Chapter 5: 5 – Training

It happened almost every night. The same memory would be repeated in his mind. He had gotten used to it at this point, but after the relatively happy evening he had, he completely forgot about it. 

Ruith sat up on the edge of the bed. Despite the nightmare, he felt the most rested he had in his life. Looking outside, it was very early morning, the sun having just come over the horizon.

‘I should train a bit before Teran takes me back to the Bastion…’

Ruith stood, stretched, and then exited the room. He tried to be quiet so as to not disturb the father and daughter, assuming them to be sleeping.

Stepping outside, the cool morning air filled his lungs. It actually smelled a bit better than closer to the Bastion. 

About 50 feet from the house the trees rose from the ground, and Ruith sat cross legged under a shorter one.

He spotted some small animals hopping and running around, this area was truly peaceful. There was no sign that the Voidborne even existed. This place almost seemed to melt away his worries.

After enjoying the feeling for a moment, Ruith began his training. His mana flowed down from his fingers and into the ground, searching for a root to practice on. There was one with the size of his pinky finger only about a foot under the ground.

His mana was absorbed into it, and he used everything he had to grow it out of the ground.

But of course, it only moved about three inches before his mana ran out.

‘Ugh, there must be a better way to do this…I know I’m only a black core, but holy shit.’

Ruith decided to ask Teran once he came outside, the man must know something being so powerful. For now though, this was the best way he knew to use his ability.

After exhausting and restoring his mana for a little while, he decided to test something else. Instead of inserting his mana into the ground to search for a root, he let it flow directly into the tree next to himself.

Immediately he could tell that doing anything to the actual tree would require much more mana than he currently possessed. However, he could ‘feel’ the entire thing with his mana. Ruith directed his mana to flow down into the roots of the tree, and soon an image of the entire root system of the tree was created in his mind.

‘This will make things much easier!’

However, while he was doing this, he noticed something strange about the tree. He could feel mana that was not his own running through it, and yet it also felt slightly different than the mana he absorbed from out in the open.

‘Do trees actually store and absorb mana?’ Ruith wondered. If they did, perhaps he could use it to his advantage. Yet another thing to ask Teran about.

He resumed his cycle of expending and absorbing mana for a while, until he heard the front door of the house open.

Glancing over, he saw Vaeri exiting with her sword. She quickly noticed him.

“Oh, Ruith. What are you doing out here?”

“I’m just training with my ability. Are you going to practice with your sword?”

Vaeri nodded.

“I forgot you have your ability, how about a spar?”

“Well I can’t really use my ability for fighting yet, so…”

“Oh. Well, is it a warrior or mage type of ability?”

Ruith thought for a moment. Technically he could use it for either close or long range.

“It could be used for both I think, but I’m going for more of a mage approach.”

Ruith decided on the mage path for now, after all his body, though above average for a normal human, wasn’t yet strong enough to give and take powerful blows against humans with abilities and especially not Voidborne.

“Then let’s have a spar with just our fists, even if you’ll be a mage there may be times when an enemy gets too close.”

“Alright, fine.”

Vaeri leaned her sword against a tree, and the two of them moved into a more open area. 

Ruith had been in several fights that he won, but that was all thanks to his strength. He never learned how to fight and would be pitiful in the eyes of someone who did.

Vaeri seemed short and not very strong at first glance, but Ruith had seen what she did to those two men, so did not underestimate her.

“Ok, go.” She spoke.

Ruith made the first move. He quickly approached her, throwing a wild punch. Vaeri slightly moved her head to the right, and the punch blew past harmlessly, though she could tell it had a decent amount of power behind it.

She countered with a hook, its speed shocking Ruith. He was barely able to move lean back, the tip of his nose being grazed by the punch. However, he stumbled and was now off balance.

Before Ruith was able to react, Vaeri kicked the side of his right leg. 

“Agh!”

He immediately crumpled to the ground, pain radiating through his knee. The power behind that kick was several times higher than he could output, and he could tell she didn’t put her all into it.

“Ugh, shit…” Ruith rolled around on the ground, clutching his knee.

Vaeri looked down at him, frowning.

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“You’re really weak. Did you know that?”

Ruith glared at her. She was really blunt.

“Maybe you’re just overly strong…what rank is your mana core anyway?”

He knew that at each rank the body would become a bit stronger and tougher, but he didn’t know it was this drastic.

“I just got to the brown rank a few weeks ago.”

“Well obviously I would lose then!”

Ruith stood from the ground, the pain mostly faded by now. Luckily, there was no injury. 

“Wait, you said a brown core? Aren’t you around my age?”

“Mhm. I’m 17.”

Ruith looked at her, shocked. She said it like it was nothing, but a brown core at 17 was impressive. It was only one rank away from being able to become a Sanctum Knight, and from what he had seen, they were at least in their late 20s.

Well, her father was one of the most powerful people in the Bastion, so it was to be expected.

“And you should still be able to last a few seconds against me in a fight like that, even if I’m a brown core and you’re a black core. The problem is you simply don’t know how to fight.”

“What do you mean? Your body is much more powerful than mine.”

“Power isn’t everything unless your opponent is much more powerful than you, especially in a fist fight. Let’s go again, I’ll teach you some things.”

Ruith agreed, now excited to learn something new.

“First, don’t throw punches like that. They are extremely easy to dodge.”

She proceeded to show Ruith how to punch and dodge correctly.

“Next, against me you have a reach advantage. Don’t try to get in too close, instead try to keep me from getting in close to you.”

After a bit more of instruction, they sparred once again.

This time, Ruith lasted a full 20 seconds before being beaten, though he didn’t manage to land a single punch. His endurance was excellent having worked in the mines for almost 2 years, but Vaeri was simply too fast and strong for him to keep up.

She helped him up from the ground. His learning speed was actually kind of frightening, to do that well against her after just some basic instruction.

“You’ll probably do fine against other humans, just practice for a bit each day. However, against Voidborne only dodging will work, especially with your low strength. So you’ll need a weapon.”

Vaeri pulled out a dagger from somewhere, and handed it to Ruith.

“Really, just dodge and then stab or slash. Pretty simple, you’ll do fine. Works against humans too, of course.”

Ruith frowned at her quick explanation, but he trusted her that it really was that simple.

“Oh right, father wanted me to give you a pair of new clothes, so come inside.”

‘New clothes finally, it’s been nearly a year.’

Ruith felt very grateful for Teran’s kindness towards him, even more so now.

Vaeri picked up some clothes that lay on the couch, handing them to him. A long sleeve shirt, pants, boots, and a pair of gloves. All of them were brown, it seemed like Teran was a fan of the color.

They were all made of a heavy and warm yet flexible material, perfect for the coming winter

“Wow, thank you…” These clothes were far nicer than anything he had ever owned. 

Vaeri shrugged. “Thank my father once he wakes up. They are all in his size, but they should be a good fit.”

Ruith nodded and headed to his room to put the new clothes on. They fit perfectly, and he became pleasantly warm. Vaeri also came to give him a belt, which had several pouches and a sheath for the dagger on it.

After putting everything on, he once again went outside to continue training. Vaeri was there, practicing with her sword. She slashed, pierced, and even acted as though she was dodging attacks.

The movements seemed strangely familiar to Ruith, and he realized why. Though not exactly the same, it resembled the style of the powerful Voidborne he had seen, just with a sword instead of claws.

Each movement flowed beautifully into the other, while every strike was quick and deadly.

Ruith watched her for a moment, before once again sitting under a tree. He began to train in silence while Vaeri was close by. 

He was getting a bit impatient now, very excited to ask Teran a few questions that could help increase his power much faster than now. 

An hour later, the man finally came out of the house.

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