The next morning, Christopher once again stood waiting in front of the gate of Netello Brave with the other trainees. It was a pleasant day with only the occasional cloud interrupting an otherwise blue sky. Christopher always made some small talk with the others, trying to get to know them a little better. There was little time for talking once the training commenced so this was the only time for some conversation. After they would be too exhausted.

He managed to strike up a conversation with Beteb. They talked about the Blight, which was the conversation topic everywhere he went. Everyone was rightfully worried at the heightened activity. Christopher managed to steer the conversation to the quarterstaff that Beteb had summoned.

“I was surprised when you summoned the quarterstaff yesterday; I have been told that Soul Bound weapons are rare.”

“Yes, they are difficult to make. This staff was commissioned by my mother for my seventeenth birthday only a few months ago. She has kept me from more intensive training with the quarterstaff until I reached the required age to train under Netello Brave. I want to follow in her footsteps and become a fighter in the Lumen Ladder like she used to be.”

A few of the other trainees shuffled closer, they were clearly interested as well. A Soul Bound weapon was quite a prestigious thing to own after all.

“How many such weapons are there in Lumen, are they really that difficult to make?”

Beteb seemed somewhat uncomfortable with the conversation topic, but he decided to answer.

“There are still quite a few Soul Bound weapons in Lumen, but they certainly are a pain to make. It requires a master blacksmith that is also very skilled in the use of several Soul Effects. As you might imagine, this is quite difficult to find. Lumen only has two such individuals.”

“How do you make a Soul Bound weapon anyway?”

“While the Blacksmith was crafting the staff, I had to provide my own Soul Force at several critical junctures of the crafting process. This bonded the material to my Soul, allowing for the dismissal and summoning of the weapon. It is a time-consuming process, and very expensive as well.”

So that was how Soul Bound items were made in this world. He could certainly imagine that there were not many that could complete such a process. And he was sure that the price was another large barrier for most.

“Since the weapon needs to be imbued with your own Soul Force, does that mean that the weapon cannot be transferred to someone else?”

“It is as you say, the weapon is only connected to me, and it will stay that way. If I were to die, then the staff would mostly just be a regular although well-crafted weapon. The weapon is slightly better at channeling Soul Effects for anyone that is using it though.”

Interesting, that would certainly limit the amount of Soul Bound weapons in the world. It would stop the weapons from accumulating over generations. Christopher wondered whether he could use this method himself.

“How long does it take to craft such a weapon?”

“It took the master Blacksmith around two weeks, during which I was needed at many points to infuse my Soul Force.”

‘Interesting, two weeks is a manageable time frame.’ Christopher thought. This option would become unavailable to him with time though since he got one less day with every loop. He was kind of glad that he had not bought any Soul Bound weapons from the interface store. Attaining those items with simple Venarian coins could save him some precious Soul Points. Although he expected that it would require a mountain of gold, which was very important for his plans as well.

He was not quite sure what approach to take in getting a Soul Bound weapon. He could commission the Soul Weapons in Lumen, or he could buy the Soul Bound items from the interface store for Soul Points. Both deserved some consideration.

Soon the gates opened and they were led back to the beautiful pink moss training matt. Two people were missing though, which meant that including him there were now only ten people left. Christopher thought that maybe they had just given up after the beating they had received from their instructor.

Netello Brave seemed to agree.

“It seems that there are fewer of you now, I am glad that they will no longer waste our time here with such weak perseverance. Let’s get ready to try the stances, I will assume that you all remember where we left off last time.”

Christopher had certainly not forgotten all the positions; the beatings had engraved them into his memory. The bruises that he had received were already changing colors. He did not want to deal with another eighteen hits; his body was not designed to take that much punishment.

He knew that passing was doable, many of this class had received less than the eighteen blows the day before. He was determined to do better this time; he did not want to be the worst of the class.

The ground was soft and springy under his bare feet, he thought it would be a great place to relax and do some reading.

“Get into the first position,” said Netello Brave curtly, snapping him out of his daydreaming.

The first stance started badly, he received another two corrections, two more painful whacks on his body. But when he got to the second stance, he received a breather. To his own surprise, he did not get a single correction for that second stance. That was at least some progress with this first task.

In the end, he only got a total of thirteen whacks, which was still bad, but he would take it. At least he was making some progress.

No interesting new elements were added to the training on this second day. They did another hour where they added the staff motions to the stances. They performed the same exercises as before and concluded with an hour of Archery practice. He was thankful that gloves were provided, or else his hands might have been shredded from the taut strings of the bow. He believed that his accuracy was slowly improving.

At the end of the training, he was almost as tired as he was on the previous day. He quickly went to the communal lodgings to wash up before he finally set out for the Lumen Academy. There was a lot of mystery surrounding the Academy grounds, but now he would finally see what it was like there.

He had now received enough hints that told him that something special was going on at the Academy, which kind of made sense for a place filled with magic. Christopher entered the now familiar Academy administration building. He walked up to the counter, an older man was currently seated behind the desk, not otherwise occupied at the moment.

“Hello, my name is Christopher. I am a new student attending the Academy and I was told to present myself for further instructions.”

“Oh really, quite the late joiner, let me check the registry for your name.” He leisurely flipped through a stack of parchment that Christopher assumed had the names of the people attending. “Ah, there it is, could you show me your student pass please.”

Christopher handed him his newly stamped card. The old man took a careful look.

“Excellent, everything is in order. Is this your first semester at the Academy?”

Christopher nodded. “Yes, I have been wanting to attend for a while now, I am curious to see the inside of the compound.”

“Marvelous, now normally you would need an escort for your first time here.” The old man said thoughtfully before he gazed around the room.

“Vitin! Could you come over here for a moment!” the old man yelled out.

A young woman who appeared to be working as some kind of security guard walked over to them. She had short and messy brown hair and vivid green eyes. She was a head shorter than him and she was in shape with lean muscles.

“Old man Buru, is this man giving you trouble?” She had a bubbly voice and looked to be in good spirits despite her question.

“Vitin, this is Christopher’s first time here as a student, would you be willing to show him around in the Academy.

Vitin flashed a pearly white smile at that, radiating joy.

“Oh, I love it when people see the Academy for the first time.” She made a small hop while she spoke.

“But can I go? I need to keep an eye out here, don’t I?” She looked pained by the idea.

“I am not so weak that I cannot handle a little trouble, and as you know, it is not as if we can send someone out there alone the first time.”

Well, that sounded almost ominous.

“Alright then, I will keep the tour to the essentials.”

Vitin grabbed Christopher’s arm and pretty much dragged him towards the entrance. It was as if she was afraid that the old man might change his mind about letting her go.

“Come on, follow me, you are going to love it here!”