The Grand Forest - Part 1

"Group training exercises?" Oliver laughed. "Stronger than a Hobgoblin, and you'd probably need twenty of these students to comfortably clear it without getting injured."

"That is indeed what they're for. It's been known for several factions to join together on hunts, and mobilize forces of up to five hundred men," Verdant said.

"Gods… This changes everything," Oliver said with a smile. "I thought I was going to be stuck looking for an opponent. I thought it was going to be years without a true battle to test myself against, but they're here as well, and by what you say, they're even stronger."

He clenched his fist, nodding his head to himself.

It was rare for the others to see him looking quite so excited about anything. There was always a detachment to him, or so Lasha thought. He'd always be a step away from them, as though hiding and holding himself together.