Ryder woke up, his alarm beeping quietly to his side. He groaned, smacking the machine into silence. He settled back into the bed, glancing over by his side, where an angel lay soundly sleeping, hugging his arm, not letting him get up. She was the love of his life, and they were finally living together. The house was not theirs, and took up a big portion of their paycheck, but it was home.

The bedroom was barely large enough to hold their queen sized bed. The walls were old, and the paint had faded long before they moved in. Even the ceiling fan that hung from the faded white ceiling looked ancient. The house had been built in the 1950’s though, so they expected such things when they moved in. She said it showed the house had character.

He suddenly had a thought. A hand slipped underneath the covers.

“Ryder, you’re going to make us late for work”

He slid his hand farther underneath the blanket.

Some things are worth being late to work for”

She rolled over to face him, giving him her best rendition of a pout. He chuckled at her display, not fooled at all, mostly because he felt hands moving towards him.

To tickle him.

“Hehe, stop that, you know I’m super ticklish!”

The two squirmed around in bed, both competing for the top position and dominance. Ryder counterattacked her waist, knowing all her ticklish spots.

“Hehe! Revenge tickling!”

“No, not the hips. That’s my weakness, hahaha”

The blankets caught at their ankles, and somehow she ended up on top of him, straddling his waist.

The two stopped to stare into each other’s eyes, breathless. The temperature in the room mysteriously raised a few degrees. He leaned up and gave her a lover’s kiss.

She accepted, and smiled as his head settled back into the pillow.

“No fair, I want a pillow too.”

“I’ll always be your pillow.”

she laid her head on his chest with a contented sigh. He wrapped her in his arms. He felt complete.

“Promise me something, Ryder.”

“hmm?”

“Promise you won’t forget me…”

“Never.”

He fell off the bed.

Ryder looked around, confused. He was back in the inn. The cool wood of the floor helped to wake him up.

“Ah, I see. It was another dream.”

His legs were still on the bed. He let them fall to the floor. They brought with them a light blanket.

‘Sigh’

He climbed back onto the bed, this time sitting on it, and picked up the blanket. He had gotten used to sleeping in cold weather, so he hadn’t needed a blanket, but it still made the night more comfortable.

He began folding the blanket, thinking back to his dream.

“It had been so real. I wish I never woke up. What I wouldn’t give to be back there, with her.”

He laid the blanket next to him on the bed.

“Even a year after… I’m still having these dreams. I miss you…so much”

A sudden thought struck him.

A knife appeared in his hand, pulled from his ring. He handled the blade, studying it, testing the edge.

“If there are gods, there must be some kind of afterlife. If I kill myself… Will I be able to see you again?”

He leveled the blade with his heart, the tip poking his chest.

“What would you say if you knew I killed myself?”

The thought shattered his surging resolve. His hands trembled.

“I know what you would say. You would call me a coward. You would get so angry. You’d probably ignore me for three days, and snap at me whenever you saw me. Your so cute when your angry…”

The knife disappeared into the ring.

“God I miss you Luna…”

‘Inhale’

‘exhale’

He stood, shaking his thoughts from his mind. His muscles still hurt, and the bruises had turned ugly. It meant that they were healing though.

“I need to get some food and get going, I can’t keep dwelling on her…”

He left the blanket on his bed and made his way out of his room, and over to the bar. The grizzled bartender was nowhere to be found. Lisa, however, gave him a look as he slipped onto a stool.

“Wow, you look like crap. Here”

A mug appeared in her hand, filled with a steaming concoction he didn’t recognize.

“Drink this, it will make you feel better.”

Ryder took a glance at the brew, but didn’t really care. He downed it. The alcohol burned as it rolled down his throat.

“Woah, slow down there. Sip it, it’s pretty strong”

Lisa advised, but it made no difference. He had already finished it, the last drop falling onto his tongue.

“Thank you for that. I think I needed it.” His voice was gruff, the alcohol still burning his throat.

“Gosh, younglings these days think that there untouchable. You’re going to be feeling that for the rest of the day you know.”

“Hopefully. What’s for breakfast?”

Lisa clicked her tongue at him, not happy with him changing the subject, but relented

“Krill omelets. I know you usually get two portions, but these omelets are huge, you really won’t need to get two. Save it for buying Yuri dinner again”

Ryder grumbled under his breath, suppressing the curses he almost blurted out. He was in no mood for being teased today.

“I’ll take one then.”

Lisa seemed to take the hint, for she sauntered away without another word.

Ryder turned in his chair, observing the people, or the lack of, in the place. It had always been relatively packed when he had been in here, and yet it seemed mornings were the exception. Though, the day before there had been more people in here, so maybe it was just chance.

That meant less noise and people to bother him though, so he didn’t really mind. He turned back to the bar, noticing the grizzled bartender had appeared.

“I didn’t even hear him walk up…”

He was giving Ryder a thoughtful look, as if trying to decide if he was worth writing words onto the board to talk to. Apparently he was.

‘Bad dreams?’

Ryder gave it a glance, shocked at the truth of the words and the man’s ability to read people.

“You could say that. I don’t want to talk about it.”

The grizzled bartender didn’t even pause at his words.

‘It gets better.’

“No it fucking doesn’t!”

The words had come out louder and harsher than he intended, garnering looks from the few people in the place, and even surprising the bartender for a second.

‘Must be a girl.’

“I said I didn’t want to talk about it. Go away.”

The bartender was interrupted before he could reply by Lisa, who placed a large plate and a mug of spring water on the bar in front of Ryder.

Ryder handed Lisa two Seps, and dug into the meal, speaking no more words. Lisa gave the bartender a look, and he nodded, moving away from the bar and following Lisa into the kitchen.

“What was that about, Tanka?’

‘Anger hides grief, and regret.’

Tanka flipped the board, showing Lisa. An eyebrow perked up at that.

“Hmm, well… Everyone has their secrets, and a past. Nothing we can do about it besides give him some space.”

Tanka shook his head with more passion than normal. A furious scribbling sounded out through the kitchen.

‘That man is being eaten alive by it…’

—Meanwhile…

Ryder had finished his meal and downed his spring water. The alcohol had started to hit him on his way to the academy. He enjoyed the way the alcohol kept him from thinking.

He shambled his way into the academy. He paid no mind to the same buildings that had left him speechless the day before. He had been seriously interested in the buildings methods of the people here, but today he couldn’t care less.

He stumbled towards the area that his class used to train. He would be practicing the sword for the whole day again. Whether the alcohol would help or hinder that remained to be seen.

Yuri spotted him from across the way, and waved, but he didn’t wave back. He didn’t wish to talk to her. He would say something he would regret. She watched him, confused, as he joined the rest of his class.

The instructor was waiting with a cart full of wooden swords, just like yesterday. Ryder was actually a bit earlier today than he had been before, but that didn’t matter, as all of the swords were the same length and weight.

He received a sword from the instructor, who glanced at him oddly. He ignored the look, instead moving over to an open training dummy and waiting.

“Alright! Yesterday we practiced hitting the blade with simple attacks, today I’m going to show you how to do it properly. All of you should be somewhat used to the pain of holding a sword now. Watch carefully!”

The students gathered around the instructor with interest, wanting to learn more. The instructor waited until everyone had a clear view of him before started.

“The key to any proper strike is based upon two things! Footwork, and blade control. With only footwork, you’ll be lucky to hit where you want to! That the difference between striking an opponent between the cracks in his armor, and harmlessly missing them completely!”

The instructor demonstrated several basic stances as he spoke.

“With no footwork and only blade control, it won’t matter if you hit your opponent, because the blade won’t have enough force behind it to seriously injure someone! These two points are the true basics of attack, as well as defense! We will get to defense later though. Now, begin practice! If I catch you slacking off, I’ll make you run the gauntlet!”

A collective groan sounded out from the students. A few had been forced the run the gauntlet the day before. It was an obstacle course designed to push the students to their limits. It was also extremely exhausting.

The students wasted no time beginning the practice, under the watchful eye of the instructor.

‘Thud’

‘Crack’

The morning mist that had been hiding the heat burned off once the sun got high in the sky, raising the temperature into what felt like the 90’s. Whenever they got off balance during striking, or their footwork was wrong, the instructor would yell at them. If they did it often enough, they would be told to run the gauntlet. It was effective coercion.

After several hours of sword practice, the instructor met them at the well.

“Listen up! Sword practice is over for today. Get washed up, the rest of the day you will be taking classes inside on the arcane. Ryder, I need to speak with you, follow me.”

Snickers abounded as he followed the instructor away from the group, they obviously thought he was in trouble.

As it turned out, the instructor led him to a storage shed.

“Ryder, since you can already control the arcane, you will be taking different classes than the rest of the new students. Your classes will be the older students. Here is a change of clothes, go get changed. A student will be waiting for you out here to take to the class room, so do hurry up.”

The instructor sauntered off with a smile on his face.

Ryder collected the clothes, noticing that they were much nicer than the clothes he wore. In fact, they seemed somewhat expensive.

“I must have really looked poor if they are giving me spare clothes...”

He wasted no time getting cleaned up, and changing into the clothes. A bucket of water had been placed inside the shed, and he used it to rinse the sweat off. His hair was still wet as he made his way out of the shed.

Yuri stood in front of the shed, an odd look on her face. The sword practice had helped him work off his frustration, so he greeted her with a smile.

“Hello Yuri, are you the one guiding me to the class? Does that mean I’ll be taking classes with other gold armband students?”

Yuri seemed surprised at his friendliness.

“Ah, yea. There aren’t actually that many students here that can control the arcane, so the academy teaches them together… Besides that, earlier today you seem troubled, is something wrong?”

‘sigh’

“Yes Yuri, something was troubling me. I’m fine now though, thank you.”

“It wasn’t my family was it? They didn’t threaten you did they?”

Ryder chuckled. Yuri was a good friend, to be so worried about him.

“No, not at all. Does your family usually threaten your friends?”

Yuri studied him after he spoke, seemingly unconvinced that her family hadn’t come after him. They talked as they made their way to their class. Surprisingly, it wasn’t in one of the many buildings he had been shown his first day. Instead, she led him deep into the woods behind the Academy.

“Thank goodness. When you didn’t wave earlier, I was afraid they had threatened you…”

“Ah, my apologies. I wasn’t in a good mood. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

An awkward silence encroached on the conversation.

“speaking of you family. Are they important or something? I noticed that my fellow students were shocked that you were talking to me. I take it they are nobles?”

Yuri didn’t answer right away, hesitant, it seemed, to answer the question.

“My family are nobles, but not of this country. My people’s homeland lies far to the southeast from here.”

“Hmm, that sounds like quite the distance. What made you come here?”

Yuri seemed even more hesitant to answer that question.

“Its fine Yuri, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t wish to. I’m not going to be upset with you or angry. Everyone has secrets, and I suspect that nobles tend to have more than the average person…”

She nodded at him in relief.

The woods thinned in front of them, becoming a large clearing. A moderately sized house sat somewhat in the middle of it.

“so not only is there a small forest in the middle of the forest, but someone lives in said forest. Must be someone of considerable power. Hopefully our teacher…”

Surrounding the house was around thirty to forty, he didn’t count them, students of varying attire, and moderately different armbands. Most of them had blue armbands. Several of them had red armbands, but only three, including Yuri, had gold armbands.

“Took you long enough!”

One of the shortest students there, and one with a gold armband, approached with a scowl on his face. The scowl was obviously directed at Ryder.

“Hello. You are?”

“Might as well keep my tone cordial.”

“Seeing as your new here, ill disregard the disrespect in your tone. My name is Gregor Valona, and I am much stronger than you. Mind your tone next time. Ryuri, you should teach your followers better manners.”

“Sigh. I hate people like this.”

Yuri beat him to it.

“You’re the one that should watch your tongue Gregor, lest I remind you that I am much more powerful than you. You seem to have forgotten the last duel between us quickly.”

Ryder was witness to a great many emotions the sprinted across Gregor’s face quicker than a stampede, before his face decided to be angry. Before he could comment though, Yuri continued talking.

“As for this man, he is my friend. His name is Ryder, and he has a larger arcane center than the two of us combined. Be mindful of who you belittle.”

Apparently most of the students had been listening in on their conversation, because shocks abounded aplenty in the clearing.

“Surely you don’t think I’ll believe that.”

Gregor decided that his best bet going forward was to call her a liar. Ryder had gotten tired of the petty argument. A flame danced along his palm, reaching high into the sky, just as high as the first flame he had made. The temperature in the clearing rose a few degrees.

“So large! How are you doing that without even trying!”

“Doing what? All I’m doing is making a flame. I could keep this going indefinitely.”

“Yes, well I would rather you not burn down the forest or my home for that matter, so if you would please cease funneling Arcane power into that, I would appreciate Mr. Ryder.”

The voice sounded, aged. Yet the woman who appeared from the house, giving Ryder one of the best teachers stares he had ever seen, couldn’t have been older than forty. His flame danced from his palm, carried by the wind into oblivion.

“With a flame like that, you could probably test into wearing a red armband. I wouldn’t recommend it though; your control is obviously lacking. Is it the same with the other techniques that you use?”

Ryder paused, surprised she had spotted the root of his problem so easily.

“Yes. Though not with my heart path abilities. I only have a problem with my brain path arcane control.”

Silence. The teacher had an amused smile on her face. She had obviously known of his abilities, probably told by the old man who tested him.

“Shit! I can’t believe I just blurted that out so casually!”

A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

“Teacher, you’re not saying that he is a duel user right? I thought it wasn’t possible.”

Gregor’s tone had become the most respectful he had ever heard it. Though, considering that they just met, that wasn’t saying much.

“Yes Gregor. It is not that it is impossible, just that the likelihood of the arcane energies in the air being balanced is very low. So when most arcane users awaken, they are forced to one path or the other. Still, one must not have absorbed too much of a type of arcane energy for it to succeed though. I’m very interested in the location that you awakened in, Mr. Ryder.”

Ryder declined to answer that baited question.

“Alas, we can waste no more time conversing without care. We must begin class. Luckily for you Ryder, we will be working on control. Everyone, get into meditative positions and start practicing. I will be around to help you when I can.”

The class obeyed, and he noted that Gregor put as much distance between the two of them as possible.

“Guess he won’t be bothering me anymore. That’s good too. Though I don’t like the way Yuri has been sneaking glances at me…”

He ignored her attempts and found a spot on the ground to meditate. The books he had poured over during his time in the cave discussed meditation thoroughly, and the effects it could have on his control of the arcane. Unfortunately, the cave had very few basic level books, so he was quite lacking in that regard.

Ryder wasn’t the first student the teacher helped, but she eventually made her way to him, placing a hand on his back.

“Relax, I’m going to send a sliver of arcane into you, so I can observe what’s happening inside your body.”

Ryder felt the tendril of power slip into his blood stream from his back, spreading throughout his body quickly. Instead of the brain path, Ryder had been circulating his arcane power through the heart path, so as to not cause a problem. His flames were the only technique he was sure of being able to do, and even those were outrageously large.

“hmm, I don’t see any problems with you heart path circulation, you’re going to have to use the brain path for me. Try making water this time, that way the most you’ll do is flood my forest.” The teacher chuckled at her own comment, and Ryder held a hand out as he complied.

A torrent of water appeared from his hand. He directed it from the other students.

“Ah. I see.”

“Hmm?”

“I have found your problem. Like Yuri said earlier, you have a very large arcane center, and its caused you to misjudge the amount of Arcane power you use. Most of us start off with small amounts of arcane power, and build up over time, allowing good control. You obviously awakened recently, and yet had this much arcane power.”

Ryder was impressed, she had accurately deduced not only that he had awakened not long ago, but what his problem was.

“Is there any way to resolve this issue?”

“Yes, but not right now. See me after class. For now, though, it’s best not to experiment too much with the arcane. The amount of arcane you release may be nominal for you, but it’s enough to seriously injure someone unprepared. I would recommend just circulating arcane through your body, using the brain path to do it though. That should help build up control.”

The teacher moved away to help another student. Ryder crawled away from the wet earth he had created, which put him within conversation distance with Yuri. Well, a hushed conversation.

“Why didnt you tell me!”

Yuri seemed annoyed.

“Does she realize we’ve only known each other a few days?”

“Uh, well, it’s a big secret?”

“And yet you blurt it out so calmly to everyone here?”

“That was an accident… Besides, now you know right? No harm no foul then.”

Yuri grumbled under her breath, and Ryder only picked up a few words out of it.

“Idiot.” “common sense”

He decided to ignore her grumbling.

The sun crawled across the sky as they practiced, and the class only ended once it had started to sink past the horizon.

Yuri apparently decided she would wait for him, as she stood next to the teacher’s house, watching him like a hawk.

“I don’t know whether to feel happy or sad at your treatment…”

The rest of the students slowly meandered away, talking amongst themselves. Ryder noted that Gregor left in a hurry.

“Ah Ryder, thank you for waiting. I have the answer to your problem inside. Just let me grab it. Come on in. you can come in as well Yuri”

That made her far more excited than he figured it should have.

“why are you so excited about going into the teacher’s home?”

Yuri looked at him like he was an idiot.

“To date, no one in our class has been allowed inside her home. It’s been off limits for so long I’m just curious as to what’s in there.”

The interior of the house was… Drab. Maybe supremely normal described it better. Well, normal for what Ryder had seen of the world so far. It certainly wasn’t his old home. He tried not to continue that thought.

“Looks pretty normal to me Yuri.”

The teacher had disappeared into the basement, and they waited inside the sitting room.

“It’s probably an illusion!”

“I think your just upset that it turned out to be nothing special.”

The stairs creaked as the teacher came back from the basement.

“Oh I assure you Ryder, this home is far from ordinary. Unfortunately, its secrets are for more advanced arcane users. Here, this is what I wanted to give you.”

Ryder stuck out a hand to receive it. Instead of dropping it into his palm, she put it on him. It was a bracelet.

“This bracelet is very special, so don’t think I’m giving it to you. I’m just letting you borrow it. This bracelet blocks the amount of Arcane power you can actively access. Perfect for someone with too much.”

Ryder realized just how immensely expensive the bracelet had to be with a single glance. First of all, the entire bracelet shined a blue silver, indicating a mysteriousness that he was unfamiliar with. Letters of a language he had not seen before decorated it as well. It reminded him of something a scam artist would sell as a good luck charm.

Fortunately, he could feel it blocking his connection to his arcane center.

“Thank you very much for this teacher.”

“Don’t call me teacher, it sounds so stuffy. Call me Miss Melodic instead.”

“Very well, Thank you Miss Melodic. I’m in your debt for this.”

“It’s my job as teacher, so don’t give me those flowery words. Alright, you can go now. Try not to destroy anything when you practice.”

Ryder nodded, and Yuri bowed to Miss Melodic as they exited the house. The walk back to the inn was jovial, to say the least.

The sun dipped below the horizon for its well needed rest.