"Is this the place?"
An old man appeared at the foot of the snow-covered mountain.
His name was Garrick.
A legendary rogue known as the Nightwalker, he had stopped by House Sterling as usual and heard an interesting story.
—Where did that lazy bum go? I hear he's being called the Slothful Heir or something these days?
—Ah, Julian is learning the sword right now.
—The sword? That lazy bum is learning aura arts? From whom?
—Well...
As Cedric uncharacteristically trailed off, Garrick narrowed his eyes.
—Spit it out! Whose sword arts is he learning?
—Grandmaster Vaelor.
—Grandmaster Vaelor? Don't tell me... Kaelen Vaelor!?
—That's right.
At the sight of Cedric blushing slightly as if embarrassed, Garrick couldn't help but be surprised.
Who was Kaelen?
Wasn't he a stubborn old fool who vied for the title of the most prideful grandmaster in the Empire and hadn't found a single apprentice even at the age of seventy?
Such a Kaelen had finally found an apprentice.
And it was the eldest son of House Sterling, the lazy bum called the Slothful Heir.
"Hehe... I can't miss this good show."
It was a golden opportunity to mock Kaelen, who usually teased him for being nothing but a fast-footed plucked rooster.
Garrick climbed the mountain where Kaelen and Julian were said to be.
In the midst of it, Garrick witnessed a strange sight.
"...What is that?"
Whoosh—!
A wooden blade that flew across the sky embedded itself in the neck of an elk that was standing quietly.
As the elk, which died instantly, collapsed, two timber wolves ran out from between the snow-covered trees as if they had been waiting.
The wolves, upon spotting Garrick, bowed their heads and then disappeared, each carrying a piece of the elk.
"Did I see that wrong? Did those beasts just bow to me?"
Finding it absurd himself, Garrick let out a hollow laugh.
"Hehe...! That can't be right."
How could a mere beast bow its head and greet someone like a human?
But what was that wooden flying blade?
"Kaelen?"
The only person who could launch a wooden sword with aura from such a distance was Kaelen, the creator of the Aetheric Blade Arts.
"What kind of bizarre thing are you up to now! Kaelen!"
His interest piqued, Garrick jumped up with his hands behind his back.
He kicked off the trees with ghostly movements.
His speed was so fast that an ordinary person could never follow it with their eyes.
After crossing the mountain for a while, he stopped his steps.
"Hmm?"
When he followed the wolves that had taken the elk, an even more bizarre scene appeared.
"Goldie number 3 and number 4! Good work!"
The boy who received the elk brought by the wolves dismembered the carcass on the spot and then cut off the hind legs and threw them to the two wolves.
Then, didn't the two wolves bow their heads and disappear, each carrying their own hind leg?
"What is this..."
Garrick, who was watching this from a pine tree, spotted another wolf that had brought a snow hare from somewhere.
"It's smaller than I thought... Tsk! You can have this."
As the boy waved his hand with a tone of generosity, the direwolf rejoiced greatly and wiggled its butt.
'Is that... really a direwolf?'
After observing the boy and the wolves for a while, Garrick discovered a surprising fact.
It was the amazing hunting method shown by the boy and the wolves.
"About one hundred and twenty paces to the west?"
When the boy, who had estimated the distance, shot a wooden aetheric blade, the wolves that followed the trajectory of the flying wood brought back the dead prey.
'A bizarre but amazing hunting method!'
"Goldie number 5 is quite fast, isn't it?"
The boy, who was scratching his stomach as if satisfied, lay down on the flat stone slab and yawned.
After some time, a wolf brought back prey, and the boy distributed the meat brought by the wolf equally.
As this process was repeated several times, chunks of meat were steadily piled up behind the boy, and the wolves were also able to fill their bellies to their hearts' content.
"Let's stop for today. At this rate, all the elk and hares will be wiped out. Dismissed!"
At the word 'dismissed,' the wolves bowed their heads and disappeared.
The boy wrapped the meat he had packed tightly in a large leather bundle and climbed the mountain.
"Hmm hmm hmm—!"
Watching the boy climbing the slope while humming, Garrick thought.
'So that kid was Julian!'
Realizing that the boy he had met after a long time was Kaelen's new apprentice and the eldest son of House Sterling, Julian, Garrick secretly followed him.
"Hmm..."
How long had he walked?
Julian, who was climbing the mountain, suddenly stopped his steps and then walked, changing directions here and there.
'What is he doing?'
Julian, who was moving here and there, stopped in front of a stone cairn.
When he removed a rock from the cairn, a hidden pit appeared underneath, and Julian put a portion of the meat into the pit.
"This should be enough."
Julian, who was dusting off his hands as if satisfied after storing the meat, suddenly turned his head and looked at the sky.
'Hah!'
The startled Garrick quickly hid behind a thick oak trunk.
"Was I wrong?"
Julian, who was tilting his head, started humming again and climbed the mountain.
Meanwhile, Garrick, who was hiding behind the tree, barely calmed his pounding heart.
'Did that kid notice me!? Th-That can't be!'
The Nightwalker, Garrick.
He, who had never been caught in a single stealth mission, couldn't have had his presence detected by a boy who was barely twelve years old.
'It must have been a coincidence.'
Garrick carefully lowered his gaze.
But Julian was not there.
"Where did he go?"
Garrick came down from the tree to find traces of Julian.
"Hello."
"Eek!"
As soon as he came down to the frosted ground, Julian appeared behind Garrick.
"You... you... what are you!!"
"It's me, Julian. It's been a while, Master Garrick."
Unlike with Kaelen, Julian, who had met Garrick a few times when he was young, recognized him at once.
"How did you... find me?"
Garrick blinked with a dumbfounded face.
"You were following me the whole time."
At Julian's indifferent answer, Garrick's jaw dropped wide enough to dislocate.
'This little brat read my aura presence!? No way!'
Garrick, who had been shocked several times already, reached out his hand towards Julian.
But at that moment, a sharp aetheric blade flew in and embedded itself exactly where Garrick had been standing.
"Kaelen!"
As Garrick, who had narrowly avoided the telekinetic sword, glared and got angry, Kaelen, who had appeared in front of them at some point, clicked his tongue as if disappointed.
"Tsk! Was it Garrick? I thought it was a wild beast."
"You damn arrogant fool! How dare you raise an apprentice without telling me!?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? Do I have to report to you every time I take an apprentice?"
"Ten years ago, you were whining that you didn't have a suitable heir to your arts, and now you're deceiving me!? Since when! Huh? Were you aiming for the Sterling boy as soon as he was born! That's why you haven't taken an apprentice until now, right!?"
"What are you talking about?"
As Kaelen frowned as if to say what nonsense that was, Garrick pointed a finger at Julian and berated him.
"When did you start teaching Julian! I didn't feel a drop of aura from this kid just a few years ago!"
"Hmm... Julian, how long has it been since you became my apprentice?"
"It's probably been about ten months now?"
"T-Ten months!?"
Garrick, who was looking back and forth between Julian and Kaelen, went on a rampage with a face that had turned bright red.
"How dare these two make a fool of me!?"
"Haa..."
Kaelen, whose head was starting to throb, gestured to Julian to go up first.
"Yep."
Thinking that getting caught between the two grand aura users would lead to troublesome things, Julian quickly went up the mountain.
Then, Garrick rushed at him as if to grab him by the collar.
"If you were going to do this, you shouldn't have whined that there was no one worthy of being your apprentice!"
Garrick, who had been filled with anticipation of teasing Kaelen, was feeling a severe sense of betrayal.
But Kaelen, who he thought would be laughing at him by now, spoke in a serious voice.
"Garrick."
"What! If you have a mouth, try to make an excuse!"
"It's been ten months."
"What's been ten months!"
"Since that kid awakened his aura under me. It's only been ten months."
"Stop with those lies! Do you think I'll believe that..."
Garrick stopped talking.
Although he had never been on friendly terms with Kaelen for even a moment, they had maintained a rivalry for quite a long time.
Because of that, the two men had reached a point where they could understand each other's intentions to some extent just by looking into each other's eyes.
The two eyes of Kaelen that Garrick faced were sincere.
"No... way..."
As he muttered with a bewildered face, Kaelen gestured up the mountain and said.
"Let's walk for a bit first."