Morning came too soon. Light filtered in through their window, the vines that grew over the glass panes doing a good job keeping some of the harsh light out. The partially lit room allowed him to awaken at his own pace. He was somewhere beyond comfortable. He felt like he was floating on a cloud, one that hugged him and conformed to his body. He raised his arms up and stretched out, his joints releasing tension with the soft ‘Pop!’ sounds. Rolling to the left, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and rose at a relaxed pace.

His knees did their best impression of Rice Krispies. ‘Snap, crackle, and pop...Getting old,’ he thought with a small smile. Next to his bed was a small table that held his underclothes and armor. Over by the window, Basi was lounging on his bed. Based on his rhythmic breathing and the lack of emotions flowing through their bond Saul guessed he was asleep. Ishan also seemed to be asleep but Saul didn’t want to dress in front of the other man. He gathered his things up and moved to the door.

The nightclothes they’d given him were very modest. It was a long robe that covered his whole body with big open sleeves. The only things that weren’t covered were his hands and his feet. He cracked the door open and peered outside. There was nobody in the hallway until a face appeared. Filling the space. Through the narrow gap Saul couldn’t identify their gender, ‘Another guard?’ They spoke up, “Yes? Can I help you?” He tugged on the door to open it a bit further, “I need to use the bathroom and get dressed. Would you mind showing me a good place to do that?” As he stepped forth from the room, he saw that the guard was a woman.

She turned and led him down the hall. As he followed her his gaze roamed over her form, taking in the way her hips moved, the way her steps seemed silent. These elves were all so graceful. When he opened the door he saw there was no steam in the room this time which allowed him to see the interior more clearly. He saw several closets towards the back of the room, ‘I guess that’s where the toilet is.’

Once he had concluded everything - Magic water made anything that didn’t belong vanish again - he dressed. His clothes smelled of lavender and felt softer than he had imagined. The leather armor went on as easily as it had the first time, tightening to his form and allowing for free movement. The feeling of being truly clean for the first time since he’d arrived in the Dungeon had him walking on air.

He opened the door and moved to step into the hallway only to pause as Llewil filled the portal. “Good morning!” Saul greeted with a cheerful tone and an energetic wave. “I meant to ask last night, but who should I thank for all this hospitality? I haven’t felt this refreshed in weeks and I’m ready to take on some hard training now!” The elf’s eyes narrowed as he looked over Saul, but then his expression softened. ‘Is he starting to relax his guard a bit?’

“This is Ara and my home. It is our ancestral home, actually. Our parents were some of the more important figures on the council, and when they became one with nature again we inherited the place.” Saul’s eyebrows raised.

He leaned forward ever so slightly and couldn’t help but ask, “Does that make you a political figure here? You mentioned a council… Do your villages have kings? I’d love to hear more about your politics or history.”

The elf raised his hand to cut Saul off, “Perhaps we can discuss these things at some point when you’re resting after your training. For now, we’ll eat breakfast and head out. Come, Ishan and your companion are waiting for us downstairs.”

He led Saul into a room that was expansive, deep wood wrought into patterns that made it appear as if the whole place was just another extension of the tree. ‘Did they grow this place somehow? Even these trees don’t seem natural…’ In the middle of the room sat a large stone table. Numerous high backed chairs surrounded it and several places were set for breakfast. One of the chairs was pulled away and a platter placed on the floor for Basi. He received the same fare as the humans.

The meal was simple and delicious, with platters loaded with a number of different vegetables and fruits that he’d never seen before. It seemed to be a vegetarian meal. ‘Maybe that’s why the elves are so thin?’ Saul ate his fill and then some. He leaned back in his chair and stretched, patting his stomach to see if it had grown any from the meal. ‘It’s a good thing this armor stretches…’

After a few moments, Llewil rose. “Alright then. Time to move to the training grounds. Follow me.”

The four of them set out. Down the massive tree. As they crossed the first bridge, Saul took notice of just how far away the ground seemed. When the bridge swayed slightly with their steps he fought off an instinct to grab for the railing. ‘These things are just unreal.’ It took them nearly twenty minutes to complete their descent, and the second their feet hit the ground again Llewil took off at a faster pace to the north.

Their hike through the dense forest was both swift and seemed to take forever. ‘I’m pretty sure he’s leading us in circles,’ Saul thought at one point as they passed a tall red-barked tree with purple spotted mushrooms growing at the base for what must have been the tenth time. He was just considering saying something to Ishan when a noise came from up ahead, “We’re here.”

Up ahead of them was a small clearing. In the center of the clearing, a stone pillar arose from the ground as if in defiance of all the wood surrounding it. There was a cabin near the treeline that seemed suitable for perhaps four people. Next to that cabin was a well and about four meters in front of the door was a fire pit. He could see several logs stacked up against the cabin. “This is where you’ll stay. There is enough food for a week stocked here. Every morning, I’ll bring masters out who can help advise you in your skills… Ah, that reminds me.”

Llewil walked out into the clearing without another word. He moved to the other side of the clearing and turned to face them, scimitars drawn. Determination flickered across his face as the wind carried his voice across the way. “Show me what you’ve got. You get four free attacks before I move.”

Saul looked to Ishan, then across the way at Llewil. “I suppose you’d better go first. He’s supposed to be a lot stronger than us, so don’t feel like you need to hold back.” The wizard nodded. He swaggered to the edge of the clearing and lifted his staff. Soft chants made their way back to Saul, carried on the breeze, their volume rising slowly as if building to a crescendo. Ishan’s voice thundered out at the end and he tapped his staff on the ground. A beam of light erupted from the head of his staff and coalesced into a thick bar of flame reaching out for Llewil with the kind of thirst a man in the desert reaches for a glass of water.

Heat blossomed in the air around Saul, uncomfortable, but he kept an eye on Llewil. The elf’s posture seemed to indicate shock, but from this far away it was hard for Saul to say. He saw him lift up both scimitars in a cross guard and try to block the spell. For a few moments he seemed to be doing a good job absorbing the thick bar of fire, but before long Saul noticed that Llewil seemed to be sliding backwards. Looking at Ishan, he saw that the wizard was quivering and had placed his second hand on his staff as if to steady himself.

Eventually the elf leaned back and changed the angle of his blades which deflected the beam into the sky before he pulled them down totally. The fire, unimpeded, bored a hole straight through the tree behind Llewil as if it was the easiest thing in the world. As suddenly as the spell began, it ended, the bar seeming to unwind starting first at Ishan’s staff and then travelling down the line. The wizard dropped to his knees at that point and gasped for air like a man who’d just been saved from drowning. Saul rushed forward to comfort him when a voice called across the clearing, a little shaken but still confident. “Three attacks.”

Saul summoned his bow and stood next to his friend, “Are you ok?” At Ishan’s nod, Saul reached behind his head and withdrew an arrow. He nocked the arrow and drew in a deep breath, centering himself. He began to extract energy from his dantians, first the lower and then the upper, as the mysterious Qi bent to his will. He began to circulate it through his body once more. The energy did laps through his system as it built higher and higher, until his cores were practically empty. It was at that point that he forced the energy into his arms, and from there, he sent a large portion of the energy into the weapon itself. The bow and arrow seemed to resonate with his energy, a soft buzzing sound filling the air near them as they drank all he had to offer.

‘The bow and string are made sturdier to withstand more force, the arrow is made… I don’t know what it does to the arrow, but it seems to become explosive. I should really sit down and figure all this out sometime.’ With the remaining energy in his muscles boosting their potential, he prepared to shoot.

Inhale.

His body filled with air, providing a study platform from which to shoot. His muscles tensed. Filled with life, with strength.

Aim.

See the target with perfect clarity. His eyes locked onto Llewil and sought out any potential movement. He targeted a spot that would be easy for Llewil to move his guard to - After all, he didn’t want to kill the elf.

Fire.

Release the string. The arrow exploded forth.

Exhale.

Relax. Reach behind his head for another arrow. His fingers had the next one nocked even as he tracked the arrow’s flight across the clearing.

The arrow slammed into Llewil’s guard and his grit teeth indicated he wasn’t able to just brush it off. Despite that, the elf knocked the arrow aside without too much trouble. Saul’s next Qi-laced shot was aimed high, immediately followed by a lower shot. Llewil parted his weapons, one intercepting the arrow soaring towards his head and deflecting it while the other scimitar cleaved the arrow in half.

‘That was four…’ Saul willed the bow back into his inventory and withdrew his spear. He sank into his stance, going onto the balls of his feet as the elf exploded towards him. He seemed to vanish from sight as he moved across the clearing. “Ishan, Basi, some help please!” In the corner of his eye, Saul could see the wizard was still resting on the ground. He felt Basi moving forward to help. That would have to be enough.

‘He moves too fast for me to see.’ Saul projected his Qi outward in a cloud. The particles were dispersed by something unexpected to his side. Saul pivoted in that direction and pressed forward, his spear flowing towards the disturbance. Stabbing. He felt cool steel on his neck before he opened his eyes. His spear was three quarters of the way to Llewil’s stomach, but more importantly he saw that the elf’s own scimitars were placed against him in two spots. One rest against his neck, which he felt. The other was just about level with his hip. Basi hadn’t even been able to make it to him before the fight would have been over.

A small smile played across the elf’s lips as he said, “You’re better than I gave you credit for. You might have had a chance if I had underestimated you.” He spun one of his scimitars into a sheath by his hip and extended his hand to Saul. They shook. “And you!” He said as he suddenly moved past Saul. “That attack was incredibly potent. Impressive.” He held out his hand to Ishan, who gratefully took it. Llewil yanked him to his feet and then gestured out to the clearing.

“So this will be home for the next few days. I’ll show you how everything works. Follow me.”

He turned and swaggered over to the monolith in the center. Saul saw a number of strange markings carved into the stone, as if some ancient or foreign language that he wasn’t capable of understanding. The monolith itself stood tall, easily twice Saul’s height, and at its center there was a place that Llewil placed his hand on. A strange hum began to fill the air, starting as a quiet buzz and roaring to a crescendo. Something in the forest seemed to answer that call, a strange and terrible cry echoing out.

“Placing your hand here will activate the monolith. When activated it sends out a signal that drives nearby monsters crazy. They can tell where it comes from so they come here, all rage and fury, for our soldiers to fight and kill.” His expression changed, his eyebrows drawing together and jaw set, and suddenly the sound stopped. He removed his hand at that point. “By focusing your will you can turn off the monolith. You have to command it to stop. You basically just think ‘Stop!’ really loudly in your head. Then you take your hand away.”

He moved over to the cabin and opened the door. “Here are all the basic amenities you’ll need. Food, a bathroom, there are even a few training manuals for you to peruse. Ah, speaking of training.” He looked at Ishan, “I assume all your spells are similar? I know just the wizard for you. And you.” He entered the cabin and showed them around.

He turned to look at Saul, “Archery and the spear? A good combination for a lone warrior. I have a good master in mind for you. It seems like you can harness some of the energy from the world, too. A few elves have this ability.” He brought a hand to his perfectly sculpted chin and stroked it. “I’ll see if I can find someone for you. For now, rest up. When you’re ready you should go to the monolith to begin your training.

Saul collapsed into one of the chairs. ‘Comfortable. Might as well wait for Ishan to get ready again.’

Llewil swaggered to the door. Stepping through the portal, he suddenly turned back to look at them, “Don’t worry about the monsters. You should be able to handle them. Well, most of them.” His eyes glinted and his lips curled up slightly as he departed.