Walking turned out to be far less fun than expected. Initially the trio was fascinated by everything, as if they had stepped across an invisible barrier at the village limits and earned themselves a taste of freedom. As time passed by, the sense of wonder faded away. The grass was just as green as in the village, the surroundings just as empty, and the roads mostly nonexistent. The entire village began to look like a bubble of civilization in the wilderness.

Another interesting thing, as Dallion found out, was that the group wasn’t exactly from the Order of the Seven Moons. The main group was composed of soldiers and volunteers from the Archduke’s lands that were doing their job eliminating “nuisances” in his domain. The cleric was of the order, obviously, and in part the Dame. According to Havoc, she was first and foremost a noble, but had spent enough time in one of their cathedrals to be made an Initiate; that gave her certain privileges within the organization, including a personalized pendant.

Dallion had no idea what exactly “personalized” meant, though he suspected it was more than having a different casing.

In the evening, the group paused for a rest. On Earth the process would have involved putting up tents, building a large campfire, as well as setting up guard patrols to protect the area while the rest slept. Here, the Dame let everyone know they had half an hour to eat and rest before continuing. What was more, Dallion, Gloria, and Veil were told they would have to undergo basic training in that time as well.

“You three,” a bulky soldier grumbled. “Gather round.”

Initially, the request seemed weird. It didn’t take long for Dallion to see that the rest of the volunteers had also gathered in small groups, each with a soldier. If each group was composed of people from the same village, there had to be four in total—less than Dallion would have expected for the domain of an Archduke.

“Take hold,” the man offered his hand.

“Sorry, but what’s your name?” Dallion asked.

The soldier blinked, paused, then narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Since you’ll be our trainer, I thought we should know how to address you.”

Several waves of emotions passed through the soldier’s face. The only ones that Dallion was able to catch with his perception were surprise, wonder, and a split second of gratitude.

“Kalis,” the man replied. Clearly no one had called him a trainer before. “I’ll just be showing you the basics, don’t get your hopes up,” he quickly added in a harsher voice. “Let’s go.”

Personal Awakening!

Once more Dallion found himself in an unknown space. This time, it was similar to a training room. Weapons and target dummies were scattered about almost in chaotic fashion. Kalis was also present, as were Gloria and Veil.

“It’ll take us a few days to catch the chainling,” Kalis began. “That gives you about ten training sessions at most, so don’t waste them! Have any of you used a dartbow before?”

“Naturally.” Veil said in a smug fashion, looking sideways to Dallion.

I really hate you, you know. Dallion gritted his teeth.

“I haven’t.” Dallion raised his hand. “Other than when I got it…” That had been a bit of an embarrassment.

“It’s simple. Aim and squeeze the trigger. Your attack skills will handle the rest. Just keep one thing in mind. Out there you won’t get to see any markers. You’ll have to rely on what you’ve learned.” The soldier waved a finger at Veil’s face, almost drilling a hole in the boy’s nose. “No shortcuts! Got it?”

In response, the blond drew his weapon in one move and shot a bolt right in the head of a nearby training dummy.

“Like that?”

One had to admit, though, that Veil was quite good at that. Maybe he didn’t have the perception of his sister, of the reflexes of Dallion, but he had spent a large part of his bored life fighting, in and out of awakened state.

“Passable,” Kalis turned to Gloria. “Can you match that?”

Calmly, the girl aimed and fired two shots. Both bolts hit the same target, burying themselves an inch of either side. Having good perception had its advantages.

“Not bad. Where have you learned to use a dartbow like that?”

“Family heirloom,” Gloria replied.

“Fair enough. How about you?” Kalis asked Dallion. “Just try to hit the target, okay?”

Deep breaths, Dallion told himself. There was no way he was letting himself be outdone. Gripping the weapon as tightly as he could, he aimed just above Veil’s bolt, and slowly squeezed. The projectile darted out almost instantly, hitting its target dead on.

“Darude,” Dallion whispered with a smile.

“Okay.” The soldier nodded a few times. “You’re not a lost cause after all. At least I won’t have to explain the boring stuff.”

“Training is over?” Veil frowned. “I was expecting something a bit more challenging. Can’t we get a moving target at least? Or fight against each other?”

“Who told you training is over?” The hard edge in the Kalis’ voice made all three of them freeze in place. “I just said we’ll skip the boring stuff. The real training starts now.”

All weapons and target dummies vanished in the blink of an eye. A large cage emerged in the far end of the room. Only darkness was visible inside, as if the cage contained the night sky.

COMBAT INITIATED!

“In one minute, the cage will open.” Kalis said with a wicked smile. “It’s up to you three to survive for five minutes. Those that don’t won’t get any food. Use any skills you have.”

“That’s it?” Droplets of sweat had appeared on Gloria’s forehead. “Don’t we get any advice?”

“Work together, don’t get cornered, and try not to die too fast.”

“What if we kill it?” Dallion asked.

Without a doubt the challenge wasn’t going to be easy, but having a specific goal in mind tended to help Dallion focus better. And who knows? There was always the chance the three of them could actually pull it off? Back in the awakening shrine neither he nor Gloria could defeat the sand dragon, but together they managed in one try.

“Kill it?” The soldier laughed. “Kill it and I’ll give each of you a silver coin.”

It wasn’t the level increase Dallion had been hoping for, but a silver coin was nothing to sneeze at.

“You’re on.” Dallion cracked his neck. He had one huge advantage the soldier hadn’t taken into account—he had a buckler and the skills to use it.