"Reinhart, it is time that you showed me what your rectangular form is capable of!" Aldren declared, his baritone voice echoing across the clearing. His words sank deep, the gravity of the situation visibly dawning on Reinhart.
"What's the battle strategy?" Reinhart asked, his tone quieter than he intended, betraying the nervousness he was trying to hide.
Aldren grinned, bearing his pointed teeth that glittered, "We're keeping it simple for your first fight, maneuver, and dodge. Observe and attack. Make sure to conserve your mana."
"You remember that I am still a box, right? I thought you were taking us to your city, or whatever?" Reinhart asked, looking around the clearing. They were deeper in the forest, but Reinhart didn't really think this place could be called safe since they were still outside and not really that far from Belgrath.
"Trust me, Reinhart," Aldren smirked, his gaze sharp enough to slice steel. "You're far from just being a box. And as for safety, we're deep enough in the forest to keep our activities private from prying eyes."
Embracing his adventurous side, Reinhart nodded and took a defensive stance. Aldren, impressed with his determination, wasted no time in launching the first move. His body blurred, as swiftly as a gust of wind, and his powerful tail swung at Reinhart.
With quick reflexes, Reinhart barely managed to dodge, his body falling backward with the sheer force of Aldren's swing. "What the…?" He barely had time to raise a barrier when Aldren came charging again, his powerful claws sharpened and ready.
"You know, The world that I came from was ancient, abundant with raw, untamed Mana," Aldren said, pausing his attack to let Reinhart absorb his words. "Our land was known as Vashkram. Imagine vast desert stretches swirling with magic, unlike Fallenia."
Catching his breath and using the opportunity to gather his strength, Reinhart asked, "Did you all have any fancy instant dinner packets there?" His voice was shaky but laced with humor.
Aldren laughed heartily. "No, everything was raw and real, just like our fights. Speaking of which..." Without warning, Aldren attacked again, demonstrating their raw and real fights.
---
A mile away, underground in a city created by the Dralkon, Maze followed the four Sylphs completely awestruck. Her home, the City of Kalador of Grammel was much larger, but she knew there was no way a massive beautiful cavern could have been here! On top of that, there were countless lights everywhere, but of all colors. Only at the festivals had she seen colored glass lanterns, but it was clear to her from the tiny size that this was not fire.
"What are those lights everywhere? And how do you have such a functional city that is also so beautiful? It took my family a few kings before our castle was built!" Mazed exclaimed, but then composed herself.
One of the Sylphs, a friendly one with mottled red and yellow scales, who was named Vexille, turned to her while walking. "Those are mana crystals. They contain magical energy and light up our city. As for the city, we Dralkons are skilled craftspeople. We combined everyone's abilities to construct it. Your human kings took several generations to build their castles because only some worked on the project while others watched, and they didn't have Mana," explained Vexille. "And as for your training, your initial lessons will be held underground. However, we might move outdoors once you've gotten the hang of it."
The combination of warmth from Vexillie, the grandeur of the city, and the prospect of the training partly comforted Maze. "If only Reinhart would stop being troublesome and get along with Aldren," she thought to herself, unaware of the thrilling mock battle happening at the surface.
Back at the clearing, Aldren and Reinhart's spar continued, interspersed with Aldren's history lessons. Reinhart, albeit overwhelmed by his first combat training, was unconsciously getting better at using his mana effectively.
As the sun traversed across the sky, their battle ended, Aldren slightly out of breath and Reinhart completely exhausted but grinning. "Not bad, Dinn- I mean Reinhart," Aldren conceded, acknowledging his improvement.
Reinhart managed a weak laugh. "Hey, maybe being a magical instant dinner isn't half bad."
"Now, I want to tell you the truth about something. I have been following you two since you left Belgrath," Aldren said slowly, bowing his head to Reinhart.
"What?" Reinhart asked, the corner of his box tipping up. "You mean that you just watched us get attacked?!"
"From the treatment we have received, we have to be careful. Let me explain something," Aldren requested, holding out his hand out to Reinharts floating form.
Reinhart wasn't sure how to take this, but Aldren had been honest with him so far. Nothing about this person had seemed threatening so far, so it would be worth hearing him out. "Go ahead."
"When we all lived on Vashkram, everyone worked together, and we all lived peacefully. That all changed when a strange human man with tan skin and white marks on his face and body were carved down to his bones in an unnatural way. At the time we did not know what a human was, but he was friendly at first, so we welcomed him in. Then he killed one of our kind," Aldren said and then sighed.
"Killed? Did something happen?" Reinhart asked, but Aldren just looked up.
"One of our leaders, Kerome, tried to pat his back, but just before his hand landed, his entire arm turned to blue mist. The nameless man then turned and tore the Mana right out of his body along with all his life force. After letting Kerome's dried husk fall, he turned and told us that he was a god sent to this world to rule it. No one would listen to him, and we tried to turn magic on him, but nothing would reach him. We fought for over 50 years and finally were able to seal him into a Mana Crystal, but that didn't fix everything. Some of our kind worked with this person, and only 2 years they broke the crystal."
Reinhart listened intently, his focus splitting between Aldren's speech and processing the implications of it. His mind whirled with questions, the revelation creating a deep sense of sadness and trepidation. "But why? Why would they do that? Wouldn't they have seen the destruction that this man...this...what did you call him? This god wrought on your people?"
Aldren sighed, deeply. "Not all Dralkon think the same, just like humans, I guess. We had peace for centuries. Some began to crave battle, others power. This man, this god, as he claimed himself to be, promised them that and more. He turned brother against brother, mother against child. Our society was torn apart. The Dralkons that sided with him, they were called The Betrayers by us."
For a moment, silence fell over them all, swept away in the whirlwind of the past. Reinhart felt a pang of anguish, his prior life on earth mirroring the despair Aldren spoke of. He was brought back to his contemplation by Aldren's voice.
"Kerome, the leader that got killed, was a beloved figure. His death shattered us, and the war that followed did nothing to heal us. We had believed our enemies to merely be misguided. But when they released the god again, we knew they were beyond any redemption. By then, it was too late. His power had grown too great. His attacks left our land barren, countless Dralkons killed. In a last-ditch attempt, we used the last of our mana and fled Vashkram, finding ourselves here in Fallenia."
Reinhart reacted in shock. "So, the person you're talking about...is this the Great Evil?"
"Yes," the sole word dropped like a stone, the confirmation chillingly stark in the serene clearing.
"Is...is this Great Evil here in Fallenia?" Reinhart asked, filled with fear for the world he'd just started to understand and in turn, cherish. He asked, his box form trembling slightly.
Aldren looked at him seriously, the heaviness of his gaze almost tangible. "Not yet, but that's what we're training for, Reinhart. Underneath all the chaos in Fallenia, the rising tension between the humans and Dralkons, beneath all these conflicts, we can feel its shadow looming, ready to swallow anything that comes its way. The human-shaped monster will come, and when it does appear here, we must be ready to face it, stronger than we ever were. Because if we don't, this time, there will be no place left to flee to."
Under the echo of Aldren's solemn words, they stood there, bathed in the orangish glow of the sunset that painted the clearing. Reinhart's mind swirled with the massive information he'd just received, his being vibrating with the immense responsibility that was placed upon them. His view of Fallenia transformed in that moment, from being his odd second home to a world that bore an uncanny resemblance to his native Earth. Underneath the difference between form and magic, Reinhart realized they were unified by their shared pain of the past and hopes for the future.