9 9. You were over confident, master

Az's pupils immediately shrunk as he fell, and he couldn't help but feel a surge of terror as the hogs' sharp teeth loomed closer. Thankfully, Otaz reacted quick and grabbed his arm tightly before throwing him back onto the tree, where he landed with a thud.

After landing, a shudder ran through Az's body as the scene of him falling head first down to the open jaws repeated in his mind. But after closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, his fear washed away.

"Damn. The moment I look the other way, you almost end up dying," Otaz cursed at him, his gaze locked on Az.

The latter, however, was quietly watching the hogs circle around the tree while grunting and snarling as their hooves tore up the soft earth, leaving deep furrows in their wake. Thankfully, out of the 15 hogs, only 13 remained, of which 4 of them were injured to various degrees.

Otaz was surprised by Az's action, especially how calm he remained since his life almost ended a moment ago. Only then did he realize that the kid survived a week alone in the forest before meeting Ogron. During that time, the lad faced death a couple of times.

After taking a deep breath, Az stated, "Otaz…give me the scythe."

Surprised, Otaz calmly offered it to him, and Az tightly gripped it before moving his finger across the double-edged cold blade as he mustered it.

Scythe is probably the wrong word to describe the weapon. To be more precise, the weapon in his hand was a war scythe, a polearm with a curved blade at the end. Unlike a normal scythe used for agriculture, a war scythe's blade was less curved and shorter.

"We could stop if you want to," Otaz offered. "After all, you haven't yet train-"

After taking a deep breath, Az cut him short while lifting his polearm. "I'm not yet done hehehe," he stated before swinging the polearm downward, with the edge facing upwards.

Squeals immediately echoed as blood splattered. His weapon cut deep into one of the pig's neck-area, and like a madman, he repeated it again and again till there was nothing anymore in his weapon's reach.

Only then did Az focus his attention on the situation on the ground while panting heavily while his arms were trembling. Beneath the two was devastation. The ground was slick with blood, and bodies of the hogs laid scattering around the tree, their carcasses mutilated and torn apart.

As for those on their death door, their legs were twitching and kicking randomly, as a thick stench of coppery blood and urine filled the air. But despite the grizzly scene, three hogs were still kicking well due to their rather smaller size.

A smile slowly formed on Az's face as he was ready to end the matters for all, with the weapon that fitted him like no other.

After taking a sigh, Az immediately jumped down to Otaz's horror, while swinging his war scythe downwards, slashing across the skull of one more healthy pigs.

The squeals turned louder, and one of the pigs immediately stormed towards Az, who stood frozen in his place, while slowly lifting his war scythe.

But when Az was almost in the hogs reach, he evaded it slightly before slashing downwards, chopping onto its back.

However, Az was too confident, and he immediately heard the stomping of another hog, and before he could even turn around, he was thrown to the ground, with the hog making a downward bite movement onto his head.

But before the bite could even connect, Otaz swung his ax, beheading the hog. Blood and flesh immediately shot out of the pig, leaving Az aghast.

"You were over confident, master," Otaz sighed before kicking the beheaded carcass to the side, and a fountain of pigs blood shot into Az's face. "Anyway, your training ends here," he continued offering Az his hand.

As soon as Az took it, he heard a whistling followed by a thud, as the remaining pigs ended up having arrows embedded in their forehead.

Next to the tree, Ogron and Simeav quietly stood with a cart, and the former applauded, "Not bad young man," as he threw the carcasses onto the cart. "Only 100 more to go."

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain coming from his hip, but he suppressed it and groaned, "What do you mean with 100 more to go? The mission only stated for 10 hog carcasses…."

"I don't care. I expect it. Put effort into it," Ogron told him with a wry smile.

'Ogron, I should have never disturbed your endless sleep!!!' went through Az's head as he limbed to them.

"Keep listening to mommy. The bow fits you best," Simaev stated before pinching Az's cheeks.

"Please leave my cheeks alone," Az sighed in embarrassment, but the latter merely responded with: "never."

Az spent the rest of the day taking a shower in the nearby river before selling the carcasses to the guild.

Around evening, his break stopped, and it was time for weapon training. This time, Ogron was responsible for teaching him how to swing a polearm correctly without straining one's body. But more important was the footwork.

The spear training mainly consisted of handling a spear and the steps. Ogron seemed to find that more important than teaching Az any fancy move. Whenever the lad made an incorrect move/step or swing, Ogron hit him with the shaft of his bone spear against the back of his head, which didn't make his training that pleasant.

The sound of spears clashing against the ground echoed through the training as Az practiced his swings. Sweats dripped down his forehead, stinging his eyes and blurring his vision, as a voice behind him shouted, "Is that how I showed it to you!?"

But Az was already too tired, and his body was trembling. "Master Ogron," he groaned while swinging his spear with the last ounce of his strength. "Sometimes I wish I had the chance to live a normal child's life, where I would have time to relax."

"Sucks, doesn't it? If only YOU DIDN'T DISTURB MY RESTING PEACE. Then you wouldn't be forced to train like a maniac," Ogron remarked as he hit Az again on the back of the head. The sharp pain made Az wince, and he rubbed the back of his head, feeling the swelling already starting to form.

"My head," Az grumbled.

After seeing how Az lost motivation to continue, Ogron changed his mind.

"Well, that's enough for today. Tomorrow, your brain will be screwed, as we move on to the basics of magic," Ogron mentioned while reading a book on magic for beginners.

"Master, why are you even reading such a book? You're not even a beginner anymore," Az asked, confused.

"I'm not. However, that doesn't mean that the theories or fundamentals of magic stayed the same. Also, I'm so old that my knowledge of the basics is rusty, as I don't even know where I should even start teaching. Furthermore, I need to know how far you are lagging behind your peers, nor do I know how high my expectations should be," Ogron explained.