Chapter 44: Chapter 35: A Training Session and a Jinx.

Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 35: A Training Session and a Jinx.

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-----Liliana's POV-----

It has been a week since we left our home in the Great Forest of Falgren to travel to Mutm, the capital city of the Marcelian Empire.

It has been days since we left the almost infinite grasslands of the northern parts of the Empire and entered the vast plains of the core regions.

The trip has been very fun despite the long hours on the bumpy road. We stopped in villages for the night, met some travelers, saw some awesome animals and cool-looking plants, and finally, we have also been camping a lot! We are doing exactly that right now!

"How's the fire coming along?" My mom asked me with her usual happy demeanor.

"It is almost ready!" I said with enthusiasm as I set up the fireplace. "Ah! Luna, give me some more kindling! And some dry leaves too!" I said to my little sister.

"Alrighty." Luna tossed me a leather bag while she was reading a book.

"Thanks, sis! This is gonna be the best campfire you've ever seen!" I had plenty of confidence in my skills.

In case it isn't clear, I love camping! I love to be able to sleep under the starry sky, telling stories while sitting around the campfire and listening to the sounds of nature! Everything is so fun!

We never really go camping back home because of all the dangerous monsters that live in the forest, but we can camp as much as we want here on the plains since the monsters are so weak that even I could deal with them! Fortunately, I don't even have to do that because the mere presence of my dad and Julius is enough to scare the monsters away from us!

The only real problem would be other people like bandits and other criminals, but they would be pretty stupid to attack us while my dad is here. 

Well, a bandit attack is pretty unlikely since we are in the middle of the main road to the capital and even if we do get attacked, we would be able to see them coming since our three vehicles were parked in a way that our camp is set in the shape of a 'U' with the campfire I'm making right in the middle!

So we can relax and enjoy a lovely family night under the moonlight and a beautiful starry sky~.

Though it would be pretty exciting to see dad beating some bandits black and blue!

"Wasn't the campfire from two days ago the best one you had ever made?" Klein asked with a blank look on his face.

"Klein, all of my campfires are works of art. The fact that you can appreciate their beauty says a lot about you." I replied with a little bit of arrogance.

"Sheesh… Talk about humble…" Klein mumbled.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you over the sounds of my FIREBALL!" I said as I used mana to create a fireball on top of my hand.

After emptying the contents of the leather bag Luna had tossed me, I immediately launched the small fireball that was hovering over my hand onto the heart of our campfire.

Just like that, the wood, the kindlings, and the dry leaves all became a majestic fire that would cook our meal and would keep us warm during the night.

"Ta-da! I've done it again! I posed in front of the fire and smiled. "Mom, we can get started with dinner now! I wanna eat some of that roasted orc meat you and Julius made the other day! It was sooo good!" After lighting up our campfire, I was pretty fired up about dinner.

"Isn't it a little early for dinner? The sun is still up." My mom asked as she was organizing some stuff in one of the carriages. " Dinner can wait for a bit. That way we won't get hungry late at night. And besides, your father and Julius are still sparring." She poked her head out of the carriage and pointed at my father and my beloved Julius, who both were several meters away from our camp.

The sounds of wooden practice swords clashing against each other could be heard from that direction. The sounds were very frequent so their training had to be pretty intense.

"Bummer… I guess I can join Mia and Leaf and watch them train for a bit." I ended up pouting since I wanted to eat soon.

"If you are feeling hungry, we could still have some tea and a light snack." Said Professor Tian as he emerged from his carriage with his driver in tow. "Please go and enjoy yourself. I'll bring the tea and the snacks as soon as they are ready." The professor said as pulled a tea set from his carriage.

It makes me feel bad to admit this, but I can't for the life of me remember the name of the professor's driver. I remember that he introduced himself a while ago, but I seriously can't remember what he's called… It would be too embarrassing to ask for his name again…

"Thank you, professor! I'll be going then!" I waved at the professor before I started running towards the place where my father and little brother were training.

"Ah, wait for me! I'll go too!" Luna said in a panic before running after me. She had barely managed to keep her book in her hands.

It was clear that she was waiting for an opportunity to go and see Julius. She's really that predictable.

Sheesh…  You could have just gone with Mia to see him instead of trying to act interesting, Luna. I guess our minds are more in sync than I thought since I was trying to act interesting too…

Of course, there's not much to gain by trying to act interesting while the one you like is not nearby…

"Please enjoy yourselves. Today's tea leaves are from the Dravia Earldom." Professor Tian said while watching us run.

"Oh! That's the really sweet one! I'll be looking forward to it!" I turned my head around and waved again.

Professor Tian can be really nice and easygoing whenever manners and etiquette are not involved. He also likes to drink tea. Lots of tea. Copious amounts of it. I think he could easily drink more tea in a day than our whole family can in a week… It is only natural that he's pretty amazing at making tea!

I kinda wanna ask him to teach me, but I'm scared that he'll be more strict about tea than he is for etiquette…

Anyway, after a minute or so, Luna and I were able to reach the place where Mia and Leaf were watching dad and Julius train.

The two of them were sitting a few meters away from the action.

"I was starting to wonder when the two of you would come." Mia said to us with a smile.

"Hahaha… I was just busy making the best campfire ever. Also, trying to act interesting didn't work as we expected… Isn't that right, Luna?" I looked at my sister and grinned.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Luna immediately frowned. She then went and sat on Mia's right.

"You're not really good at lying, Luna!" Leaf said with an adorable smile while sitting on Mia's lap.

"That's true." Both Mia and I said in unison while smiling at each other.

"Shut up! I can be a good liar!" Naturally, Luna got embarrassed after the three of us teased for a little.

"Right~." I said before sitting beside my sister and patting her back.

The moment I took a seat, a powerful shockwave suddenly reached us… The wind was so strong that all of us had to hold onto the rock we were sitting on.

"I'm not nearly done yet!" Julius shouted with roaring determination.

"That's the spirit! Keep those attacks coming then!" My dad replied with a fearless smile to match Julius' determination.

The moment their wooden swords clashed again, another powerful shockwave was produced. 

By the time the shockwave from that clash reached us, they were already moving on to their next attack.

With each clash of their wooden blades, their battle grew fiercer and fiercer.

Due to Julius' small size, he was able to take advantage of his absurd speed to pull out some ridiculous acrobatic stunts like jumping above my dad and slashing repeatedly at his head while in the air.

And even when my dad blocked those attacks with a single swing of his sword, Julius just landed on top of my dad and used his entire body as a foothold before jumping to try again from a different angle.

Julius also tried things like sliding on the ground between his legs and aiming at his joints or at his feet, which my dad simply responded with by trying to kick him or simply using his superior footwork to try to counter his attacks.

Even when my dad was completely unaffected by his attacks, Julius didn't get discouraged in the slightest. He kept trying to attack our dad from his blindspots while continuously dodging his counterattacks.

Dad, on the other hand, while he was being pressured almost on all sides by Julius' quick strikes and rapid moments, simply stood on the same spot, skilfully parrying each of Julius' attacks and then following up with a swift counter which Julius immediately dodged as soon as he saw dad's blade approaching.

Even if it was a mock battle, it was so intense and breathtaking! I wanted to cheer on both of them! Well, I want to cheer for Julius more… Sorry daddy!

"I want Julius to teach me how to jump like that! The way he can attack so fast while in the air is so amazing!" Mia's eyes were practically sparkling with admiration for our loved one.

"Hehe! I was definitely the one who taught him how to do that!" Leaf said proudly even though we all knew it wasn't true.

"I don't know how he doesn't get dizzy with all of that constant jumping around while dodging dad's attacks… Being a magician doesn't seem that bad now…" Luna seemed as if she was about to get nauseous.

"Look, they are getting serious now." I said as my eyes were fixated on the one we all love.

Their battle had suddenly stopped completely. Julius and our Dad were now standing a few meters away from each other. Julius had taken a more serious stance with his sword above his right shoulder and both hands on the handle, while Dad had taken a more relaxed one, he was keeping his blade beside his leg and holding it loosely.

"..."

"..."

The two of them just stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, almost as if waiting for the other to take the initiative.

Suddenly, a very powerful almost silver-ish aura with constant purple sparklers engulfed Julius as a whole. It almost seemed like he was covered in flames. That aura was the skill known as [Fighting Spirit].

Just by looking at Julius' eyes, I could notice that he was more serious than ever before. He wanted to defeat our dad with the next attack.

"Not holding back even against your old father, eh?" Dad smiled fearlessly, while still keeping the same stance from before.

"What? Do you want me to feel pity for your old bones? I can bring you a cane if you want one." Julius smirked in response.

Oho! Dad pretty much walked into that one!

"Sigh… I think I shouldn't have let Tiria teach you how to trash-talk…" My dad said with regret.

"Yeah? Well, after that disastrous dinner, I think you don't get the right to complain…" Julius' smirk disappeared and was replaced with a look of annoyance. "Let's just finish this." Julius immediately tightened his grip on his sword and dashed towards dad.

In just mere moments, Julius had closed the distance between them. His current speed was overwhelming, he looked like a blur in my eyes. The way he was moving before simply couldn't be compared to how he was moving now…

"You're still holding a grudge?" My dad said with a bitter smile on his face.

By the time dad said that Julius' sword was about to reach him. But as expected, his attack was blocked by dad's sword

Even with dad's relaxed attitude, he was easily able to block Julius' attack even though he was moving so fast.

"I think you should know by now that I'm pretty good at holding grudges." Julius said to our dad with a warm smile.

After he said that, Julius then did something that caught all of us, our dad included.

Julius suddenly kicked dad's wrist with all of his strength, making our dad lose his grip on his sword and sending it flying away to the sky above.

"It's my win!" Julius said as he was about to make a follow-up attack with his practice sword.

Unfortunately for Julius, just when his sword was about to hit my dad's stomach, Dad decided to throw a serious punch at him.

For the first time in the whole fight, I was able to see my dad taking Julius seriously. A surprised look appeared on Julius' face the moment he noticed how serious dad seemed to be.

Dad's punch was just as fast if not faster than Julius was before… It genuinely looked like Julius was going to be hit without having the opportunity to dodge.

"Dad! Stop!" I shouted before things could get out of hand but I was too late…

"Argh…!" Julius groaned as he was suddenly sent flying away from where he was standing thanks to the power of dad's punch.

Dad's attack had provoked an explosively powerful gust of wind, making the trees nearby shake violently, almost as if they were about to be pulled out from the ground.

The fierce shockwave immediately reached us as well… We had to hold on to our rock even more than before in order to not be sent flying away like our brother.

It wasn't until the shockwave ended and the winds calmed down that I was able to start looking for my little brother.

It took me only a few moments to notice him lying on the grass with his practice sword several meters away from him.

"Julius!" Luna was the first to scream in panic and the first to make a run toward him.

"No way! Is he dead!? My humie is dead!" Leaf also flew towards him with tears quickly forming in her eyes.

"Gods, please don't tell me I'm gonna become a widow this early!" Mia dashed and ran as fast as she could towards him.

Before running after them, I took a quick glance at my dad. He looked completely unconcerned about Julius, almost as if he knew for certain that he was alright.

"Well, that's it for today's training." He said as he caught the sword Julius had knocked out of his hand and placed it on his shoulder. He was looking pretty relaxed.

I wanted to say something to him and scold him, but I decided to look after my loved one instead.

When I reached the place where Julius had landed, everyone was just standing around him looking quite relieved.

"Sigh… Another loss… Seriously, that kind of strength is so unbelievable…" Julius sighed as he stared at the sky with a blank expression.

He didn't look particularly disheartened or angry about his defeat. In fact, he seemed like he was mentally taking notes about his fight with dad.

"Sheesh… For a moment, I actually thought we would have to bury you…" I tried to lighten the mood, but I couldn't hide the worry in my voice…

"I'm sorry that I made you all worry about me." Julius said with a bit of guilt. "I was able to take a step back before dad's punch could connect, so I was only sent flying away as a result. As you can see, I am pretty much unharmed. Except for my foot, of course… It feels really stiff right now… I shouldn't have kicked dad like that…" Julius raised his upper body and scratched the back of his head while smiling awkwardly.

Just like he said, he was unharmed. His hair was a complete mess, but he was alright. 

I was obviously extremely relieved.

"Don't do this to me! I really thought you died! I'm too young to be a widow!" Mia complained and started pouting.

You two aren't even married yet…

"Sorry... Things just got a bit out of hand…" Julius stood up and quickly hugged Mia.

Mia just accepted the hug and didn't say anything else. She did look a bit shaky thanks to what had just happened…

The rest of us were watching the two lovebirds with a little bit of jealousy, especially Luna.

It has been several weeks since we decided to confess our feelings for him.

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Just like Julius said to our dad, things couldn't have gone worse the day we decided to confess…

Professor Tian came to stay with us so we couldn't interrupt the dinner as he considered sudden announcements at the table to be a great lack of manners. So our plan to confess during our family dinner was no longer possible because of him…

However! That didn't stop Auntie and dad from both coming into the house drunk and then announcing that she had basically betrayed us and stolen the march from us…

Yes! Can you believe it!? The auntie that supposedly was supporting our love had announced that she had accepted Julius' proposal and went into vivid details of how it happened!

The moment she started talking, both Luna and I were enraged! We didn't even need to look at each other to know how the other was feeling.

We were so angry at her that we didn't speak to her for the next two weeks after interrogating her and Julius. Luna didn't even acknowledge her in the slightest! She treated her as if she was invisible…

Yeah… My little sister can act really cold when she wants to be…

We were actually going to give her the cold shoulder for longer, but since she actually got on her knees and apologized profusely (and also because mom asked us nicely) we forgave her.

I have to admit that I regret now giving her the cold shoulder, even if I was really angry at her…

We were also a bit angry at Julius for not confessing to us first or telling us that he had a crush on her, but he explained that even he didn't know he had one until he proposed.

He said that it all happened because Lady Lia asked the Goddess of Love, Lady Catris for a favor to help Auntie with her love life or something like that, she made Julius confess those feelings he didn't know he had.

Of course, we didn't really believe him because blaming everything on a goddess was way too blasphemous and a really bad excuse... Then again, Julius has always been pretty honest with us whenever we ask him about his past or what he talks about with Lady Lia.

I think we would have believed him if we weren't as angry as we were at the time. But something good came out of it because we were that angry! As a result of that event, Lady Lia started talking to us too!

She explained everything from the beginning to the end and how also she had been keeping our confession a secret from Julius. Our anger towards Julius pretty much subsided thanks to the shock of suddenly talking to such an important Goddess.

(You girls can be pretty scary when you're angry… I almost feel sorry for Julius.) Lady Thiasis, the other half of Lady Lia, said with a teasing tone.

(Rude… It wasn't that bad.) I replied with a bit of annoyance…

At first talking to the Goddess felt pretty awkward and tense, but now it just feels like talking to a good friend. She's messing with us all the time or telling us stories of the past to embarrass Julius.

Anyway, as for what we think of Julius' second engagement…

Luna and I were obviously not particularly overjoyed with Auntie taking the place as his future second wife, but now I think we are cool with that, you could even say that we're happy about it.

Before Julius came into our lives, I always wanted Auntie to stay and live with us forever just like when we lived in Norvek. She's my only aunt and the person who liked to spoil my sister and me the most while telling us stories about her life as an adventurer.

Well, I still do want her to move to Marenna and live with us… Since she promised to marry Julius when he's older, that means that she will finally move to live with us!

Also, I know we were pretty angry at her and even ignored her for two whole weeks, but even then I was able to notice that she looked happier than ever. It was almost like a really heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

That's when my sister and I started accepting Julius' new engagement. 

I mean, even though she did betray us and stole the march from us, she's my auntie and I love her. Of course, both Luna and I want her to be happy too.

And if it is Julius the one who makes her happy, then who are we to object against it? Julius is the one who makes us happy too, so.

Hmm? Mia? She was pretty much on board with their engagement from the beginning. She said that since Julius was already getting multiple wives and she liked Auntie a lot, then what was the problem?

Though that's very easy to say coming from the one who stole the spot as the first wife, she was more or less right about that…

All of the adults with the exception of the two drunkards and my mom were pretty much shocked, to say the least.

"Hey! What about me!? I thought my humie died too!" Leaf flew towards Julius' face and pouted. She was flapping her butterfly wings angrily.

"I would like to be comforted too!" I said to Julius as I started to wink repeatedly at Luna.

"Yeah, we were pretty shaken by that…" She caught on quickly and followed my lead.

"Ahaha… I'm really sorry…" Julius kept smiling awkwardly as he extended one of his arms, beckoning us to come closer to him while holding Mia close to him with his other arm.

My sister and I were obviously not going to let this opportunity pass. The two of us quickly made our way toward him and hugged him. He was being hugged from all directions!

Just as usual he was very warm and soft despite all the physical training he normally endures. He does have some muscles here and there, but he is still extremely huggable~!

Due to the difference in size between all of us, Julius seemed like he was buried in our embrace. It looked kinda silly, to be honest, but it was also very cute!

Sigh~... I kinda want him to grow taller than me but I also want him to stay like he is right now for longer… What a dilemma~.

 

"Don't forget about me!" Leaf shouted as she flew over us and landed on top of Julius' head. She immediately laid down on her belly and hugged Julius.

Ah… That would be another thing I should mention…

Leaf is also in love with Julius. Kinda… I say kinda because she herself doesn't know what kind of love she feels for him exactly.

She doesn't know mainly because fairies are apparently a race of only women and they only learn about men from their queen. Heck! She didn't even know what marriage was until we told her!

She didn't even know what romance was, so we had a great time reading her some of our favorites. We also had to teach her how to read, but we had a good time.

Anyhow… In a way, being the humie of a fairy could be considered marriage if you think about it. After all, they kinda follow you around making sure that you're safe and happy after saving them or helping them out.

Leaf has said a couple of times that she loves him though. I'm pretty sure it is not in a romantic way right now, but knowing my Julius and his charm, it is only a matter of time. He managed to get engaged to our Auntie after all…

The good thing about Leaf joining our little club is that she will help us to make our confession as shocking as possible!

Since we had to cancel our plan of confession during our family dinner, Luna and I decided to do it in a very different place… We are going to confess at the end of the tournament!

Hehehe! Isn't it a great plan? It doesn't matter if he wins or loses, he will be happy in the end!

If he wins, he will impress everyone and will get two new girlfriends!

If he loses, he gets two more girlfriends who will be ready to comfort him at any time~!

Though, after witnessing this mock battle with dad, who is the strongest man in the whole world, I'm preeeeetty sure Julius will win!

While I was thinking of that, a big hand started patting my head… It was my father's.

"I guess I should be apologizing too… I got a little carried away… Sorry, kids." He said while patting mine and Luna's heads.

"Only a little? Really?" Luna asked with a cold tone. She looked genuinely pissed off.

"Yes… Julius really surprised me there and I thought that I could maybe teach him a little lesson about not proclaiming his win before he actually wins, you know?" My dad smiled from ear to ear, seemingly not bothered by my sister's cold attitude.

"Dad, I don't think almost killing your son is a valid lesson…" I said with a little bit of annoyance.

"Ah, you're exaggerating things! Your dad knows how to control his strength, you know? At most that attack would have broken a few if not most of the bones in his body. Nothing that your mother couldn't fix with magic or a little potion!" Dad was feeling absolutely no remorse about what happened.

"Dad…" 

"Mr. Fred…"

My little sister, Mia, and Leaf all looked at my dad with raised eyebrows.

"We are gonna ask Mom/Ms. Lilia about what she thinks about that." We all said in unison.

"Ah! Wait! I was just joking! There's no way I would say that seriously with a straight face!" My dad immediately panicked.

"Dad, you shouldn't try to joke around with things like that… You'll just end up sleeping on the couch if you do." Julius said with amusement while scolding our dad. "Girls, don't take him too seriously. That attack would have done nothing to me, really. I mean, yes, it would have hurt like hell and quite probably broken a few bones if I wasn't careful, but I could have easily blocked it with magic if I wanted to. My pain resistance is quite high too, so it wouldn't have been that big of a deal." Julius explained.

Julius' explanation certainly didn't make things better…

"It is not the first time that things get out of hand with our training either. Auntie usually knocks my lights out when she gets serious, so this is not that bad." Julius said nonchalantly.

That's not fine at all! 

"See!? The kiddo says it is fine, so how about we leave this as a secret from Lilia!?" My dad was still quite panicked.

"Yeah, it would be for the better, wouldn't it?" I suddenly heard my mom agree with him.

Huh? When did mom get here…?

"Yes! Let's just keep this all…- Oh…" My dad immediately got frightened as soon as he recognized my mother's voice.

"Fred, I don't mind you and Tiria putting Julius through harsh training regimes. I know he asked for them and I respect his wishes. I have faith in his abilities and I trust your judgment completely, but secrets like this are something that I cannot forgive." My mother smiled at our dad. Just like Luna when she's really angry, her smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Lilia… I can explain…?" Dad had the look of a small animal that was about to be devoured by its predator.

"Oh really? I would like to hear that explanation if you don't mind." My mother said with a sweet demeanor.

Oh, gods… She's really mad… Dad is in real trouble…

For a moment, I thought we were about to witness the two of them fight for the first time in a long time, however, I was caught off guard by what happened next.

"Dad!" Julius shouted with a sense of urgency. He somehow had slipped away from our hug and placed himself right in front of us. 

For the first time in the whole trip, Julius had unsheathed the real short sword that was usually hanging on his hip. He had taken a defensive stance.

Luna and I were left confused. Julius had left Leaf in my hands without me realizing it.

"Aye." My dad said, placing his hands on the hilt of his real sword.

"I can hear horses! Dozens of them are coming here!" Mia shouted in a panic.

"Julius. What are we dealing with?" My mom gave a serious look at my brother who was looking to the west. His gaze was fixated on the horizon.

"Bandits. Lia says that there are about a hundred of them. They are coming straight at us and they'll be here within minutes." Julius was not moving in the slightest. He was keeping his guard up.

Bandits…? A hundred of them…? 

Oh… 

Did I…? Did I jinx it…? Are they here because of me? 

"Julius, are there any of them trying to sneak into our camp or keep watch of us?" My dad asked Julius.

"Lia says no to both of those questions. I can't feel the mana of anyone but us in the vicinity either, so we are safe on that end." Julius replied.

"Good. Lilia, take the rest of the children back to camp and erect a barrier as soon as you can just in case. Julius, we'll take care of them here. Do not let any of them slip through." My dad gave his orders as he unsheathed his sword. 

"Alright. Liliana, Luna, Mia and Leaf let's run back to the camp as fast as we can!" My mom suddenly started pushing us and motioning us to return to our camp.

While she was doing that, I couldn't help but look at Julius. I don't know if I was imagining things, but his back looked bigger all of a sudden, almost as if it belonged to a giant… I felt that he was more reliable than ever…

Just by looking at him, I felt at ease almost immediately. It was mesmerizing…

"But mom, we can't leave them fighting alone! Let me stay with them and help! With my magic, we can blast those bandits away in no time!" Luna tried to stop our mother from pushing us but she was stronger than she looked.

"That's right! I can't leave my humie fighting alone!" Leaf said to my mom with a desperate look.

"I know some magic too! Julius taught me! If we all fight together, then we can…-" Mia was about to try to join in the fray but she was interrupted.

"No. We won't be helping them in this battle. You heard Fred, we are going back to camp and we'll remain safe under a barrier." My mom said and kept pushing us towards the camp.

"But…-!" Luna, Mia, and Leaf were about to protest but they were stopped by my mom.

"We won't be joining in because we don't have to! You need to have some trust in the man you all love!" She whispered to us. "The strongest man in the continent is by his side and he's a future Demon King, a little group of petty bandits will not be enough to defeat my child! You just need to trust him." My mom said with utmost confidence.

With those words alone, she was able to shut up all three of them. I didn't even utter a single word the whole time, because I already understood what she was trying to say.

"Now, move along! If we all put a little bit of effort and mana, the barrier will be so strong that not even Fred will be able to break it!" My mom was now having an easier time taking us back to camp.

While we were walking away, I was still focusing on Julius and trying to hear his conversation with Dad.

"You already know what to do. You have received plenty of training, so a little band of thieves will be child's play, but you still need to act with caution. If you feel that you can't handle the battle, retreat back to the camp." My dad walked over to Julius and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about me, Dad." Julius replied. "This is the moment I have been preparing for so long." He said as he looked back at us and smiled with confidence as a way to reassure us.

At that moment, I was sure of it… To me, Julius was the coolest person in the whole world!

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Chapter 35: A Training Session and a Jinx.

END

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