Dolznik took Ren upstairs and through the house to the back. Behind the house was a small courtyard surrounded by a tall stone wall. In the middle of the courtyard were some smelting crucibles of varying sizes and a few worktables, though only one of them had anything on it. It was this worktable that Dolznik led Ren too. On the worktable were some ores, and some wooden bowls filled with different powers.

“We’re going to start your training back at the beginning with smelting. Yurbek assures me that you have the basics down so I’m going to teach you something a bit more advanced. It’s called Alloying. It’s the process of mixing two or more metals or minerals together to make either a new material or an enhanced version of an existing one. What makes alloying so difficult is that you can’t just dump things with the properties you want together. It takes a good amount of knowledge and skill to pull off successfully. You have to not only know what the effect of the material you’re adding will have on the finished product but how it will interact with everything else you add. For example; if you take Ardum,” Dolznik held up a bowl of dark orange powder, “and mix it with copper it’ll harden the copper, making it more durable. If you add it to Bronze, which is an alloy between copper and tin, it’ll just change its color to blue. If you add it to pewter, which is a soft alloy made of tin and lead, it will cause it to turn into a very fragile metallic glass-like material. You following so far?”

Ren nodded his head. He had become instantly intrigued when Dolznik mentioned being able to make a new material or at least enhance an existing one. He was already imagining all of the possibilities.

“Before we go any further I want to explain what you’re training schedule is going to be like.” Dolznik said, “Every morning you’ll get up before the sun rises and heat up the forge and a crucible. Next you’re going to make an alloy based on the recipe I give you. By the end of the month I’ll only be telling you what properties I want in the alloy and you’ll have to work out what to add. Once the material is made, no matter what quality it is, you’ll have to use it to make what I tell you. After that is combat training. Yurbek tells me that you have a good affinity for lightning and can use lightning magic so I’ll be showing you tricks that will increase your effective combat power. We’re going to be refining your skill with the sword and I’m going to teach you how to wield a war hammer effectively. Any questions so far?” Dolznik paused for a moment but continued when Ren stayed silent. “Okay then, then first thing you want to remember about alloying is to control the crucibles temperature…”

Dolznik lectured Ren for hours on Alloying and it was late afternoon by the time they stopped. While most of it had been interesting there were also many parts where Ren had to struggle to stay awake. Besides learning a new skill, Ren also got a few point added to both his intelligence and wisdom from learning something new and asking the right questions.

“All right, that’s enough lecturing for today. Now it’s time for your combat training. We’re not going to be using weapons just yet. I’m going to first teach you something called and Aura Skill.” Dolznik said, moving away from the worktable and into the middle of the courtyard. “An Aura Skill is a skill that projects energy from the user in the form of an energy field. There are many different types of auras but the kind I’m going to be teaching you are the Elemental Auras. There are many ways to use Elemental Auras but the most common is coating a part or entirety of the body for either offensive of defensive purposes, though with a high enough level of mastery there isn’t really any difference. Are you understanding this so far?”

Ren nodded.

“Good, on we go then.” Dolznik said, “The skill I’m going to be teaching you is primarily defensive. It’s called [Elemental Cloak]. The skill is split into five levels of mastery. The first is the Beginner or Energy stage. While at this stage you’ll only be able to project the element’s energy but not the element itself. If we used fire as an example you’d be able to project things like heat or dim light. The second stage is the Intermediate of Element stage. During this stage you gain the ability to manifest the element as a protective cloak around your body. This cloak can only protect you from attacks that use the same element you’re projecting and does nothing against physical attacks. What it can do is be used to damage enemies around you or convince them to not get to close. Stage three is the Advanced or Armor stage. This is when it starts getting powerful. At this stage you can condense the element you’re projecting into solid armor, that you pick the appearance of, that’s made completely out of that element. Not only does it provide good defense it also looks badass and can end most fights before they begin. Watch this.” Dolznik motioned Ren back and said “Armor up”

Immediately dense flames surged out of Dolznik’s body, covering him completely and radiating a lot of heat. The flames started shrinking and a red-orange film seemed to start forming across his skin. As the flames got smaller the film became thicker and started changing shape. In no more than ten seconds Dolznik was standing in front of Ren in red-orange armor that emitted a large amount of heat and looked exactly like the armor worn by the city guards. Ren now understood why it could end fights before they started. No one in their right mind would attack someone with armor made out of an element. Dolznik dismissed the skill and the armor disappeared.

“Pretty cool huh?” He said, “I’ve only reach the Armor rank and can’t advance. Each stage requires a more advanced understanding of that element. Anyway after the Armor stage is the Expert or Area-of-Effect stage. Up until this stage your aura only affects you but when you reach this stage you can have it affect others within a certain distance, though the effect would be limited so you wouldn’t be able to give anyone elemental armor. The last and most powerful stage is the Master or Domain stage. When you reach this stage you can create an area that’s almost like a mini elemental plane that you have complete control of. Few people have ever reached this stage but those that have are said to have power close to that of the Saints, if only for a short period of time. If you can train this skill up to the Element stage I’ll teach you another aura skill, an offensive one.” Dolznik said, smiling.

Ren was absolutely amazed by the skill Dolznik would be teaching him. It would have still been awesome if it just went up to the armor but the two stages past that just blew his mind, especially the last one. This surprise trip and turned into something absolutely fantastic and Ren couldn’t wait to start learning the aura skills.

“First I want you to start meditating but don’t try to find peace. I want you to that connection you have with lighting. Start now and I’ll guide you as you progress.”

Ren sat down and began meditating. He immediately found himself in that sea of peace he always went to and began to lose himself in it but, right before he slipped down into it, he remembered that he wasn’t meditating for this and pulled himself out of the trace. He left that area and returned to the normal world. Ren began to search his body for whatever gave him his connection to lighting but he had no idea what he was looking for. He search for what felt like ages. Not finding anything but not wanting to give up.

Unknown to Ren, something very peculiar was happening back in the normal world. He had been meditating for a few hours now with Dolznik and Yurbek keeping watch over him. After the first hour had passed dark clouds began to gather in the sky above the city, blocking out the setting sun and causing the residents to look up in wonder and confusion. It wasn’t uncommon to get storms but the never formed at the speed this one did. Soon after the clouds appeared lightning started flashing in the dark sky and rain began to fall. Dolznik and Yurbek erected a large tent above were Ren was to keep out the wind and the rain and continued to watch Ren while wondering about the sudden storm.

As time went on the rain fell faster, the wind blew hard enough to create a dull roar, and the lighting in the sky became denser and denser, it’s thunder almost causing the ground to shake. By know everyone knew that this storm was one of unnatural origin but no one hand any idea about who could have caused it. Ren was oblivious to all of this as he searched for that connection. Several hours after he started Ren felt something located at the top of his spine. He directed his will to that spot and was suddenly overcome with a sense of power.

The energy surged through his body, filling it to the brim with power and causing Ren no small amount of discomfort. Just as Ren felt like he was going to burst the energy rushed back towards the top of his spine. Ren felt like that was enough for now decided to end that session. Just as he was about to leave He notice something else weird, though this time it was located just below his navel. Ren debated with himself about leaving or investigating and eventually his curiosity won out and he directed his will towards the second location. Upon reaching it Ren felt something akin to static.

This must be that connection Master Dolznik was talking about. But if this is that then what was that other thing? Ren thought.

He reach out with his mind towards the origin of the static feeling and received a small shock then nothing happened. Ren waited for a bit but left since nothing more happened.

Outside the storm had reached its peak and was starting to scare people. The rain sounded like rocks hitting the ground and the wind seemed to want to blow the city away. The sky was covered in a blanket of lightning and the thunder just didn’t end. Just when the storm picked up even more it stopped. The clouds slowly dissipated and the stars shined their light onto the city. Moments later Ren opened his eyes.