It took the Guild Administration a full week to process the artifact in order for Michael's party to be rewarded. They made it back to Aldoria and turned in the quest, successfully retrieving the scroll and keeping their adventuring license safe. The guild didn't tell them what the scroll was for but Stefan only cared about how much money they would make after risking their lives twice.
If a party was equipped enough to handle more extreme quests then they would be used for their purpose. It was just like what Ellis said, the gold blinds the foolish man.
The time when they waited for their compensation, Michael was still being trained by the day. Either it was Stefan or Mave's turn, he didn't really care. Because at the end of the day, he felt like he was still learning. There weren't many lessons about mana since Stefan wasn't necessarily a good teacher but he told Michael what he could. They didn't have a mage to accurately tutor his progress nor give him a better approach so he had to stick with Stefan's vague meaning of unlocking mana.
Some days, Michael would sit on the outside and imagine himself controlling the invisible force that flowed through him. Stefan said swordsmen used mana to swing faster, swing harder, and basically move differently than a regular human
Stefan already knew how to control his mana and even knew how to swordcast. But this knowledge couldn't simply be passed down onto someone else. If it took Stefan years to learn, how would Michael expect himself to master all of that in some measly weeks?
Everybody just had their ways of learning. The people that Michael depended on were adventurers, not teachers from some prestigious academy. They could train him physically but there wasn't any real way for him to learn principles that went beyond the mind.
Michael figured he was just too young to be introduced to something so complex so he rather prioritized training his body. He could definitely run fast but he needed to swing his sword over and over without being tired.
He actually trained that skill with Mave despite him constantly losing against her. It wasn't about losing again and again but rather the tenacity to always stand right back up.
Though she wasn't really surprised when they revealed that he had a magical artifact. It was more of an inconvenience that Michael had something like that in his possession. She even suggested if somebody else more talented could wield the blade instead.
He absolutely refused. There was only one person that could wield his sword and that person was only him.
They questioned him but all agreed that if Michael insisted on being the only user, then he would best know how to use it properly. And he couldn't agree more.
***
It was late in the afternoon. Everybody had left to run errands and Michael was the only one at the house, swinging his sword in the backyard and training his endurance.
He wasn't sure if he should imagine fighting against people or beasts. He figured adventurers were more weary of wild beasts whenever they would go on quests but it was just unexpected that another party would intervene. Other adventurers were supposed to be on the same team, fighting for the same cause and not against each other. But just because this system wasn't fair, people would take matters and prey on the weak for their own benefit.
Some people weren't raised with privileges. They weren't sheltered with love from their parents and lived under a roof from the pouring rain. Michael was lucky enough that his mother still gave a damn how he would grow up. But for the unlucky, they didn't have that convenient reality. They weren't worried about the status of their family or how much money they had. These people were raised rough and had no sense of sympathy.
The moment they figured out Michael was hiding a magical artifact in his party, he thought his whole journey of becoming stronger would be over.
There isn't one day, the voice said, where you're not thinking about me. If you're so worried about keeping me a secret, why'd you tell them?
Michael stopped swinging his sword. Despite the long chores they gave him, he thought about the free food and the room in the attic. Michael was really a lost kid in the middle of Aldoria before Stefan had found him. They've given him more than he could ask for and he's excused it all for the sake of protecting Evelyn. He didn't want to hold a secret for the time he's been at the party. Stefan, Ellis, and Mave seemed trustworthy enough that they wouldn't expose him to the public.
The sword flashed in his hand. "You might be over-thinking all of this again."
He turned to her. "Am I?"
"Talk about an ego sword and everybody will think you're crazy, remember?"
"But I don't think there's anybody else that can cut through fireballs."
"Then why'd you have the brave idea to do that in the first place?"
Michael recalled his short fight with the mage. He couldn't explain the exhilaration that rushed through his body. He had a sword that was immune to magic so it was already logical that he could break through any types of spells. Revealing that in front of everyone was a different story. Maybe it was just a sense of heroism or stupidity, either one because he just wanted to do something for the party other than running around. That was his actual first fight too, regarding the fact that they truly intended to kill him.
She reached out her hand. "Still training?"
He shook his head. "I think I'm done for today."
They headed back inside the house. Michael washed his face and found Evelyn raiding the pantry for more sweet snacks that Mave's father would give to her. Michael had to take the blame every time though he didn't really mind it.
Michael stood at the archway. "Do you wanna go out with me?"
"Go out with you?" Evelyn said as she was searching through drawers. "I thought we were already going out."
"No—I meant like outside. Let's go find somewhere better to eat. I don't really like how you have to run off of biscuits and candy every time we're alone."
She unwrapped a case of rolls dusted in powdered sugar. She also stared at him while shoving them in her face as jam squished out the side of her mouth. It was incredibly strange but Michael still found her pretty.
Michael had to wipe her face. "If you're hungry, you can just tell me."
Evelyn still chewed. She handed him the spare roll from the same wrapper.
He couldn't refuse free food. He also stuffed the powdery roll in his mouth.
"If I had to tell you when I'm hungry," she said with her mouth full. "Then you wouldn't even hear the last of me."
"How much do you eat?"
"Are you insulting me?"
"No, I'm not," he stumbled on his words. "You could transform back into a sword, I just wondered where all of that goes. You know for humans, we have to eat then use the—"
She smashed another roll in his mouth. "Isn't this inappropriate to ask a girl?"
He chewed it away. "But, when you're a sword—"
She fished for another roll and threatened to choke him with it.
"Sorry."
After he had to apologize and repeatedly praise her, Michael also had to clean up the mess they had made. Or actually it was because of Evelyn since she decided to throw the powdery rolls across the room like projectiles. She said it was because she was tired of sitting as a sword and wanted to relieve herself. Michael could easily tell she was trying to horse around just by hearing the sound of her laughter.
Her smile though was something else he would always remember.