--- Roric

The young warrior stood there, speechless, trying to process the words he had just heard.

My... My powers? How could he figure them out so easily?

"From the look on your face," said Barden, "You didn't expect this. Don't worry, I didn't use any particular ability. Someone with my experience only requires a glimpse to tell. A normal person wouldn't have dodged my first blow, after all. Drop your mask, student."

"I... I am an Elemental. A lightning Elemental."

"I see. This is going to spice things up a bit, at least."

What does he mean? I already knew he wasn't going to take it easy with me, but...

"We'll begin tomorrow," concluded the old man. "There's a small shed behind my house. You'll sleep there for the time being. Since the hour is already late and you've traveled, I strongly suggest that you rest and recover your strength. You'll need it."

"Wait," Roric stepped in. "Does me being... Well, what I am bother you in any way? I thought Elementals were widely hated."

"Trust me," replied Barden, "Your kind isn't as special as you think. Once we are done here, you too will see it. Hopefully."

***

The next day, the boy woke up early and joined his new master for breakfast.

"Listen, kid," began the man. "I'm still not fully convinced that coming back from my retirement was the right thing to do. We'll lay down some simple rules for our activities now, because time isn't on our side, for what I could get."

"Alright," answered Roric. "I'm ready to follow your instructions."

"Good. For starters, you probably noticed that since we have mountains only on the southern side, there are as many hours of light as anywhere else. I expect you to be up and ready at dawn, so you can start without me with some basic stuff. Remember, I'm old. I need to sleep all night in order to do this. That's why you will do a good portion of your training on your own."

The young warrior gulped, but nodded. However, he could barely hold back the need to ask how was he supposed to learn swordsmanship alone.

"We'll focus on your physical prowess first. There's no point in doing combat if you can't keep up with my speed," explained Barden. "I already drew the lines of a course you will build. It's going to be your bread and butter for every day you spend here."

"So, like... An obstacle course?"

"You can call it however you want. I've yet to finish some details, but there's plenty for you to work on in the meantime."

Building obstacles, huh? That definitely isn't what I had pictured in my mind for my training. But if he says it's going to help me, then...

Roric nodded even more firmly than before. "I'll start at once! I won't disappoint you, master."

"Shut up, you idiot," the elder bluntly interrupted him. "I'm not finished. Lesson number one, a true fighter must be ready at all times. Since I plan to turn you into something close to it, I'll make alterations to the course every week, so you can't memorize it. This will teach you to adapt to any circumstance, and force you to think faster."

"Will it really work?" said the young warrior. "I mean, I already think faster than a common human-"

"Again. If that was enough, would you be here annoying me in my retirement?"

"True. Sorry, sir."

Barden cleared his throat, before going on. "You'll clear that course two times a day, one in the early morning and one in the afternoon. And the second time, I'll step in at some point and do sparring with you."

But that would mean...

"There's a thing I don't really understand," commented Roric. "If I have to fight with you at any given stage of the track, then-"

"Keen observation, kid," replied the man. "It means you'll run while carrying your sword and everything else your body can take. Cloak, backpack... I even have some light pieces of armour somewhere, I think."

I'm starting to get worried. Can I take it, or is it too much for me? But it's for a good cause. If I become stronger I'll be able to protect Cassidia from Rickhart and... Make things up with Elise. I must try, at least.

"Show me what I need to do, sir."

Giving him back a stern, dubious glare, Barden stood up and handed him a piece of paper with a crudely drawn representation of the surrounding area. As he observed it, the boy went paler and paler.

"Sir... Are you sure it's necessary for it to be this long?" he said, with a tremble in his voice.

"It's roughly seven miles, with very few sections where you'll just run. We need to train you hard, since you are in a hurry."

"Even with my Elemental body there's no way I can take it two times a day. It's impossible. Not with a weapon and all the equipment."

With a heavy note of sarcasm, Barden replied, "You'll have to make it possible then, my dear."

***

No... This can't... This can't be called training... It's more like a battle!

Roric was trying the course for the very first time. He had spent the entire day after his arrival putting little red poles in the ground, signaling the direction he was supposed to take. It took him a lot of time, only a part of it was completed, and it already seemed to last forever. The boy put everything he had into his test run the following morning, but he couldn't stop thinking that Barden had taken some wrong measurements here and there.

There were huge rocks, almost as tall as him, and they were flagged with an upwards signal. He simply went around, after trying to climb over them once or twice.

He must have mistaken me for a frog or something. There's no way I could jump that high.

"Already slacking?"

For some reason, the blood in Roric's veins froze. Right before eight tree stumps he should have used as steps, which were much smaller than his feet, the old man was waiting for him to pass by.

"Don't skip any exercise! Take out that sword! On your guard!"

The young warrior panicked, grabbing his weapon frantically between a pant and the other. He had forgotten that his master could issue a challenge whenever he wanted.

"I'm ready," he announced, once his breath returned. "Let's go!"

"You can't take this long to recover, kid! Come on, move those legs!"

They faced each other, blade in hand, moving in circle.

"Tell me," asked the elder. "What's your hardest fight until now?"

"Around thirty bandits," replied Roric. "I was alone but I caught them by surprise, so I didn't have to take them all at once."

Barden laughed, pointing the weapon in his direction. "Then, let me be your thirty men. All at once."

With incredible, superhuman speed, Barden lunged forward. He started with a series of very fast swings, which the boy was barely able to parry. Roric took multiple steps back in order to get some distance, like Tolwin had taught him, but his opponent just wouldn't let him. The man kept charging, overwhelming him with a volley of blows and preventing any reaction from his side.

He has full control, at all times! I see his every attack, but he's just too quick. How? At his age, no less! It's like being a child in the mercenary company, all over again!

The young warrior countered, but Barden was way faster and easily intercepted his sword, putting him on the defensive.

"Slow!" he yelled. "Predictable!"

What a monster. The nickname Flash of Steel is well-earned. If I wasn't an Elemental, I couldn't keep up with his movements at all.

In a last, desperate effort the boy tried to hit with his shoulder, but his master simply used a grab and threw him down. From the ground, grumbling because of the pain and the blood rush, Roric conceded.

Barden relaxed, and sat on one of the stumps with an uninterested attitude. "I suppose I should inform you that you aren't exactly the first Elemental I meet. You possess superior fighting prowess, accelerated healing, instinctive magic on par with that of an expert Mage. All very useful gifts, let's admit it. Yet, they are nothing without discipline."

"What... What do you mean?"

"It means you still can't control your body properly. You probably think to be good, but in reality you are like a toddler who hasn't even learned how to walk."

The boy got back on his feet, taking a long breath.

"That's a bit extreme," he complained. "It's not like I can force my limbs to move at the same rate as my reflexes."

"Ah, yes... Your reflexes. Lightning Elementals have unrivaled ones, or so I was told," observed the man. "I bet you can see everything I, a puny, common human, do. I must seem so slow, I guess..."

Oh, come on. I didn't come here to be mocked by him!

"You clearly know something I don't, master," replied Roric, with a resolute tone. "If I did, I wouldn't have asked you for help. In order to best Rickhart, I need to learn why-"

"So impatient," said Barden, with a huff. "You aren't fighting like an Elemental. You clearly don't want to. Now you have it."

I... What?

"Don't make that face. I thought it was obvious. I'm talking about your nature, you should use it to your advantage. Hello? Do my words have some resemblance of sense?"

"Sure, they do..." whispered the young warrior. "But... My nature? Is that really the problem?"

"The problem is yourself," explained the instructor. "It's evident that you don't desire anything more than being a simple human being, like me. To be honest, I can't understand it. What are you, scared of being an Elemental?"

"No, don't be absurd..."

But I really am.

That old man. His words were even sharper than his attacks, and they had hit the mark perfectly. The reaction of the nobles, the King and Elise before Roric's powers had terrified him and was the source of all his frustration. Being normal, without having to hide what he was... It would have been nice. It would have been easier. The boy had found himself thinking that more and more, lately.

"The... The people who saw what I was able to do..." the boy babbled, "They called me a monster. They were more scared than me than of the necromancer."

"You mentioned fighting thirty bandits. Did the ones you saved complain, back then?"

"Nobody witnessed it, and even like that they treated my like... Someone dangerous."

"But they didn't complain," commented Barden.

Roric yelled, "That's way different! You can't ask me to simply go around and-"

"Be yourself?"

The young warrior shut his mouth and stared into nothing.

I... I can't possibly be an Elemental under the light of the day. Come on, that's impossible.

Yet, for some reason, that option didn't seem as impossible as before. What if all he needed was a little push? Tolwin had told him, during their time together, that his kind could obtain powers that were way out of the reach of anyone else. Roric just wasn't anyone else. Period.

Is there really something holding me back? Or is it all an illusion I created out of fear?

"Listen, kid," went on the master, "If you want to beat that man, you'll have to beat me first. And in order to do so, you'll have to accept your true nature. You won't go any further if you keep giving in your self-doubt. Be what you are. Embrace it."

He is right. That's what I'm meant to do!

The boy prepared himself, and Barden did the same.

"That's better," he commented. "You can lie to yourself as much as you want, but we both know you can be faster than this."

Roric plunged forward without replying, resuming the exchange of blows.