Assassin's Chronicle

"Good morning," Anfey greeted Ernest with a smile.

Ernest pulled his sword back to end his sword practice. He moved one step back and looked up and down at Anfey. "Don’t you need go to magic academy today?"

"Anfey, you look good today." Suzanna partnered with Ernest for the sword practice. She moved one step back as well. She was curious when she saw Anfey looking refreshed.

"I am not going to the magic academy today," Anfey said, laying his eyes on Suzanna. "Suzanna, you should cherish the opportunity to practice sword fighting with Uncle Ernest!" As his fianc and number one fighter, Anfey had high expectations of her. He had hinted that Suzanna should learn more.

"Do I need you to tell me that?" Suzanna said, rolling her eyes.

"Why aren’t you going to the magic academy?" Ernest asked.

"I learned a lot yesterday. I need some time to digest it. I am not going to the academy for next few days," Anfey said. Anfey had learned a lot after talking with Saul almost the whole night, as if it had been a one-on-one tutoring session. Anfey’s understanding of magic had improved by leaps and bounds.

"Yesterday?" Suzanna was shocked. Yesterday Anfey had been in the magic academy during the day. He came back early and spent the night with them. Suzanna wondered whether something had happened in the magic academy.

Ernest suddenly had a realization: "It seems that Saul finally wanted to spend some time instructing you."

Anfey smiled. In fact, since Saul took him home, he had never taught Anfey anything. He put Anfey in the magic academy and never bothered teaching him. Anfey did not complain. He knew himself, and he also knew Saul. A mathematician can teach college students calculus and functions. However, if he is asked to teach kids simple math, like 1+1, or 2+2, he could go crazy before too long. It was such a waste for a mathematician as well.

"Did you learn quite a lot from Saul?" Ernest asked.

"Yes," Anfey said, nodding.

"Great." Ernest had a satisfied smile on his face. He seemed to think of something and frowned. "Anfey, what did you say to Suzanna?"

"Me?" Anfey was shocked for a second and took a look at Suzanna. "I told her to cherish the opportunity to practice swordfighting with you."

"Good." Ernest nodded. "Come on!"

"Where are we going?" Anfey felt headache coming on. In fact, he already understood what Ernest meant.

"Now it is your turn to cherish this opportunity." Ernest obviously did not want Anfey to leave without practicing sword fighting with him. "Come here!"

Suzanna walked over to Anfey and smiled. She suddenly pushed Anfey in the back. Anfey could not help rushing a few steps forward and stopped right in front of Ernest. Ernest positioned himself to start the fight. Anfey glanced at Suzanna out of the corner of his eye, as if complaining. Was it a betrayal? It was such a waste that he had been treating Suzanna so well. A wife-to-be should take over the fight for him instead of pushing him to the front.

"Are you ready?" Ernest started to look serious. "Show me what you got."

"Uncle Ernest, we’d better say it up front..." Anfey said.

"I will definitely use combat power," Ernest said, interrupting Anfey as Anfey was just about to say it. Anfey had been devious in front of Ernest. Ernest had known what Anfey was going to say.

"This is not fair," Anfey said.

"It is not fair to me if I am not allowed to use combat power," Ernest said.

"You are as old as my father," Anfey said bitterly. "Shouldn’t you yield something to me?" The common thinking about a person’s nature being hard to change really made sense. When Anfey was fifteen years old, his father thought it was time for him to practice real fighting. Anfey had demanded that his father tie his right hand behind his back and a hundred-pound iron sand bag on his left leg for their first fight. Anfey was cunning when he was little. If both of his father’s legs had hundred-pound iron sand bags, his dad would not be affected too much. If only one leg had the sand bag, he would be a cripple. In addition, with his right arm tied up behind his back, it was hard for his father to keep the balance. His hand-eye coordination, accuracy, and consistence of movement were hugely affected.

It was not that Anfey was too naughty, but he was too competitive. He had to see some hope of winning, otherwise he would not be able to fight with full force and try his best. If his demands were not met, Anfey would just toss his weapon on the floor and close his eyes. He knew that since he was the only son, his dad would not dare kill him.

In that fight, Anfey was chased everywhere by his annoyed father at the beginning, but he did not give up. After hanging in the fight for over half an hour, he finally found a chance before he exhausted his energy. He risked being hit on his shoulder to step on his father’s left foot. His dad had fallen backwards.

"Who should yield between old and young?" Ernest firmly declined Anfey’s request.

At this moment, Entos and the commander of Band of Brothers mercenary group, Marino, walked over from a trail. They saw Ernest and Anfey preparing for a sword fight. Their eyes brightened. It was rare to be able to watch Ernest’s sword skills, even though his opponent was not that great.

Anfey moved his eyes. He raised his voice and shoulted, "Bro Entos!"

"Yeah?" Entos was shocked for a second. They had not had a chance to spend a lot of time together. What Entos had learned about Anfey from the information he gathered was not enough.

"Bro, can I borrow your magic wand?" Anfey said, walking over to him.

"To do what? Do you want to use magic to fight with Master Ernest?" Entos asked.

"Yes," Anfey said.

"Are you sure?" Entos did not know if he should laugh or cry. If Anfey could use the sword skills he got from that mysterious sacred swordsman, Entos believed they would have an amazing fight for a short period of time. Anfey had better not use magic. In addition to the fact that Ernest could counter an enormous amount of magic, Anfey could not even release a complete magic shield. Ernest could have knocked Anfey down with one finger.

"Yes!" Anfey looked serious.

Entos gave a wry smile. His magic wand was not a regular one. Its original name was Blessings from Winds. It could release winds instantly. Later Saul and arch-alchemist Jacob revised it. They wiped off the wind magic and switched it with senior magic, as Entos wished. This magic wand was special. Even if Saul and Jacob could meet again, they would not be able to make an exact replica of this wand because there was only one Blessing from Winds, and material that old was rare.

"I will not let you down," Anfey said slowly.

"O... Ok." Entos nodded even though he was quite helpless at that moment. He had been treating this wand as a treasure. He never lent it to anyone, no one was even allowed to touch it. However, Ernest and Niya were there. Anfey was special as well. He had to lend his wand to him out of courtesy.

Anfey took the magic wand and weighed it in his hand. It was pretty heavy for a wand. He knew the secrets of this wand and knew how to use it.

"Are you ready?" Ernest looked curious. He wanted to see how Anfey would attack him with magic. Since Anfey told Entos he would not let him down, he must have something up his sleeve.

Anfey nodded and took a deep breath. He swung hard with the wand, pointing forward. He looked aggressive. The wand made a whooshing sound in the air. Others all felt strange because there were about a dozen of yards between Anfey and Ernest. Unless the wand could grow more than ten yards longer, it could not even touch Ernest.

Anfey swung the wand forward. As he almost completed his move, Anfey suddenly disappeared. The next moment he was already in front of Ernest. The wand was about to hit Ernest in the head. Ernest’s hair was instantly blown by the gusts. All the audience looked surprised, including Ernest himself. By the time he figured out something was wrong, Anfey’s wand was less than four inches from his head. Most people would not react in such a short time, but Ernest did. He was a master swordsman. His body suddenly radiated shining radiance. He lowered his body and waved his sword so fast to counter Anfey’s wand that his sword left shadow traces.

With a loud sound, Ernest countered Anfey by instinct with full force. Anfey lost his wand. The wand flew in the air as Anfey was knocked back like a straw in the wind. He knocked against a tree and rolled onto the grass.

"Anfey!" Ernest and Suzanna yelled his name at the same time. The two of them rushed towards Anfey.

Entos was faster than them. With Instant Transportation, he was right next to Anfey. Entos held Anfey as he struggled to stand up. He asked worriedly, "Are you ok?"

Anfey coughed and a trace of blood came from the corner of his mouth. "I am fine." Anfey barely could hold his arm out and pointed upward.

"Uh! Uh uh..." Entos screamed. He did not remember his poor wand until Anfey reminded him. His magic wand was tough, but no one knew if it would be fine after Ernest attack with his full force. He could not spare any more time on Anfey. Again using Instant Transportation magic, he disappeared.

Anfey fell again after Entos stopped supporting him. However, he had a satisfied smile on his face. In fact, he was not hurt at all. In other words, it should not be counted as damage. Saul held Entos in high regard. He told Anfey that even though Entos played loose with the rules, but he was very trustworthy. Anfey had many doubts about him. He had to test Entos himself, otherwise he would not know how to manage the relationship between them. If Entos did not care about him and only cared about his wand, then Saul had exaggerated his virtue and Entos was not worth being his friend. In the end, the first reaction Entos unconsciously had was to check himself. Anfey knew Saul was right about Entos.