Embla calmly sipped her juice as she looked at the man sitting across the table from her. Her master. The person who had taught her everything she had known about fighting and combat so far. She sighed.

“So you’re the reason why everyone’s so on edge. Even Ataraxia is on edge because you-”

“Not just me. Lilim’s here too. She decided to come with me after I mentioned that I’d be seeing you,” Samuel said, leaning back in his chair. His blue eyes drifted over to Yuki.

Yuki sat calmly in the chair in between the two. His gaze was much different from her mother’s. Despite being the same shade of blue, the feeling that emanated from them could not be more foreign. Yuki glanced over to Embla.

What other secrets is this girl hiding? She wondered, calmly sipping the tea she brewed for herself.

“Two of you. And here I was returning from Ataraxia’s headquarters to call you,” Embla said.

“I never thought I’d see the day where my apprentice calls me for something after years,” Samuel said, wiping a fake tear from his eyes.

His expression forced a vein to pop in Embla’s head. She breathed and calmed herself down. “You’re still the same after all these years, Teacher.”

“When you get to be my age, changing your personality and habits is difficult. You’re too set in your ways to ever do any meaningful changes but that doesn’t mean I can’t try. Anyway, I’m going on a tangent. You said that you called me?” Samuel said, gesturing for her to speak.

“Oh, right, Yeah, I was calling to say that I want to continue our training together. I’ve… I’ve hit a wall. I think I’ve gotten as far as I can go with individual training,” Embla said, looking down at the table.

“You’re not gonna run off again, are you?” Samuel asked.

“Run off? No.” She looked up at her master.

“What about Valentina?” Samuel asked.

“What about her?”

“Are you still looking for her?” he asked.

“Of course. It’s just that I’ve taken a step back and decided to go at my own pace instead of chasing every breadcrumb that Koji left me. Doing this alone isn’t healthy and I decided that the people around me are more important at the moment,” she said.

“You really have grown up,” Samuel said. He smiled and got up.

“Where are you going?” Embla asked.

“Well, I’m heading back to the place Lilim and I are staying at.”

“What about my training?” she asked, getting up from her chair. He had yet to give her an answer and had deflected her question with one of his own.

“What about your training? Aren’t we resuming it?” Samuel asked.

“Huh? Wait, so you accept? You’re taking me on as your student again?” Embla asked.

“I never dropped you if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m sure you know our training schedule. I’ll come get you at that time,” he said, walking to the door.

“Hey wait!” she said, grabbing onto his coat.

“What is it?” Samuel said, turning around.

“Val… I read Val’s letter. Did you ever find out who was the spy they put in our town?” Embla asked.

“Ah, so she mentioned that which means you must know that Kvasir exists too. Hmm, the spy… we managed to find the spy after Val left. It was the old baker down the street. You know, the one that you and Val always went to after she got back from quests and commissions,” he said.

“Ah, I see.” Embla let go of the coat.

“Don’t worry about that now. We’re here so if Kvasir does have the balls to even go after you, Lilim and I will block you from him.” He raised his hand and pat her head.

She calmed down a little, feeling her master’s tender hand atop her head.

“I’ll be heading out. It looks like your friend wants to talk to you,” he said, walking to the door.

Embla looked up and nodded. As the door slammed shut, she turned around to see Yuki looking at her expectantly. She gave her a nervous smile before sitting down.

“I don’t know which person in this group had more secrets. Embla or Yuki,” Cal said, leaning back in his chair.

“I didn’t think it was that important. No one in our hometown ever brings up that fact anyway,” Embla said.

“Antares,” Red mused. “I guess it explains why you knew Refraction and why Yuki was so adamant about it after the Quest.”

“Adamant?” she asked.

“After we got you stabilized, Yuki mentioned something about Sages and you. Who would’ve thought that you were a Sage Apprentice this whole time. Though, I can’t imagine you running away from learning from a sage,” Pandora said.

“I was young and brash and wanted my sister to come home so I ran away to look for her. I didn’t get much sagely training. The most I was taught was combat and swordplay and… as Pandora knows, my magic is lacking in so many areas,” Embla said sheepishly.

“Still. What else don’t we know about you?” Caelum said.

“I think that’s it. I was raised by my older sister. Our parents passed away when I was very young and we lived in the same town as Antares and Al Tarf of the Twelve. Though, I never knew they were that until before I left,” she said.

“Yuki, you can’t seriously think what she said is the truth? Your mother and father are Sages and so is your Aunt. Doesn’t fame follow them everywhere?” Pandora asked.

“Not really. My parents and aunt are just the most public of the Twelve. Mom said that after the War, some of them secluded themselves away from the world, and eventually, enough time passed that the world forgot their faces,” she said.

“Almost two hundred years is a very long time in our eyes. The oldest some races can get is at least one hundred and a two decades,” Yuki said.

“So you’re picking up where you left off with your teacher?” Red asked.

“Yeah. I’ve hit a wall with my current training. My magical training is fine but my other training’s not going the way I want. Maybe my master being here will help with it.” Embla raised her hand and created a small ball made of swirling shadows.

“Don’t push yourself too far.” Red placed his mug down on the table before them. “It’s good that you want to improve but if you take your body to a level that it can’t handle, then you’ll be the one suffering. We don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Trust me. I’ll be fine. I’ve been through this with that old man before. What’s the worst he could do?” she asked, smiling.

Embla yawned as she followed behind her master. Samuel had stayed true to his promise and retrieved her that morning.

By morning, he meant before sunrise…, she thought, gazing at the sky that was slowly becoming a pastel of colors. Samuel walked at a brisk pace in front of her. Embla’s eyes drifted to the large zweihander he had strapped to his back. The zweihander had a large flat blade. Its crossguard faced towards the pommel at a diagonal handle with talon-like designs at the tip. Embedded into the crossguard were two gems that resembled rubies. However, Embla knew they were not rubies. There was something stored inside those gems that had enough power to split the land apart with divine fire. Of course, she knew these were just myths from the days of the war.

“You brought your sword with you?” she asked, walking up to his side.

Samuel paused for a moment before answering. “Well yeah, why wouldn’t I? I bring this sword everywhere,” he said, chuckling at her question.

Embla rolled her eyes at her master’s answer. It wasn’t a lie that Samuel brought that sword everywhere. The man guarded the sword like he guarded his money. No one could ever get him to let go of his sword during combat, not even her older sister.

“Are you going to smack me around with that sword today?” she asked.

“Nope. Today, we’re going to spar for a little bit then I’ll advance your magic training. You discovered your affinity right?” Samuel stopped when they arrived at a fairly empty area outside of Yggdrasil.

The area they were in was a large field with a few trees and a fairly large pond. The field was approximately about a three-hour walk from the city. Samuel smiled as he unstrapped his sword from his back and set it down on the ground.

“Yeah, my Affinity is Darkness or Shadows. Whatever you prefer to call it,” Embla said, stretching when she saw her master put Gram down. “A spar first after I do my stretches?”

“Well, yeah. I need to see how much you’ve improved on your own after nearly seven years. How else am I going to gauge how much I need to fix?” Samuel said.

Embla felt a blood vessel burst in her head at his comment. She clenched her fist and breathed. Fine, if you’re going to be like that, shitty old man. Then let’s see how you like it when I do this… she lunged at him, delivering a fast kick to his head.

Her eyes grew wide when Samuel caught her kick with one hand while yawning. He smiled and threw her back.

Embla landed on her feet, looking at the one she referred to as master warily.

“I didn’t say start yet. Your goal is to either last five minutes against me or land three consecutive hits. I’ll allow you to use whatever technique or magic you have at your disposal. I’ll even let you use your swords,” Samuel said.

“Fine then. So… can we?”

“Start? Yeah, hit me with your best-” he grinned as he deflected Embla’s blade in the nick of time.

Embla gritted her teeth as she jumped back, circling her master. She analyzed his gait, his breath, looking for anything that resembled so much as a twitch from his body. All of her senses were on high alert. Her eyes momentarily glanced down at his feet. She jumped back as soon as she saw the boots shift towards her.

Without so much as a warning, Samuel appeared in front of her and brought his hand down to deliver a chop to her head.

Embla reacted purely on instinct and managed to just barely block the blow. She fell to one knee, trying to hold up her master’s hand.

He’s… he’s not even taking me seriously like always. But even with him completely holding back, how are his blows still so heavy? I need to get out of this, she thought. Her eyes burned with determination as a thin veil of violet light coated her entire body.

Her body disappeared in a burst of speed. She reappeared behind Samuel, blades poised to slash at the nape of his neck.

“So you learned Super Acceleration?” he quickly turned and swiped his hand at her. “Oh?”

Samuel looked on in interest as the Embla he attacked faded from existence.

“And you’re using the afterimages created by the Eight Fold Dance to fool me. I admit you had me there for a second. But… it’s only been one minute and you need to stay conscious for four more.” He placed his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes.

“Yeah, but I just need to land three consecutive hits on you right!” The remaining afterimages appeared around him, converging to swarm him like a hive of angry bees.

Samuel merely stood there and dodged the attacks coming towards him.

Valentina sat at the edge of the city wall, watching her sister’s fruitless attempts to land blows on Samuel. Farcast was a wonderful skill at times. Her white hair blew gently in the breeze as she smiled.

“You look like a stalker.”

She turned around to see Lilim approaching her from behind.

“Please don’t call me that.” Valentina huffed at the accusation.

“So then why are you here watching your sister in secret instead of going out there?” Lilim asked, standing behind her.

Valentina remained silent. After a few seconds of contemplative silence, Valentina looked back at the fight and smiled.

Lilim’s eyebrow rose in slight confusion. Valentina’s smile gave off conflicting feelings. On the surface, it would appear that she was happy but her eyes told otherwise.

“I’m scared to face her. I left her for seven years and she spent seven years of her life looking for someone as spineless as me,” Valentina said.

“That’s just an excuse. But, I can see where you’re coming from. Don’t make her wait longer, Valentina. After all, she’s your only family left,” Lilim said.

“I know that. I know…” Valentina kept her eyes focused on the fight before her.

Samuel deflected Embla’s blade. Embla slid back a few feet from the force of the blow.

Struggling to get her bearings together, Embla felt her master’s fist digging into her stomach. She gasped in pain as she was launched several dozen feet before skidding to a stop. Her eyes and mouth were wide open in pain as she curled into a ball and clutched her abdomen.

“Ahh… you… fuck! YOU SAID YOU’D HOLD BACK!” she screamed.

“I did hold back but I upped the intensity a little after seeing your skill. Are you still raring to go? It’s only been four minutes and twenty-five seconds,” he said, crossing his arms.

Using her swords as supports, Embla struggled to get to her feet. With a shaky hand, she reached into her pouch and took out a small red vial. “Are potions allowed?” she shakily asked.

“Yeah. But only in this situation. In any other situation, you’re not allowed to use potions during spars,” Samuel said.

Embla popped off the cork and drank the entire vial. She gasped a little and tossed the bottle aside. She sighed in relief as some of the pain in her torso was alleviated. Potions may not be able to fix everything but at least it’s a good pain killer, Embla thought as she grabbed her blades.

Think, Embla. Your teacher is clearly stronger, faster, and way more experienced. That trick with the Folded Dance worked earlier. Should I…? Smiling, Embla jumped towards Samuel.

He narrowed his eyes as he swiped this one. This Embla disappeared into harmless air.

Again? He thought.

Seven more Emblas appeared around him, all charging at him at once. Their hands all pointed at him as orbs of violet light appeared in their hands.

“[Dark Spike]!”

A series of black spikes fired forth from their hands and homed in towards the sage.

A focused attack from all sides eh? Samuel thought. He swiped his hand, dispersing the spikes and the afterimages.

Embla slid back, jamming her swords into the ground.

“Time’s up.” Samuel smiled.

Embla let out a breath and fell on her back. Her chest fell up and down rapidly as her body inhaled copious amounts of oxygen. Sweat poured in droves down her forehead. Fighting her master took all of her strength. The difference in strength between her and the white-haired man before her was immense. Just a five-minute fight had caused her to expend nearly all of her energy.

“That was not… five minutes!” she gasped out.

“That was five minutes, Em. Seven years and you still can’t land three consecutive hits on me,” Samuel said, taking a seat next to her.

“Screw… you… shitty… old… man!” Embla said. She sat up, getting off her back with a great amount of effort. “I can’t slack now. The tournament is in a few days. I have to get better. For my party. For my goal.”

“Goal? Finding Val?” he asked.

Embla nodded.

“And what about after?”

“After?” she tilted her head.

“I think I’ve asked you this before when you asked me to train you so I’ll ask you again. Tell me, Em. What do you want out of your life?”