The sword struck the training dummy with full force. It was filled with cloth and sand and had two arms like sticks. Lux was training in the inner courtyard of the castle. It was enclosed by a pale oak fence. If you left this fence, you would find yourself back at the entrance to the castle village. There were markets, small arenas for fighting, a long line waiting for bread, and many playing children.
Lux looked at the playing children. They were running after each other and playing tag.
"It is hard to believe that all of this was created and not real, right?"
Lux looked at Fie, who was landing fast strikes on a training dummy. Half a day had passed since she woke up. She did not want to accept that they could not destroy the crystal. Lux avoided the crystal entirely because he knew what it could do. He did not even look at it, yet it seemed to anger the crystal, because when the sun shone on the large blue crystal, its blue colors reflected toward Lux. It was clearly a sign.
Lux looked up. The crystal was above the castle. It lay there as if it had crashed down and smiled at everyone with its bright blue colors. Lux quickly looked away.
Then Lux looked at Fie, who was unleashing several strikes. The dummy shook. She hit the stomach twice and finished with the head. Lux noticed that she was experienced in combat. After all, they had no chance in the fight against the dogs, and that fight had proven nothing.
Lux smiled and called out to her.
"Hey, take it easy. There is a way, I am sure!"
She did not react and struck once more. Lux turned away from her and sighed, then struck himself. A powerful blow followed, then several fast ones after it. The dummy shook violently. Lux stopped and wiped the sweat from his face.
"Okay, now I can think clearly again!"
This break had been necessary. Deil came a few minutes later and nudged Lux on the shoulder. There was no problem since the wound was now completely healed, just like Fie's. Lux turned his head and saw the blond hair.
Deil said, "Hey, I thought you might come with me when I present my offering today."
Lux actually wanted to avoid it, but it was important. Lux nodded. It could be important. They called Fie over and she came along as well. The way there was quiet. No one spoke. Lux was deep in thought.
"I want to avoid making an offering. I need to leave quickly. Wait. Could it be that Deil is under the influence of the crystal? Damn. No. I hope not. I should observe his behavior."
Lux kept thinking. He thought about how the crystal could be destroyed. Unfortunately, only two things came to mind. Hitting it or throwing the cursed dragon at it. But both were illogical. They could never destroy this giant with brute force, and the dragon, well, that was illogical and only a thought experiment. The dragon could already be many kilometers away. Lux did not even know how big this world was or what regions existed.
Lux dared to ask and broke the silence of the group.
"Deil, how long have you been here?"
Deil stopped.
"I do not know. Maybe three years?"
Lux looked at him cautiously, with a panicked look. Lux understood. You could survive in this protected castle. Lux went through everything in his head. They had knights standing everywhere. Behind the castle they had a whole river full of water. In the meantime, Lux and Fie had also drunk something and saved themselves from thirst. But their stomachs were still hungry. They would change that soon because they needed energy.
Lux blinked a few times.
"You must have explored a lot, right?"
"No, I only dared to go a few meters away from the castle and look around there every day, well, almost every day, to see if I could spot something in the distance. That is how I discovered you, but I did not dare to go any farther."
Lux blinked, disappointed, but then Deil continued.
"However! My knights go a little farther every day. Unfortunately, this field without trees is far too large. There are also a few mud areas where—"
Lux interrupted, "Where monsters live?"
Deil nodded. "Y-yes? How do you know that?"
This time Fie spoke. "Let's just say we have had contact with those monsters more than once."
Deil fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Are you, well, only the two of you because of that?"
Deil was smart and he was right. Both nodded.
"Okay, I am sorry. Did you know her or him well?"
Lux answered, "To be honest, not at all."
After a while, they were almost there. You could already see everything. The crystal lay embedded in the wall. A wooden staircase led up to the crystal, but they did not go up. Deil stopped and suddenly pulled a knife from his pocket. Lux and Fie flinched and were ready to dodge, but Deil spoke in concern.
"Calm down, I do not want to hurt anyone, no one except myself!"
Suddenly Deil raised a hand and cut into his palm. Blood dripped down to the ground like a waterfall. A small groan of pain escaped Deil, and he turned toward the crystal. With his blood-smeared hand, he placed it against the crystal.
The entire crystal began to glow.
Lux watched him and noticed that Deil's eyes had turned completely blue. Deil's body trembled and seemed to stick to the crystal. Immediately, Deil tore his hand away from the crystal. The blood was pulled into the blue mass, and the crystal stopped glowing blue.
Deil breathed heavily and sat down unsteadily. Lux observed something strange. The wound on Deil's hand seemed to have healed. That fast?
Lux did not want to speak now and preferred to let Deil rest, but then Fie spoke.
"Y-your wound… it's healed!"