be fighting, though he was still going to be preparing for a fight, just not the one he was currently in. After all, there were much bigger fish to fry when it came down to the things that were still to come in the future. Three of them in particular, and three he wished to know more about, as every tad might help him die a bit less quickly.

“Earlier when you brought up Aamon, you said something about his Beast Aura magic being different from the one I’ve seen. In what way would it be different from the kind of magic the other mage I’ve seen might be able to use it, as I imagined all magic would in essence be the same, regardless of the person wielding it. For instance, I don’t imagine my fire magic being innately different from the Captains, at least not until he merges with that Salamander spirit you talked about. Is it similar in a way? That magic changes if a demon or a spirit becomes involved in its usage?”

Figuring this was in itself a rather fair question to ask as he had really no idea what he was going to be getting into once all of this was to actually take off and become a thing, all he really knew right now was that one of the archdemons was a chronomancer, the other was likely to be hiding out in the witches’ forest after parading around as their leader or something along those lines while being capable of using world tree magic, while the last of the three used what could only described as some kind of warped version of beast aura magic that was likely to be a lot stronger than that any version a human mage might be able to wield. As such, he wanted to enrich himself with as much information as he could possibly get on those fiends beforehand, as he believed that knowing what he faced might allow him to better prepare himself for the horrors they would undoubtedly throw in their direction once the fighting actually started. Though there was obviously more to it than just that.

The long and short of it was clearly that he was afraid, but not specifically of demons or demonic royalty. Simply put, it was the idea that he might end up dying against an enemy he knew was stronger than him, but might still underestimate in just exactly how vast their powers were, and that that might end up costing him his life. Just because he had seen someone using beast aura magic before, he imagined that he knew what one of the demon lords could do, though that much was quickly disproven when he was told that he utilized a stronger form of it. Had he not asked this question when he did, he might have attempted to attack the thing in a way he believed might work because it would have worked on the beast aura user he had met, just to get plowed inside out and left on the ground as carrion for the bottom feeders that undoubtedly followed in their wake. So just like he had asked about that guy in a rather specific manner, there was still something else that he needed to know, as there were still two more of them.

“While on that note, does that mean the other one also has an alternative version of world tree magic? I’m asking because I imagine such a thing might make sense, just as it wouldn’t make sense for the time magic user to possess his magic in an altered form. I mean, time is time, there isn’t a whole lot of stuff you could do to really warp that as a magic type as it impacts natural laws and has no direct physical form or appearance. As for Beast Aura magic, from what I’ve seen, is as form of magic that bestows animalistic prowess or actual magical constructs around the user, which is something that could be molded into something more… demonic in nature?”

When he thought about it, it made sense to believe that Aamon might be able to create massive demonic structures of mana instead of something like a tiger or a bear, which he imagined might make for far more powerful structures. Because why limit yourself to something with claws and fangs when it can also have wings and horns. In a way, he figured that the one called Lilith might be able to do entirely the same thing, using wood and trees as a foundation. Though the only thing he could really think of was that she might make for spooky looking trees with scary faces and leafless branches, Griswold imagined that it would be nowhere near as simple. He had heard stories as to how dangerous world tree magic could be in the wrong hands, as well as how beautiful and immensely powerful it was when used by one’s allies. Truth be told, that could be said about many different forms of magic, including his own, though he was not that far developed yet as to be able to claim that about his own solar magic.

Figuring he had about a couple minutes worth of time to get his questions answered before Hania would be ready to return to training, he figured he would leave it at this for the time being. But depending on the answers, he still had a few more questions he would want answered before he was ready to get back into it. How quickly or how slowly those were answered depended entirely upon the other guy, as he could either drag things out a bit by giving more precise answers, or make things last a whole lot longer by giving quick and short answers that would just end up leaving Griswold with more questions afterward.

2412 (31065)

“Yeah I didn’t imagine you would find it funny, though I can’t say that I blame you. A lot of people who feel like they are carrying the weight of the world, or the weight of their family on their backs either get really uptight and unfeeling about things, or they simply want to appear that way to the rest of the world. So while I’m going to take your warnings to heart and keep myself from trying to lighten the mood a bit, you ought to do me a favor as well. Lighten up a bit. You’re what, eighteen? nineteen years old? And you’re behaving like you’re at least fifty years older than I am. That doesn’t really free you up much towards enjoying the smaller things life has to offer now does it?”

Likely getting another scolding after saying that much, it wasn’t like he wasn’t expecting it anymore at this point, as almost everything he said or did was against some kind of code of conduct, did not fit with any of the noble families or felt like it was ridiculing an entirely lineage or bloodline. Had he been making these jokes around Hage, people would be laughing and smiling while sending another zinger in his direction, which was one of the smaller things in life he had mentioned. It was also one of those things he could not stand about a lot of people in higher standing, and for good reason. While it was in no way something he would berate them for personally, he knew that a lot of families groomed their children to one day take over the family and their fortune, which put a lot of strain on them. This too was for good reason, as nobody wanted to become known as the person that ended up putting an irreparable stain on the reputation of their family, a reputation that had often been worked on for many generations before their own birth.

In a way, he also wished to become a good magic knight because of the people back at the farm and the fact that they were counting on him. The difference between someone like Griswold and someone like Hania was simple in the fact that one of them had the weight of a lot of money, a title, a family and a major reputation riding on them. As for Griswold, he had exactly as much riding on his shoulders as he wanted, because he did not actually owe his new family anything. He had merely decided that he was going to invest in their farmlands because he wanted a better life for them, which was the sole reason behind him even becoming a magic knight to begin with. But as much as all of that was important to him, there were yet other things that were important to Hania. So even as he went about saying all of the things that he did, some things that resonated with the commoner while others just made him feel like he would never get on the same page as the noble heir, there was one bit that struck rather close to home. This being the notion that, while they came from different places and ended up in different ones too, they had both gotten this far due to someone taking pity on them.

“I can’t say you’re wrong about that one. As much as I hate anyone taking pity on me, there is no denying the fact that I would not be here today if no one had done so. I’d likely have died three years ago if not for some peasants and their good hearts, which is why I’ve always made that group of people my main priority as a knight.”

Aside from not really enjoying the whole bureaucracy vibe he was getting from the royal capital and the blue blooded nobles that were parading around there, there was also the feeling that he had about not really being needed as much there. And that was a very big part of the whole magic knight shtick for him, being needed for something rather than just being somewhere because there was more there of worth to protect. For him, one of the most important things was the fact that he could go out there to help people who really needed the help and could not get any other kind of help without having to pay for it, which was often quite the issue for them. So where many would like to be compensated for the work they did, wanted to get up higher on the ladder by proving themselves to those that could help them get up there more easily, or simply did not want to go too far from the comfort of their own home or their magic knight headquarters. All these things were, in a way, not that hard to understand, especially for those who had to climb their way up from the bottom.

“It’s not that I don’t want to help nobles, it’s the fact that there are plenty of knights around to do just that, people who want to shove themselves so far up the asses of those with power and pull that they’d come back out with brown-tipped noses. So I hope you don’t take offense to me saying so, but the thing is, I just don’t feel nearly as needed there as I do in the forsaken realm. After all, the only kind of thing you can earn back there is gratitude and respect, which is simply not enough for a lot of people. Figured I should clear up that part a bit so you don’t think I’ve got a problem with aiding a noble.”

In truth, this would have been the quickest way for Griswold to make his way over to the top of this country, or rather the top for someone such as him, a commoner. He would have been able to make more money in less time, get connections left and right that might help him get the more juicy missions that would in turn make him even more money, rinse and repeat. If nothing else, it would have increased his station and would allow him to send back a lot more money to the Cromwell farm, which would perhaps have given it the boost it needed already. But there was more to this whole magic knight thing than just helping himself and his family, as there were so many other families out there that needed help that truly appreciated him for stopping by to aid them. So even if that did not bring him the vast amount of wealth and reputation that it might have gotten him if he helped a different kind of people, there would come a point in everyone’s life where they had to sit down with themselves and take the time to ponder on the things that truly mattered to them.

When that moment came, Griswold knew that he would not be able to face himself if he had just been sitting around the headquarters, picking and choosing things as they came along just so he would get to suck up to the right people. Because while not all nobles were like that, there was no denying that there were those who abused their position of power and wealth in order to entice people into doing the things they needed done and prioritizing themselves and their petty wants and needs over those of the people in the countryside. And when the two were compared, there were a lot of chances present within the forsaken realm where a little bit of aid might save lives, rather than awarding cash. This was why, for someone like himself, gratitude and respect were enough. And even when respect might not be around as people simply did not trust magic knights, he knew that his help was something that would bring about some modicum of gratitude none the less. Whether they were willing to admit to it or not.

But that would have to do for him, as at times, one just had to imagine the gratitude within their minds when people refused to show it, which was fine by him. Sure, he would make a mention of it in some kind of sarcastic comment or a joke in poor taste, at that was often how Griswold handled such situations, though that would be all there was to it. He wouldn’t go around pressuring people into showing gratitude or respect, as forcing it kind of beat the purpose as it wouldn’t be honest in the slightest. But that was where he would depart from that particular train of thought, moving onto the next thing Hania brought up with regards to the gods. Whether he meant it the way he said it or if it was more nuanced, the idea behind actual gods was always something that never sat well with him. One of the more simple reasons behind it was that he was the kind of simple person that would believe something once he saw it, up until which he would just not think too much of it. This subject however was both similar to that and different at the same time, something he was about to shed some light on.

“I imagine you’re quite right, though there are some things that simply do not register with me. I’ve seen spirits, so I know those are true and real. I’ve been into some really old elven ruins that had murals depicting demons, so there was always a good chance those were around at some point at least. Besides, if the entire country is mobilizing to fend off demonic threats, it would be quite bold, bordering on idiotic of me to assume demons were just a work of fiction. But gods? I don’t believe those are real, and I don’t think that is ever going to change.”

Having already pondered on the matter once or twice before, the things he had seen during his relatively short time as a magic knight had dissuaded him from any thoughts or beliefs related to any kind of god or gods. Because no benevolent being in their right mind would allow for the presence of demons prancing around in a world that by all intents and purposes belongs to humans and other material beings. Knowing better than to claim that the world belonged only to humans, there was really no ignoring the fact that they more or less did. Even if there were stronger beings out there, they were usually an isolated something, whereas humans were many and widespread, having more or less claimed the world by being at the top of the food chain and behaving like apex predators even without actually behaving like apex predators. They did not bare their fangs or claws, mostly because they really did not have to.

They showed their superiority with things such as titles, lands and estates owned, how much wealth they had or people they had under them. And when none of those things were enough, they would show the kind of strength or power they possessed, in which case people already drew closer to being animals than being the elevated life forms many believe themselves to be. In the case of Griswold, he won’t be pretending that he is not in fact just some more evolved and magically powered mammal, and that like all other animals, he would eventually pass away and his body would rot in the ground. But where humans and animals vastly differed from one another was the point where people could build up a legacy by means of which one might immortalize themselves. Because as a human, the only time when one really died was when they were forgotten. And in a way, that was what he imagined these gods to be as well, people who happened to do some good things or were recorded doing good things, elevating them above their station as the stories circulated, eventually making gods out of regular people long after they passed away.

“Hold on for a moment. When you say three archdemons have already been taken down, why do they still keep coming at us the way they are? What were they called and what were their powers? Where the ones we face now stronger or weaker? Just how many archdemons are there out there, and are there any demons who are above the archdemons in station? Something like a demon king or demon god?”

Finding himself riddled with questions all of a sudden, he was having trouble believing the people of clover had already taken down three archdemons such as these before. The way he saw it, if they fought something that just kept returning in some way or shape, why did they not figure out some kind of mechanism or spell or ritual that could keep them from coming back to the material world altogether? After all, if the land of spade was working on something that could open the gates to the underworld, there had to also be some sort of spell or ritual that might be able to close it and lock it up way tighter than it had been before so even the few stragglers such as the archdemons would not be able to figure out ways around it. Even if such things were likely not something the average mage would be able to just pull off, there had to be a select few individuals that might possess exactly that kind of skill. Though that would just make finding those people that much more important, perhaps even more important than fighting a bunch of demons in the first place. Luckily for him, none of those things depended on him and whatever verdict he came up with.

“With all that out of the way, are you about ready to try that form of yours again, or did you have something else in mind entirely?”



2339 (33404)

One of the first things about what Hania said that truly registered with him on a more emotional level was the fact that he too had picked up on how Griswold himself might not have been the best possible candidate for the Crimson Lion squad. Normally when he heard something like that, he would just ignore it as it was said by those who were either jealous of him, or frowned upon the fact that a commoner, let alone a peasant had managed to infiltrate such an illustrious squad of magic knights. When Hania said it however, he could tell that he did not mean it like that at all. He said it in the same way as a friend would tell another friend that their new goatee really did not make them look like a movie star or looked half as good as they thought it would look on them. An unfortunate situation he too had once been in when he had to tell his adoptive brother Henrik that his goatee made him look like a massive pervert that did the most awful things to women. Luckily, he took the news quite well and shaved it off soon after.

“You know, the more I think about it, the more it might be true that the Crimson Lions might not be the best fit for me. Not because of their conduct or because they mistreated me, as I do believe I’ve been treated really well, especially considering I was the only commoner in a squad existing out of nobles. Truth be told, I had imagined that the whole squad would be a whole lot less welcoming to me, though this was not the case, and I am in fact quite thankful for that. I truly am.”

Making it known what his own feelings were, he did not want to make it sound like his time as a Crimson Lion had been anything short of a blessing. Even though he had been behaving like a bit of a brat at times by simply not stopping by the headquarters and focusing entirely on his own training and the help he could offer to the people living out in the countryside, it was thanks to the Crimson Lions that he had been able to become a magic knight to begin with. Though it was also thanks to a specific member that he had almost lost his title as a magic knight over physical violence against another knight, which had in turn ended with him having to drop out of an important mission, he could also point towards a high ranking member of the lions for teaching him a rather valuable lesson when it came to wanting to protect and save everyone, including those that did not wish to be saved from themselves and their destructive behavior. But as happy as he had been there, there were also things that he had trouble dealing with.

“However, as you may have already learned during our discussions here, there are a lot of things I struggle with, one of these things being how one should act in the presence of nobility. I can’t be focusing on how I speak to someone who believes to be above my station if for no reason other than the fact that they have more money, or how they might be the rotten kind that might send people after my family just for me looking at them wrong or carrying myself in the wrong fashion. In those regards, I would probably be more at home with a group of outcasts and commoners such as the Black Bulls.”

Not really meaning the word outcasts in the unkind manner, Griswold knew exactly what he meant with it when he said it. To him, the whole commoner in the magic knights generally made him feel a bit like an outcast already, though many of the Black Bulls seemed to be outcasts from various other walks of life. Whether they did not really fit in with their families, had rather quirky behavioral patterns and mannerisms, did not really belong anywhere else or several of the aforementioned reasons at once, they were among the types that got drafted into the Black Bulls. Not entirely sure whether his behavioral quirks would make him qualify, the fact that he was a peasant that wanted to look after other peasants made him into a decent enough candidate, or at least that was what his reasoning led to. One of the things he would miss about the lions would be how he could compare himself to other junior knights of noble descent, and how he was growing at a more stellar rate. While it was a silly thing, it was in fact one of those small tidbits in life that fueled his drive to become a stronger mage.

“So while I do enjoy the idea of being the only commoner among nobles, and surpassing those who joined around the time I did, those are things I’ll be taking with me wherever I go. The same thing can be said about the hospitality I’ve received, as well as the aid from people such as yourself and the vice-captain, not to mention the captain himself for even allowing me to be a part of the red squad to begin with. I’ve learned a lot from it for sure, though once the royal knights exams are over, regardless of whether I make it in or not, I think I will be trying my hand at transferring to the Black Bulls squad. If nothing else, it will allow me to bring the things I learned as a Lion to see if it can help the Bulls with their day to day tasks.”

And that was about all that he could really say about the issue at hand, as he had more or less just turned in what could be seen as a resignation to Hania, which might not have been the best place to leave such things. Imagining he would have to make a more formal resignation soon, during which he would make it more clear what his motivations were and that he wished to be transferred to the Black Bulls squad, at which points he would undoubtedly need to make the whole thing clear a second time. That said, he really did not mind Hania knowing about his reasoning, as he imagined some of the people inside of the squad knowing exactly why he left would not be the worst thing in the world. There were probably one or two others there that might have actually not disliked him, so the knowledge regarding his leave circulating might eventually reach such people too, or so he imagined. But as he had come to expect from Hania, his train of thought was soon shaken away from him leaving towards another topic entirely.

Devils. Apparently a caste of demons that stood above the archdemons themselves, which was a rather frightening thought, what with an archdemon having managed to rip tears into space and time and manage to displace entire families of people all over the country. To him, that felt like a being that possessed an awful lot of power, so he really did not wish to meet something that dwarfed one of those. What with whole teams of knights being formed specifically to counter these three demons, he could not imagine a world where the magic knights alone would be enough to deal with something like a devil. And the more he thought about the issue, the more he started pondering on the idea of there being more than a single devil, which might very well be possible. After all, if there was one of them, why couldn’t there be two or three. As much as he wanted to ask more about those individual entities, he figured there would likely not be a whole lot of time left for it as Hania already seemed to be on the move again, making preparations for what seemed like another merger.

After sharing the last bit of information that would be shared before whatever happened happened, Hania once again made the spirit bird scatter into particles, taking it into his own body to reach their merged state yet again. This time however, there was something different about it. For as far as he could actually sense mana, he could feel that the difference was not just external, which was going to be quite bothersome for him. After all, just having to deal with the previous form was hard enough already, what with him not being able to actually harm the guy even if he wanted to. All he could do to some extent, much in part due to the spell that had been used on him, was to simply keep up with him and make the sparring session into more of a sparring session as opposed to just him getting beaten around the training grounds like a sack of useless potatoes. And as that was not something he really enjoyed, he imagined the spell speeding him up was a nice little temporary upgrade.

With the transformation finishing, even Griswold could tell that this was likely a more complete version of the previous merged state, as that was more or less what it looked like at this point. Taking on various glacial features such as a blueish skin, glowing hair that almost looked see through, and not to mention looking far more regal than he already looked in his regular attire, which was saying something. In a way, the blue grayish hue of his skin made him look a bit like someone who was dying from hypothermia, or had already died, though it was strangely radiant at the same time, which created an odd type of contrast that strangely worked. If the goal was to look imposing after merging with his spirit bird, he had certainly managed to tick the appropriate boxes on the list. And now that his form had been attained, Griswold instantly bent through his knees after changing his footing a little, just so he would be able to better protect himself or move if need be. After the unintended sucker punch from earlier, he wasn’t going to get caught unaware a second time.

So when a blast of frozen mana was launched towards him, this time with a little introduction and a flick of the wrist from Hania himself, he could at the very least see it coming. With the time he had, there was no time to throw a ball of solar energy at it and hope that it would do the trick, as it would likely just blow up in his face judging by the speed of the ice attack. The only thing he could do right now was to use his new burst spell, one he had not exactly been able to use a whole lot due to the fact that it was perhaps his most defensive offensive move, which was a bit of a contradiction in and of itself, but that did not really matter. When he had thought about how the vast majority of his spells was purely circumstantial in their effectiveness, this was pretty much the most circumstantial of all as it would only work if a spell approached him, or a person did, in which case the burst of solar mana might clash against them or it in an attempt to either nullify an attack or to send the person coming at him flying back quite a fair distance, thus giving him some breathing room and time to ponder on what steps to take next.

Blasting out whatever mana he could for the sake of his own counter attack that was meant to specifically counter the incoming strike, the outward burst met with the glacial attack and pushed back for only a moment, after which the freezing cold eventually overpowered the solar offensive. As soon as the clash was over, the colliding forces erupted and blew Griswold off his feet. This time however, he would not be knocked out again as his mana skin managed to withstand the majority of the damage that made it through. So as he was blown back a couple of meters and fell on his back in a field of grass, he let out a somewhat unhappy moan as he quickly climbed back on his feet. Brushing most of the snow and grass alike off of him, he got up just in time to see the spirit state he had merged into fading before Hania collapsed onto the floor. For a moment, Griswold figured he was just being dramatic or something, though that did not really seem to fit Hania’s profile at all, meaning it had to be the real deal. And it was for that same reason that things suddenly got quite weird for him too as it put him in a rather peculiar position.

Not exactly knowing how to handle this situation aside from trying to diagnose exactly what had happened, the only thing he could come up with that seemed even remotely logical was that the guy had simply overdone it by merging with the spirit one times too often in too small a time frame. While he had no idea as to the toll it would have on the human body to constantly take in such a force of nature over and over again, even if for the sake of training, he could not imagine that it was healthy, just like how pushing past one’s physical limits would cause a great amount of strain on the muscles and risk them damaging, tearing or ripping. Thinking that this kind of analogy would only partially work as the spirit empowered Hania both in the physical sense and in the magical sense, he imagined that the damage might also be done in terms of far more elaborate and internal forms such as to his mana reservoirs. Hopefully, whatever had caused him to snap out of his form had happened before such a thing might happen, though he could not know for sure.

The only thing he could really do right now was to bet on the kid being more resilient than he looked while he went towards the estate in order to find some people who might be able to help. Given the fact that Hania brought up how he had some underlying health issues he did not really elaborate on too much, it made sense that the people who worked here would know what to do in case something were to happen to him. At least that was about the extent of his deduction, as he really could not be sure just how much the people here kept secret from one another, especially between the family itself and the servants. Not really knowing the general vibe between nobility and their servants, he imagined some might be incredibly secretive as they would not want their family stuff reaching the streets. That said, he could also imagine how they would want to have them be aware of things such as health issues so they would know what to do when they needed to help out. Because Griswold clearly did not.

After a minute or two, he finally managed to find someone and bring them back to the training field. From there on out, Griswold was requested to carry him to his room, from which point house staff would be able to take over just fine. Even though he really did not need to do anything in order to help out beyond the point of calling for help, he imagined he owed the guy at least this much. After all, even if he had knocked him out literally out of the blue, the fact that he had offered to try and help him out and tried to make him stronger meant something. Aside from trying to make himself stronger, Hania had seen something in Griswold that he had not really seen himself all that often, though that was still something that was buried beneath the surface as he had barely been able to do a thing to harm the guy during their training sessions. And as much as it strung to come to terms with his own weakness in the face of stronger allies, as well as much stronger opponents, he most likely would not have figured out anything regarding the archdemons until he actually came face to face with one.

That was how oblivious he had been to the true threats to this country he now lived in for the past three years, and the sad part about it was that it was a choice. If he had returned to the Crimson Lions headquarters more often and had not insisted on not lifting a damned finger to help out anyone from the noble realm because he had his focus placed on the forsaken and common realms, he might have heard things sooner. And even when he had more or less had his face shoved into the subject of demons, he really hadn’t thought to much about it, because it had only been a mural from a time that had passed hundreds of years ago. When taking all of these things into consideration, there had been a lot of things he had already learned here today. And while they would not exactly make him physically stronger, they had at the very least managed to strengthen his resolve, as well as get him to think about how he considered his own future as a magic knight. Because after all, he had not exactly hidden the fact that he often considered quitting altogether.

But that just made the notion of perhaps joining up with another squad that much better, one that was located within the forsaken or common region so he would actually have their bit of responsibility, rather than pretending he had it because he wanted to have it. As much as he wanted to believe Hania was right about what he said and how every squad was more or less responsible for every caste of people, deep down, he knew that the people from the appropriate squad would sooner look after the people that had been assigned to them over someone else, and perhaps that was the way things should be. Letting squads such as the Green Mantis and Black Bulls look after the forsaken region, while squads such as the Silver Eagles and Golden Dawn looked after the nobles. Because letting the people who came from the region look after the region of their birth, or simply because it was the region where they had their homes and families, that was worth something. It was enough to make people go to far greater lengths and heights to get the job done well, as well as fast.

Once Griswold had dropped the kid off in his room and left him to be tended to by those who knew what to do a whole lot better than he did, the currently still Crimson Lion would go about the estate and do a bit of site seeing, as well as a bit of learning. Going to the places from which he did not get barred, one of the places he stopped by was the garden, a place he would use to get some rest and also put his mind to rest. Because aside from Hania passing out and the knowledge of archdemons being in this world with the goal of destroying the clover kingdom, among other things, a lot of things had been dumped into his lap that needed to be processed properly. As much as he had tried to skim over it and leave it where it was, there was no way for him to just push aside the notion that his family was likely still alive, but displaced somewhere in another reality. More than that, they were likely replaced with their counterparts of that reality, which meant that there were people running around that were wearing the faces of those he had grown up with, including his parents.

Perhaps one of the worst realizations that came along with this information was the fact that there was likely also a different Griswold, a different Solarian with his actual family, who did not know the people that had been brought into his reality, his life. And just like that, he imagined those that had been displaced to this particular reality might be out looking for him too. That said, even if they found him, they would not have found the “him” that they were looking for, because they would find this worlds’ Griswold instead of their worlds’ Solarian. As he thought about it, it became harder and harder for him to give all of this a place in the back of his mind, as nothing about any of this made any sense to him, at least not in the emotional sense. In terms of the overall mechanics behind of what had happened and who was to be blamed for it, that was the kind of stuff he had made entirely clear for himself, as it was the archdemon called Asmodeus who had done the dirty deed. But even if he had done it, he held all three of them accountable for it, and would see them all dead if he had anything to say about it.

So while it made sense to him in the intellectual sense, it was the emotional one that was having trouble with getting in line. Believing that it would likely be taking him a lot of time before he would be able to truly put all of this where it belonged, giving it a space and handling it with some modicum of grace, there was a big chance that it would be making him quite angry and sad for some time to come. Mad at the demons, sad for his family and their counterparts, as well as mad at himself for having the audacity of wondering to himself whether it would have been worse for him personally that his family had been displaced, or if it would have been worse if they had just died like he thought they had three years ago. Slapping himself across the face as a means of snapping out of it, all he really did was hurt himself as the thoughts just stayed. But as much as thinking about all of it hurt him, he knew that he would not have the luxury of time and that he had to keep training himself even if Hania was not going to be around for a while. Because thanks to the healing spell he had received a short time ago, he was about as refreshed as he could be.

Not knowing when Hania was going to come back, Griswold refused to believe his week of training had come to an end after roughly one hour of training at best. Getting up and leaving the garden to see if there was any place where he might be able to do some reading, he wanted to see what kind of literature the family had gathered. Finding that they had quite a lot of it, and that he was allowed to at the very least look into some of it, there was something about it that made him want to turn around and return to the training grounds. Not because he was allowed to do some reading like he wanted, but because for some reason he reminded himself that if he had time to read and time to ponder on things such as what might or might not have happened to his family, that also meant that he had the time and the energy to go through some level of training too. And as much as he wanted to go about doing the latter two right now, which was a unique situation by and of itself, he knew deep down in his heart that the most important thing he could do right now was to simply push himself and get stronger by doing the things he could do, rather than pondering over things he could never change.

And so he continued training, not just doing training with his magic, but physical training as well. Simple things such as running laps, doing a bunch of sit-ups, push-ups and lifting up rocks and statues around the place, at least until a member of staff told him to put it down and exactly how expensive it would be if he broke it. According to the number of zeros, it did not take him a whole lot of time to carefully put it back and just focus on the rocks instead, even though they were lighter. At least if he dropped one of those, he would not be paying for it for the rest of his life. By the time the day came to an end however, he too was picked up by members of the estate’s staff team, informing him of the fact that a room had been prepared for him and that dinner was about to be served. Making it clear that Hania was fine and resting, at least he wouldn’t need to worry himself about that. Not at all comfortable around this much luxury, he was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and decided to go with it, which turned into an evening full of good food and a very good night of sleep. Though that much was to be expected, what with the mental strain alone that had been placed onto him as a result of all the new information.

In the coming days however, their training did not cease. As had been discussed, or rather imparted upon him as per Hania’s own decision, Griswold had been sleeping in guest quarters, waking up to good food before going back in to train. Even though the first day had seemingly not brought him a whole lot, save for a greater understanding over the things he could actually do and new ways in which to utilize what spells he had to make them more effective, much of that changed after the first few days. The more he had to match himself up to powerful spells by using the spells he had at his own disposal, the more capable he became at limiting the output of his mana while still yielding relatively similar results. Another thing that he learned which was quite important to someone such as him who did not yet possess any truly powerful spells but had to make due with the ones that were used in very specific situations, was to fine tune their control. But obviously that too was more difficult than it sounded, which he came to find out soon enough.

Because when he said fine tune his control, he meant that he was capable of more easily compressing greater amounts of solar mana and doing so in less time than it normally would have taken him. Learning how to split his spells into duplicates that would make it easier to either carpet bomb an area or simply bombard a specific space with his spells, the magic he possessed went from being entirely circumstantial to simply becoming more effective in a plethora of situations, which was exactly what he needed. When matched up to guys like Hania, it was clear that power itself was not going to be the thing he needed most right now, what he needed was to make his spells more capable of either injuring stronger enemies, or in the case that they would sooner outheal his damage or block it to the point where none of it mattered, could at least distract them long enough for a more powerful mage to hit them with a more powerful type of spell. Though it was not exactly the role he wished to fill out for himself, there was really no way around it given his current level of strength.

Coming to terms with the idea that that was all he would really be capable of doing the way he was now, the only thing he really worked on developing for himself was how much he could control his mana and his magic alike, before he realized that he actually had the means by which to improve the power of his spells, even if only at spells that were of roughly the same level as his own. Learning that utilizing mana by controlling it and in turn increasing the output of damage from said spell was more or less two sides of the same coin, the days that followed up on it were the first ones in which he had actually felt like he himself was more in control of his destiny, the first time since learning about the archdemons that a small part of him actually felt mighty. Surely he realized that he would never be able to beat Hania, let alone an archdemon, though he did start believing in the fact that his magic just might be able to sting them a bit, maybe even harm them if they took enough damage from the others. Because if their mana skin, or whatever they had that protecting them from magic was gone, even his mediocre spells might harm them.

So aside from actually managing to split his spells in order to either deal greater damage upon impact, spread the damage over a larger area and even learning to some extent how to keep those falling inside of the area from becoming collateral damage by protecting them from harm through sheer means of mana manipulation and bending the harmful solar mana around them, Griswold learned how to do a plethora of things in an amount of time so short that it barely encompassed a whole week. For what things were worth however, it was also the hardest week of his life in terms of the things his body and mind were put through, occasionally getting knocked on his ass or having the air blown out of him by having to tank a hit he could not evade or magically block. Though this did not give him a thicker skin or anything like that, it did make him realize exactly how much he hated being a target practice dummy, thus making him focus more on not taking attacks head on.

Knowing quite well that his defensive capabilities rested entirely on using offensive spells to either nullify incoming attacks or overpowering them rather than creating things such as defensive shields or domes, he at least came to understand that that was simply what was in the cards for him and his future. For that very reason, he did not even try to see if he could maybe devise any defensive spells or constructs, choosing instead to keep modifying his offensive prowess and test his abilities at Hania, knowing he was capable of taking the brunt of his attacks with relative ease. And when he said relative ease, he meant that it took him just about nothing to just brush them aside, though that did not stop him from doing what he believed needed to be done, which was to just use all the time Hania needed in order to train his merged bird states to a point where he could use it without having to forcefully tap out like he had done before. And just like that, the time eventually went by more and more quickly as greater results were borne with every new day.

At the end of the week of training he had been promised, Griswold honestly felt like he had managed to gain a lot of strength and a good amount of control over said strength that he previously lacked. With that much out of the way, there was not a whole lot left that could be done here as he had already taken a leave from his actual duties for seven days by now, which was likely something most people would not exactly enjoy. Because even if he was planning on taking his business elsewhere somewhere down the line, as things were now, he was still a member of the Crimson Lions, and with that came certain expectations that needed to be lived up to. So as he thanked Hania for the time he spent there, as well as all of the individual members of staff that had helped see to it that his time at the estate was an enjoyable one, he made his way over to his broom. Pondering on all the great dishes he had gotten to taste there, not to mention the quality of the sheets and the bed he had slept in, he would not soon forget the hospitality he had been shown there.

Believing this particular family lived up rather well to what he had come to expect from the Crimson Lions, which was that they were welcoming, fairly stern but not enough to the point where they seemed like assholes, it really did not strike him as odd that Lydia was the one to become the vice-captain of the lions. So as he boarded his witches bicycle and took off into the sky, he already knew that he would be meeting the guy again soon enough. Because after all the beatings he had gone through, all of the things he had learned about himself and about their shared enemies, there was no way that he was going to be missing out on the royal knights exams. Even if he failed, he wanted to see just how much he could do, and if he could live up to the standards of a royal knight, even if he were to no longer be an actual magic knight by that time. Only time would tell.

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