Soon Dex was getting tired. He'd been walking for days, and hadn't eaten. Suddenly he thought to himself, Hmmm... If only I could eat that lasagne again, the smooth cheese, the delicate sauce...

Dex tripped over a tree root. He saw bright orange fruits hanging from the tree.

"Mandarins! Score!" he said as he peeled and took a bite from the juicy fruit. Suddenly his mouth pulled right into his face, before he spat the fruit out. "Sour! Need... water!" he cried as he pulled himself to a nearby stream. "GAAAAAAAH! SALTY!" he cried before fainting.

ΩΩΩ

Dex awoke in a small thatched cottage. He pulled himself up in the bed and saw a man, a young and an older woman sitting by a fire

"What kind of Idiot takes a pullala fruit and actually eats it?" the man grunted

"Oh leave him be Jack, he probably didn't know. His clothes look like he's from out of town," The younger woman.

"Out of town? Well you're right there lady!" Dex said, standing behind them. "I'm from another world!" The company dropped their jaws.

"That's not Ginta..." The man said quietly.

"Who is this 'Ginta'? Dorothy spoke about him too..."

"Dorothy! What's she up to? Wait..." the man – Jack said, looking at the ring on his middle finger, "Is that Restis? Tell us your story mate." Dex took a deep breath, and then sighed. He sat telling all the past events that occurred over the last few days.

"The place of the sword? That's a myth." The woman, Pano, said disparagingly.

"All the more reason for Dorothy to chase after it." Jack said calmly.

"You want proof? Weapon Ärm, Soul Sabre!" summoned the sword to his hand.

"Well I'll be damned..."

"But I don't sense any magic power..."

"What is magic power?"

"Magic power is an energy exuded by an Ärm wielder and the Ärm, allowing maximum control and extra abilities."

"Oh, Dorothy, on the topic of Ginta, said I appeared at a 'time of trouble'. Explanation?"

"Now look, Dex, When Ginta came, MÄR Heaven was endangered by an organization known as the chess pieces. Some people, myself for one, fought for their destruction. Many people are claiming that they're rising again, a third time, and all I know is that I'm retired. You may be called as the hero from another world, I don't know who summoned you, but you need training before you can fight. Tomorrow, we'll head to Pajilika castle, and get you to spar 'til you're blue in the face. Rest easy, we've got an early morning.

ΩΩΩ

After a short breakfast and a long hike, Dex and Jack arrived at Pajilika castle. Many men were fighting, sparring with different weapons of every kind, but when they saw Jack, they all started whispering.

"Is that..."

"Jack, of ..."

"Team MÄR must be..."

"Jack!" exclaimed an older man, who must have been the castle's lord "Come to bring more of those fine vegetables?"

"Not today, Beardric, I want to call in that favour."

"Ah, what will it be?"

"My companion here wants to develop his magic power, and I thought..."

"Say no more, friend of Jack, your name is..."

"Dex, Dex Sledge."

"Well, Dex, walk up to anyone in the court and wager some pewter."

"I don't have any..." sweat dropped from my forehead in a classic animé fashion.

"*Sigh* here's twenty pewter, now start fighting." Jack said, throwing twenty silver coins into Dex's hand. He gave a savage smile to Dex. "Get 'em kid!"

"Kid?" Dex smiled, "We're the same age!" Dex smiled, before running off into the throng.
He came up to one of them, he was about twenty, red hair, blue eyes and dark skin.
"What's your name?"

"I'm Damon, Wanna fight? Wager of ten pewter. I'll even go a bit easy on you."

"You're on!" Dex said, pulling out the sword. Damon swung a mace, emitting sparks toward Dex. He shifted the sword to its shield form, blocking the blow. Damon stepped back, shocked at the sword's transformation. Dex then changed the weapon to its own version of a mace, and whacked the mace against the other. The pair fought like this for about half an hour before Damon fell to the floor.
"GG." Dex said, pulling his opponent up off the ground.

"Here's your pewter... wanna go again tomorrow?"

"Sure. I'd like that." Dex said before finding his accommodations and going to sleep.

ΩΩΩ

Dex stayed training for a week, slowly raising his mana input. He and Jack were sitting on one of the castle turrets, when he noticed four slots in Soul Sabre.

"Jack? What's the deal with these?"

"Those are slots for magic stones, stones that add abilities to your Ärm..."

"HELP!" a woman screamed from outside the castle, as a dragon flew off carrying a small girl, who was crying. Dex got up, jumped out of the castle and ran chasing the dragon.

He ran past forests, streams and into the mountains, running as hours passed. The dragon stopped at the mouth of a cave. Dex stirred his courage and started climbing the sharp rocks.