The three walked and talked along the way to the training room where the other three were. Before they entered the training room, they could hear the rhythmic strikes of wooden weapons. Upon opening the door to the training room, Gaius could see his brother, two other cousins, and the adults sitting and watching the children spar.

“Ah, Gaius. You’ve returned, I hope you found what you were looking for?” Viktor said with a smile.

Gaius smiled and nodded as he sat next to his mother and father watching his brother spar. Nyah and Bray sat next to their father and mother.

“Ha!”

THWACK

“Huh!”

THWACK

Tali and Gen grunted as they struck and blocked each other, flares of bright light spontaneously erupting every so often.

“You’ve done well in his training, sister,” Viktor said as he watched the two spar.

“So have you, considering your handicap,” Tulia returned smugly.

“HA. I assure you she is more adequate at suppressing the Dark than your boy is,” Viktor bragged.

“Perhaps. Should we find out?” Tulia teased.

Viktor immediately got up and told the two to stop, “You both are quite even in martial prowess. Ordos would you be so kind to help them replenish?”

Ordos got up from his position in the corner and pulled out a milky white moonstone and began to extract the aura within it, but before he could Tulia said, “No need to waste a moonstone.”

Tulia condensed a dense cluster of her Aspect and propelled it towards Tali and Gen. Their bodies greedily soaked the aura up like a dry sponge in water. Their countenance improved greatly as their breaths evened out and they stood taller.

“Ah, old habits die hard,” Viktor smiled. “Okay, this next test is a measure of how well you can endure your counter, the Aspect of Darkness. Ready?”

Viktor first summoned a shadowy tendril from the lurking shadows within the room and it twisted into human form that stood before the two children. As the two stared at the shadowy human figures, their breathing became more rapid and their heartrate sped up.

“Mom, what is uncle doing?” Gaius whispered.

“The Aspect of Light and the Aspect of Darkness are counters of each other. They are each other’s weaknesses. If light is akin to truth, then darkness is akin to deceit. Where my Aspect burns away falsehoods, the Darkness embraces it. The two are currently stuck within an illusion to test their abilities in resisting the Dark,” Tulia said.

Viktor walked back to his seat as his two shadowy figures locked the two children in some sort of illusion. “Did I mishear, or did you finally accept me as your uncle?” Viktor teased.

Gaius looked at the tan bald man and nodded confidently, “I took a Blood Oath to serve the Alirian Lineage.”

“What?!” Tulia and Duncan both yelled.

“Ah . . .” Viktor said somewhat awkwardly.

In the corner of the room, Ordos couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

Gaius was shocked by the reaction and was taken aback as his mother and father stared at him incredulous.

“You did what?!” Tulia demanded.

“I took a Blood Oath,” Gaius said with wavering confidence.

“Do you . . . Why would . . . When?” Tulia stammered.

Gaius became evermore fearful as he had never seen his mother lose his composure. “Just now at the Antimage’s Guildhall.

Tulia turned to stare daggers at Ordos, “You knew about this?” she accused him. “And you?” she asked her brother.

“The practices of the Antimages are kept secret even from me, however I did know about the Blood Oath,” Viktor said.

Ordos kept silent as Tulia’s gaze pierced him.

“What is the big deal?” Gaius asked quietly.

“The big deal?! Your life! That’s the big deal!” Tulia responded. “Well, at least the Blood Oath was to serve your family, so at least that’s okay. But listen, son! You must not make Blood Oaths lightly, do you understand? You must discuss such a thing with us beforehand. Got it?”

Gaius remained silent as he was unsure of how to tell her about the 2nd Blood Oath, and Tulia noticed.

“What is it . . .” she asked with dread.

“I made a 2nd Blood Oath,” Gaius said after he found the courage.

“What was the oath?” Tulia asked through gritted teeth as she tried to quell her anger at Ordos.

“Loyalty to the Guild.”

. . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

“Why would you make such an oath to a guild you’ve never heard or seen of before?” Tulia said with quivering rage. “Why were you so reckless? I did not know that you were so trusting! I thought I raised a son with more sense than that! What if the guild ordered you to kill women and children, what would you do then? Why didn’t you think!?”

Gaius was tearful as he was being berated by his mother, and after a bit of silence Tulia pressed, “Why?!”

“I trust the Guild Master,” Gaius said flatly.

Ordos’s ears perked up as he heard the boy’s response.

“You trust him? You barely know him,” Tulia said as her rage was rising again.

“He bound himself to the same Oathstone and told me about the guild—they protect the kingdom. I did not detect any falsehoods, and he also gave me the chance to interrogate him,” Gaius blurted out.

“He did what?!” Duncan and Ordos erupted out of surprise.

Those who do not belong to a guild do not know the full weight of what it means to have a Guild Master under an Oathstone. Guild Masters are the leaders of any guild and as such they have intimate knowledge about every secret the guild holds, from techniques to shady dealings. For one to voluntarily put himself under an Oathstone to recruit a Novitiate is unheard of. Either the recruit is extremely promising or the Guild Master is a fool—which is why the old man asked him to not speak of it to anyone.

Ordos silently shook his head, “the Guild Master is too reckless,” he sighed.

“Tulia, if the Guild Master bound himself to an Oathstone to establish trust with Gaius, then it shows a great deal about his character. I think Gaius did the right thing,” Duncan reassured his wife.

She turned and stared daggers at him too before she said, “The right thing would have been to come tell us about it. It wouldn’t have mattered if you took the oath tomorrow or next week. You should have brought the issue back to us so we could discuss it. Son, you do not know how dangerous Oathstones can be. You were lucky this time that they were oaths to your family and guild, but do not be so reckless in the future, okay?” Tulia started with a furious voice but it became softer and softer as she looked up on her tearful son.

She pulled Gaius close and embraced him and she said, “Oh, it is also taboo to talk about Oaths, so do not let anyone else know okay? Everyone in this room is trustworthy but others may not be so,” Gaius nodded, and it was at this moment that Tali woke from her illusion.

“Wonderful Tali!” Viktor said as he smiled at his daughter. Tulia did not seem to care that Gen lost.

“Well, I suppose Gen will need more training to defeat illusions,” Tulia sighed, “release him.”

“He’s almost done though, he’s still fighting. In a few minutes he should be out of it, do you still want me to release him?” Viktor asked.

“I suppose not, this can serve as an introduction,” she replied.

Tali placed her hands on her knees as she bent over gasping for air. “Ugh, I hate that feeling. Stupid, gross, ugly Darkness,” she said through panted breaths. She stared with disgust as the shadowy figure in front of her melted and merged with the other shadows in the room.

Soon Gen opened his eyes and gasped for breath as he finally broke through. “What in the Father’s cock was that?” Gen cursed as he broke free.

Viktor and Gem chuckled softly as Tulia and Duncan’s face turned red from embarrassment.

“An illusion, you did well to get out of it at all. Though you two need more practice. Being stuck in an illusion for that long in a real fight without protection is fatal,” Viktor said seriously. “What about you two? Care for a bit of sparring?” Viktor asked as his eyes gleamed.

“It’ll be nice to stretch my legs a bit,” Nyah said as she stood up.

“Gaius?” Viktor asked as Nyah stood alone at the center of the training room.

“Me?” Gaius asked surprised.

“Of course. You two are both 10 years-old, it’ll be a good match,” Viktor said with a smile.

Gaius was a bit concerned about sparring with his cousin so he looked towards Master Ordos for a bit of guidance, but what he saw was an emotionless stare.

“Okay,” Gaius said as he approached the center. “Do we spar unarmed?”

“You may use a weapon, but I do not need one,” Nyah said.

“Oh? Then I shall not use one either,” Gaius said.

“Do not misunderstand, it is not that I do not think I need one but rather that my fighting style does not require a physical weapon,” Nyah clarified.

“I see, it’ll be alright. I won’t need one either. I’d like to work one a few new techniques if you don’t mind,” Gaius said.

“Just don’t get yourself hurt.”

Gaius stood still as a statue as he waited for Nyah to begin her assault. She instantly summoned a shadowy tendril from a corner of the room. It struck quickly as it tapered into a sharp point. Gaius moved his leg slightly to the left as the shadow spear pierced through empty space, a bit of blood drawn from his calf.

“How fascinating, it can manifest into physical form?” Gaius thought to himself.

The shadow spear snaked around and launched into another attack, for the first time Gaius concentrated on Siphoning the aura. He watched closely as the aura of the spear disintegrated and was drawn within his body, he also noticed that small strands of aura were being drawn directly from Nyah. He was amazed as this was the first time he’s ever consciously seen it happen, then a burst of energy erupted from every fiber of his being giving him newfound strength.

Nyah on the other hand, experienced her first Siphoning and it was the most unpleasant feeling she’s ever endured. She fell to her knees as she gasped for breath and then vomited. Seeing the sorry state of his cousin, Gaius felt extreme guilt and alarm as he rushed over to help her up.

“Ah, I’m so sorry,” Gaius said as he placed his hand upon her back. When his hand rested on her back he could feel her aura, weak and flickering. Shocked, Gaius called out to Viktor, “Uncle, condense me your aura!”

Without skipping a beat a dense cluster of Darkness laid within Gaius’s hands as he slowly fed the aura to Nyah, slowly replenishing it. Her breathing came in even breaths as she slowly regained her strength. “What, ha huh, was that?” she said through panted breaths.

“Sorry, it was one of my new abilities I wanted to learn how to control it. I didn’t think it would be like this. Forgive me, I was reckless,” Gaius said as tears started to slide down his cheeks.

Upon seeing his crying face Nyah couldn’t help but smile and said, “It’s fine, just don’t do it again.”

Gaius nodded.

“An unpolished jade,” Ordos thought to himself as he saw the amount of aura being siphoned, “maybe the Guild Master knows something.”

“What happened?” Bray asked. “I saw the tendrils that Nyah conjured but then they just crumbled and flew into Gaius. What technique is that?”

“Um,” was all Gaius said, as he was unsure how to answer his cousin.

“Well, I think that’s a good place to take a break,” Gem said as she reigned in her fury and glared daggers at her husband as she walked her daughter to her bed.

Though Gem’s fury was mainly directed at her husband for paring the two up, she still couldn’t help but feel a bit resentful towards Gaius as well. Unlike his wife however, Viktor often spars with Ordos as a way to train himself against Antimages, so he knows better than most how his daughter is feel. She may be a bit nauseated but her life is in no danger, or so he believed when he paired the two up.

“He has little control over his Antimagic abilities, and though that is not a problem by itself. It seems that his abilities are a magnitude stronger than normal, leading to Nyah’s current condition,” Ordos answered Viktor’s unspoken question.

“How bad was it?” Viktor asked though he was afraid of the answer.

“He could have killed her,” Ordos said flatly.

It was as if he was doused with cold water, “how?” was all he was able to say.

“It was a combination of his lack of control, his abnormal strength, and Nyah’s lack of training. His siphon ability ripped her aura from her control, causing a slight shockwave to ripple throughout her soul. Any fluctuations to the soul, no matter how slight, could cause irreparable damage. Luckily there was no permanent damage from what I can tell. Her soul seems stable, albeit weak.”

Nyah was quickly taken to her room with the help of her mother. After Ordos explained the close-call to Viktor, he immediately ordered the court physician to attend to his daughter.

Meanwhile, Gaius and Gen were ushered to their rooms by their parents.

“What did you do to her?” Gen asked a little scared at his brother’s newfound strength.

“Master Ordos, the other Antimage, showed me a few things and I wanted to try them out,” Gaius said dejectedly.

“Well, whatever it was, just don’t do it to me,” Gen said as he shivered.

Gen didn’t realize that to test his antimagic abilities before, Duncan had Gaius siphon him when they were in Golden Bark Village. He just immediately passed out and didn’t realize he was in an equally sorry state as his cousin. Though at that time the siphon ability was nowhere near as concentrated as now, since he did not really understand what he was doing.

Duncan also felt his skin tingle as he recalled the nauseating feeling of being siphoned. “I’m sure after a bit of rest, Nyah will be fine. You two had a long day already. Rest up until lunch,” he continued.

After a few hours of rest, the family gathered together again for lunch—Nyah included, though her complexion seemed a bit pale. Viktor spared no expense and had personally given her a plethora of high-grade medicinal pills to strengthen her soul, it was only a matter of time before she made a full recovery. With that being said, she was still currently weak and only nit-picked her food as the rest of the family ate voraciously.

Gaius looked a bit despondent as he realized that Nyah was still recovering from his recklessness. He quickly stood from his chair which drew the attention of the rest of his family, they quieted down as Gaius stared straight into Nyah’s eyes and quickly bowed. With his head down he said, “I’m sorry for earlier, I was not thinking of my actions and have caused you harm. I’m sorry,” Gaius remained bowed.

Viktor’s eyes gleamed and Gem’s heart couldn’t help but soften at the innocence displayed. Nyah was flabbergasted and was unsure of how to respond and quickly came to her senses after Gem’s gentle nudge. “Ah, oh it is alright. Accidents happen during spars, I could only blame myself for being too weak,” Nyah humbly responded.

Gaius straightened his body and sharply nodded his head before he sat down again, his eyes ablaze with resoluteness as if telling Nyah that he would make it up to her.

Seeing her cousin’s care for her health, Nyah’s spirit calmed and she let out a gentle smile. With her spirits lifted she began eating with a healthy appetite. After everyone’s plate was emptied Nyah stood and said, “I feel a lot better now, how about we begin the present hunt?” with her eyes staring at Tali, a spark of challenged sparked between the two.

“All right! I’m not going to take it easy on you even if you’re injured! Dante, Gen, let’s begin!” Tali shouted as she bolted for the door.

Gaius and Gen was surprised at the volume their little cousin could produce, but the others seemed accustomed to it. Nyah glanced quickly at Bray and Gaius before she nodded with a smile.

After a day of hunting for presents, Gaius slept restlessly as he would begin his real antimagic training tomorrow.