William:
A light voice spoke to me. At first, I couldn't hear what it was saying. As I woke up, the voice became clearer until I could discern it was Evelyn's.
"Whisk, it's time to wake up. Come on, you're going to be late," Evelyn said, nudging me awake.
I bolted up and asked in a worried voice, "WHAT TIME IS IT?"
She spoke in a reassuring voice,
"Don't worry, you still have 15 minutes before your training with Malikor. Just tidy up. There's no shower here, so the best you can do is wash your face with water. There's a stream about 5 minutes from here. Come on, I'll take you."
I nodded to her and started to follow her out of the infirmary, still a bit dazed from waking up. As my mind started to fully wake, a question rose, and I asked Ms. Evelyn,
"Thank you for waking me up, but shouldn't you also be going to your training?"
"Well, you see, I was also part of Malikor's training class. He singled me out and told me I was far too weak to be in his class, so he gave me two options: 1. leave the academy, or 2. sit and watch them fight and learn that way. But if I chose the latter, I would have to heal everyone after," Evelyn said with a sad voice.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm truly grateful to Mr. Malikor. After watching what he did, I knew that one hit would probably kill me, so it's thanks to Mr. Malikor I'm still here!"
I don't know why, but that just infuriated me. She came here to learn to defend herself, not to be a side medic for that jerk.
"Here we are, Whisk. We only have 5 minutes here."
What I saw was a giant mountain in front with a stream of water flowing down. I slowly took off my mask and put it over my head I walked up, cupped my hands together, and scooped up some water to drink. The water was very cold and refreshing, taking the dryness from my mouth. Took another handful of water, and splashed it on my face, the cold water fully waking me up. How was it that I couldn't see this tremendous mountain from anywhere in the camp, but Evelyn could?
"Hey Evelyn, how did you know exactly where this mountain was?"
She looked at me with confusion.
"Uh, I just looked at the mountain and followed it. Or, oh, are you asking how I knew which mountain to go to? It's pretty easy. On top of the mountain, there's a different color. This one has a blue color on top."
Shit, does this place have a protective magic barrier around it to keep intruders lost? I have to make something up to get her to help me move around.
"Well, to be honest, I'm partially blind, so I can't really see that far. That's why I was amazed that there was a mountain here," I tried to say in a sorrowful tone, trying to get her to feel pity.
It worked. I saw her face turn into a sad frown.
"Then let me help you move around. Just ask, and I'll help you go anywhere. But for now, we need to get going."
We arrived in time as Malikor had just arrived. I turned to Evelyn and thanked her. I made my way to Malikor, then he began speaking. In his arrogant tone
"Listen, boy, I do not intend on training you or anyone here. But if you still wish to stay, then I will not hold back. I have that girl here to heal you, so I'll give you one last chance to leave. If you stay, I will make these next two weeks a living hell for you," Malikor said with a bored expression.
"Like I've said, Malikor, I've trained with bigger and tougher guys than you."
"Fine then, survive until 6 p.m."
Evelyn:
"BEGIN!"
Malikor yelled. Whisk charged at Malikor, but Malikor just stood there until the last moment, where it appeared that he disappeared and reappeared next to Whisk, backhanding him and sending him flying backward. Whisk quickly regained his balance and smashed the ground underneath him, then picking up a large piece of the ground and sending it towards Malikor. Whisk ran behind the chunk of ground, hiding behind it. Then, when it was about to hit Malikor, Whisk punched through it, trying to hit Malikor. But Malikor wasn't there anymore; he had disappeared and reappeared behind Whisk, this time hitting him in the back of the neck, breaking it. Whisk yelled in pure pain and agony on the floor. Malikor looked at me, then waved me over to come heal Whisk.The injury on Whisk was severe; he was completely paralyzed from the neck down. Most healing mages couldn't heal this, but Malikor either knew I could or just didn't care.
Once I finished healing Whisk, he immediately tried to punch Malikor, but Malikor just dodged, grabbed Whisk's arm, and cut it off. Whisk fell to his knees and screamed. Yet again, I went over to Whisk and healed his arm back on. I saw his face turn to surprise. Whisk looked at me and thanked me. Malikor spoke from behind me.
"See, boy, you can't touch me, nor will you ever be able to if you continue. I will not hold back. I will cut off every limb of your body over and over again until you learn that you are no match for me. You're lucky that girl is here to heal you, so just surrender and go home like the trash you are."
Whisk just got up and prepared for an attack
I ran back to where I was and saw them go at it. It was horrifying to watch. Whisk kept trying, but every time he did, Malikor just kept tearing off his limbs, and I had to quickly put them back on. Whisk threw a punch with his right hand, and Malikor dodged, grabbed it, and just pulled it off. Whisk kicked with his right foot, Malikor dodged and cut it off. This happened over and over again; every time Whisk threw a punch or a kick, that part of his body got torn off. I didn't understand why Whisk kept trying; all he was doing was causing himself so much pain. Is this what a soldier is supposed to be? If it was, then maybe everyone who told me to stay off the battlefield was right because I couldn't handle any of this. If my arm got cut off, I would just die of the pain. So, watching Whisk lose his arms and legs over and over again just amazed me; he truly was incredible.
"THAT'S ENOUGH FOR TODAY, MUTT!" Malikor yelled.
Whisk, in a defeated and tired voice, spoke, "No... not yet... I... still have fight in me."
"Tsk, look at you, mutt. You've had enough. Recover for tomorrow," Malikor said, then walked off.
"Come on, Whisk, let's go to the infirmary. You've gone through a lot today."
I grabbed Whisk and looked at how his once white uniform had turned into a crimson red, all of it his blood. I looked back and saw the entire ground filled with Whisk's blood. If I weren't here, he would've died. We entered the infirmary, and this time, there were no people there, so I just laid him on the closest bed, and he fell asleep instantly. I was about to leave, but Whisk had lost a lot of blood, so he might need me here in case of an emergency. I took the bed next to Whisk and lay down, falling asleep.
William:
"Dammit, boy! Learn to use your fighting power. I've told you again and again, use the anger to make yourself stronger. That's what makes you stronger than most! So, stop lying there on the floor and get up! You're not a boy anymore, you're a man now, so fight like it," HE yelled at me, scolding me for not putting up a fight.
"I've told you many times that I just don't get that angry. I get mad, but not the anger YOU keep telling me about," I said, lying on the floor.
"Tsk, if only you knew the power you could harness, William. Then you would understand. Now, get up; we've got more training to do," HE said, gesturing with his hand for me to get up.
"Fine, but nothing you do will make me angry," I said, getting up and into a fighting position.
"Then I will train your body to handle pain. Prepare yourself, as today you will not leave until you either die or land a hit on me. Now, begin!"
I jolted up from my bed, sweating all over. My memory of training with him were far worse than losing my arms and legs over and over again. HIS training still left me with severe nightmares. I tried to wipe my sweat off my face, but this pesky mask always stayed on, only coming off if I took it off. I had to hand it to that old drunk; he knew some powerful magic. I got out of bed and noticed that Ms. Evelyn was next to my bed, looking severely tired, so I just let her sleep for now. I tried to go back to the mountain but got lost for a while before finding it. I just stared at it. Yesterday, Malikor completely humiliated me. I thought I was strong, but now I know that I'm nothing. So, I have to learn a new way of fighting. HE taught me how to fight hand-to-hand, but I can't do that if my opponent is faster than me. I need to get faster, but how? Maybe if I put heavy weights on my arms and legs throughout the day. But where the hell would I be able to get weights from? I know the answer is in front of me; I just need to find it.
"Whisk, how did you get here?"
I created a fist, turned around about to swing at the voice behind me, but I noticed it was Evelyn. She put up her hands in front of her face but lowered them as she noticed me putting my hand down, and she spoke, her voice a little afraid.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!"
"No need to apologize; I'm just on edge right now," I said, turning back to the mountain.
"Is it because of Malikor?"
"Kind of. I know that if we ever fought using our hands, I would have the clear advantage. But the problem is that he's fast, so I have to become faster, but I don't know how. "turning to the mountain I took off my mask and drank the mountain water
"Well, if it helps, Malikor isn't fast on his own strength. He uses wind mana to help him move around, but I don't really know how."
That was the piece I needed to become stronger. Now I just need to know how to use wind mana. If I remember correctly, everyone has the affinity for all four mana elements: wind, fire, earth, and water. But most people can only really use and master the mana that connects with them the most. Arthur connects with all four, the princess connects with wind and earth, but as for me, I don't really connect with any of them. So, learning how to use wind is going to be harder, but luckily, I have the next two weeks to learn.
"Whisk, are you still there?" Evelyn said, putting her hand on my shoulder.
"Yes, sorry, and thank you. That was the piece I was missing. Let's go before we're late," I said cheerfully.
We arrived, and Malikor was there, waiting with his sour-looking face. I knew these next two weeks were going to be painful, but if I could just somewhat learn to use wind mana to make myself faster, then these two weeks would be worth it.