Why did I agree to this? Leo thought for perhaps the millionth time. Beads of sweat rolled down his face from the thick midday humidity of the garden as his arms shook with the strain of sending Aveth down in another overhead slice. After revealing to Leo what had happened to Erreth and the looming threat over his own head four days ago, the old man had become relentless with his training.

Every morning, he would barge into his room shouting, “Guard!” while slashing at him with a practice sword. As much as Zeld had laughed at him after his first ambush, Leo was convinced that any sane person would also scream like a little girl and fall off their bed if a crazed old lunatic charged into their bedroom violently flailing a wooden stick.

Unfortunately, it seemed pranking the sleeping Arrival had become the new source of entertainment for the whole household, with Zeld, Sparky and even Pride sneaking into his room late at night for a ‘sneak attack’ that left him burnt, sore or without a pillow to lay his head on. When Sparky had the gall to greet him with a pleasant hello chirp after a particularly long and toasty night, he almost made a new feather-stuffed pillow out of the obnoxious bird right there. Only the pleasant memory of the bucket of ice cold water falling on top of her from its perch on his cracked doorway had been enough to stave off his anger.

Zeld justified the torment with the same excuse he always used: It was a “training exercise.” Supposedly they were helping him learn to keep “one eye and both ears open” when he slept, but Leo didn’t buy it. The excuse might have been believable if Zeld actually lived the way he preached and didn’t keep him up with his overtly loud snoring in the next room over.

After a quick breakfast together would come the next part of his regimen, physical training, which consisted of him running laps around the yard and lifting an assortment of small boulders the old coot had sitting in his storage ring for whatever reason. At least he had finally figured out where Zeld stored his ever-present pipe during their midday lesson of weapons and concepts, which he had the misfortune of currently being in.

“Eyes front!” barked the old man as he paced the grassy clearing barefoot in his white robes, training sword tucked readily behind his back to lash out at any incorrect answer or mistake in his form. “Name the most prominent faction neighboring the Valley of Erreth!”

The Valley of Erreth was a resource-rich hunting ground on the surface world below, previously used to strengthen the nation by spurring the growth of its citizens. Leo’s thoughts whirled in his head as he rapidly sifted through the mountain of information that had been drilled into him, trying to recall the long talk on neighboring factions they had yesterday. “Vezetch…” Leo panted. “Their empire is massive…it stretches from the Red Forest to across the Endless Wastes in the East.”

“Good, now tell me about their ruler!” Zeld demanded, using his practice sword to absently right an out-of-place leg with a hefty smack.

“Ugh-their ruler is Emperor Helios. The citizens there treat him like a god!” Leo said with a grunt as he restarted his set of basic sword moves for the umpteenth time that afternoon. Left…right…overhead…thrust! His motions had become a mantra in his head on endless repeat. He knew Zeld wouldn’t be satisfied with such a paltry answer and he desperately scavenged his brain for anything else related. “It’s said that every grain of sand in Vezetch serve as the eyes and ears of the emperor.”

“Do you remember why that is?”

“Uh…” Failing to remember the answer to the question made Leo’s next swing falter a half-second behind rhythm. He was already wincing from the expected pain when the flat of the dreaded wooden blade cracked him on his back and wrist in a blink.

“You need to be able to think and move at the same time!” admonished his impatient instructor. “The saying is old, born from the mysterious disappearance of Vezetch’s citizens. Any man, woman, or child who spoke out against the empire, even in the quiet of their homes, would disappear before the next sunrise,” Zeld reminded him.

“Do you know the truth behind that superstition?” Leo asked, curious in spite of his exhaustion. If the emperor really could hear through every grain of sand, he would have powers akin to a god’s.

Zeld shook his head. “Bah, I never stayed long enough to find out. That place is hot, dry and lacks even a shred of human decency. Why anyone ever chooses to live in that hellhole is beyond me. Do you recall what their main source of commerce is, boy?”

This question Leo did know—the answer had stuck with him since he first heard it. “The arena and slaves,” Leo muttered darkly.

“Death and flesh!” Zeld spat on the ground, unable to hide his distaste. “The scum thrive and the honorable die. You’d do well to stay far away from there.”

Leo nodded in agreement. He already had a lot on his plate with trying to regain his lost memories, figuring out how to reunite with his sister, and gathering other Arrivals to prepare for his eventual encounter with the Order. If he added trying to topple an unjust empire to the list, he doubted he’d survive the year.

After another twenty minutes, Zeld called a break to the drills, leaving Leo to fall prone on the cool damp grass, exhausted and hungry. Zeld took his customary seat beside him, giving Leo the chance to ask a few questions of his own. As grouchy as he was, the old warrior was a fountain of knowledge waiting to spew vehemently forth. To amass so much knowledge… His next question struck him like lightning.

“Zeld, how old are you?” he asked warily.

“Huh, hmm just a bit over a full cycle now, so somewhere just north of a few centuries.” Leo’s jaw went slack, his expression causing Zeld to bark a laugh. “Surprise you, did I? What, you think I hadn’t even broken triple digits yet?”

“B-but…how?” Leo stuttered out, sitting back up. “I thought you were human.”

The statement earned him a light knock upside the head. “I am, boy! Age here has less to do with your race and more to do with your Constitution. You get that attribute up high enough and it’ll even clean up the wear and tear of your own cells. Still, I’m not getting any younger. Reckon this century will turn out to be my last, one way or another.”

He saw Leo’s gloomy face from his reply and snorted. “Doesn’t mean I still don’t have another decade or two left in me, lad, and if you have the energy to look like a hound who lost its favorite chew toy, then you’ve enough energy for more training!” A smile that didn’t quite match with the mirth in his taskmaster’s eyes crept across the old man’s wrinkled face.

“Ahh, I just remembered I need to go-um-assign my attribute points from my last level-up! It’s going to require some intense thinking so I don-” The thought of going through more of that torture had Leo hurriedly backpedaling away. Both his hungry stomach and his sore muscles were screaming at him from the thought.

“So, what’d ya decide upon?” The curious tone to Zeld’s question interrupted his escape.

“What?” Leo replied, hesitating in his retreat, but still wary of the old man’s curiosity.

“The focus on your fighting style—have you even taken the time to think on it?”

“Uh, not really…” Leo replied. He had just put points into what he thought would let him live until tomorrow. As obvious as it seemed, that question hit him like a bucket of cold water. He needed to think long-term if he hoped to survive long-term. Averaging his points over all his attributes would leave him mediocre at everything and good at practically nothing. “Do you have any advice?”

“Don’t just think of yourself. Play to the strengths of your companions. Strength in union has always been our nation’s creed. Beasts and monsters have a linear progression. A fire drake won’t start breathing water because it feels like it; they are born with affinities that rarely change and that determine the path to power they take. Humans and you in particular, have a more fluid path. We adapt, evolve and when divinity deems us worth enough, are granted a class. So, I’d choose a focus that best suits your companions, because in the end you can always steal another skill.” The old man stood up and began stretching his cracking joints.

“How do I know which path best aligns with them…” Leo trailed off, seeing the old man’s devious grin as he continued stretching. “More training?” he asked meekly.

“Is there a better way?”

* * *

“Begin,” Zeld stated, his voice carrying easily across the clearing to his three aggressors. The goal of this exercise was simple: Force Zeld to take a step back.

Sparky started forward in an instant, firing off three massive bolts of lightning before Leo could even blink. Zeld’s hand was a blur of motion as he calmly batted away the attack with his bare hand, the rest of his body not moving an inch.

Pride used the opportunity to increase her own gravity and start a frontal charge, her blade-like horn glowing under a stream of condensed power as she hoped to push Zeld back a hair’s breadth with sheer force. The old man held up a hand and lazily caught the feline by its horn before tossing her aside and leaning slightly back to avoid Aveth’s lengthened strike.

“Wrong. You’re still fighting as individuals, instead work together with your skills and develop a synergy. What’s your plan of approach, where’s your adaptation?” Without so much as a glance behind him, he reached out and snatched a taloned claw that was looking to strike his exposed back, then he tossed the overeager Thunder Roc aside.

Leo let Aveth snap back into place as the other two picked themselves off the ground. Synergy, huh, he mused to himself as an idea came together in his mind. He extended his will outwards, working to establish a mental connection with Sparky like he had when they fought against the wolves. He felt the tedious line of thought snap into place, like a radio finding a receiver, and a surplus of anxious excitement poured over him.

She was too young to speak like Amira, but they were still able to share intentions. With that connection secured, he tried to form a similar line with Pride. He reached out with the Beast Communication skill, casting his line of thoughts like a fisherman sending out his hook, hoping Pride would bite the other end.

He felt his connection tense as another being picked it up. An overbearing presence slammed into him, knocking Leo from his feet with the force of simply connecting to the existence. His mind felt like it was being crushed from just being in contact with the other entity, and he found it hard to remember how to breathe. Was this a private party? Ah, it seems so. I’ll take my leave, then. Don’t mind me just yet. A mildly interested voice boomed across the connection before disappearing as quickly as it had come, leaving Leo and Sparky both gasping for breath.

“You all right there, boy?” Zeld asked, his features a mixture of concern and amusement.

“I’m fine,” Leo muttered before finding his feet once more. He took another breath before sending out another thread of thought to Pride, putting in extra concentration to maintain the thread’s form as it reached out to the feline. The connection was blocked as it neared the cat, for just a moment before it broke through an invisible wall and secured itself.

Where Sparky’s mind was a tornado of overlapping and everchanging feelings and intentions, Pride’s was more of a still lake, possessing an impossible depth with an easily distinguishable frame of mind floating clearly on the surface. Currently, she was pissed off at Zeld for dirtying her regal white fur and having the gall to throw her like a newborn cub, which in all fairness she still technically was. Leo sensed a portion of her irritation turn to him as the latter thought slipped away from him and he edged a few steps away from the dangerous beast.

“Are we going to stand here all day or are you three going to actually put in a bit of effort?” Zeld emphasized his point with a fake yawn. “You bore me any longer and I’ll be fighting you in my sleep.”

The last comment got all of their attention. Apparently, none of them enjoyed being taken lightly. Leo reined in Sparky from starting a blind charge once more and tried to impress the details of what he wanted them to do. As the plan wasn’t too complex, the creatures seemed to grasp it. He felt a grudging acknowledgment from Pride and anticipation from Sparky in response as they moved to fully surround Zeld, with Leo facing his front and the other two at the old man’s back.

Now! Leo thought as soon as they were in position. A brief surge of rage filtered through them from the Chari as all the grass in the yard suddenly exploded upwards in a massive cascade of fine brown powder and clumps of topsoil. “Not my lawn! Do you have any idea how long that’s going to take to repair?” Zeld cried out pitifully, as the cloud of dirt enveloped everyone present, his pleading giving the three of them a small amount of righteous satisfaction.

Sparky moved forward next, jumping up to the floating clods of dirt and using them as projectiles as she flung them at Zeld’s face with large flaps of her wings. Zeld let out a sad sigh as he squinted and waved his hand to deflect the onslaught of debris.

While the other two were in motion, Leo activated his new skill Camouflage. He felt a small drain of his mana as an oil-like substance burst out of him and quickly coated his gear and body. It took him a moment to adjust to the blending effect the substance had on his frame and weapons. He briefly imagined himself tripping on his own distorted feet and impaling himself on a transparent section of his blade before he shook off the fear and started moving.

Leo slipped around to Zeld’s back as quietly as he could, hoping the onslaught of dirt and falling debris would be enough to mask any sounds and movement he might make. As soon as he crept behind his target he struck, swinging his blade forward with all the strength he could muster.

Aveth flew in low, Leo hoping to cut his target across the back of his knee. Leo had a brief surge of panic when he visualized the impossibly sharp sword cleaving through Zeld and leaving the old man a cripple for the rest of his life. He was a hairsbreadth from making contact when the leg he was targeting lifted impossibly quickly, letting the sword pass harmlessly through open space before setting back down in the same spot. Leo spun with the swing, sending his sudden intentions to Pride as he quickly discarded their old, failed plan.

The length of the blade shot forth as he mentally called Aveth’s name. Instead of shooting into the distant shrubbery of the garden, a shimmer surrounded the elongated metal and it suddenly arced back around Zeld, wrapping him like a burial shroud.

Sparky added her own attack to the metal of the blade, conducting electricity into the metal prison. “Dodge this,” Leo muttered as he yanked on the leather-wrapped hilt, collapsing the metal in on itself with Pride’s guiding touch. The constriction of the blade halted as it met with a firm layer of resistance.

He could sense the Chari struggling to maintain Aveth’s entwined form as the pressure from within grew to an unbearable amount. An explosive force sent the sword flying out of Leo’s grip as a wave of water crashed outwards over the clearing, sweeping all three of them off their feet.

Pride lost her concentration, and the gravity field keeping the lawn floating collapsed into the dwindling pool of water seeping out of the yard, creating a slurry of mud as large chunks of grass rained down. Leo spat out the taste of dirt from his mouth as he slowly climbed to his feet with a feeling of déjà vu in his drenched clothes. Zeld stood in the same spot he had started on, now an island of untouched grass amidst a ruined landscape while the rest of them had been painted brown with mud.

“That was done much better than I expected,” Zeld called out, forcing the remaining water down into the ground with a whisk of his hand. He walked over to Leo and gently handed him back Aveth, which he had somehow grabbed with his other hand during the explosion. “Although if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to kill me near the end there.” He laughed merrily with the thought.

“We didn’t come close to winning, did we?” Leo asked sullenly.

“No, but that was never the real goal. Did you learn anything?” He flicked his hand once more, and all the dirt and grime covering Leo and the two beasts decided to fly thankfully away.

“In the face of absolute power, run like hell?”

Zeld laughed. “That’s one lesson, though it’s more accurate to say make their time spent killing you not worth it. Anything else?”

Leo mused over the question for a minute. “Pride and Sparky both seem to work best at a distance, so fighting on the frontlines would give them the best chance to make full use of their skills, however, that also greatly increases my risk by putting me directly in the way of potential harm. If we fight against too strong or too numerous foes like we did against the wolves, I’d get overrun in seconds, so I need a way to quickly disengage as well.”

“Hmm, I might have an exercise that can help with that,” Zeld murmured to himself thoughtfully. “After lunch that is.”

Leo was practically drooling as the words left the old man’s mouth. He was fairly confident he had received the malnourished debuff if he bothered to check his notifications. “Hey, Zeld, during the beginning of the fight, how’d you intercept my Beast Communication?” he asked as they made across the destroyed grounds to the front porch, followed closely by an equally eager Pride and Sparky.

“I never did,” the old man said simply.