Chapter 8

Martial Training

The next day Octavia and Lykan were awoken by the Library staff, who were none too pleased with the fact that the two had stayed in the Library all night. While they had no problem with people staying in the Library as long as they wanted, there was concern about the constant drain of mana from people. Fortunately, both Lykan and Octavia had Power Attributes that were high enough to weather the constant drain of mana performed by the Library. The rules of time limits were in place to protect children not yet used to the strain of mana fatigue and those that never managed to push their Power Attribute to be six or better.

By the looks, it was clear that the guardians of the Library were most concerned with Lykan, though, after a few quick checks, they found that he was more than fine with mana. In fact, that was when they noticed something strange with his mana. Not only did he have a lot of it, but it wasn’t flowing.

“Oh my,” was all the lead guardian would say after performing a quick check on Lykan’s mana reserves.

“What is it?” Octavia asked, hearing the tone of shock in the guardian’s voice.

The Guardian, for his part, just shook his head. “I cannot say, but he will need to see the healer.”

With that, the Guardian gently but firmly grabbed Lykan’s arm and escorted him out of the Library. Octavia, for her part, was confused for a second before quickly trying to follow after Lykan. She caught up with him a few strides away, heading toward the infirmary. Unfortunately, a Library injury was the last thing anyone expected. As such, the Library was built at the exact opposite end of the compound as the infirmary.

Lykan was confused, though he felt fine. He could not understand what all the fuss was about.

“Guardian Malkin, how may we be of assistance?” a beautiful Elven healer spoke. From the lighter shade of her hair, it was clear she was the eldest of the gathered healers, though Lykan could not even begin to guess how much older she was than the other healers that were present. There were three in all, the Master and two apprentices. The two apprentices were evenly split with one male and one female, yet it took Lykan a long time to find the distinguishing characteristics that made an Elf easily identifiable as a male versus a female Elf. The changes were so minute, in fact, that he found himself staring at the male for subtle differences that could be easily noticed in the face.

Only after the male raised an eyebrow in confusion did Lykan realize he was staring and abashedly turned his head to look at the female assistant. When Lykan realized he was staring and should likely stop, he found that she, too, was staring. Their eyes met, and he was enraptured by such deep hazel eyes that he thought he was looking at a field of golden wheat.

“So now that you both have had a chance to observe the patient. What is Guardian Malkin’s concern? Why did he bring the patient to us?” the Head Healer asked, her tone that of a mother trying to teach her children valuable life lessons.

“His mana has stopped flowing,” the male assistant began.

“Has it?” the Head Healer asked.

“Well yes, look, it has clearly stopped moving. Which is a problem as he has so much mana that it looks like he is near to bursting, without the constant flow, his meridians are likely to explode from the pressure,” the male said, pointing at the body before him as if Lykan was little more than a doll to practice diagnosing problems with.

“You are partially correct.”

“Partially?”

“Yes, you are right that his mana is not flowing and that this is a problem, especially for him with his exceptional mana pool. Galena, would you care to tell Joric where he was wrong in his assessment?” the Head Healer asked.

Galena, the female assistant, let her hazel eyes flick over Lykan’s body quickly before resting on his chest before she gave an answer. “It’s not that his mana has stopped moving. It has never moved.”

“Correct. Now then, Joric, what is our next step?”

“Get him to move his mana?” Joric said though it was more of a question than anything.

“Correct. But how do we do that? You yourself noticed the tension on his meridians. So there is no way to start the circulation of power at this point. So what should we do?”

Joric just shook his head.

Seeing the lack of response, the head nurse turned her attention to Galena and gave her a look that said this is all yours.

Galena looked confused but quickly came up with a solution. “Get him to burn off some of his energy, then have him quickly circulate the mana before it regenerates.”

“Exactly, now how can we achieve such a task?”

Silence.

The Head Healer shook her head in exasperation before asking her question in a different way. “What is the quickest way to burn off a lot of energy that is safe to the user?”

Seeing that this question too went over their heads, she asked a third question, though this time she let some of the annoyance she felt well up in her voice. “What nearby facility forces a substantial withdraw of energy before being allowed admittance?”

With that, the two both had a eureka moment, as they seemed to come to the same conclusion at the same time. “The halls of martial training?” Joric said, though once again, his response came out more like a question.

Hearing the questioning tone, the Head Healer gave a scowl, “Yes, that is how one can safely expend a lot of energy very quickly.”

With that, the Head Healer turned her gaze toward Lykan, who inadvertently shivered at the gaze that quickly went from angry teacher to dutiful healer in less than a second. Still, the transformation was not lost on Lykan’s enhanced senses. He knew from that one glare this was not the person he wished to offend while here.

“Yes, you are aware of the circulating techniques?” the Head Healer asked.

Her question was so odd that it took Lykan a second to comprehend what she meant.

“I believe so, but when I tried earlier, I couldn’t get it to work,” Lykan admitted with a note of shame to his voice.

Hearing this, the head nurse just nodded as if she expected this to be the case. “Yes, that is to be expected. Your body has a substantial mana pool. In fact, your pool is dangerously full at the moment. You will need to have some of your energy siphoned off so that you can begin the circulation process. This will mean that you will need to enter the Martial Training grounds to our left,” she said, pointing out to her right, Lykan’s left.

“Once there to enter, you will need to offer up a portion of your mana. For most, this is a strain, but for you, it will be exactly what you need to begin the initial phases of channeling mana within your body. Realize that this comes with its own set of risks. Beginning the channeling process will be tough enough on your own without distractions. Realize that you will need to begin channeling while in combat. I hear you are pretty good with a spear?” she asked.

Lykan nodded.

“Good, you will need that to complete this task. You must fend off your opponent long enough for you to begin the circulation process. You will know once you succeed as it will feel like you are finally able to breathe with your soul.”

Lykan’s eyebrows shot up at that description as it seemed to make no sense to him.

“Don’t worry, it will make more sense when it happens. Until that point, you will be in constant danger of having your meridians bursting due to the constant strain they are under. I should warn you that the longer you stay inside the Martial Training grounds, the more your own mana will be siphoned off to maintain your stay in that dimensional field. For most, it is recommended that you push yourself to stay in as long as possible to understand what your current mana limits are and to get used to mana exhaustion. We recommend the same, but your first priority should be to feel the flow of mana throughout your body,” the Head Healer said.

Suddenly nervous, Lykan let all the tasks he now had to do flow through his mind. He had to enter the Martial Training grounds, fight an opponent? From the sound of things, it seemed like the opponent would be there in the fields with him. Would that be another Elf? Or what? Then while fighting, he would have to learn to circulate his mana, a feat he had not been able to manage all night. Oh, he had to do so before he ran into mana exhaustion. He was going through a mental checklist when a thought filled him. What did soul breathing even feel like?

So many questions. He had never read of such tasks needing to be performed. He had read a lot of books on magic users, and a few even referenced the circulating of mana in one’s body. Yet none of the books he read dealt with what circulating mana felt like.

“Are you ready?” the Head Healer asked. She saw the clouded look falling over the boy’s face and shook her head. She had likely gone too far into detail in front of the boy. She had been giving so much detail so that her students could learn, but it seemed that her words might have had an alternate effect on her patient.

Lykan, for his part, was pulled out of his own mental musings and repeated what he thought was important, “Go in, fight, soul breath, survive until mana exhaustion got it.”

The Head Healer inwardly scowled at herself for letting so much fall upon the shoulders of someone who was clearly just awakened. Though she couldn’t help but wonder what future the Gods had set out for such a boy with so much potential.

“Yes, there are more. But they will become apparent in time.” With that, the Head Healer grabbed Lykan by the hand and gently began leading him out and next door to the martial training grounds.

As she approached, the warriors that had been relaxing instantly straightened.

“Your reverence,” the lead guard spoke as he shot to attention and rendered a formal salute of hand over his heart.

“Relax. My patient here needs to be the next to enter the Martial Training Grounds.”

The guard looked flustered for a second, looking first to Lykan then to the number of warriors who were in the line to show off their martial prowess.

Behind him were two people that were seeming to face off against invisible opponents. Both bodies were separated by a good hundred meters or so, yet they fought and swung their weapons quickly and violently.

“Well, this round should be finishing up shortly. I can fit you in next,” the lead guard said.

“Oh, and I think you already know this one,” the Head Healer said, having somehow glided behind Octavia during the time both she and Lykan had observed the fighting grounds. Then with a gentle push, Octavia stumbled her way forward until she was even with Lykan.

Seeing the two, the guard had a smile come to his face. “Oh yes, I heard about Miss Octavia’s recent exploits. You must be the boy she is bound to then?” the guard asked, turning from Octavia to Lykan.

Seeing the gaze of the grizzled man sent a shiver down Lykan’s spine.

“Yes, sir,” Lykan managed.

“Good. And you are here to train?” the guard asked.

“Yes, sir.”

With that admission, the guard’s faint smile turned wide-reaching his eyes in an unnerving way. “Oh good, this means that Miss Octavia will have to train with you. Good good. Boy!” the lead guard called out to the warriors who were lining up to go next. “You will have to wait. We have the Priestess and the new warrior here. This is the same one who is said to have slain the nest of Spider Stalkers.”

The warriors who were waiting had their expressions change from annoyance to intrigue as they saw the two that would cause them to miss their place in line.

Soon the different warriors began to talk and laugh, many taking bets on how long the Priestess would last this time.

Ghane sat there quietly, gritting his teeth as he watched the two get ready to enter. He doubted all the feats the boy had claimed were true, and this would be his chance to prove it. If he failed here or had weak form, then it would be clear that his claims of slaying the Spider Stalkers would be a lie or, at best, an exaggeration. After a few seconds, a sadistic smile filled his lips as he knew the boy wouldn’t be able to use his spear either. Instead, he would have to use the wooden practice spear provided by the guards.

He made a note that he would try to steal the magic blue-tipped spear for himself. Then he, too, would be able to kill swarms of Spider Stalkers with near minimum Skills. This was the only explanation. It was clear that the weapon was made from Mythril. Its color could indicate nothing less. It was known that Mythril carried the best enchantments, so for a boy to be granted such a weapon proved he was likely a spoiled brat who ran away in search of adventure. There was nothing else that made sense.

Ghane had heard the wild tale the boy spun, but there was no way so many strained events could happen to a boy, who was cast out. Then the boy just happens to find a mythical Mythril blade? No way. The boy was a fake, and this would be the first step in proving how much of his accomplishments were his own and how much was made possible by a weapon that would make anyone a deity on the battlefield.

Soon the two combatants who were training had their sessions end. Then as one, both Lykan and Priestess Octavia donated their portion of mana to the system and made their way to their starting platforms. Just as Ghane expected, the boy had to trade out his blue-tipped spear for the training spear used by all practitioners who entered the training grounds. Then the most unexpected thing happened. The boy collapsed to the ground, not four steps into the field.

Seeing the boy collapse, a wicked smile filled Ghane's lips as he knew the boy must be suffering from having his sacred weapon stolen from him. The enchantments of the weapon no longer lent him strength, forcing him to be like every other human, weak and pathetic.