THE PLOT

The sun had vanished from the sky, bringing forth the night sky. The townspeople had returned to their daily duties after the scare they had experienced earlier. But it was still farfetched to say they were completely at ease. Whatever they did, they did it with haste, not wanting to stay out for too long and test fate.

Back at the castle, Aeryn experienced his father's so-called 'daily penalty' as he tussled and turned on the bed. But alas, all he could do was watch his father silently, without any means of helping him through his pain. 'Is this what he has been going through every single day?' he pondered.

In the King's throne room, the King was pacing up and down, seemingly trying to think of how to go about with the current situation. He had earlier received the tip about his weakness from Al'Lan and was trying to think of how he could utilise this new knowledge without giving himself away.

The two figures, Mijga and Bulhar, stood in the same position as earlier, not moving an inch.

"Your grace, how do we handle this situation. We will have to act soon, or he could go berserk again." the king said worriedly.

"I have told you there is nothing to worry about. the ones who stand by you are enough to take care of him. you need not fear, " a growly voice replied seemingly from behind the throne.

"I am aware, your grace, but even if this turns up into a fight between them, it will cause too much chaos. He is equally very unpredictable, and we do not know to what extent his abilities have developed," the King said after stopping to look at his throne.

"That was originally the plan. That is exactly why I sent you these two. Why the sudden change of heart?" the growly face asked.

The king raised his hands and said, "I know that your grace, but learning of his weakness brought out more possibilities. If he begins to fight here, many people will die. I would like to avoid that as much as possible. We can always use this knowledge to our advantage."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

The King went quiet with his hand under his chin, deep in thought. "We have an ally who is indepted to us and is also related to the demon. He is the one who brought them here. I believe the demon has a certain level of... tolerance with him, so we could exploit that. After all, He came to us himself after discovering the location of the demon. I promised him more power, should he help us take down the demon, so I am sure he will be on board if we have to use him."

"Hmm... and how exactly do you plan on using him?" The growly voice asked again.

The King pondered again, then said excitedly after a short moment, "I know exactly how, your grace, but I will need a substantial amount of your manifestation to execute it perfectly."...

...

The next day, Albus had set out with Aeryn to find a good spot in the castle so they could begin their training. After a short walk, they came along an extensive empty area filled with grass, which seemed to be a playground area for kids.

"This will have to do," Albus said as he surveyed the area.

Aeryn put down his sack, then took our his sword and began to perform some practice swings as he got ready for the training. After Albus had finished his survey, he took another sword from Aeryn's sack as he said, "I'm going to be using a real sword today."

"Don't tell me you're scared already after our last 'deathmatch'. I knew you would recognise my talent one day. I'm so awesome, aren't I?" Aeryn said as he raised his head, trying to look smug.

"If that makes you feel better, then sure, that is why..." Albus replied as he looked at Aeryn with a devilish grin on his face.

"Ha ha... I know I'm great and all, but you might want to tone it down a little. You don't want to kill a great warrior now, do you?" Aeryn said after noticing the evil grin on his father's face. Then he went into position, holding his sword before him with both hands and crouched a little.

"Now," Albus began to say as he took his position. "I noticed you using petty tricks last time. Aren't you ashamed?"

"Hah, you are just angry that I almost had you," Aeryn replied with a grin on his face. "Don't be a sore loser, Father, it doesn't look good on you."

"Shut up. Such tricks don't work on me. and how did you manage to cast magic without hand movements. I don't think you are strong enough to use your aura to cast magic just yet." Albus said.

"Now you are just trying to rub it in. If you must know, I didn't place my hand behind my back just because I wanted to copy your stance. I hid it so you won't see me casting the spell."

"Since when are you that crafty. You're usually too dumb to think of stuff like that."

"Hey, how can you say your own son is dumb! Are you even my father?"

"Now that I think about it, maybe we are not related after all."

"Hah, wait till I tell mother that you said she is a cheater."

"Okay, you are getting too crafty for your own good. Come on, back to position."

Jezebelle suddenly chuckled. "I wish I was in him right now. He is way more fun than you."

Albus' eye twitched at the sudden interruption, but he ignored her taunt.

"Since you seem adept in learning advanced magic lately, I'll teach you something new." Albus said as he prepared himself.

"Great, I'm ready, Father." Aeryn couldn't help but smile.

"Casting without signs or motions"

"Huh, didn't you say I wasn't strong enough to do that yet?" Aeryn asked, puzzled.

"I did, but I didn't say you were completely hopeless," Albus replied.

"Uh... I definitely heard you say that" Aeryn quipped.

"Shut up and focus, would you. No more jokes... Now, I want you to stare at me intently." Albus said as he stood in front of Aeryn with his hands crossed.

"Uh, okay?" Aeryn said, then began to look at him. After a short while, he asked, "Am I supposed to see something or..."

"Yes, you are supposed to see my aura."

"Huh, then expose it then so I can see it. How am I supposed to see it without you exposing it?" Aeryn asked, feeling confused.

"I must not expose it for you to see my aura. That's mostly used for intimidation. You need to focus on what you are looking for. You are not exposing your aura right now, but you can see it, or rather, feel it. So do just that. Focus on feeling my aura instead." Albus explained.

Aeryn furrowed his bro and began to stare again. But even after a few more minutes, he still couldn't manage to see the aura. Albus sighed and turned around to point at a stone as he said to Aeryn, "Watch."

He then placed his hands behind his back and looked at the stone, and slowly, the stone began to levitate from the ground and hover towards Aeryn, where it stopped right in front of his face, then he said, "Unless you are able to see, or feel my aura, you won't be able to do that. Now, keep trying."

As they continued their training, Al'Lan walked over to them and signaled for Albus to come with him. Once they were a little far from the boy, Al'Lan spoke up, "About the deal the king stated in the letter, ... He needs your help."

"He needs my help?"