The next day came. Granpa refused to take me with him again. I also knew that I would be of no help to Granma. After breakfast, I went out to meet with the others.

I arrived at the same location yesterday. The two children were there. Bartz licked me on the cheek as we met.

“Bartz… You should stop that…” said Jella.

“Jeez! Stop being a downer! Sven isn’t even complaining!” Bartz argued.

“Do I taste different now?” I inquired.

“No, it’s still the same.” Bartz licked me again.

“If there is no change, why do you have to do that again?”

“It is something I do to a friend!” he explained.

“A friend, I see. If that is so, why not do the same with Jella?” I pointed at the girl.

“It’s just that she’s kind of… she’s kind of wet!” he answered.

“Wet?” I was curious therefore I touched her arm. “You are right. It is like she is covered in water.”

“It is… sweat… I am always sweaty…” Jella backed away.

“I did not know that it was actually possible to sweat that much.” I commented.

Waluf then arrived and positioned himself behind the boy.

“Hey Bartz! It is time for our training!” Waluf said as his hands tightly grabbed Bartz’ head.

“I don’t want to! It is no fun when you always beat me up one-sidedly!” Bartz was using both of his hands to remove Waluf’s grip. 

“It will always be like that if you don’t even try to train!” Waluf refused to let go.

“I’ll take on Jella instead!” Bartz pointed at the girl.

“There is no way that you can take her on! Even I and Roc couldn’t do a single thing to her!”

“That means if I beat her, I will be stronger than you, Brother!”

“Enough with you fantasies and let’s get training!” Waluf began dragging Bartz away.

“I can be your training partner.” I raised my hand.

“You do?” Both the brothers asked in chorus.

“Yes. If you have a weapon I can use then that will help.”

“Do you even know how to wield one?” Waluf asked.

“I do. I prefer long weapons like spears and glaives.”

“Wow, you don’t seem to be joking.” Waluf scratched his head. “Fine, I will go grab one. I think there was some worn down stuff stored.”

“Thank you.” I bowed.

When Waluf returned, he was holding a weapon in each hand. One is a hatchet, and the other is a short spear. They did not look to be in the best condition, but they looked wieldy enough.

Bartz took the axe and I got the last one. We faced each other with our weapons ready. Even though Bartz’ axe was supposed to be one handed, it was too large for him to do so. He held it with two hands in front of him.

“Listen, don’t try to harm each other, you hear? Just strike each other’s weapons.” Waluf instructed.

“I know that already Brother!” Bartz rushed in and did a downward swing.

His movements were predictable. I simple moved out of the way then pointed my spear to his torso. 

The shock was visible in his face, as well as Waluf’s and Jella’s.