Rowan looked at the horde of wyverns circling him. He prepared himself for one last bout with these flying monsters.

  The wyvern had finally surrounded him as he failed to get to the mountain bottom. His armor held up well against these monsters, but it was only a matter of time before it broke down from the constant attacks.

  Rowan could try the same attack that had freed him from the wyverns' jaws, growing the wood in his arms in an uncontrollable manner that created sharp branches that pierced through all. The initial attack had given him a brief respite as he immediately cut off the unnecessary parts right after.

  It would cut down the numbers of wyvern by a large amount.

  But it would also lead Rowan to his death as he would no longer have a means of an attack and would be rooted at the spot, making him easy picking.

  This was it.

  The wyverns knew he was at the end of his rope too. Rowan had used all the possible attacks he had thought of and the hoard never died down.

  GGWWAARRR!

  The wyverns all roared in unison as if a signal was given and flew at Rowan. Rowan raised his arms for one last time and had his bow ready to hit the closest wyvern.

  If he was going to die, he would die fighting these monsters.

  As far as endings go, Rowan considered dying by an endless stream of monsters an end befitting of a knight.

  There was no need to hesitate as he immediately prepared to hit the nearest wyvern with his bow.Just as Rowan was in mid swing with his bow, lights flashed beneath his feet, causing Rowan to wince.

  When the human boy could open his eyes again, a familiar cave was once again in front of him. Vulcanus was lounging on the ground in a familiar fashion.

  As if the dragon didn't just just put the human teenager through a life and death battle.

  “WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT!” Rowan shouted at the dragon, all manner of respect lost after what he had experienced. Sure, most of what Rowan had been through was considered torture before, but he endured everything. He had trusted in the Mother tree judgment. If she entrusted him to the dragon, then he would go through whatever ‘training’ the dragon put him through.

  However, what he just went through?

  That was not training. That was just plainly trying to kill him.

  Relief was the first emotion that Rowan felt when he found he had been transferred back to the cave. That relief quickly transformed to anger as he recalled what he just went through. Rowan anger erupted like a volcano as his internal injuries were forgotten

  At this point, Rowan didn't care if the dragon squashed him for his disrespect.

  What Rowan wanted was an answer.

  Vulcanus lazily opened an eye and stared at the boy. “You are still alive, no? It is just like I said before. I merely gave you the best place to test out your armor.”

  “You almost had me killed! That wasn’t a test!” Rowan shouted back.

  “Hmph. You are still alive aren’t you? There is no better test than live battle. Back when I was teaching wizards, I had them test out new spells on the battlefield. Those days, wars were quite common. You could just pop in between countries and launch new spells for testing.”

  “...did that actually give any good results?” His anger subsided just a bit, as Rowan could help but ask as he was curious about the results.

  “The testing in the middle of war was quite successful. It was around the time wizards became quite feared. Of course, not all test were successful. About 25% of the wizards who went out testing never returned as their spells either blew up in their faces, caused a backlash or various other reasons. Yours testing is consider quite tamed when considered.”

  Rowan couldn't help pale at the dragon's words. The dragons words were somewhat reasonable. Rowan learned better through pratice more than anything else. “...but why wyverns?”

  “It would not be considered a test if you tried it on me or Ember. Wyverns are common enough around these parts and ranked as top class monsters by you humans. Testing against wyverns would give you a standard to judge how tough your armor is. Truthfully, there was never really any doubt about your armor defenses. After All it did originate from the World Tree.``

  “Does that make much of a difference?”

  Vulacnus scoffed at Rowan’s question. “ Difference? Yes, it makes a world of difference. Anything originating from the World Tree is a top class material that any expert crafter would die for. Here, you have it at your beck and call to mold it as you wish. Word of warning. Be careful of letting crafters find out what your arms are actually made of. Crafters are mad and something is missing from their brain. They won't leave you alone until they get what they want or until they are dead.``

  Rowan could help but gulp down air at the thought. As Rowan opened his mouth to ask another question, his body stumbled and he almost collapsed on the cavern ground.

  Rowan's actions did not escape Vulcanus' eyes. “Go and rest. There will be time for questions tomorrow. Contemplate today's experience. Boy, you look as if you could collapse on the floor any second now.”

  Rowan gritted his teeth. “ Whose fault do you think that is?”

  Vulcanus nonchalantly closes his eyes as a response. Rowan could only give the dragon a look of disgust before returning to his quarters to rest.

  His body ached and he didn’t think he could keep himself up much longer. He was out before he even reached his bed.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  ***

  The following day Rowan was given time to himself. Both to heal and examine his experience. Much of his anger had subsided after a good night's rest.

  Much to Rowan’s dismay, the battle with the wyvern horde was a much needed experience. Rowan hated to admit it, but Vulcanus' training method had been correct. It was an eye opener for the human teen.

  Fighting against a large number of enemies was something he needed to prepare himself for. In the Forest of Death, he had always tried to avoid large packs of monsters. However life didn't always go the way you wanted. There may come a time he would face a large number of enemies just like yesterday.. The wyvern had shown how inadequately he was prepared for such a battle.

  Rowan had put too much focus on individual battles or battles with only a small number of enemies. These days he was mostly just acting as Ember’s ‘playmate’ or whatever Vulcanus deemed appropriate to throw at him. However the dragon must have realized Rowan was becoming too specialized that they wanted to switch things up for the human boy.

  The decision made Vulcanus throw Rowan at the deep end without warning.

  Battling the large number of wyverns had certainly allowed Rowan to test his armor limits as the dragon had originally stated. In fact, the armor had no limits throughout the battle. It took on the claws and fangs of the wyvern and lasted the entire battle. The armor most likely could have endured more punishment before breaking.

  The actual problem lied with Rowan.

  The impacts of the attacks were still transferred to his body. All of his current injuries were internal. This was the first flaw that Rowan noticed and he needed to work on.

  How to make the armor shockproof.

  Not to mention magic proof, or at least endure a few powerful spells. This isn't a flaw he noticed during battle, but rather when Vulcanus had mentioned the mages testing their spells. Wizards spells cause massive destruction in war. Rowan didn't know how well his armor would hold against magic, but it would be something to watch for in the future.

  One of the most well known spells involves fire. Vulcanus had assured him the World tree could withstand regular flames, but Rowan was not sure about magical or other special types of flames. It wasn't high on his list of things to change for his armor though. If he really couldn't think of anything, he could always try asking Vulcanus and Ember to burn a piece that he ripped off after testing the material. They were red dragons known for their powerful flames after all.

  Another flaw would be mobility and design. His movement felt clunky in it near the end. Granted, Rowan had been exhausted, but the armor should not be hindering him for any reason at all. It was barely noticeable in the beginning, but near the end he felt restricted, as if he was dragging himself through a swamp..

  There was also the constant mana drain.

  Rowan had constantly supplied the armor mana to keep up its toughness, but he felt like the armor performance should be more impressive for all the mana it gulped down. For most people, the armor would have drained them dried, but Rowan mana pool was at Master class according to Vulcanus.

  The dragon also mentioned that the World Tree had imbued gifts into Rowan so he could survive.

  One of the gifts was intelligence. That was the main reason why Rowan was able to pick up books and read them after a week of relearning the words. Otherwise it would have taken at least a year to relearn how to read and write again. In fact, he was even reading some of the other books in other languages. The progress was slow but he was able to understand the main ideas of books that held languages he had no idea of how to speak.

  Intelligence did not equate to wisdom. Vulcanus had said that in in the passing which did not make sense to Rowan until now. He could be smarter, but without know where to apply that knowledge, then there would be no point in being knowledge. Experience and practicality was a part of wisdom. Rowan needed the battle experience to be able to apply and improve his own techniques.

  As Rowan thought about ways to improve himself, he walked up to the cavern where Vulcanus laid. As per usual, when Vulcanus was lounging on the ground when there was no action required.

  Rowan dread to think about what the dragon wanted him to do today. He didn't think he could take another bout of ‘armor testing’. Time was given to him to heal, but that was only his body. Rowan did not believe his mind was ready for another life and death battle.

  Contrally to Rowan’s expectation, Vulcanus continued laying on the ground without a sound. Normally when Rowan approached, the dragon would have already spoken or brought him somewhere else.

  After waiting for ten minutes, Rowan couldn't help but speak out. “ Ummm, Vulcanus? Are you alright?”

  “Oh, boy you’re here. Is your body better already? I am perfectly fine. What brought such a question?”

  “I’m mostly better now. Not completely healed, but almost there. Normally when I walk up to you, you usually notice right away.”

  “Ah. I was, let's say, distracted. I was having a conversation about significant matters and it must have taken much of my attention.”

  Rowan looked around. Had the dragon lost it? There was no one here besides them.

  “Hmph. i can already tell what you are thinking, boy. I need not explain myself, but i shall do so for your sake. The conversation was with magic, as the being I was speaking to is quite some distance from us.”

  “How far?” Rowan curiously asked.

  “Far beyond here and your little human city. Anymore than that I doubt you know the location. It is of no importance.Right now the most important matter to you should be training.”

  Rowan couldn't help but tense at those words.

  Vulcanus continued. “As of now, there is no training plan for you.”

  What trick was the dragon up to this time? Rowan's mouth dropped open as he said the first words that came to mind. “I don't believe you.”

  This must be some mind trick that the dragon developed. A lesson that would teach Rowan not to drop his guard. The second he does so, the dragon would throw him into a new brutal regiment of training.

  “My words are true. Have I ever lied to you?”

  Rowan took a moment to mull it over. Lied, no. The dragon had never outright lied to Rowan. However Vulcanus had bent the truth before, or left out important details when it mattered.

  “How dare a brat doubt my words. I can see your skepticism in your eyes. Believe me or not that is your choice. Or would you rather I throw you into another round with the wyverns? ”

  Rowan quickly shook his head. “Why the change of thought sir?” He knew he was nowhere near the end of his training.

  “A certain tree kept pestering me to have you go back. I do believe it is the right time anyways. You can test your newfound knowledge out in the forest.”

  Rowan heart felt warm. ““The Mother tree could reach you all the way here?”

  The world in the world tree was not placed there for nothing. Given enough time, the World Tree roots can reach everywhere, it is just that particular tree is too young to spread itself that far. Given enough time and it would be capable of doing so.”

  “Great! “ Rowan could wait to go back. While being in a cave made him feel safe, he missed the sun and the natural life that surrounded him when he was back in the forest. He especially wanted to see how Wolfie was doing.

  Now there just remains one question.

  “How am I going back? Are you carrying me again?”

  Vulcanus scoffed at Rowan's words. “Me? In your wildest dreams. Bringing you here was a one time occurrence. Find a way to go back on your own.”

  The implication of those words were not lost on Rowan. “...when you say go back on my own, surely you don't mean…”

  “Yes, I meant exactly that. You said you’re mostly healed? Then you can use your own two legs to walk back to the Forest.”