After that day, Xylus spent a lot of time outside the gates of Myst Crevice. Victor had gotten him used to his new life. It was stamina training through the forest, weapon training and hunting.

  Xylus followed after his teacher. His teacher wasn't a speck of dust in the distance anymore. He could see Victor a little closer now but still had a long way to go. Victor had noticed the kid was progressing well. They had long passed the place where Victor had stopped the first day.

  'It's almost been six months and he's progressed a lot. I wonder if I should kick it up a notch.' Victor wondered. He pressed a little harder. Xylus notified the shift of pace and found himself back in square one, again.

  He had noticed he was progressing loads. Maybe it was because he had the opportunity to practice and get quests done, but Victor seemed to always increase the difficulty.

  Xylus followed after the teacher, quickly watching the wall come up. Victor was already scaling the wall and almost at the top by the time Xylus started it.

  He kicked himself off of the first wall and bounced back and forth between the two. The training he had done back at Nessia had prepared him for this sort of thing. He was used to and comfortable with navigating spaces like this.

  By the time he got up to the top, Victor was already sitting down in a stump and drinking from one of the flasks next to him.

  "Mr. Victor, are we ending here for today?" Xylus asked.

  "Yup." Victor nodded. "I thought you might enjoy the view from here." He motioned for Xylus to look. Xylus turned around and looked at the beautiful sky. He watched birds flying in the distance, the wind rustling the top of colorful trees and even saw the mountains in the distance.

  Myst Crevice was one of the lower mountain cities. The breathtaking view was something he couldn't get used to.

  "Well, we should head back soon." Victor stood up.

  "Huh? We aren't doing a full day today?" Xylus asked, turning to watch his teacher toss him a flask. Xylus caught it and Victor shook his head.

  "I have kids I need to teach. I did say I would go on a run with you at least. Continue to practice and come home before dark or else the guards are going to hang you upside down again."

  Xylus flinched at those words. He had gotten used to Victor in the last half year and started to cause trouble. He'd steal a little this or take a little bit of that. He even tried to take these cool gloves he saw. Unluckily for him, he was caught and the guards hung him upside down and decided giving him lashes would be his punishment. He hung upside down the whole night until Victor came by to take him.

  He endured a lot of punishments from Victor since then. He tried his best to not cause trouble after that but his habits made it hard for him to want to be a "well-mannered, responsible child." Frankly, he found it boring so he caused mischief on purpose.

  "Fine, I guess I'll do what I normally do by myself, again." Xylus sarcastically whined. Victor shook his head and patted the boy. He could tell the boy had gotten a little bit more handsome. He chalked it up to the kid was growing.

  "Don't come home unless you got something good." Victor smiled. He jumped off the cliff. Xylus turned and watched his teacher casually walking off.

  "You want boar again, Mr. Cross?" Xylus asked loudly.

  "Something tasty!" Victor waved goodbye without turning and sprinted off. Xylus sighed, dropping his smile. The fall view was going to end soon and winter would be here soon. Xylus wasn't looking forward to experiencing the cold.

  Victor had told him a bunch about the cold months and since he was used to a hotter and warmer climate, snow was a foreign concept. Xylus took a swig of the water and started off the path.

  He traveled for quite awhile with his sack on his back. He had a bow and set of arrows strapped on as well. Victor had told him the best way to hunt was to have the surprise and the eyes for hitting your target. Xylus took up archery as one of the many weapons he trained with.

  He had gotten quite used to duel wielding daggers, handling a sword and using a bow. Victor said sword and a bow are the two main used things at the Academy, aside from magic.

  [Current Rankings:

  Level: 8

  XP: 570/800

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  HP: 70/70

  MP: 95/95

  Strength: 13

  Dexterity: 24

  Intelligence: 18

  Charisma: 14]

  He had progressed a lot in six months. The creatures he killed had good XP. Between that and the bonuses from first kills, quests and chain quests, he had managed to push himself to level 8.

  His quests were pretty empty now. He hadn't really had time to practice his magic. Well, it was more like Victor didn't let him practice. Xylus was told to only practice when Victor wasn't around. Magic was one thing Victor couldn't teach him so to respect Victor, he would only practice magic when Victor went back to the Academy.

  He had gotten used to practicing with his weapons, so he forgot about his quest to kill things with Dark Magic.

  "Today's the day to do it." Xylus reminded himself. He walked around with the bow in his hands. He would try to slay the beasts with Dark Magic and knew he should progress the Dark Magic chain quest. He was curious when he would get access to the "healing" thing his System talked about.

  Xylus quietly moved around the forest. He had gotten used to the forest and the different sounds. He quietly moved through the forest until he heard the snort of a boar. His face lit up.

  'Guess we're eating boar tonight!' He giggled. He crouched down and spotted the boar. It was aimlessly grazing around. He was about to notch an arrow when he remembered he should kill it with Dark Magic.

  He lowered the bow and arrow and extended a hand. He would shoot a Dark Spike at it.

  'Dark Spike.' A black spike of pure Darkness flew out and pierced the boar, instantly killing it. The boar dropped with shadows pouring out of it.

  [XP Gained: 30!

  Total XP:600/800]

  [The Dark Magic Chain Quest has been updated!

  Slay 5 beasts/monsters with Dark Magic. 1/5]

  He began to stand up when a sudden spike of energy appeared behind him.

  "Dark Spawn!" An older woman's voice snarled. He gulped.

  'Don't use your magic freely in the forest even when you think you're alone. Anyone who sees Dark Magic will instantly try to kill you.' Victor's voice echoed in his head. He sighed. He wasn't too careful.

  "Turn around before I blow your head off!" The woman snarled. Xylus turned, the woman snatching his bow and arrow. He noticed graying hair falling across her face. The hand pointed at him was lit with green.

  Xylus noticed a blonde girl hiding further away. She seemed curious about him while Xylus was frankly more mad about his recklessness.

  "Why are you hunting around here?" The woman asked. "You should be dead for using your magic like that. Who are you?"

  "Aren't you just gonna kill me anyways?" Xylus asked. The woman grew angry and lashed a punch at him. Xylus was knocked to the ground as the woman's green hand glowed brighter. The earth groaned and bent to her will. Vines wrapped around him, forcing him to kneel before him. The vines crawled across his body and tightly gripped his throat. He could barely breathe.

  "Fine, have it your way, Spawn. I'll kill you and bring your head to the Order. They'll reward me nicely for you." The woman chuckled.

  "Ms. Wells, what're you gonna do with him?" The blonde girl asked. She started to walk when Ms. Wells straightened her back and looked at the child.

  "Stay away, dear. We don't want it to infect you, too." Ms. Wells out her hand up. The blonde girl stopped and looked at Xylus.

  "Why are Dark Spawns bad? What did they do?"

  "I told you this a million times, dear." Ms. Wells looked over at Xylus. "Dark Spawns fall far from the light of Palia. And you dear, are loved by all the gods. We cannot taint you."

  'Loved by all the gods? What does she mean by that?' Xylus wondered. Ms. Wells focused her attention on the boy. Her hands glowed bright green as she slowly moved them to grab Xylus' face.

  Xylus screamed as her magical hands grabbed him. He could feel the vines slithering and tightening across his body. He could feel the thorns piercing his body. The pain felt forever. The blonde girl yelled in horror as she watched. Arrows whistled through the sky and Ms. Wells quickly removed her hands and created a shield.

  "Hands off of him." Victor's voice shouted. He already had more arrows notched and ready to fire. Ms. Wells' face grew in surprise.

  "What're you saying?" She stuttered. She took a step towards the blonde child. "He's a Dark Spawn! We must–"