These words sounded like nothing but poison to Damian. Inwardly he couldn’t even believe what he was hearing.

"Absolutely not. We will handle it, you just have to relax and have faith in everyone. We got this."

Andrew had nothing but fear in his heart.

Everyone was confident until they faced a wall that they couldn’t jump over or break through.

And right now, his father seemed to be that wall. "What ways do we have? The system only has quests for missions. Do we start pressuring everyone to go back already?"

hiring people was pointless. By this point they were stronger than most security. His thoughts were derailed by Damian however.

"Do you know that for certain? How can you be so sure that the thing that brought this dramatic increase in power cannot do so again?"

Seeing Andrew’s lapse in judgment, Damian struck while the iron was hot.

"Focus and pull out your system. I’ve forgotten myself, see how far you’ve come.

I’ll check as well."

Andrew put all of his concentration into his system reappearing.

[Character information]

[Name: Andrew Thomas]

[Age: 19]

[Rank:1] 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

[Bloodline: Thomas]

Increased efficiency in the ways of water. Gain mana at a faster rate.

[Bloodline 2: Vantriel]

[Talent: Blood magic]

A rare ability mostly wielded by vampires,

Allows one to use the blood around them as a weapon.

[Abilities:(Blood constructs)(water prison)

(Water wall)(Blood ball)(Blood bomb)

[Evolution Points: 950/1000]

He was so close to evolving.

"All this trouble and I’ve nearly forgotten what put me through it in the first place." A small smile formed on Andrew’s face. He had felt something weird with Chase. It seemed he had evolved already.

"What will ours be like? We haven’t seen much of his due to our lack of fighting. Now may be time to change that." A small smile formed on Andrew’s face. Perhaps he could at least stave off his father.

Damian took notice.

"We will experiment and see just what will activate. I don’t just think it’s based off of missions killed enemies might work as well."

"Fine, I’ll hear you out." Damian said, having partially given up the idea of leaving for the moment. "Well have to many deadly missions back to back."

Damian was more cheerful. After all, he did just convince his friend to have hope. "But that means we’ll have to tell everyone. We need to get stronger, but for now, how about a little one on one?"

Andrew raised his hands and a small tide of water enveloped his form. "Iron sharpens iron after all"

David pulled out the two axes by his sides. As they ignited, Andrew had a question.

"Don’t knights usually have swords anyway?"

Damian merely laughed. "I mean to surpass my stats as commoner and become a knight.

You think I won’t surpass the need for a sword as well?"

The axes flared hotter as Damian lunged forward, forcing Andrew to sidestep and retaliate with a whip of water. It struck Damian’s shoulder—steam hissing where flame met liquid—but the man barely flinched, already pivoting into a downward slash. Andrew barely raised a wall of water in time, the impact sending droplets scattering like shattered glass.

The water wall collapsed into a steaming mist as Damian’s axes cleaved through, forcing Andrew to roll backward. His robes clung to his skin—half from sweat, half from the humidity thickening around them. Damian wasn’t letting up; he feinted left before swinging low, forcing Andrew to leap over the arc of fire.

"You fight like a noble," Damian taunted, spinning his axes in a lazy flourish. "All defense, no *bite*."

Andrew exhaled sharply through his nose—half-laugh, half-irritation—as he flicked his wrist. The droplets clinging to Damian’s armor suddenly darkened, swirling crimson as they transformed into jagged blood shards. "Bite enough for you?"

Damian yelped as the shards grazed his exposed forearms, leaving shallow cuts. "Cheap trick!" He lunged again, but Andrew was already pivoting, slamming both palms into the damp earth. The ground trembled as a geyser erupted beneath Damian’s feet, hurling him backward into a tree.

The impact knocked the breath from Damian’s lungs, but he rolled with the momentum—years of tavern brawls keeping him fluid even when magic tried to make him rigid. Bark splintered against his back as he grinned through gritted teeth. "Now *that’s* more like it."

Andrew didn’t let Damian recover—he couldn’t, not when the man fought like a cornered boar. The moment Damian’s shoulders tensed to push off the tree, Andrew thrust both hands forward. Twin spirals of water erupted from his palms, twisting midair into barbed tendrils that lashed toward Damian’s torso.

The axes crossed in a flaming X just in time, shearing through the liquid whips with a hiss of steam. Damian’s boots skidded in the mud as the force pushed him back another step. "Always with the fancy—"

Damian’s taunt was cut short as Andrew’s blood bomb detonated at his feet, sending him sprawling into the underbrush. The smell of singed cloth and iron filled the air as Damian rolled onto his knees, coughing. "Okay, *that* hurt," he admitted, wiping blood from his split lip. "But you’re still holding back."

Andrew squinted. "So are you."

Damian grinned, pushing himself up with a grunt, his axes dangling loosely in his grip now. The flames had died to embers, flickering weakly like candlelight. "Caught that, huh?" He wiped his mouth again, smearing blood across his wrist. "Figured if I went full tilt, you’d just drown me in one of those fancy bubbles of yours."

"You just gotta keep up" Andrew had an arrogant smile on his face.

And Damian was smiling too. The teams mage has his confidence back.