Chapter 35

Nick had undergone a lot of different training through his life. What Alana did to him, made all of pale in comparison. For two hours, she attacked him, body and mind. Any time his focus slipped, his spiritual energy would lash out, and Dagr would force it back into place. If Dagr stepped in too long though, Fenrir would give a warning growl, forcing the dragon away.

By the time the training was done, Nick had been burned, hit, stabbed, and mentally forced to relieve some rather unpleasant moments. The later part made him even wearier of what intellectuals could do.

“You can release your spiritual energy, Nick.” Alana’s words were the sweetest he had ever heard, and with a sigh he let the icy power go. The moment it had fled, he welcomed his physical fire. It could cure his physical wounds, but mentally and emotional he was still exhausted.

“Is it going to be like…every day?” He let go of his power once he had healed, and stood shakily. His mind felt fractured, invaded.

“Unfortunately Nick, it’s only going to get tougher.” Alana’s eyes were soft, apologetic almost. A drastic change from the coldness he had felt from her during the training. It had almost seemed like she enjoyed torturing him.

“I wish we could take our time with your training, but the President wants me to oversee your training, and I will be leaving once the school year ends.” Fenrir faded back to his normal, ghostly form as she spoke. “Which means, I will have to push you harder than any student has ever been pushed at this school. You have great potential, but you will have to suffer agonizing hours of training in order to harness your true powers.”

“I don’t see why I can’t just let Dagr handle those powers, while I focus on being a physical.” Nick was broken, and his mind wanted a way out. Why did he even need to learn to harness these powers, they weren’t needed to become a DRED Knight.

“Because Nick, you’ve already almost killed yourself and another student with your powers, in a sparring match. What do you think would happen, if you lost control in a real battle?” She motioned across the landscape, to a large shinning mountain. “This is how dangerous your powers can be.”

Her hand pointed towards the mountain, eyes closed in concentration, and visible energy began to crackle around her hand. Reds, blues, greens and yellows swirled, violently arcing and clashing. Then, as Alana concentrated, Nick could see the energies condense, forming a small orb. The orb shot forward with blinding speed, quickly disappearing as it flew towards the mountains. Then, without warning, the world erupted in light.

Nick’s arm was over his eyes in an instant, but still his vision gone. He pulled in his physical power, healing his blinded eyes, and as he blinked the spots away, he couldn’t help but stare. A mushroom cloud rose high into the sky, and the mountain range was gone, a crater remaining.

“If you lost control of your powers on the battlefield Nick, everything around you would die.” Alana placed a hand on his shoulder, and it was only then he realized he was shaking. This power terrified him. Why couldn’t he just be a physical? I will help you Nick. We will make it through this. Dagr was on his other shoulder, sending waves of comfort into him.

“I don’t know if I can survive this training.” He felt like he was going to die during today’s lesson, and it was only going to get harder. How had Alana survived such training?

Together Nick, we can survive anything. He wished he felt as confident as Dagr did, but he wasn’t so sure.

“You need to understand Nick, we have great power, but it is dangerous. The burden of wielding such power is heavy. But trust me when I say, you will learn, and you will become master of your powers.” She squeezed his shoulder, comforting, encouraging, and Nick tried to smile. “Now, don’t you have scatterball tryouts to get to?”

Nick almost forgot, but Alana knew everything that had gone on during the day. She had just spent two hours in his mind after all. A portal opened in front of him, and he smiled at her. “Thank you.”

She offered a kind smile of her own, and pushed him towards the portal. “Go have fun with your friends Nick. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” Her eyes danced, and he couldn’t help but smile back.

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?” He stepped through the portal even as Alana responded. Her voice seemed almost sad.

“You made your choice.”