"Ten miles? Jeez. That might be pushing it," Beam said.
But Dominus shrugged. "I offered earlier to let you skip over these tests, in light of your recent achievement – it was you who said you'd finish them. So I supposed you must be feeling quite fit. Or are you going back on your word?"
Beam frowned. "No… I'll do it. But it seems to me this battle with the corpse soldier is going to have to be plenty quick if I'm to make it back in time."
Dominus laughed at that. "A few minutes at most is how long normal people can afford to spend in mortal combat. I think you've skewed your own perspective by getting into a fight so long."
Beam thought back to the battle. Most of it was a mere haze in his mind. There were specific instances that he remembered – like the hobgoblin's transformation and its death, but between those things, everything else blurred together in one big ball of suffering.
