26 They Need To Start Now

"Wait… you already knew about this?!" Neidan asked Ferrah. The previous happy expression on his face was soon replaced by a look of disbelief.

"Yup! HAHAHAHA!" Ferrah laughed out loud from seeing Neidan's contorting face.

"You-! Those were expensive! Sure, I can afford them, BUT STILL!" Neidan was slowly going crazy at how much he needed to pay the academy he works in as compensation for the two crystal balls used in testing Rohann and Zorenn's potential.

He basically threw away money!

"Hehe! That's what you get for just visiting now after all these years." Ferrah smugly said to Neidan.

He could only shake his head because he knew what Ferrah meant. He was their godfather, but he only made time for them today.

With that thought in mind, Neidan chose to spend his whole day today with the twins. Neidan talked and played all day with the twins until they went to sleep.

By the time Rohann and Zorenn were already asleep, it was already dark outside. Neidan was currently sitting alone in the living room thinking about something.

"What's got the Deputy Instructor of Aedith Academy so worked up about? Must be big." Ferrah said to Ferrah when she got to the living room after putting Rohann and Zorenn to sleep.

"Hmm. Yeah. After all, it's not about the Academy," Neidan said to Ferrah with a knowing glance. "It's about your children."

"I knew it. No way you're here just for their birthday." Ferrah said as she slightly tensed up before sitting down across Neidan.

"Not really. If it makes you feel any better, I genuinely wanted to check up on Rohann and Zorenn too. I'm glad I did so. They're the spitting image of both you and Renfri." Neidan smiled as he remembered his moments with Rohann and Zorenn earlier today.

"Yet it's still important enough to make you remember."

"Yes… they need to start training now."

Ferrah's aura changed after hearing what Neidan said. It turned slightly sadder.

"I know… Can't we just wait a few more years? I don't think I can handle seeing them suffer yet. I tried earlier today, but it still broke my heart." Ferrah tried to bargain.

"The Iron Witch really softened up, huh?" Neidan said, slightly amused. "I don't think you'll ever actually be ready to subject them to training. But you need to remember, they're not just children. Besides, at their age, you were already an assassin."

"But-"

"No buts. They need to start now."

"..."

"..."

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

"No means no! Besides, don't you trust me? I know how important their training is. Just…"

"Stop trying to make excuses, Ferrah." Neidan said as his eyes glowed.

The glow of Neidan's eye attracted Ferrah's attention. Their eyes met, and Ferrah felt something try to enter her mind. It was a new and uncomfortable feeling for her.

She fought the new sensation which only made it stronger.

"Don't resist it. Just let me in."

"You sure you should be saying that to your friend's wife?"

"Eugh. Shut the fuck up." Neidan seemed irritated by what Ferrah said. His eyes glowed stronger and Ferrah's mind was forcefully invaded.

Ferrah couldn't react properly and then everything around her disappeared in a flash of white.

A moment later, she found herself in a different place. It was an empty and wide grassland.

"You can't protect them forever, Ferrah. Don't let your sentiments as a mother cloud your better judgement." The voice of Neidan echoed around Ferrah. She looked around but failed to find where Neidan was.

Ferrah made no retort to what seemed like Neidan's provocation. Instead, she focused her whole attention to her surroundings, her instinct as an assassin told her to do so.

"What is this?" Ferrah asked cautiously. This was the first time she encountered such magic.

"The most recent research of mine." Was all that Neidan said.

A moment later, the grass under Ferrah's feet extended and tried to trap her feet. She was quick to react and made her mana circulate outside her feet. She manipulated the mana to adapt a sharp form to cut the grass that tried to entangle her.

The grass around her followed up to try and trap her after the failed first attempt. She didn't let them get close to her as she immediately acted. She made a swiping motion around her with her hand covered in mana.

All the grass around her vicinity were actually cut and shredded, no longer able to extend and trap her.

Ferrah was about to release a small sigh of relief when she observed that the grass she cut actually grew back up at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Ferrah had a split second to react and she used it splendidly. A white magic circle shone under her feet before she executed a wide sweeping kick.

Her kick spewed out a stream of flames that went as far as the eye could see, bathing the whole grassland in fire. This way, the grass didn't grow back.

Before she could think further, the world around Ferrah changed.

She found herself submerged in water that also went as far as the eye could see. She looked up and didn't see a surface.

Ferrah then realized she also can't breathe despite being dry under this vast expanse of water.

'Seriously, what magic is this? Hallucination? Dream?'

Ferrah quickly acted with the breath she had in her lungs. A white magic circle formed under her feet as she spread her limbs outwards.

Mana surged from her body and it turned into air. The air made a spinning motion to keep the water away from Ferrah, helping her breathe again. She looked like a small bubble in the middle of a wide ocean.

Ferrah didn't stop and executed another move. A larger magic circle then formed under the first one. This time, a coldness seeped out from the mana that surge out of Ferrah.

The water around her froze and thickened. Ferrah was basically in a pocket of air inside an ice cube.

When Ferrah deemed herself to be momentarily safe, the world around her immediately changed again. She was back in another grassland.

Before she could examine her surroundings, her instincts flared. She dashed forward and turned around at the same time to see a heavily condensed fire arrow come her way.

In response to her precarious situation, Ferrah shot a fire arrow of equal caliber as well. The two fire arrows met and dissipated each other.

Ferrah didn't relax because she saw a number of equally powerful fire arrows come her way in what looked like an endless barrage.

She stayed calm despite the danger she's facing. A white magic circle lit up under her feet. She waved her hand out and a powerful blast of wind shot out in a wide arc and dissipated the nearest fire arrows.

The wind blast wasn't able to eliminate all the arrows, but it was enough to give Ferrah the second she needed to deal with the situation.

The magic circle under her feet changed. Water surged out of her hands in a seemingly endless fashion.

The water collected and surrounded Ferrah in a bubble, protecting her.

When the first fire arrow hit the water bubble, it dissipated and turned to steam. This process repeated for every single arrow.

Another magic circle formed under Ferrah's feet. It seemed to have served no purpose, but when one looked closely, the steam that the fire arrows turned into didn't dissipate to the air.

The steam produced by Ferrah blocking the fire arrows actually gathered around her water bubble.

The barrage of fire arrows didn't stop. A few moments later, the sphere of steam exploded and surged outwards.

Steam covered the grassland like a fog, lowering the visibility.

A distance away from where Ferrah stood was Neidan. He had what looked like a black trident in his hand. He was the one sending all those fire arrows to Ferrah.

Neidan looked around in vain. He couldn't see through the steam that acted like a thick fog.

He immediately tensed up and prepared his defenses. He was fighting a world-class assassin in a battlefield where he couldn't see three feet in front of him.

He paid very close attention in anticipation of Ferrah's next move.

A moment later, he heard her speak around him like he did at the start of their battle.

"I have to say, I'm impressed. I never encountered magic like this."

Judging from the tone of her voice, Ferrah was calm and collected. Neidan only grinned and snarkily replied.

"You ain't seen nothing yet."

There was no response from Ferrah. Silence loomed around Neidan in this gray battlefield.

A minute later, Neidan felt something come at him from behind. He turned around and waved his trident.

His trident met a barrage of various projectile weapons. When his trident hit a projectile, the projectile turned into a blood mist and floated away from him. He was able to block all of them.

This happened three more times. Knives and needles were thrown, Neidan blocked with his trident, the projectiles turned to blood mist, then silence.

Neidan was waiting for another attack when he heard Ferrah instead.

"I see. This fog isn't hindering you at all."

Neidan's eyebrow perked up at what Ferrah guessed.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm no fool, Neidan. You're a mage. You could've easily blown this fog away with wind," Ferrah said in annoyance before the fog disappeared with a blast of wind that came from her. "You're really treating me like a novice? Should I be hurt?"

"HAHAHAHA! Not really. Just testing if your senses are still there after years of inactivity," Neidan said with amusement. "Seems it's still there. Should I say as expected of the Iron Witch?"

A snort came from Ferrah who stood a distance away from Neidan. She looked different from when she shielded herself with a water bubble.

Ferrah was wearing light armor with her signature colors: black with silver accents. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail. She also wore a black mask with a silver inverted cross design that covered her nose and mouth.

"Now you're really annoying me. Let me vent it out on your face."

White mana surged out and covered Ferrah's body. Wind blew from how intense Ferrah's aura was.

Neidan did the same. Their two auras clashed in the open battlefield, immediately shredding all the grass within their vicinity.

The first one to act was Ferrah. She cut her own palms. Blood seeped out on both of her palms. The blood gathered around her fists and formed into metal knuckles.

"Wow. You really want to beat up my face, huh?" Neidan said after gulping.

Ferrah said nothing and just ran towards Neidan.

Trident and metal knuckles clashed. Ferrah and Neidan had powerful exchanges to showcase their techniques.

It seemed like the two of them were fighting seriously, but they were not. Ferrah and Neidan were both smiling as they enjoyed this warm up of theirs.

Their exchange continued for a few minutes until Neidan realized something. He broke up the exchange and retreated a short distance.

"This is fun and all, but I just suddenly remembered. I was making a point!"

Before Ferrah could give a response, she felt a mysterious force assault her mind. She was able to stop it, but it cost her attention.

Neidan struck out in different manners at once. He approached Ferrah as he shot out weaker fire arrows and commanded the grass that he grew out under Ferrah's feet to trap her.

The attacks that Neidan sent her way made her momentarily lose focus against the force invading her mind. The mysterious force took advantage of this and attacked more ferociously.

A splitting headache attacked Ferrah, rendering her unable to defend against Neidan's attacks. She was thrown around and eventually restrained by rocks.

Neidan stood over her and pointed his trident at her throat before speaking.

"This was all my magic, by the way. You won't really die if I kill you right here and now, but it'll still make your head hurt a little."

Ferrah couldn't say anything as her head still hurt like hell.

"We both know we'll be facing much more powerful beings in the future. So powerful that we'll have no choice but to focus on defending ourselves. When that time comes, you won't be able to protect Rohann and Zorenn," Neidan said to Ferrah as he lessened the pressure he was exerting on her mind. "They'll need to learn how to fight as early as possible. They'll need all the strength they can get for their journey ahead. They're the key to saving Renfri from whatever the fuck was on the other side of that thing."

Hearing Neidan's words, Ferrah seemed to have been shaken out of a reverie. Neidan made her realize that trying to delay her children's training was wrong.

She's already seen how much her sons wanted to see their father. They used to look at children walking around with their dad in the town of Nuzta whenever she took them there for their family's leisure time.

They looked at the children longingly, but they never once asked or pestered her about their father.

She was able to see how willing her sons are to find their father earlier today. She's also seen their unparalleled raw potential.

What was she worried about?

Ferrah smiled and shook her head in disappointment at herself. Neidan saw this and chose to cancel the magic.

Everything around them once again went white.

Ferrah found herself sitting in front of Neidan in the exact same position before she was dragged to that grassland.

She felt slightly lightheaded, but she felt nothing else besides that.

"Thanks for setting me straight, Neidan. You're right. They need to start now."