Once Frederick gave me the keys and escorted me back to my room, he decided to assist me with all of the useless files that plagued my workplace. I helped him with it, of course, but the amount of trash he took out compared to me felt like I was just watching him do it all by himself. So, after he was done, I opted to immediately restore the scripts Frederick told me to.

He also showed me where the general writing supplies were. At first, I was a bit anxious about having to deal with that place too, but after another reassuring speech from Frederick, I didn't have to do anything about it. If something was missing that needed to be ordered, I would just do so without counting all the pens, ink bottles, and paper sheets down to a single unit.

It was a nice change of pace to feel that you didn't have to worry about everything, and for once, I was able to live out one of my dreams. I always wanted to write with a classic feather pen.

I just loved the sound it made as it scratched the paper with its surprisingly sharp tip, making the work very delicate, but extremely satisfying. With the smell of the ink and the overall atmosphere of my new office, it felt like I was in a distant past where no such thing as computers existed.

…Now that I thought about it, that probably was the case right now.

Yet, the novelty of said dream suddenly just faded away as I haphazardly tried to replicate the writing of said books, and consistently drew more holes than letters on the paper because of my incompetence. Not to mention just how much ink I was wasting.

I tried to drag the pen as delicately as possible, only touching the paper with the literal tip. My hands were constantly shaking, scared of that same hole appearing again before my fingers slipped ever so slightly, and then another tare reached my ears, making me groan.

I got rid of the paper on another stack that was already ready to be thrown out as well before taking another sheet to try again. I dipped my pen into the ink bottle, tapping the tip to get rid of any excess, only to realize I was out. I glanced at the bottle, confirmed it was empty, and promptly threw it away as well, the sound of glasses smashing against each other something I didn't like.

Mostly because I hadn't made any progress yet with how many of them were behind me.

Eventually, thanks to my stubbornness, I gradually got the hang of it. It mostly came down to me putting another sheet below the one I was writing on to prevent the tearing, but it always came back to haunt me from time to time.

So, I continued with my struggles and was promptly able to restore a single book after who knew how long, but once I looked at what was before me, I couldn't help but fall back on my chair with a tired sigh.

"This is going to take forever."

At least the constant reading of said text made me understand a little more about my position, but I wasn't expecting any miracles from myself. I was probably going to come back to them anyway.

"Hold on, how many do I have left anyway?" I said to myself before counting the small stack sitting on my table, and eventually got to seven books in total. If I discounted the fact that some were bigger than others, I could theoretically do a single book in a day while learning most of what it had to offer. I would give myself at least enough time to read through them and memorize the important bits.

However, when I tried to reach out for the restored book a knock on the door interrupted me. It wasn't as loud as Frederick's, I had his knocking pretty much ingrained in my brain at this point, but it wasn't as delicate as Lissa's.

"Enter," I said loudly. The knob turned with a click, and lo and behold, my intuition was right. Except I definitely didn't expect Robin of all people to come here.

He peeked through the slight opening before his eyes lit in recognition, and he eventually entered the room while closing the doors behind him. After he inspected the place and let out a small whistle, he turned to me.

"I would argue this place definitely wasn't like this when you got here," he remarked, making me playfully roll my eyes.

"You can say that again." I eased a little bit by letting my hands fall on the armrests. "So, what do you need?"

"Nothing," he said with a slight shake of his head. "I just thought I'd pay you a visit. From what Lissa told me, you haven't come out of your little hole here in a while."

I gave him a flat stare. "This isn't a hole, it's my office now. Pay a little respect at least."

He put his hands up defensively. "Right, right. Although I guess I can't blame you when Frederick probably did the same thing with you as he did with me."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah," he said, bopping his head once. "Although now that I've done my part, I thought I'd take a little break."

His eyes darted to the stack on my table. "Although you look like you can't afford that now, can you?"

I leaned my head on my hand. "I mean, I guess I could, but I still wanted to at least glance over what I wrote down. I'm kind of inept right now with the position I have been given."

"Oh? So you're really the Shepherd's new quartermaster?" He let out a small chuckle. "Then call me surprised. I honestly expected Frederick to just do it on his own even with you here. To think the wariest person I've met so far would actually relent two jobs to complete strangers with very complicated backgrounds."

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not," I said, unamused to say the least.

He waved it off. "I jest, I jest."

"Okay, did you really come here to just rub something in my face, or…?"

"No no, I just wanted to ask if you'd want to hang out for a while, since nobody is here in the barracks at the moment," he said.

"Wait, seriously? Where did they all go? I know I was stuck in here for a while, but somebody has to be here beside us, right?" I asked him.

"No, most of them had some stuff to do or haven't returned from their missions yet," he said, but I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because Chrom appointed me as the tactician," he explained. "Knowing where people are is something I have to constantly keep track of."

I let out a groan. "Great, so once again, I'm the only one who knows absolutely nothing and has to study like I'm back at school."

"Don't think of it like that, you'll just sour your experience. It just so happened that I wasted too much time reading when I was a kid and have an easier time right now."

"Even better," I said while throwing my hands into the air before letting out a sigh. "This is getting on my nerves at this point."

"All the more reason to take a break. Come on," he urged, turning to the door in the process. "Keeping a healthy schedule is important after all."

Again, I had to reiterate just how good these people were with words. No matter what I said, they always knew how to counter my whining and make me work all that much harder to better myself. It was quite the opposite of the life I had in my university, where students went out of their way to avoid school in the first place. Or maybe I was just that bad at making friends.

I let out another sigh before standing up from my seat. "Alright, I'll go. Do you have a place in mind?"

His lips formed a small grin. "That I do, yeah."

I gave him a shrug, in no real need to persuade myself to stay here. I took my staff and headed out.

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

Now, with how thorough Robin seemed to be, I thought he'd have taken the time to find a fine place for us to relax and recover from Frederick's tests. However, when we didn't even leave the barracks, I got a little concerned.

Once we took a sharp turn through a long corridor, we were met by a set of doors blocking our way. Robin, instead of opening the doors, turned to me.

"I think you're going to like this place," he said off-handedly before slotting in the key and twisting it with a click. He pushed at the doors before beckoning me to go outside.

"After you."

I didn't answer him, only gave him a slight nod before walking through and revealing, of all possible things in the middle of a city, a field! Sure, it wasn't as big as I first thought with the walls around us neatly blocking our way, barely hidden by the large trees casting long shadows. Patches of flowers shone under the afternoon glow of the sun in either white, yellow, or blue, dancing under the weak wind.

This place was large enough to fit an entire wedding here! It looked beautiful and seemed like the right place for such an event.

I slowly walked without thought while basking in the wide space around me, eventually finding a place with a large dirt arena filled to the brim with buckets of wooden weapon mock-ups. Now that I thought about it, this place was near the well I always got my water from. It was just the size of the barracks that always blocked the view of this entire place.

"Wow," I exclaimed, making Robin behind me hum.

"Yeah. For being one of the messiest people out there, this garden is maintained well," he remarked. He acquired a leather mat from… somewhere and headed towards one of the trees overlooking the field.

"Come on, let's sit down," he said, making me follow his lead. Once we reached the tree, Robin sprawled out the mat right under the crown. He then plopped down with a satisfied sigh before I carefully did the same, trying not to stain my long skirt.

At first, we remained silent, only paying attention to the leaves rustling a pleasant tune, a sound that I always liked, especially compared to the loud traffic that I, unfortunately, got used to. We did have a building far-off from the main city, but that was mostly used for parties to make sure we wouldn't get constantly yelled at.

A place where…

My head lowered slightly at the memory, somehow resurfacing after all I'd been through in the past few days. I thought I would be able to just forget about it ever happening but with how much he meant to me…

"Are you okay?" Robin suddenly asked me, pulling me out of my thoughts. "You seemed troubled."

A mirthless chuckle escaped my lips. "Sorry, I just drifted away. It's nothing important."

"If you say so," he said, surprisingly not pushy about it. "So, how're holding up so far?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I haven't been trying to look into it much because there is just too much to do."

Robin hummed before looking up at the sky. "Yeah, I thought as much."

"Sorry, I just feel like I don't have time to ponder about such things," I said, looking away.

"No, it's fine. That's not something you should apologize for. New jobs always come with a lot of hurdles that eat away at your time," he said. "I was just lucky with mine being relatively close to what I was doing when I was a kid."

"Huh, you sure were a bookworm with the way you describe your past," I said, trying to lighten up the mood. Robin didn't seem to mind, as he let out a small chuckle.

"I'm not going to deny that because I have no need to. Besides, I liked reading whatever my mother hid away." His expression turned neutral. "But those times are long gone."

Great, that was definitely where I didn't want to take this.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable," I said, looking away.

He suddenly gave me a flat stare. "Theresa, you should learn not to apologize every time, especially when it's not your fault. It's not like you could have known. I may sound like I don't like to remember my past, but before certain events, the days at a cottage with my mother were probably the happiest moments of my life."

He lifted his right hand up into the sky, his palm facing him. "But there are some things that refuse to go away, no matter how much you want to forget them."

I absentmindedly touched the single earring on my right, dangling it between my fingers. It was always with me, and I tried to never put it down. It was a memento after all.

I shook my head. "I don't think we wanted to come here and talk about our complicated pasts."

He gave me a nod. "Yeah, it would be for the best to leave this be for another time."

"Right," I agreed. "So, any reason why we came here besides relaxing? I don't know about you, but staying here until somebody comes feels a bit dull."

A snort came out of Robin's lips. "What, you want to try out some swordplay or something?"

"What, no! I don't want to touch that thing! I'm not a fighter!" I shouted before calming myself down with a sigh. "Seriously though, if I ever leave the barracks just because the entirety of the Shepherds have to go somewhere, I'm not going to the frontlines any time soon."

"Well, I can understand that but there is always a chance something might happen on the field. Of course, as a tactician, it's my job to prevent such things, but being able to defend yourself is crucial," he argued. "I would go as far to say that Frederick will eventually force you through some training himself."

"No no no, let's just skip the fact you offered swordplay to an amateur or that Frederick will eventually torment me with exercise and focus on something else, like… I don't know, birds?"

Robin raised an eyebrow before looking around the plains to see if there was a single bird in sight. "But I don't see any birds around here."

He was joking, right? I glanced from one tree to another, hoping I would find at least some colourful speck under the leaves and branches, or at least a nest. I tried to lean my ear in almost every direction to hear at least a single chirp, but all that reached my ear was just the sound of the leaves or cracking branches.

Of course they weren't around. Mother nature just really liked to spite me.

"Alright, then how about—," my eyes glanced down at the staff strapped to my hips, and I suddenly realized that I knew absolutely nothing about my new abilities. It wasn't like I had books to study it either, so I thought now was my best chance.

I picked up my staff, much to Robin's apparent confusion, and held it right in front of him while trying to keep up a determined frown.

"Um, what does your staff have to do with us doing something?" He asked, unsurprisingly, making me lower my hands and the staff a little.

"I don't understand this. Like, at all," I said. "I was thinking either you or Lissa could help me understand, because both of you definitely have much more experience than I do. It's honestly driving me crazy that as soon as I got here I was able to do something supernatural."

Robin hummed before touching his chin in thought. "I think we have to do something about your perception of this world first."

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked.

"Let's start off by asking you what you perceive as supernatural, because what you did back then, even with your questionable method, is completely normal," he said, eventually lifting himself up. "Magic is used on a daily basis around here. Some mages use it for combat, others to light up a fire or cut down a tree."

"O-kay, then could you at least show it to me again? Because I still find it hard to believe, especially the fact that I can do it," I said, placing my staff on the ground.

Robin gave me a nod before digging into his pockets to find a book, one that I vaguely remembered from Southtown. He opened it before gently swiping his hand across the pages and small sparks of lightning started jumping in his hand, much to my surprise and awe.

"In regards to something like conjuring magic, it usually comes down to a person's imagination and attunement to the source that helps him create such things as fire or lightning," he said, never taking his eyes away from his glowing hand. "Without a conduit, nobody would be able to do so, which is why tomes and staves were invented."

I kept paying attention to the lightning jumping in his hand before absentmindedly noticing one of the pages caught on fire. It didn't burn, but a gentle glow was shattering the paper into tiny bits, like wisps of ash.

Robin noticed me staring. "And yes, there always has to be some form of fuel. Nothing comes out of nothing after all, which is why I was a little concerned when you made it work with no fuel."

"Until I used myself as…" I trailed off, looking down at the mat.

"Exactly," he said, balling up his fist and making the lightning disappear with a crack. "So, until you come around and ask Lissa to teach you, I'd be glad if you'd refrain from using your staff altogether. Using yourself as the fuel isn't something your body is accustomed to, nor do I recommend training your body to sustain such pain."

A mirthless chuckle escaped my lips. "So what you're saying is that I would be shaving off some of my life, wouldn't I?"

"Again, it's not as bad as you make it out to be," he reassured. "I'm sure using it once or twice won't do much to you. If you were to do it all the time, that would be a different matter."

"I don't think I'll try that again any time soon. Once was enough just because of how exhausted it left me," I said, before touching my chin. "But that makes me wonder. What can I do if I don't have any fuel other than myself?"

He shrugged. "Theoretically, you could conjure up pretty much anything with the right tool, but again, you passed out just by healing my stomach. I can't imagine what would happen to you if you did something greater than that."

My lips pursed. "...you know what? Forget I said that. I'm just going to ask Lissa to help me. The idea of something worse than me taking an abrupt nap is not pleasant in the slightest."

"That'd be the smart thing to do, yes," he agreed before looking over to the dirt field once again. "Do you really not want to try swordplay out?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Do I have to repeat myself?"

"Don't be like that, it will just be a quick spar. Besides, knowing at least how to move when confronted could prove beneficial," he said.

I crossed my arms. "There isn't much to it though, right? I just keep my distance from the pointy end because I don't want to get stabbed."

"A good tactic, but sometimes, that won't be an option. I know you could whack somebody with your staff, but keeping something close by that isn't blunt could prove handy. Like those papers I gave you back then."

"Then what is stopping you from giving me one or two every now and then?" I pointed out.

"Because the way you used them might as well leave you worse for wear than your attempt to heal me. And they can cause collateral damage when not careful too," he said with a blank face. "Not to mention how expenses these tomes can get."

"Like giving me a sharp sword would be any better," I muttered before letting out a groan. "Alright fine, but if I'm left with more bruises than you then we're not doing this again."

He breathed out a sigh. "There we go. Honestly, getting through you is like punching a stone wall sometimes."

"Let's just get this over with," I said before standing up from my spot, silently regretting I took Robin up on his offer.

He followed me down to the field before picking up two wooden swords from a bucket and testing them out with a swing or two.

"This one is a little lighter," he remarked before giving it to me. Once I took it in my hands, it felt alien to me. It wasn't anything like having an umbrella or a purse.

I instinctively gripped it as tight as possible, fearing it would fall out of my hands before Robin touched my shoulder. "Relax a little. Even if this is your first time, don't think about it too much."

I stared at him for a moment before looking back at the long stick in my hands. My vision tunneled slightly, focusing only on the sword before I shook my head. I took in a deep breath and relaxed my shoulders while noticing Robin standing a few meters away from me.

"Alright, let's start off simple. I'm going to do an overhead swing and you find a way to strike me back, okay?" he said, taking his own stance with both hands gripping the sword while his face settled into a frown.

"Are you ready?"

I was too preoccupied with what he said earlier because I had no idea how to swing with this thing, but Robin gave me no time whatsoever before he dashed my way.

I let out a yelp before Robin jumped into the air with his sword behind his back before he brought it down, aiming right at me. While I could say I was a natural and dodged out of the way before hitting him in the stomach, that was far from what happened.

The first thing I did was move as out of the way as possible so that Robin's swing only connected with the dirt below with a loud thud. He lifted his head, his eyes boring into mine.

"I was expecting you to strike back," he said matter of factly.

"Strike you back!? If I hadn't gotten away, you would have smacked me in the head! Do I look like I want a concussion!?" I yelled at him.

Robin let out a sigh. "Like I said, running away is fine, but there will be a time when that's just not possible. You have to make your strike count when an enemy creates such a wide opening to attack."

"I told you I don't know how to do it! I've never held a weapon in hand in my entire life! I don't know what an opening is, or how to exploit it!"

Instead of being deterred from continuing this stupid sparring session or whatever it was, Robin took hold of my arms, which were still gripping the sword for dear life.

"I'll show you," he said before taking the same position as before when he made the overhead swing, kneeling on the ground.

"All you have to do is get near me after I make a swing similar to the one earlier and hit me somewhere. It doesn't matter where, okay?"

He stood up before creating some distance between us and got ready once again.

"Get ready," he said and without wasting time, he rushed at me, my feet suddenly freezing in place this time. I had no idea what to do when he told me to keep myself close enough so I could strike him back. Even if these swords were only made out of wood, it still felt like he was the same bandit with an axe and a rope in hand. My hesitation didn't make Robin stop however, and he jumped into the air, readying the same swing as earlier, before bringing the sword down right at me.

Time seemed to slow down for me while Robin's weapon was inching slowly but surely ever so closer to meet the top of my head. I just stared at it with wide eyes, paralyzed by the sight. I even saw Robin's fearful expression when he noticed I wasn't doing anything, but his attack had too much momentum to stop. With a loud whack, the sword hit me right in the forehead, knocking me to the ground on my back.

I didn't black out, but I was only able to stare at the sky, confused. My head burned and I got no response from my body when I told it to get back up. Robin was probably shouting my name, but all I heard were just quiet whispers.

His face suddenly blocked my view of the clouds and all I could associate with that face was how he hit me in the head, even though I told him this was a bad idea. My lips slowly but surely curved into a snarl before I swung in a wide arc in front of me with the sword still in my hand.

Robin backed away before my body finally said this was the time to stand up and I rushed him. I didn't really have a reason why, I was sure he didn't mean it, but all I could think of was that he was going to pay. It was like all the anger I'd been withholding this entire time got released with that single strike.

I felt liberated, but at the same time, scared.

I gripped my sword with both hands while Robin brought up his guard, but I wasn't having any of that. I swung in a wide arc once again, hitting Robin's sword away with a loud thwack.

I was barely able to keep my balance up, my hands shook, and I probably offended everyone who knew about swordplay, but I couldn't care less. I brought my hands behind my back and gave it all I had into this one swing, and my target was Robin's head.

Robin was able to regain his footing, but instead of pulling up his guard, he widened his stance further and locked himself in place. It didn't make me stop, and I brought down my sword.

The whack of my weapon sent ripples in my arms, before it spread through my body like a cold shiver, and yet it somehow felt satisfying. I looked up to see if Robin was on the ground just like me before, but to my shock, he stood still, with the wooden sword neatly leaning against his forehead. A tiny drop of blood trickled down his face while he stared me down with an emotionless stare.

A single beat from my heart made me jolt back into reality, my eyes widening at the sight of what I'd done. My grip loosened, all the tension in my body vanished, and I eventually let go of my weapon, letting it fall to the ground with a dull thud before I tried to back away.

Robin stopped me with a hand on my shoulder, gripping it as tightly as possible and making me bring my hands as close to my body as possible before I closed my eyes.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"Theresa, look me in the eyes," Robin said calmly. I opened just one eye and he flicked on my head.

"Ow! What was that fo—"

I looked up at his face, and the only thing I could see was his smile, a genuine smile despite that trail of blood running down his forehead.

"Again, you apologize too much," he said before bringing a napkin to clean his face up. He then approached me and gently scrubbed away any dirt I had. "If anybody has to apologize here, it's me. It was foolish of me to think you could do what I told you to."

Once he was done, he put the napkin back away before picking up the sword I'd dropped. "We're not going to need them for today anymore."

I could only give him a shaky nod before he put the swords back where we got them, carelessly throwing them inside the bucket. He wiped away his hands before turning to me.

"I do have to say, I didn't expect that out of you at all."

I jolted my head away. "I… it was in the heat of the moment, I didn't know what I was doing."

"That's fine, I was the one who put you in that state in the first place," he said with a shake of his head. "But now I'm sure there is a fighter in you. I think that should be enough for me to know you won't lay down your arms when you need to stand up for yourself."

"What makes you so sure?" I retorted. "Back in Southtown, when we were inside that building, I almost let myself be tied up by a bandit."

"But you're still here, which means you were able to do something about it," he said before shrugging. "Granted, your ways are still on the reckless side, but that's something we'll work on."

I instinctively hugged myself. "But what if I don't want to? What if I just don't want to end up in these situations?"

Robin let out a sigh. "I will try my best to minimize the chances, but as I said before, this world isn't kind to naivety, Theresa. If anything, it only preys on it instead."

I clicked my tongue. "That's not what I wanted to hear."

"But it had to be said," Robin said before touching my shoulder once again. He liked to do that often, didn't he?

"If there is something you need to know however, it is what my mother often liked to say," he said, making me look him in the eyes again. "Everyone has a wolf inside them they hide with sheep's clothing. Some people aren't subtle while others like to keep it as hidden as possible. But when there is a time when their life is threatened, it will always come out, no matter what they do to prevent it."

He let go of my shoulder before poking exactly where my heart was. "Even you have one. That wolf will always help you, and only you, to survive. If it is at the expense of others or anything around you, it doesn't care, so long as its master is alive. And being attuned with your wolf is something we all strive for. To strike a balance between reason and living."

I stared down at the place where Robin was poking. He eventually lowered it, allowing me to touch it myself. "So basically what you're trying to say is that I should rely on my instincts?"

He gave me a nod, and I let out a playful scoff. "I doubt I have a wolf inside me. If anything, it would be a stingy rabbit at most."

Robin let out a chuckle. "And that's where you're wrong."

"Huh?"

"Think about it. Would it really be a rabbit if you threw that paper in the building to get rid of that bandit?" He asked pointedly before crossing his arms. "Would it be a rabbit if you were able to break my guard and then whack me over the head?"

He shook his head. "Sure, the technique was sloppy, but there is definitely a wolf there. All you have to do is to find them. And once you do, it all comes down to befriending them."

I stared at him for a moment before a snort came out of my mouth. "Well, I never would have expected a topic about wolves to come out as an inspirational sweet talk."

Robin's eyes widened for a second before backing off an inch and scratching his cheek. "If you want to think of it like that, then sure."

I waved it off with a small laugh, glad I was able to elevate the mood a little. "I'm just teasing you, sorry."

I dusted off any bits of dirt from my clothes before putting my hands on my hips. "So, shall we g—"

"Can I ask what you two are doing here?"

That voice made me immediately tense up, because I knew exactly who it belonged to. Both of us turned to my left, only to see Frederick standing right in front of the barracks, his hands behind his back and an eyebrow raised.

"I thought I gave you both clear instructions on what you were supposed to do. Training was certainly not one of them," he said, his voice stern.

"I take the blame for this one, Frederick," Robin said, putting a hand on his chest. "It was my idea to come here and take a break. Being here just seemed the best way to go around it."

Frederick closed his eyes before breathing through his nose ever so slightly. "I understand the work I'm putting you through might seem much at times, but all I want from both of you is to be ready as quickly as possible."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "Does it have to do with the reports I've read about the Farfort?"

"Mostly yes, but there are other reasons as well." He then turned to me, making me grow stiff under his gaze. "Lady Theresa, I want those scripts done in a fortnight. Learn from them, and I expect a report of the stocks before there is even a talk about the Shepherds moving out towards the Farfort."

I gulped down whatever I had in my mouth before giving him a resolute nod. "Right."

"Good. As for you, sir Robin, we are going to talk about your attempt at leisure when there is much to do."

Somehow, the way Fredrick sounded made me think there was much more to it than he let on, but I decided not to ask. If anything, I'd rather go back to my office and make sure this wouldn't happen again. Being caught doing anything you weren't supposed to do was never a nice feeling.

I turned to Robin with a sheepish smile. "I guess, see you around?"

He gave me a nod. "Yeah, see you around."

While awkward at first, dwelling on it would just make things worse, so I opted to just leave the field and head back inside the barracks. Before I left the place, however, I gave one last glance at Frederick and Robin. They were talking about something, but it didn't look like they were arguing. Frederick suddenly touched his chin before turning my way, and I was rewarded with another set of stern eyes drilling holes right through me.

Well, I didn't need another lecture from him so I jerked my head away and briskly walked towards the mat Robin had sprawled out to pick up my staff. Giving them one last quick bow, I headed toward my office, and was promptly met by the smell of ink and wood.

It was comforting to an extent, and I allowed myself to rest on my chair before breathing a tired sigh. Even though my body felt relieved, my mind was still constantly thinking over what Robin told me. It just… didn't click with me, no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise. It was a weird metaphor, alright.

I knew he was trying to help me, but I couldn't imagine myself holding an actual sharp weapon to defend myself. If anything, I would rather help others than be somewhere in the thick of the fight.

All the more reason to go ask Lissa and see if she would be keen on teaching me. My lips curved up into a smile. I was pretty sure the time would come eventually, but now, there was something more important to do.

I glanced at the other six books that were still waiting for me to restore them, and I had no other reason not to. Especially when Frederick would beret me over the fact I was taking too much time. Taking one of the candles from the drawer, I lit it up to illuminate the room once again with its pleasant flame before picking up a pen and continuing my work.

At least now I had some practice to make sure I wouldn't waste that much paper.

AN: And here we are again with another chapter. This one wasn't as hard to write, but my god, did I leave this in such a horrible state when I gave it to my proofreader. I honestly can't thank Cavik enough for tidying up all that was wrong with this one, and for that, he deserves praise. Go check out the stuff he writes, it's pretty good, and I think you're going to like it.

Besides that, we are also a part of the Fanfiction Treehouse discord server. If you want to hang out, talk about fanfictions you like, or are interested in writing one of your own, this place is great. Here is the link, if you're curious enough: 9XG3U7a

Thanks for reading today's chapter.

God's speed.