Compared to Aleksi’s training, Arawn’s was complete and utter brutality.

  It had taken no time at all for Galen to realize Arawn was just as much of a warrior as Aleksi was. If not more so.

  Arawn’s “training” consisted of sparring against him nonstop, and these sessions usually consisted of the bearded man beating him to a pulp. After he was too hurt to move, Arawn would bellow for a healer to use Healing Arts on him. Once he recovered enough to be on his feet again, the training would continue.

  It had taken only a few days of this brutal training for Galen to snap at Arawn and ask why the hell they were doing this. He had calmly responded that he needed to garner experience using Ether in a real battle as quickly as possible. To that end, he would push him to his limits.

  The worst part was that, unlike with Aleksi, Arawn insisted on “training” Galen at least twice a day. That meant he had to use his Ether Intolerance medication twice as much, though the Dominion was diligent in giving him a fresh batch every time he was running low.

  The only easy day with Arawn had been the first day. And that was only because all they did was test Galen’s skills in combat so that they could see where his level was currently at. He had deemed him, “good enough,” and the second day had been the start of his torment.

  He desperately defended against the onslaught. It was only Redian’s aid and the enhanced instincts that the sword provided him that allowed him to last as long as he did. Even with the Sentient Weapon’s aid, however, it was only a matter of time.

  This go around, Arawn disarmed Galen, and swung his curved sword at him neck. Though Arawn’s blade was blunted, a strike like that wasn’t something he wanted to get hit by.

  He managed to duck under the slash, and throw a punch at Arawn’s gut. The man had simply caught his fist with his other hand, twisted his wrist so hard he felt his bones snap, then slammed the pommel of his sword into the side of Galen’s head.

  He nearly blacked out as he hit the ground. His ears rang, and he saw stars. Looking down and seeing his wrist bent at an unnatural angle made him nauseous. It took a moment for the pain to hit him. Galen screamed and let out a series of profanities as a healer came by and began to use their Arts to heal him.

  He hadn’t even heard Arawn bellow for the healer.

  Even after he had been healed, Galen remained on the ground as he waited for the phantom pains to fade. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Arawn circling him while swinging his sword around in a bored and lazy manner.

  The man hardly ever bothered to give him any form of constructive criticism. He didn’t even bother to ridicule him. He simply held the same, neutral expression in every single training session. When questioned on this, Arawn had answered that he believed pain was the best teacher. If Galen didn’t want to get hurt, he’d figure out how to avoid getting hit in their sparring sessions.

  He’d long since grown sick of the man. His opinion of Arawn had gradually worsened over the past month, and his dislike was beginning to grow into outright hatred. Dwarfing even that, however, was his fear. He had the impression that if Arawn wanted to kill him, he’d do so easily and with as much emotional detachment as he had shown thus far.

  “Get up, Champion,” Arawn called out, “you’re healed now. The pain you feel isn’t even real anymore. Suck it up and get back on your feet. Your training isn’t done yet.”

  Galen growled as he pushed himself on two, shaky feet.

  “You know,” he began, “I could just walk out of here. I don’t need to take this!”

  “But you won’t,” Arawn challenged, “because without Lord Athanasius’s aid, you have no way to return to your world.”

  “To hell with you, Arawn!”

  “If you’re feeling frustrated,” the bearded man swung his sword in a lazy circle, “then vent it!”

  Spurred on by pure frustration, Galen did just that. He brandished Redian and charged at him.

  “Finally,” Arawn muttered as he neared.

  The two exchanged a few sword strikes, with Arawn immediately gaining the advantage. It didn’t take long for the bearded man to kick Galen to the ground and send him rolling.

  It was after that when he finally snapped.

  Redian, Galen growled in his mind, hit him with an Art!

  “You sure, boss? Isn’t this just training?” Redian questioned.

  Training? You call this training?! he shouted back, this bastard’s been beating me to a bloody pulp and breaking my bones for the past month! And now I want payback! So, hit him with an Art! I’ll keep him busy while you cast it.

  The Sentient Weapon began to follow his orders, and Galen could feel the Ether in his body flowing into the sword to fuel the Art.

  Surprisingly, Arawn seemed to sense what he was doing. His reaction surprised Galen enough to make him hesitate for a brief second.

  The man smiled.

  “Well, it’s about time, Champion!” Arawn brandished his sword and charged at him with astonishing speed.

  It was only the enhanced instincts Redian granted him that allowed him to dodge the initial strike. He was immediately on the back foot, as Arawn pressed him with the fast and heavy swings of his blunted curved sword.

  Galen received a mental impression from Redian that the Art was ready just as he dodged an overhead swing from Arawn.

  Perfect.

  He slashed Redian towards his cruel teacher, and a torrent of flames burst forth towards him at rapid speeds. This was a new Art, dubbed Flame Slash, that he and Redian had made in the last month.

  Just when Galen thought he had Arawn, the man slammed a hand to the ground, and a pillar of fire had erupted in front of him. Those flames acted as a shield, as his attack exploded upon reaching the pillar.

  The area immediately filled with smoke.

  He used an Art without an Invocation?! Galen marveled before growling with irritation, Redian, I’m going in. Guide me and keep an eye out!

  “You got it, boss!”

  Galen charged into the haze and relied on the Sentient Weapon to guide him towards his enemy. Only two seconds after the smoke enveloped him, a burst of instinct yelled at him to duck.

  He not only followed the instinct, he completely immersed himself into it.

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  Galen leaned back and slid, a curved sword swinging past the empty air where his neck had been. Immediately stopping his slide, he sharply turned and swung his blade, and he could see the outline of Arawn side stepping his slash.

  The man turned on his heel, and countered with his own slash.

  Deeply immersed in both rage and the enhanced instincts provided to him, Galen found his body moving on its own, perfectly parrying Arawn’s attack and leaving him open.

  Without thinking, Galen slashed at his face.

  If Arawn hadn’t leaned back at the last second, the sword would have cut his skull in half rather than leave a cut extending from one brow to his jaw.

  Galen had been about to follow up, when Arawn had slammed his hand to the ground again.

  He barely managed to jump and back peddle before a pillar of flames erupted from the ground beneath them.

  He remained tense, ready for whatever Arawn was going to throw at him next.

  “Enough,” the man’s voice cut through and echoed throughout the training area.

  As the pillar of flames died out, Arawn was standing, his face bleeding from the cut inflicted. A savage grin was prominent on his bearded face, and it sent chills down Galen’s spine.

  “Now that!” Arawn’s grin widened, “was what I have been waiting to see, Champion!”

  It took a moment for the adrenaline to fade enough for Galen to register the words, “...what?”

  “For the first time today,” Arawn explained, “you fought me with the intention to kill. And once you did, you did marvelously!”

  That was the first time in the past month the man had given any sort of praise. Hell, that was the first time Galen had seen the man’s stoic mask break.

  “Wait… I’m confused. What are you going on about?”

  “I’ve been trying to teach you several lessons through the training I’ve had you go through,” Arawn explained, “One of which I’ve already explained. You needed to garner experience using Ether in brutal battle. Another was learning to push through pain. Once you learn your own Healing Arts, there will be times when you need to heal your wounds in the middle of combat. As you are intimately familiar with now, a quick and potent healing will leave you with phantom aches. The more severe the injury healed, the greater the lingering pains. I’ve repeatedly injured you and had you healed so that you get used to pushing past such paltry nuisances and continue fighting regardless. And in pushing you so hard in battle, your bond with your Sentient Weapon has grown deeper. The benefits of which this last exchange has shown. The last lesson…”

  Arawn paused for dramatic effect, “Was learning to fight with the intention to kill.”

  Galen gulped, not liking where this was going.

  “I know you dislike me, Champion. And that is fine. Regardless of your feelings, I will do my duty. And I decided to use that dislike to my advantage to impart this lesson. I warn you, war is coming. And in war, you must be willing to kill, or be killed.”

  Galen frowned, “Milton told me that Athanasius wanted peace. That he wanted to bring prosperity to the other Realms.”

  “He does,” Arawn grunted, “but Lord Athanasius is no fool. He is well aware of the possibility that the other races, the elves in particular, may want to rekindle the war that ended with the separation of the Realms. And wisely, he’d rather be prepared if such a scenario were to occur. Should war come, the enemy will have no mercy upon you, Champion. So you must learn how to be ruthless. This last lesson was one of particular importance because you come from a peaceful world. It is easy to tell that you have never seen bloody conflict before. Much less war.”

  Arawn approached Galen and patted him on the shoulder, “I will, how does the saying in your world go? Throw you a bone, and give you the rest of the day off. Think on what I have told you, Champion.”

  Galen scoffed, “That’s if Milton doesn’t fry my brain in our second study session later today.”

  Arawn actually chuckled at that as he walked away.

  He watched him leave. His dislike of the man was still strong. But, as much as it utterly pained him to admit, Arawn had been right. Whether Galen decided to work with or against the Dominion… whether his enemy was Athanasius and his empire or the other Realms… he couldn’t afford to show weakness. He sincerely doubted they’d show him any mercy, after all.

  He didn’t want to kill anyone, but there was no doubt going to be scenarios where he’d be forced to either do just that, or be killed.

  He didn’t know whether he’d be able to go through with it or not.

  ***

  “We’re doing what now?” Galen asked Milton in his room.

  He’d just received two bits of news from the scribe. The first had been wonderful. Milton, like Arawn, had waived their scheduled second session and advised him to rest.

  The second, however…

  “In five days, we’ll be taking another trip into Ignis. Only this time, we won’t merely be exploring the First Circle. Rather, we will take you as far as the Third!” Milton repeated enthusiastically.

  Galen sighed, “I’m guessing this is with the caveat that no less than a squad of guards goes with me?”

  The scribe smiled apologetically, “Of course, Champion. I apologize, really, I do. But if an incident were to occur, we need to be able to ensure your safety.”

  “We’re in the capital of Axis Mundi, a Realm controlled by the Athanasius’s Dominion,” Galen raised a brow, “what kind of incident could happen that would threaten my safety?”

  Milton initially tried to fake an expression of confidence to ease him. However, the face he gave the scribe must have made him realize that he wasn’t fooling anybody. So instead, the scribe pushed up his glasses and let the mask of assurance slip.

  And his true expression was one of worry.

  Okay… didn’t expect that, Galen thought with a frown as he asked aloud, “What’s wrong? Is there something I should know about…?”

  “No, not as far as I know, Champion,” Milton sighed, “it’s just… I have a feeling something is going to happen soon. Something major. There’s nothing to suggest that there’s merit to this gut feeling, mind you. However… I just feel it.”

  “So… it’s instinct telling you this?” Galen asked.

  “I suppose so. I’ve had few feelings of foreboding in my admittedly short life. The thing that worries me is that they’ve never been wrong.”

  “Sounds like we should cancel this trip then.”

  “I’ve tried talking to those in command about doing just that,” the scribe shook his head in a frustrated manner, “they refuse to do so solely on the grounds of my gut feeling. None of them have any feelings of foreboding like I do, and they’re confident that, even if something were to occur, they’d be able to handle it. Ordinarily I’d share in that confidence. But… I don’t know.”

  “And you’re telling me this… why?” Galen asked hesitantly.

  The scribe gave a nervous chuckle, “I suppose I shouldn’t be telling you anything about this since I’m clearly making you uneasy. And I apologize for that, Champion. However… I simply wish for you to be careful while you’re out there.”

  “Alright, I can do that.”

  Milton smiled. A small bit of the weight on his shoulders seemed to have been lifted. Galen wondered for a moment if this was the first truly genuine smile he’d seen on the scribe.

  He was once more struck with the resemblance Milton had to Aleksi, but before he could ask anything about it, the scribe suddenly announced, “Well, I must be off, Champion. Take the remainder of the day to rest.”

  With that, Milton left his room.

  Galen sighed, shaking his head as he sat down on his study desk, “Telling me to rest after all that...”

  Putting the scribe’s ominous warnings aside, he wondered when the last time he’d been able to have any resemblance of a break was. He realized that it had been before Aleksi had been transferred to a new mission.

  It wasn’t until then that it hit him just how much his old mentor had shielded him from the Dominion. No doubt if Aleksi hadn’t protected him, the five months he’d spent under his wing would have been more like the past month.

  Unlike Milton and Arawn, Aleksi had allowed Galen to study on his own, come to his own conclusions when studying the history of Avani, and had gently eased him into his training.

  Another realization hit him just then. It was only the foundation that Aleksi had allowed him to, and even sometimes helped, build for himself that likely prevented him from becoming a total pawn of the Dominion. Had his old mentor not allowed him to do his own personal research, and find for himself the biased way in which the history books were written… he’d likely have eventually believed everything Milton tried to shovel onto him.

  I really didn’t appreciate you enough, huh Aleksi? Galen thought with melancholy.

  “I’ll say,” Redian suddenly chimed in his mind.

  You shush, Galen thought back.

  “I’m just saying, unlike that brutal Arawn fellow or that nerdy scribe Milton; Aleksi actually let you think for yourself.”

  Galen smiled, That he did. And in doing so, he saved me from becoming a pawn.

  He turned to his study desk, and thought, Well, it’s been a month since I’ve had any time or energy to do my own studies. Let’s get to it.

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