Keira mutely followed Nimh’s instructions as she moved through the forms.

Nimh had shown her nine more forms. They were different from the previous nine and she could feel they were more defence orientated, while the first nine were movement orientated.

As she trained, she tried to sink into the forms. The first nine were still somewhat uncomfortable, the second nine were totally alien, and neither held her full attention.

Nimh had a child? He was married?

She had not taken him as the type to abandon people important to him. The way he had spoken about creating a better world for everyone made her confused as to why he would choose to become a spirit invader. Why would he leave his family?

It made no sense. But she was too scared to ask him about it. Not to mention frustrated. It seemed that every time she gained an understanding of the man, he flipped her entire image of him on its head.

Leaving her lost. And even more confused.

She had accepted that she trusted him, to a degree. He was serious about training her, that she was certain. And she believed he meant what he said about changing this world.

But he was an alien. He was an entire species different to what she knew, and that left her with a shadow of doubt in her heart.

“You need to focus,” Nimh’s words pulled her out of her errant thoughts.

Looking at him sheepishly, she shook her head and tried again. But still, she could not focus. This continued for a few more minutes before Nimh shouted at her.

“Guard!”

Keira barely had time to turn before Nimh’s fist was flying at her face. She tried to get away, but her cluttered thoughts left her frozen in place. Nimh’s fist stopped close enough to brush her eyelashes.

“That could have been it,” Nimh said. “Distractions will get you killed, both in life and in training.” His finger lashed out, flicking her forehead.

“Ouch!” she exclaimed, staggering backwards.

“I think it's time for some sparring practice.” Nimh started walking forward.

Keira looked at him with watering eyes. “Give me a moment.” She asked.

“No.” Nimh dashed forward, not as fast as she knew he could go, but fast enough to catch her by surprise. In an instant, he was on her, his forearm hitting her chest with a forceful shove. She tried stepping back, but his leg was there, tripping her.

Landing on the ground, she groaned.

What was happening? Why was Nimh attacking her?

Fear coursed through her as Nimh launched a kick at her. In the instant she saw him attacking, she knew he wasn’t holding back with this one. Scrambling, she pushed herself away as an enhanced kick swept past her chin.

“STOP!” she shouted, rolling to her feet.

“Why?” Nimh asked, all sense of his earlier attacks gone as he stood there, innocently.

“Because I wasn’t ready,” Keira shouted indignantly.

“If you need to take a break, say so and take a break,” Nimh said simply, folding his arms behind his back. “But if you are here to train, get your mind on the task at hand. We don’t have the luxury of wasting our training time.”

Anger surged through her. How dare he? How dare he shake her and then accuse her of wasting his time.

“I don’t need a break,” she argued out of reflex. “And if I’m wasting so much of your time then why don’t you go find someone else to train?”

Nimh looked at her confused. “You aren’t wasting my time.” He said, tone neutral. “You are wasting your own time. I can train myself, regardless of the time I spend training you. You are the one who does not have the luxury of wasting time”

“What?” Keira said bemused.

Nimh scratched his head before running his hand down his jawline, stroking at what was a light stubble on his cheek.

“You are still learning the basics,” Nimh said as if it were obvious. “If you can’t master the basics then you will be at a disadvantage when I start training others. Your own plans will be hampered and as time goes by, I won’t be able to offer you the aid I can now.”

That made an annoying amount of sense, but Keira was in the mood to argue. Nimh forestalled her before she could comment.

“You’ve been acting off since I mentioned my child.” He said the words as a statement, devoid of opening to object. “So tell me, what is it about my life before coming here that has you rattled?”

Keira stared at him, anger and something close to grief washing through her. “Did you abandon your family?” she whispered the words, her throat too choked with emotion to shout.

Nimh’s eyes softened before he looked away. “Keira, you do not understand my people. The ones who lead and nurture our culture, are our women folk. They bear our children, safeguard our histories, and govern our laws. The men folk, die.”

“It is the role of us men, to exist for a short time amongst our own. We are raised, sometimes by both parents if we are lucky, often just by our mothers in the ordinary case, and sometimes our grandmothers if we are truly unfortunate. We are trained from a young age to be warriors. We train in the arts, our teachers are often just a few years older than us, or our fathers, older brothers, or uncles.”

“In the course of our lives, we are expected to do certain things. The most important is to continue our line so that when we eventually die and become spirit invaders, our line lives on. And preparing the younger generation for what their duties enlist.”

“When I was fourteen, I saw the man I respected more than anything, sacrificed by the hands of his own mother, a sacrifice for the betterment of our people. Twenty years later, when I had just won the woman, I loved more than life itself, it was my turn. And she was bearing my child, something I dreaded and anticipated since the day I met her”

Keira stared, a lump in her throat. Just how messed up were Nimh’s people? Nimh met her stare with a look of utter conviction.

“I accepted my duty, Keira. That is all. But to answer your question, yes, I had to leave my family. But I had to leave them, so I had an opportunity to make their lives better. Staying would have cost my wife and any children I would have with her, a dishonour that nothing could wipe clear. And I promise you, I will be seeing them again.”

“This conquest is that important to you?” Keira said softly. “But how does conquering this world allow you to see them again?’

Nimh smiled, a smile Keira was starting to become all too familiar with. He was hiding behind it.

“I have a way, but first, I need to be strong enough to make my plans a reality. That is why I train. It’s why I am training you. And in a few days, I will be training more people to make my plan a reality. You see, my family is on the line, and I have no intention of letting them down.”

Keira felt woozy, everything she had learned made it hard for her to breathe. Placing a hand on her head, she stumbled back. “I think I need a break after all,” Keira muttered, making her escape from the room.

Nimh watched her go sadly.

He had hoped she would be able to push herself further today, but he was coming to realise that the people of this world were different to his own people. There was a sharpness to them which was frustratingly dangerous. But it was also brittle, balancing on the edge of a weapon waiting to cut, and shattered brass in the hand.

If he had to compare, theywere a sword of glass, honed to a perfect edge, while his people were a willow switch, flexible while sharp on contact. it was a stark contrast, one which Nimh was coming to find problematic

But there was nothing he could do to fix that. Only they could refine and reforge themselves, freeing themselves of their own vulnerabilities while exploiting their strengths.

Accepting his own limitations as an instructor, he sat down and started meditating. It was time to offer Marcus some practical training. Maybe beating up the spirit would give Nimh some inspiration on how to deal with Keira.

Sebastian was surrounded by thirty-four E ranks. Ten of which were his men. They were not loyal, but they followed instructions and were at least capable enough. The others were the remainders from the fighting pit. The last of the matches had just concluded, and in five days the champions would be enlisted.

Those men would find a new future filled with blood, pain, and likely death. These men in Infront of him, well their fates were uncertain. If Sebastian was right, they would be the starting point of Nimh’s power base.

Some might even rise to S Rank. That is if the Prime’s original rise to power was anything to judge by.

“Starting tomorrow,” Sebastian said to the gathered men. “You will be attending a programme. You will attend, absence will be punishable by death.” He indicated his ten E Ranks. “You ten will be under the command of Master Nimh, he commands, you obey. He will train you and you will be like his own dogs.”

He looked at the final twenty-four losers from the fighting pits. “You lot still have your debts to repay. Master Nimh will be overseeing you from now on. If you want to live to see your child grow, you will obey his every wish. Understood?”

The men bowed, some slower than others. Sebastian was annoyed to notice it was hi sown men that bowed the slowest. They would learn.

He passed out forms to each of them. “This will be your life until it is decided to change it. If you miss a single day, consider your debts tripled. If you try to run away, your family will suffer. You may be under the misunderstanding that my hold over the undercity has been shaken. You are incorrect. As it is, I am currently short-staffed which means I will need to be enforcing my own laws personally.” He paused, eyeing each man in turn.

“You can imagine my disappointment if I need to deal with any of you.”

A cold shiver ran through the gathered group. Sebastian felt sick at the threat, but he hid it behind a mask of cold indifference.

There would be a time to change, but for now, the undercity still required a stern hand. And Sebastian’s hands had always been stained with blood.