A Night of Hunting

When morning came the next day, the guests started leaving to head home to their respective groups. However, some stayed behind, perhaps for business purposes.

Meanwhile, in the Kagenoh Manor's backyard, one would see a white-haired boy walking leisurely. Walking beside him was a girl of similar age.

"Quite spacious," Deon remarked. Then he glanced at his side, where his companion walked in pace with him. "–Is this where you train?"

"Yes! I often train with my brother here. However, he always tries to escape from training," Claire gritted her teeth in frustration at the thought. She is only concerned for his future which is why she forces him to train but Cid always avoids it.

"Haha, is that so? I reckon it is quite enjoyable once you get him," He chuckled. A distant memory appeared in his mind before shaking the thoughts off.

"Indeed," She chuckled as well.

Deon glanced at her once again before opening his mouth. "...So why does Miss Claire call for me here?"

It was this morning when a maid asked him if he could meet with Claire as the latter requested to meet with him. He didn't have anything planned that was urgent and he planned on staying for a bit so he agreed which takes us to the present.

"Uhm..." Claire was fidgeting as she hesitated. She took glances at Deon to see his reaction and it was his usual friendly face, at least according to her. Her cheeks flushed slightly before steeling herself. "...Can you please have a sparring with me?!"

"...That's it?" Deon felt like laughing. So it was that simple of a request, he wondered why she fidgeted with a flushed face as if she was confessing to someone.

"Yes"

"Pfff– Alright then, Miss Claire–" Deon was interrupted, however.

"Please just call me, Claire. No need for honorifics."

"Alright, Claire. Then you can just call me, Deon if you'd like. It would be more beneficial for us to act without formality when in private." Deon said. It was not without thought, however, as he considered her position as an heiress and their families' relations.

"Then Lord Deon," Claire nodded. She knew her limits. How could she call a bona fide noble and a head of his house by his name without honorifics, no matter how young he is?

"Then let us proceed to the field, shall we?" Deon offered with a small smile gracing his face.

.....

The short interlude between Claire and Deon was just one of the few. The two were now face to face with swords in hand. They stood at a certain distance from each other.

Deon had his left hand behind while his rapier pointed towards Claire. He then smiled at her before saying, "Please"

Claire didn't hesitate as she compressed her magic, and coated her sword to strengthen it, and her body as well. She then dashed toward Deon who watched her movements keenly. In his eyes enhanced by magic, her movements were slow.

*Swish* *Clang!*

Claire's attack was easily parried by Deon. However, she didn't stop and continued her onslaught. In return, Deon just defended by parrying each attack.

*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*

"Excellent swordplay, however–" Deon forcefully parried once again causing her to falter slightly. "...you're control over magic is crude."

Following his statement, Deon used his left hand's middle and index finger coated with magic to cut through her sword.

*Swish!*

*Clank~!*

"How–?" Claire's mouth was agape at the display. Sure she could do the same feat with a non-enhanced sword but using her own sword, not her fingers. Such a display surprised her to the core.

"Then take this lesson as an extra gift and as thank you for letting me stay in your manor. It was not how much you use but how you use magic." Deon explained. He abruptly stopped the sparring as he felt a sneaky presence watching them from afar. Though he didn't see who, it was suspicious nonetheless. "With enough magic control, you could achieve more impressive feats. However, to imitate what I just did, you will need to have delicate control over your magic."

"Really?!" Her eyes beamed in excitement, completely forgetting her manners. She was not the typical girl after all, she still prefers swords though she does like what other girls do as well.

"Of course, why would I lie?" Deon said while glancing in a certain direction. 'They're gone...'

After the little event, things proceeded smoothly.

Meanwhile, in another room, Cid Kagenoh was grinning widely.

"'It's not how much you use but how you use it', he said. That's so cool! I want to try saying that too!"

Cid then clenched his fists, "In the future for sure!"

That afternoon, his excitement was replaced with dread as Claire decided to drag him for training and try her best at magic control.

.....

Evening came and people's activities lessened. On the other hand, inside Deon's room at Kagenoh Manor, he can be seen controlling an orb of blood.

The orb then warped into the shape of two daggers before solidifying. Now, floating in front of Deon were two beautiful exquisite crimson daggers.

"Mm~" Deon stared at the daggers in satisfaction. They were made from his blood using blood magic.

Then with a thought, the twin daggers swirled and danced in the air creating crimson flashes. He was nodding in satisfaction throughout the ordeal.

"These should do," He grabbed the daggers. Before turning his attention to his hair. Slowly, his hair turned darker in color before turning raven black.

"Hmm, to think I would succeed first try."

What he did was simple at first glance. He just stimulated the melanin, specifically eumelanin, in his hair to give it a darker color. However, it was only possible due to his delicate magic control otherwise he would've blown off all his hair. As for how he knew such things...the future will tell.

"Now then," He stood up in his all-black outfit, to fit the darkness of the night. He made it with Alchemy and also enchanted it through the use of Enchantment which were another two skills he picked.

The last skill he picked was a special one and also something he was wary of using before gaining enough strength and a foothold in this new world.

Deon then stared outside the open window before putting on a black cloth to mask his lower face and also putting up his hood. He then gripped his twin daggers before jumping out the window.

His boots' enchantment activated which prevented any sound it would have made. His cloak also masked his presence to normal people as it was enchanted with presence concealment. Though it was ineffective on strong spellswords with enough magic that they bypassed his enchantment or if he deliberately showed his presence.

Deon then dashed off in swift speed. His goal that night was to hunt strong monsters in a forest at the border of the Barony. Coincidentally, that forest was also home to some beast tribes. It was quite far from the County but in the Barony, it would at most take two hours if he went full speed.

.....

"Keep drinking, you louts! Today was a great success!"

"Wooooh!"

Surrounding a bonfire were several men in ragged cheap clothes. Each of them held bottles of alcohol.

Not far from the place, a shadow can be seen heading towards the men. Amidst the darkness and his black outfit, only two blood-red eyes glowed ominously filled with killing intent.

When Deon arrived at the camp, he heard a man talking about how a woman begged to spare her son. Just as that man finished talking, his head flew, separated from his body.

'Eh? Why am I spinning?' Is the man's last thought as he saw his body from afar.

"Wha–?!"

Before the men could panic, a shadowy figure flashed in and out of existence as they were killed off individually. The process only took a few seconds and all men now lay in pools of blood.

Deon gazed at the men's corpses with cold and indifferent eyes. However, he soon turned his attention to another thing. It was covered with a cloth but a small part was uncovered, he saw it was a cage.

He immediately removed the cloth covering it and saw a grotesque figure. It was a small figure, presumably a girl due to her long hair, whose body was rotting to the point they couldn't even be recognized.

However, Deon saw it wasn't dead due to the small rhythmic breathing he heard with his enhanced senses. He also saw that the cause of the rotting was the overload of magic inside her.

He quickly got her out of the cage and started controlling the rampaging magical energy inside her. Instead of throwing it away though, he controlled the magical energy to seep into her body from blood to her very cells.

After he was done with the process, he covered her with a cloth and waited for her to wake up.