In the woods near the lab, the three goblins circled Nifily and Veyne. Nifily knelt, her arm pierced by an arrow, her small cries cutting through the tension. The goblins laughed, amused by her pain. Veyne's head hung low, fury simmering beneath calm.
The wind shifted. Veyne's pale green hair darkened at the tips, and one eye flared red. A dark aura swirled around him, runes on his skeletal arm glowing crimson beneath the bandages.
"How dare you touch her."
In an instant, Veyne was a flash of lightning. He lunged, seizing a goblin by the throat. The knife it held dropped, caught mid-air. The remaining two goblins froze, eyes wide with shock.
Veyne lifted the struggling goblin high, its desperate kicks futile. With a snap, its neck broke, and it went limp.
Nifily stared, fear etched into her face. Even the surviving goblins recoiled. Veyne dropped the body and assumed a ready stance, knife held backward.
"Xheath muraca!" the archer shouted, motioning to the remaining spearman.
The duo lunged. Veyne dodged each attack effortlessly, eyes locked on the archer. The spearman managed a grazing strike, but Veyne trapped the spear mid-thrust and used it to block the arrow fired in tandem.
Another arrow fired as Veyne guided the spearman's body into its path. The arrow pierced clean through the goblin's head, and Veyne let the corpse drop.
Only one goblin remained. Panicked, it dropped its bow and scrambled to flee.
"You dare turn your back on me?" Veyne bellowed.
Nifily watched, guilt and fear churning in her chest. She wished she were stronger—wished she could have prevented this.
The fleeing goblin met the blade of Veyne's knife, slicing through its leg. Desperate, it tried crawling away, but Veyne picked up the bone axe lying nearby. With a roar, he swung, splitting it in two. More swings followed, the forest echoing with the sickening sounds of splintering bone and gushing blood.
"Mister Veyne, that's enough!" Nifily cried.
Veyne paused, joy in his expression, then saw the terror in her eyes. The axe clattered to the ground as he approached her.
"Hey… you okay, Nif?"
Confused, she met his gaze. His eyes and hair had returned to normal.
"Oh Veyne, I was so scared! Are you alright?"
"Arrow in the arm, and you're worried about me? You truly are kind. Let's get you patched up."
Back at the lab, Nifily sat on the bench, her arm rebandaged—the same one she had given Veyne.
"So… what happened back there? Does it explain why you know so much about magic and the world?"
Veyne's expression darkened, somber.
"It's not so simple. I'm not even sure I understand it myself."
He left out the gritty details, too afraid to scare her. She didn't press further, sensing there was more than he could say.
After the long day, they turned in early, rain pattering softly against the lab roof.
In the middle of the night, Veyne slipped outside into the rain. He gathered the goblin bodies and arranged them in a neat pile. Expressionless, he raised his hand.
"Raise undead."
Nothing happened. A sigh of relief escaped him. Not being able to raise even weak undead meant he hadn't slipped back into his old, darker self. With that, he returned to rest.
Days passed. Both recovered and resumed training. Veyne brought the goblin bodies to the lab, and Nifily filled glass vials with elder tree sap.
"Now that the cauldron is fixed, we can move onto potions."
"Potions?! Wow… is this what being a Realmforger is like?!"
Veyne chuckled.
"More or less. Most buy potions. We don't have that luxury—or the money."
"Right… I guess they don't worry about goblins either," Nifily added.
Veyne smiled softly, trying to reassure her.
"Don't worry, Nifily. You'll be as strong as the rest when I'm done with you."
With that, they leaned over the cauldron, ready to begin the next lesson.