“I think that will do for now,” Tindi called out from where she stood over to the side. Her breaths were faster than normal but nothing like the wheezing panting I was doing. “We should stop and get some dinner. After that, we can see about doing some practice matches.”

  “Who. Would. We. Be. Fighting. Against?” I managed to get out.

  “We will have to see who is out there. Maybe Michael and his team will be out there.”

  Mindi offered up her two cents. “They would be a decent mix of disciplines to train against,” While she wasn’t wrong, I had hoped to keep away from them. Well, that and I was pretty damn sure that each and every one of them could kick my ass just as fast as these girls had, if not faster. But I knew better than to complain. Even if I did complain, the two of them would invite the group anyway. Maybe even faster if I tried to fight against them.

  As I followed the girls back to the dining room, I tried to get my breathing under control. Upon getting in sight of the room, I found the place was packed to the point that some people were forced to stand along the walls. “Why are there so many people?”

  “The festival of course.” Tindi proclaimed. “Most everyone is going to finish their quests and keep close to town until after the festival is over. Ah, they are here.” She said as she led our group through the throng of people. She didn’t seem to care who she pushed out of the way as she did so. No one challenged her or ever really said a word. The worst I saw was a glare or two being directed at the back of her head.

  Patric, who happened to be facing in our direction, was the first to notice our approach. He must have signaled the rest of the group because everyone suddenly turned to look at us. The glares they sent the girls sent a shiver racing down my spine. Though, as soon as they saw me the glare was replaced with something more friendly.

  “Kyren,” Linda called from where she sat in Michael’s lap. Was it weird that I wasn’t even surprised to find her there? “We haven’t spoken since we got back from the forest. How have you been?”

  It sounded like she wanted to continue, but Michael cut her off. “Why don’t you join us for dinner?”

  “Thank you.” I replied before gesturing to the two girls as I asked, “Can these two join us?”

  Something flashed across his face but it was gone before I could get a read on it. “Why not? The more the merrier. But tell me, who are these two lovely ladies?” He had a girl in his lap yet he was flirting with two other girls. Was he dumb or was I misreading the situation? Probably the latter as I was pretty sure that Linda could, and would, kick his ass if he ever even thought of cheating on her.

  As he said this, three chairs popped out of nowhere and settled between different pairs, effectively separating us from one another. It didn’t seem intentional though. More like each chair was placed where it wouldn’t cause someone to move. Lifting a hand to one and then the other, I introduced them as we took the proffered seats. “This is Mindi and Tindi. They both have been teaching me magic and martial arts respectively.”

  “Is there no one teaching you how to use your sword?” Victor asked from my left.

  “His weapons teacher is Barti.” Tindi offered. A few of them whistled at that piece of information. “He would be here with us but he had to do something else tonight.”

  “Well, given everything going on in the city, he must be pretty busy.” Michael sounded mysterious when he said that, but he probably thought that Barti was doing something for the festival. A server took that moment to walk up to the group and drop off a large number of platters filled with food. As we ate, the conversation between everyone was light and full of fluffy nonsense. If I had been someone reading a transcript of everything said, I would have thought the group was full of either airheads or politicians waiting for someone to break and ask the first question.

  The person to break first was Patric. “I noticed that you guys walked directly toward us from the hallway. Given that there have been no open tables on this side of the room for a good hour, what did you guys need?”

  As she was sitting across from me, I got to see Linda’s reaction to the question. Her head thumped against Michael's chest hard enough to visibly bounce. Tindi looked happy and had a small smile on her face as she answered his question. “Our group isn’t as well-rounded as yours, especially with Barti indisposed, we were wondering if you would be willing to help train Kyren?”

  “What kind of training?” Michael asked, his tone flat.

  “Just combat training. One-on-one matches, maybe even small group battles. Nothing that might give away any of your secret moves or techniques.”

  “Fine,” He responded, not bothering to ask the rest of the group their opinion. “But I would like it if he came with us on a mission tomorrow to get some hands-on experience.”

  To me that sounded like he was giving everything the girls wanted and then some. Yet Tindi’s hesitation was obvious. Finally, after looking me in the eyes, she nodded. “Sure, but you will have to help with training whenever you are in town. Under our supervision that is.”

  He shrugged, “That’s fine. So when is the first training session?”

  Tindi pushed her plate away from her and stood. Mindi jumped to her feet at the same moment. “Right now.”

  Michael smiled as if he finally realized something. He nodded as he reached out to the nearly empty platters to fill his plate again as he spoke, “We will join you in a little bit.” Without another word, the girls disappeared into the crowd.

  “Sure you don’t want to join our team?” Lance asked. While he sounded like he would like me to, something told me he would rather I stayed far, far away from him.

  “I am good where I am, thank you though,” I said as I finished sopping up the juices on my plate with a piece of bread. Under my breath, I added, “Plus, there is nothing I could offer you guys.”

  To my surprise, Jeremiah, who was sitting on the other side of Victor, spoke up. “You have promise. Plus, you're not all that far behind us. A bit of training and I am sure you will catch up in no time.”

  “Speaking of training,” Michael said as he pushed his now re-emptied plate away. “Let's see just how much you have learned since the last time we saw you.” Linda rode on his shoulder while the rest of the group and I followed him through the room. None of them had to push through the crowd as everyone in our path gave the group enough room to pass.

  He must have known where we were going as he didn’t hesitate for even a second as he walked down the hall and to the training door. It opened to reveal the two girls in the middle of drawing a few things on the ground. They looked to be adding something to the circle that Barti had placed there earlier in the day.

  Tindi stood up to face us as Mindi kept going. “So, how do you want to do this?”

  For some reason, that question seemed to cause Michael to stop. As if he had expected the two girls to try and control everything about this training. He recovered quickly and answered, “First things first, we need to get a general idea of his strength and training. So, let's go with Jeremiah first.”

  Jeremiah, upon hearing this, cursed up a small storm. I shrugged as I made my way over to the circle. Based on the sounds of muttered curses that followed me, he wasn’t far behind. By the time I got to the far side, Mindi stood up from where she had been working. She scooted outside the ring and proceeded to meditate. Instantly, the haze caused by wild mana in the air grew thicker.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  One of Jeremiah’s eyebrows lifted as he commented on the effect. “Nice little circle. Who made it?”

  “Barti did,” I replied, though most of my mind was focused on preparing my mana for the initial barrage. “He said that it would prevent damage to the room on top of allowing him to control how much mana is in the air.”

  “Good,” he nodded as he continued. “That would make learning magic easier as well as teach one to control their expenditure based on the amount of mana available. Are you ready?” I nodded. “Then come at me.”

  Either he was underestimating me, or he thought that I would be unable to hurt him. Maybe even both. Not that I was stupid. I wasn’t going to attack him without making sure there were no defenses or traps. Dumping half my mana pool into the air, I filled the circle with a thin mist of my own mana. Sure enough, five different spells surrounded the guy. Each was primed and ready to strike me the moment I got too close.

  Given his lack of reaction to my mana surrounding him, he either didn’t notice it or just didn’t care. Too bad. If he had then he might have had a chance.

  While part of my mind constructed two fireballs, another part cut his connection to his spells to ribbons as I charged him. His eyes were only starting to widen as I released the fireballs at point-blank range. His chest exploded, throwing him back and into the magical wall isolating us from the world.

  I slid to a stop, stupefied at what had just happened. As my mind kept going over everything, Linda reached him. She started to cast the moment her hands landed on his chest. Whatever spell she was using turned the air around her crimson. The rest of the group stood stunned. Like me, the girls were probably wondering just why he had gone down so easily. The others were probably trying to piece together what had happened.

  Only when Linda finally leaned back, the aura around her disappearing, did Michael speak up. “Well then. Seems like you have a hand on your magic. Patric, your turn.” Given that his main weapon was stealth attacks, this was likely another one-sided fight.

  Patric didn’t say anything as he moved into position across the circle from me. The moment the air started to grow more hazy, darkness swallowed him. I didn’t wait for him to reappear before I took off in a sprint. Circling around the outside of the circle as I took a second to think about how to find him. Not that there were many options. There was no lump of shadow slithering along the floor so either he was using magic to become a part of the shadows themselves, or he used the shadows to vanish into another realm or something.

  Both required magic to activate which meant that I should be able to trace them with my Mana Sense, but I couldn’t. A spike of shadow speared at me from my left, grazing my arm as I went by. I still felt nothing. Well, nothing but an odd chill that reminded me of death for some reason.

  Something about the complete lack of ability to sense an incoming attack froze my mind. The fear of death and pain started to claw at the back of my head. It slowed my reaction time by a tiny amount. That doesn’t seem all that bad but it was just enough to prevent me from reacting in time to his next attack.

  Another spike went between my legs. It grazed both of my thighs and cut deep enough to cause rivers of blood to stream down from each wound. Given the amount of blood flowing from me, I was out of time. I had to strike now and make sure it counted because I would not be given another chance.

  With an effort of will, I pulled every bit of mana I could as I formed ten fire runes. They formed around me, just above the ground. Linked as they were, they formed a large array. An array that, when I activated the spell, would cover most of the circle in fire.

  As I activated it, I watched as the circle was engulfed in fire. Every shadow vanished yet no one screamed or jumped toward me. For five long seconds, nothing happened. Then, as the fires started to sputter out, the mana powering them running out, the feeling of cool metal pressed against my jugular. “Not bad,” Patric said into my ear. “But you forgot about your own shadow.” He held his blade there for a couple of seconds, making sure I got the lesson, before backing off.

  I collapsed to the floor as soon as he did so. My legs were no longer able to hold me as the blood loss made itself known. Linda was by my side a moment later. Her magic worked to get me ready for my next fight.

  To say that I wasn’t looking forward to my next fight was an understatement. Jeremiah was a decent mage with powerful spells. From what I could tell, the only thing he had going against him was the amount of time it took to cast said spells. Given that I had been training to use spells in conjunction with other methods of attack, he didn’t stand a chance.

  Patric, on the other hand, was a rogue through and through. Great at hiding and striking when one didn’t expect it. If I had been able to track his movements, I might have stood a chance. Though, I was pretty sure that he had a few tricks up his sleeves that would have taken me out if I had shown an ability to track him.

  As soon as Linda helped me to my feet, Michael announced my next opponent. “Victor, you're up.”

  Victor didn’t say a word. He simply stepped into the circle while pulling out his bow and nothing else. Linda quickly made her way to the rest of the group as I contemplated how to approach this fight.

  Given my two options, fighting up close or at a distance, I knew I had to charge in. My fireballs were the only thing that I could use at a distance right now. A fireball against a rain of arrows stood no chance. On the other hand, any player worth their salt would have worked on finding a way to cover their character’s weakness. Which meant that Victor likely trained in some sort of knife skills.

  The moment Linda stepped over the lines on the ground, the circle filled with the tell-tell haze of mana. Out of time, I fully cast my body fortification spell. I didn’t even bother to cast Mana Sense. Focusing instead on using every bit of my will and bit of mana to take him down as fast as possible.

  Suddenly full of power, my body dropped low to the ground as my legs propelled me across the space. The space between us shrank to nothing as I got up close and personal with him. The speed of my approach must have been a surprise because he was still preparing to draw his bow when I struck.

  My Chisa Katana vibrated as I swung it up and across his body. Just as it made contact, the haze around us suddenly thinned. Without warning, my body was sent flying across the room. The suddenness of the motion and impact against a wall caused my brain to fuzz out.

  When I was able to hold a thought in my head again, I found myself propped up against a wall at an odd angle. My entire back hurt, though not as bad as the muscles in my legs and arms. Confused about the amount of pain, I ran a little bit of mana through each muscle as I looked around to find where the attack originated from.

  Michael and Linda were both standing over someone. This time her crimson aura was not just covering her form, but included Michael and even some of their teammates, all of whom were standing a few feet away.

  As if sensing my stare, Michael turned to look at me. “What the hell were you thinking?” He practically growled as he stalked toward me. “You nearly killed him with that move.” Wait, what? My shock and confusion must have shown on my face because he continued. “By the time I reached you and stopped the fight, your sword managed to cut through his liver as well as a few of his other organs.”

  “But…but…but…” I stuttered before finally getting out, “but I only used my mana to fortify my body.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you used. You should have aimed for something non-life-threatening. He knows when to concede defeat. We all do.”

  His words shocked me because, well, they made sense. But if that was the case, were the girls and Barti really that much stronger that they didn’t have to worry about such things? Not that I would complain about having the opportunity. Hell, their training was more realistic. In fact, “But I was told to train as I would fight.” Yeah, it was a thin excuse but that didn’t make it untrue.

  It must not have been a smart thing to say because his eyes shone with obvious anger. “Sure, then use wooden weapons and dial back your spells so that you don’t kill your training partner. But, seeing as you want to train in a realistic manner, you will face me next.” Well, fuck, that was not good. He would have been able to kick my ass before he was angry. Now he was going to make sure I felt every bit of his rage and it would hurt.

  He returned to the group where he helped Lance carry Victor to the side of the room before he returned to the circle. His eyes bore into me as he waited for me to join him. I hesitated for a moment before slowly making my way back to the circle.

  Michael was a tank through and through. The guy could take a hit and dish out quite a bit of pain. Likely as not, I wouldn’t be able to take even one hit from him. Maybe not even a graze. With this in mind, I had no choice but to go full out and hope to end the fight as fast as possible.

  The moment the air grew hazy with mana, he started to walk. Not run, not jog. Walk. Slowly making his way to the center of the circle. His arms were both by his side. Hands clenched in fists. Not wanting to know what he was doing, I pumped mana into fortifying my body and fired off a couple of fireballs at his face.

  His hand rose to block the hits. Seeing the opportunity to get into a blind spot, I circled around him and charged at his back. The moment my sword hit his back, it stopped. It didn’t rebound or vibrate as if it had hit something hard. No. It stopped. The corner of his eye watched me as he spoke. “You did so well against Jeremiah. Making sure that he didn’t have any spells ready to go before attacking. Yet here you are not doing the same against me. Is it because he has a magic-based class and I do not?”

  He sounded calm. Too calm given the situation. Calm enough to send shivers racing up my spine as he continued. “Just because someone has a magic class or not does not mean they cannot have a spell or a skill that uses mana. If you had been checking, you would have seen me cast Divine Aegis.”

  Seeing as he was giving me time to do so, I poured mana into my Mana Sense skill. I pushed it out just far enough to reach him. A shimmering field of interconnected magic symbols surrounded his body. The brightest part of it was in a line surrounding my sword.