Lucas groaned as his back slammed into the ground once again. Above him, he could see the grinning form of Magnus looking down at him, a longsword in hand.

  “You’re getting better, kid, but it’ll still be a while before you can take me on,” He taunted.

  “I sure don’t feel like I’m getting any better,” Lucas responded, resting a hand on his chest where Magnus had landed a heavy punch.

  “Don’t be like that,” Magnus held out a hand, which Lucas took, and helped the young man to his feet. “Lucas, you’ve been learning for almost a week. What you’ve managed to learn so far is nothing short of incredible, specifically for a new blood.”

  When he saw the disbelieving look on Lucas’ face, the older man just shook his head. “Trust me, you’re doing great. You won’t be able to learn everything I can teach you within a month, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be weak. By the time we’re done, I’ll make sure you know how to fight properly and can handle yourself.”

  “Thanks, Magnus. I really can’t thank you enough.”

  And he really did appreciate all the work that Magnus, Lissa, and Fay had been putting in to help him. To all of them he’d been a stranger when they first met, and yet they’d all been so willing to help him with everything he needed.

  “I think we’ve got enough time for one more round. You ready?” Magnus inquired.

  One more round. It was one more chance that night for him to try and pull off something crazy.

  Lucas’ original plan had been to get back to the house and try to find Sasha for a quick rematch, but he’d underestimated how much time his training with Wren had taken up. By the time he got home, Lissa had already been making dinner for the night. And as usual, Magnus pulled Lucas away for their nightly sparring sessions shortly after dinner was over.

  If Sasha was a hurdle that Lucas wanted to beat, Magnus was a mountain that he felt he had no chance of ever overtaking. The man had decades of experience and seemed to easily read, block, and dodge every attack that he launched at the man. In almost a week of training, Lucas didn’t feel like there was a single time that he’d even come close to landing a blow against the blacksmith.

  “One more round? Yeah, let’s do it.”

  Lucas took a deep breath as he got to his feet and dropped into his ready stance once more. But then he hesitated. He looked down at the blade in his hand and a grin steadily spread across his face.

  “What’s got you grinning like that?” Magnus called over, amusement clear in his voice.

  “Oh, nothing,” Lucas replied, shifting his stance and grabbing at the hilt of his blade with both hands rather than one. “I just thought of a really interesting idea.”

  The confused and skeptical look on the older man’s face as he grabbed the single-handed weapon with both hands just made Lucas’ grin grow even wider. He knew what he was doing, or at least he hoped he did.

  “If you’re not taking this seriously, I’m going to put you into the dirt, Lucas,” The man warned, his eyes narrowing.

  “I am, don’t worry,” Lucas replied.

  He’d managed to drag things out long enough, and he could feel his mana boiling up under his skin, ready for what he was about to do. So, with a bright smile, Lucas spread his arms.

  And in both hands there was a gleaming, metal xiphos.

  Lucas almost laughed as he saw the stunned look on Magnus’ face, his eyes darting from one weapon to the other. Realization came a moment later, but the moment of confusion from the man had made Lucas’ day.

  “Somebody has been training hard,” He commented, grinning along with Lucas as he continued to examine the two blades.

  Lucas was familiar with the look; he’d seen it from Wren plenty of times that day as she’d looked over his illusions for any inconsistencies or flaws. But he’d spent the time and effort making sure that his two weapons were exact copies of one another. And he’d made sure to anchor the illusion to his hand.

  He had become deeply familiar with the blade over the last few days, so it hadn’t even been hard to think up all the ways that the weapon could move about as he swung it. The illusion was as perfect as Lucas could make it, and he could tell that Magnus couldn’t spot the real from the fake.

  “You know an illusion of a sword can’t hurt me, Lucas. I know Granny Wren’s taught you that much.”

  “No, but it can be pretty distracting,” Lucas replied, shifting into his normal stance, now with both blades angled at the blacksmith.

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  Magnus just shook his head and laughed, clearly bemused by Lucas’ choice.

  “If you think so,” He replied. “Now, begin!”

  As the word left his mouth, Magnus dashed towards Lucas, closing the distance between the two with frightening speed. He was fast, but Lucas was almost certain that the man could move a lot faster if he wanted to.

  The man’s longsword came around in a cleaving arc, aiming to slam into Lucas’ right side. He knew from experience just how much that dulled blade would hurt if Magnus landed the blow. So, as the blacksmith expected, Lucas brought his blade up to block the blow.

  What Magnus hadn’t expected was for his sword to pass through the xiphos in Lucas’ right hand and the young man to just barely duck beneath the swing. He could feel the rush of air following the man’s swing as the blade flew by less than an inch from his head.

  Lucas didn’t waste time, though. He had to take advantage of the short moment of confusion and shock from Magnus when the blade he’d expected to be real turned out to be the illusion.

  His left arm came around, and he forced every ounce of strength he had left in his tired body to force the limb to move even faster. His xiphos reflected the light from the moon above as it sailed towards Magnus’ side.

  Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Lucas took in the moment. His blade slowly cleaving through the air, inches away from striking Magnus as the man looked down with dawning realization. But there wasn’t anything Magnus could do, he was out of position thanks to his swing, and Lucas was too close.

  So, when he suddenly found a small dagger blocking his blade a mere inch from striking Magnus, the young man was stunned.

  If Lucas had needed any more proof that Magnus was slowing down for him, he had it. The man’s right hand had moved in a blur, dropping from the hilt of his longsword down to his side. And within an instant there was a small dagger clutched in the man’s hand blocking Lucas’ sword, a dagger that had not been there a mere moment before.

  Lucas froze up, shocked at how his plan had failed. He didn’t even have the strength to try and stop Magnus as the man pushed his sword back with the small little dagger. And he was left completely unprepared for that dagger to then end up lightly pressed against his neck.

  “That was pretty impressive, kid,” Magnus spoke up.

  He slowly pulled the dagger back, and Lucas’ grip went slack, the sword falling from the young man’s grasp as he staggered back and slumped down to soft grass below. After a few more seconds, the mana holding his illusion ran out and the image faded away as well.

  “I wasn’t expecting that,” Magnus continued. “Using your left hand to attack and blocking with an illusion in your dominant hand. It was an incredibly smart idea, don’t get me wrong, but you don’t have the practice needed to swing at full force with your left hand.”

  “You still managed to block it, though,” Lucas pointed out, feeling a bit despondent at his plan not working out. He knew he couldn’t beat Magnus, but he’d at least wanted to land a single blow, even if by surprise.

  “Lucas,” Magnus spoke up, striding over and crouching down before the young man. He reached out and ruffled Lucas’ hair a bit, forcing him to look up at the older man. “I blocked that because I’ve been fighting since before you were born. And even though I did block it, you made me take you seriously there for a second.”

  The way the man’s hand had blurred and interposed itself between his body and the blade had been hard to comprehend. He would’ve expected something like that from someone like Fay with a Speed affinity, but not from Magnus.

  Was that what an experienced hunter could do?

  “You did good, trust me,” Magnus repeated. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. It was a great idea, you just need more practice. Try talking to Sasha, she might be able to give you pointers on using a weapon with both hands.”

  “She’s ambidextrous?” Lucas asked.

  “That’s the word! Yeah, she is. Makes her pretty difficult to fight,” The man replied.

  “Do you actually think it’s worth trying?” Lucas asked. “Using the illusions like that, I mean?”

  “I think it’s absolutely worth pursuing. And if you can learn how to use both hands with your weapon, this could make for a pretty dangerous combat style. If no one ever knows which hand holds the real blade and which one is fake, it will make you very hard to fight. My advice is that you should go to Sasha and see if she can help give you some tips. That, and learn how to rapidly shift which hand is holding your blade.” The man advised.

  “Sparring with her will help as well. She’s an incredibly skilled fighter, and maybe seeing some of her style might give you some ideas for your own. I’ve been teaching you how to fight, Lucas, but it’s up to you to come up with your own style when it comes to combat,” Magnus added.

  For a few moments, Lucas was quiet, sitting lost in thought as he considered the idea. He still didn’t know how to use his Darkness magic, but the idea of making his Illusion magic a staple of his fighting style felt right to him.

  “I think I’ll do that…” Lucas mumbled, slowly pushing himself to his feet.

  Magnus chuckled, his weapons melting into liquid metal that seemed to be absorbed by his body. “Leave it for tomorrow, though, Lucas. Go wash up and get some sleep, first.”

  Still deep in thought, Lucas just nodded his head and watched as the blacksmith headed inside for the night.

  It took a minute before he finally made his way inside as well, going through his nightly ritual. The house was soon quiet and dark, but Lucas was left wide awake as he laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling.

  His mind was still replaying those last few seconds of the fight; how close he’d come to landing a blow and how quickly Magnus had stopped him.

  And he couldn't stop thinking about the moment when Magnus’ entire demeanor changed. He’d only seen it for a second, but the image sent a chill down his spine still just from remembering it. The way that the man’s eyes had changed, like he wasn’t looking at another person but an obstacle to be dealt with.

  Lucas knew about Magnus’ past thanks to Fay, but for the first time, he saw some actual proof of the man that his best friend’s father had once been. It wasn’t an experience that Lucas was eager to repeat, because for a moment there, he hadn’t been fighting against Magnus Stella…

  He had been fighting against The Armory, instead. And he didn’t stand even the slightest chance.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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