A Test

"I suppose I'd be taking this one by myself," Ludwig muttered, his voice tinged with regret the moment the words left his lips.

Van Dijk, who had raised an arm to prepare a spell, paused mid-gesture. His crimson eyes gleamed with amusement as a faint smirk tugged at his lips. "Now that sounds interesting," he mused, stepping back with exaggerated nonchalance. 

 "I should have kept quiet shouldn't I," Ludwig sighed.

"No, no, I need to do my job as a teacher, so far I've only given you a couple books and some minor advice, I need to see how you fight with my own eyes to have a better understanding of where we should be focusing. We need to know where you're lacking first to know what to improve, go on now Ludwig beat the crocodile," he said as he took a more relaxed position on top of one of the tree branches.

Ludwig pulled out one of his two remaining scimitars from his storage ring.