The Blood of Dawnwalker: How to Follow and Train With Pieter

Like Father, Like Son is the first main mission in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and it works as the game’s proper sword combat tutorial. It starts on its own the moment Coen finishes giving Esme her medicine at the end of Withering Away, and it only has two objectives: Follow Pieter, then Train with Pieter. The fight itself cannot be lost in any meaningful sense, but the conversation afterward can quietly eat a big chunk of your in-game clock.

Quick answer: Leave Coen’s house, follow Pieter up the mountain path to the ruins, then duel him with your Training Sword until either fighter’s health drops to a critical level. Dodge every attack marked with the red target icon, and pick “See you then” at the end of the talk so you only lose one time segment instead of three.

Quest requirements and cost

The quest begins at Coen’s House in Laslea Glen and cannot be started until Withering Away is finished. It also has a hard fail state tied to the Prologue’s clock, so it has to be wrapped up before Sacred Covenant begins at sundown for the blood mass.

Detail	Value
Starting location	Laslea Glen / Coen’s House
Requirement	Complete Withering Away
Fail state	Must finish before Sacred Covenant
Time required	1 time segment
Objectives	Follow Pieter, Train with Pieter
Completion reward	Charge Manual and 100 XP

Note: the Prologue runs on a countdown and the main story as a whole gives you 30 days, so every segment you burn here is one you cannot spend on side quests around the Glen.

Follow Pieter to the ruins

Before you head out, open your inventory and make sure the Training Sword from the dining room is equipped. Without it, the duel that follows has nothing to it.

Walk out the front door of the house. Pieter sets off ahead of you on the dirt path, and the objective marker updates to Follow Pieter.

Quest tracker reading Like Father, Like Son with the Follow Pieter objective active — The Like Father, Like Son tracker appears as Coen leaves the house behind Pieter. Image: Rebel Wolves

Stay behind him up the trail into the mountains. The route climbs a rock ledge and a set of stone steps, and it is linear enough that you cannot really take a wrong turn.

Coen trailing Pieter along a rocky mountain path above Laslea Glen — The path up to the training ruins climbs past rock ledges and stone stairs. Image: Rebel Wolves

Keep going until you reach the ruins with the wide cobblestone floor. A short cutscene pans across the snowy peaks, and then Pieter swings at Coen without warning, forcing a dodge. That is your cue that the sparring has already started.

How to win the duel with Pieter, Retired Sellsword

Pieter fights slowly and telegraphs almost everything, which is the point. He is a teaching boss, and the encounter exists to drill blocking, dodging, and attack timing before the game stops holding your hand.

The single rule that matters: some attacks cannot be blocked. When the enemy target indicator switches to a red icon, drop the guard and dodge instead. Try to block one of those and you eat the full hit.

Pieter’s attack	Your response
Unblockable pierce with the sword point, followed by an overhand smash	Dodge the thrust, then step out of the smash
Unblockable forward kick into an overhand smash	Dodge the kick, do not attempt a block
A taunt, then a fast left-right-left combo	Hold the block or aim for perfect blocks
Sidestep of your swing into a counter side slash	Do not overcommit; keep swings short

Open defensively. Let him come to you and practice blocking his ordinary swings first so you learn the rhythm of his wind-ups.

Coen blocking an incoming sword swing from Pieter, Retired Sellsword, with his health bar on screen — Blocking Pieter, Retired Sellsword, during the sparring match at the ruins. Image: Rebel Wolves

Watch the target indicator on Pieter. The moment it turns red, dodge. That covers both the pierce and the forward kick, which are the only two attacks that will really punish you.

Counter after his combos end. Unlike The Forgotten Guardian, Pieter leaves enough of an opening that you can usually land two slashes before he recovers. Take the two and back off.

Coen landing a sword hit on Pieter with the opponent's health bar partly drained — Two clean slashes after a blocked combo is the safest damage window. Image: Rebel Wolves

Keep trading until a health bar hits a critical level. The training ends automatically once either Coen’s or Pieter’s health is low enough, so you do not have to win outright. Coen yielding after taking heavy damage produces the same result.

Tip: aim for perfect blocks whenever the timing lines up. Nothing in the quest forces it, but this is the safest place in the game to practice the input.

The conversation after the fight, and the one choice that costs time

The duel ends in a cutscene where Pieter gives Coen a blunt lesson about how real fights go, then suggests they sit and talk. He explains that Vladimir has been planning a rebellion against Brencis and wants Pieter to lead the villagers into the silver mines.

Pieter talking to Coen in the mountain ruins with the subtitle It's knights who yield — Pieter’s post-duel talk leads straight into the news about Vladimir’s plan. Image: Rebel Wolves

You get two ways to react to the rebellion, and neither changes anything. “It’s about time we stand up for ourselves” and “This plan is crazy. We’ll never win” both land on the same outcome, because Pieter’s decision is already made. The follow-ups, “So I have no say over what happens next?” and “Whatever you decide, you can count on me,” are equally cosmetic. The white options, “They need your military experience” and “People say the mines are haunted,” only add context.

The last exchange is the one to pay attention to. When Pieter asks Coen to be home before dusk, your answer decides how much of the Prologue you have left.

Final dialogue option	Effect
See you then	Consumes 1 time segment; you keep the afternoon free for other quests
I’ll wait with you	Consumes 3 time segments and skips ahead toward the blood mass

Pick “See you then” unless you specifically want to move straight to Sacred Covenant. Waiting with Pieter wipes out most of the window you would otherwise spend on things like Deep Down or Live Bait, and those cannot be picked up again once sundown arrives.

How to confirm the quest is complete

Once the final line with Pieter plays out, a QUEST UPDATED banner appears and Like Father, Like Son closes in the Journal. You are handed a Charge Manual and 100 XP, and the clock advances by the number of segments tied to your last answer.

If the quest is not closing, the usual cause is the fight itself. The training only ends when a health bar reaches a critical level, so backing away and refusing to engage will keep you stuck at the Train with Pieter objective indefinitely. Take the hits or land yours, and the cutscene fires.

With that done, Sacred Covenant is queued up at the Laslea church for sundown. Anything else you want out of the Glen has to happen before you walk through those doors.