Reg at some point had fallen asleep. He was in a similar trance then the usual but it was different, he still felt a sense of individuality like he wasn't just a half of a greater conscience. He opened his eyes to black but it wasn't normal darkness, it wasn't merely the lack of light. No it felt as if there was light, there was just nothing for the light to reflect off of. In the distance reg saw Aria but she was pale and rolling on the ground. When he reached out to her she disappeared reappearing moments in a different form, this one much younger and full of life. Big eyes seemed to stair heavily at something in the distance. Inspired by un unwavering light but just then she fell, her big eyes now forced shut fire desecrating the soul. A waft of hopelessness and ache filled Reg's heart as all he could do was watch in confusion.
*****
Meanwhile in the real world regs master had been sitting on the grass waiting long hours for something to happen when suddenly Aria woke up aggressively shoving the unconscious reg who had fallen asleep on her and walking towards Amarith. "Can you house us for just a few days? We'll be out of your hair after that, I promise."
"It's too late for that now. You think I'd let you keep running around on your own after this? You know what happens to Reg if you die."
"You can't protect us forever."
"I don't intend to, I'll train you all until you're strong enough to defend yourself. When you guys leave you'll need to take Reg with you. You'd know better than me but you two are stronger together. More importantly I heard what happened. How have you been coping?"
"Well it's been hard enough just surviving if I didn't find Sashia I don't think I would have made it this far."
"I see, so that's the name of the Beastial. I'll make sure to make something that can control her beast form until she can learn how to control it herself."
"So how exactly are you going to train us?"
"I don't really know, I guess all I can really do is to give you basic combat training and teach you guys everything I know about mana manipulation. Past that you'll need to read some traditional Arvian training."
"I'm not going back there"
"Well for now it is better for you to go down west to a beast tribe If you want to get Sashia some practical training that would be more useful to her, but you'll need to go back there eventually."
"Sashia doesn't really have any connections in the beast tribe so they don't exactly accept her."
"That's fine, I know a few people down there. I'll introduce you." It was at this moment that Reg had woken up. Confused and dizzy he stumbled to his feet. Aria and Amerith were still urgently discussing and hadn't really paid him any mind. Looking around and the corpses lining the floor, Reg's expression became rigid.
"What the hell happened here?" Reg stammered.
"I'll explain later, for now since you're awake it would be best if we rode back. We might have a few months before they find us again."
"Wait…"
"Get on your horse reg. Aria i'm assuming you'll take Sashia on the way back"
"Of course," she responded. On the way back some vege explanations were given to Reg but neither of them seemed very willing to give him a full grasp of the situation. He had caught on to a few things like they were now for some reason being sought after by the government, and it would be best not to get caught. He had also figured out that his master was not the person he had claimed to be.
Back at the house Sashia woke up fighting not realizing where she was. After everything settled down Amarith gave a more in depth description of how the training would go for the next few months. Meanwhile Reg was growing furious with the idea that everyone else was purposefully keeping him out of the loop and with the idea that his master had been lying to him about who he really was all this time.
*****
After that everything in Reg's daily life had drastically changed. Conveniently the training was not much different just swap out all the blacksmith stuff for in depth combat training. The mana manipulation lessons were all generally focused on combat situations. During this time Reg prodded for answers and learned pretty much nothing, but he had been hearing screaming through most of the night and had started to guess that Aria had some hidden trauma. Also it became blatantly obvious to Reg that Sashia and Aria were a thing, which hadn't really bothered reg but for some reason Amarith seemed to get anxious about it.
After a little more than a week had passed and guards started showing up in the town questioning people regarding the whereabouts of Sasha and Aria. Meanwhile Aria and Sashi both hid themselves well, coming out of the house almost only for training so none of the townspeople had even seen them yet. Suspiciously it didn't seem that anyone had been looking for Amarith and he continued his blacksmithing as usual. Reg's training had progressed slightly and they started sparring which Reg thought he would enjoy but he was much weaker than everyone else he always ended up bruised not just physically but his ego got bruised too. He had understood how strong his master was after the blood pool he had witnessed, and For Sashia it was also unsurprising considering she was close to Reg's height and muscular. He came to find out though that her muscles didn't fully display her actual strength. She threw rocks that must have weighed hundreds of pounds and cut down trees in only a dozen swings. What surprised Reg was Aria, she was short 5 '2 short, and she was more frail than anything else. Reg had been training pretty much all his life and was proud of his muscles and overall strength. He had also felt that the things he learned in combat training were easy for him. That being said, every time he spared with Aria he ended up on his ass in seconds.
To Aria the training so far was dull, but she was happy to have somewhere to stay. However her dreams had been getting increasingly horrifying; she'd wake up in a panic almost every night. The dreams themselves didn't really change but they were getting more vivid. She understood the dream well; it was deeply rooted in her past and the trauma that came with it.
Long ago there was a kingdom of Airvinia, this city held the Arvin people and was halfway submerged in the ocean. The other half was engraved through tunnels and carved from stone. This was of course Aria's birth place. She was however somewhat of an anomaly or maybe somewhat of a miracle even. The Arvin people didn't communicate much with the outside world this paired with the fact that the Arvin reproductive system was incredibly different then that of humans, even if they tried to reproduce with a human it wouldn't work. Even still Aria was born a half spector half human. Her mother was a spector who dared to adventure outside of the kingdom. One day her mother exited the temple Aria in arms. The community of the Arvin people was extremely peaceful and accepting so she was immediately taken in and cared for, but the question of her birth still lingered.
At the age of 10 the idea of Aria's father was finally addressed. Her mother told tales of what had happened and called for Aria to venture out of her known world to find him. The community being so supportive put a team of adventurers together and they journeyed into the outside world. Many days were spent in the harsh environment and frequently they were forced to fight beasts. Luckily the Arvin people were exceptionally tough and it wasn't much of a problem. They tried interacting with human towns along the way and it was hard but with Aria's mother there it was easier.
A few weeks into the journey is when they met reg. She hadn't remembered much of the incident but she knew he was in dire circumstance when they had found him and she had decided to give him her name in exchange for his life. Giving your name to a human was not something that was known to be possible but Aria being half human seemed to be an exception. They stayed with Amerith for a few days until Reg was in stable condition. Amerith had been the one that had found Reg originally and he seemed intent on taking care of the boy.
Continuing their journey it was another couple of weeks before they had seemed to arrive at their destination, an old and abandoned castle at the foot of the human kingdom. This castle was massive. Aria had estimated that it was probably a fourth the size of the entire Airvinian
estate which housed their entire population. Upon seeing this everyone became immediately wary but the held absolute trust in the words of one of their own so they held back from objecting. When they walked into the worn vine-painted walls they had been greeted by a guard who escorted them to what seemed to be a throne room. Apon entree their eyes filled with a decrepit sunken old man on a rustic golden throne. He introduced himself as the old king of the human empire though long resigned from his duties. When they asked about Aria's father he had grimaced informing them of a deep comatose and a harsh sickness. He had told them there was hope however, a cure in development.
After many weeks had passed with no advancement the old king had advised that they could start to establish friendships between the two kingdoms during this time. He told them to travel back to Airvinia with a few of his more wealthy diplomates and establish trade to nurture a friendship between the nations. After long contemplation they decided to go with it. Their kingdom had been living in isolation for centuries and it seemed healthy to finally open up a little. They began a long trek back now made much shorter by excessive guides. When they were finally within the last thousand feet of their destination Aria slipped away from the group. She had discovered a secret passageway into Airvinia years before and she had the idea to beat them there. When she made it inside however what she had found was the worst nightmare of her life. Blood painted the walls and everyone who she called her family could only be seen as lifeless corpses. She had narrowly escaped and had been on the run since.
*****
Two months after they had started training they left the blacksmith and started towards the beast kingdom. On the way some tension had started forming between Aria and Amerith they fought frequently about what their goal should be. Aria wanted to leave the kingdom and escape to a new life but Amerith was strangely opposed to it. He frequently mentioned something about the revival of the Airvinian race and how Reg and Aria were its only hope. This however further enraged Aria and all discussion ended at that point. Reg couldn't handle the confusion and eventually Aria lost to his prodding. She told Reg about what happened to her people and about how she was the last of her kind. With that explanation Reg could guess the rest so he stopped prodding for answers.
Even as they traveled to their destination the training continued and it had started to take a toll on Reg's body. He was exhausted every day and his hunger had reached a peak. It had been almost a month since they had started their journey and at this point the scenery had changed; it went from endless plains to a ruff and dense jungle. Traveling through the jungle was much more hazardous, encounters with monsters happened more frequently and sometimes even the plants were out to get them. Traveling through such terrain was much harder but even still after just under two weeks they made it to the beast kindom. They were initially greeted by spears, and arrows but after a quick word from Amerith they were soon overly welcome, even to the surprise of Amerith. After seeing all the guards that cam it wasn't hard for Reg to conclude that Sashia wasn't tall for a beastfolk. In fact she'd be considered short. The average guy seemed well over 7 feet and the women were close to six and a half.
They were led inside the walls and their eyes filled with the peaceful view of wide farms and hay houses. As they traveled farther the houses became more complex and the streets became more prominent. Eventually they were led to a large intricate house which seemed to stand out as expensive and prominent. The inside walls were filled with beast skins, silks, and even some intricate art lining the walls. Just after they entered, a middle aged beast man rounded a corner ahead. His hair shaped a lions mane around his neck and head and he had many lion-like features including whiskers protruding from his cheeks. When he spoke it was deep yet energetic "old friend it's been too long. What have you been doing not visiting for over a decade"
"I'm no longer an adventurer I haven't had the time"
"Oh so your a big shot now? Decided to use that hammer for something other than fighting?"
"I suppose, and what about you? Look at this place! Who died and made you rich?"
"Haha I thought you'd be surprised. Lets just say I finally got to show my grit as an adventurer. I'm a hero now, I'm practically worshiped."
"About sashia"
"Ah yes the cheetah cub, it will be hard because of her situation but with my help we can get her the best training in the beast kingdoms." It was at this moment that Reg had looked back at Sashia and was surprised to see a look of dread on her face. She seemed anxious just being within the walls. Reg wanted to do or say something to reassure her but he didn't know what to say so he just stayed quiet. One of the guards escorted them to some rooms while Amerith stayed behind catching up with an old friend.
Sashia was woken up in a most unpleasant way, with a water bucket to the face. Initially she was pissed and was ready to kick someone's ass but when she noticed who it was she backed down. "Aren't you the commander?" Sashia asked in shock.
"Retired a few years ago but I guess you wouldn't know that."
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm going to be training you for the next bit. I owed a favor to that damned hero, but don't feel too lucky. Your lifes going to be hell for a while."
Immediately after that they ran a mile to a training site where they started with intensive body training. This ended up being harder than anything Sashia has ever done because she was forced to train until her muscles gave out. After several times of this she couldn't move her body at all, and she was told to focus on transforming specific parts of her body at a time. This was not as easily done as it was said though and in the end every time she tried she fully transformed instead and was beaten for it.
Over a month had passed and she had started fully grasping the concept. Even while fully rested she could transform even just her fingernail. At this point her instructor switched the training. She was again forced to train until she dropped but this time afterwards she was supposed to fully transform and remain completely conscious. There was a problem however and that was that when she was fully transformed the reason that her mind entered a beast like state was because being fully transformed was because it is excruciatingly painful to inhabit a body so drastically different without getting used to it first. The first thing she had to do was to focus on the mana while she was transforming. She was supposed to be able to start to feel the mana masking and partially taking over the mind.
It was extremely difficult but after a week she was able to accomplish it, but she still had to suffer the intense headaches that came with it. After a few months of training she had been able to become fully accustomed to it. She could now fully inhabit her full form for just under an hour before becoming completely enabled. And she could sustain a transformation on only one limb for an entire day without facing too many repercussions.
For the majority of that time Reg, and Aria had just undergone intensive combat training. At the end though they started doing specific training that related to the innate bond between them. This had made Aria exceedingly anxious, and Reg had understood the feeling. This type of practice was explicitly supposed to be done by partners and so it made it increasingly awkward considering that was the farthest thing from what they were. This type of training though had given reg, at least leaps and bounds in his training. His strength improved significantly and so did his speed and durability.
They also gained leaps and bound in their teamwork, when they fought together it felt as if they could read each other's minds. They also got a better grasp on how to recover fatigue and stamina with dual meditation. At this point something started to happen that had made the beast kingdom incredibly anxious. It seemed as if the human kingdoms' armies had started to farm near the border between the two kingdoms. The following days Amerith was nowhere to be found, and it seemed as though tension was rising. Finally on the fourth day the human army's forced their way to the walls and demanded to receive Reg and the others.
At this point Amerith had already grabbed them and they had escaped through secret passageways. The human Army didn't back down, but it didn't initiate, and an awkward stalemate broke out between the two armies. Up till this point there had been a reason that nobody had tried to conquer the beast kingdom. That was because while the beast kingdom was not especially large, the average beast man would naturally be twice as strong as the average human so any kingdom that fought with them would suffer great losses. This was all the more concerning to Reg and the others considering that their kingdom would work so hard just to capture them it was a bit extreme.
As they exited the secret tunnels light folded their eye lids and as the world regained its view the feeling of dread overwhelmed them. A small army was lined in front of them clad in impressive armaments. Their swords and spears carried death, and their eyes did even more so.
The one at the center seemed to be commanding and he gave simple orders. "Keep the girl alive, kill the rest."
At this moment Amerith knew that he wouldn't make it out of here, but his eyes stood undeterred, he yanked out a small pendant from his pocket and smashed it into the floor. Energy swirled around them. As this happened he pulled Reg and Aria forward first looking at Aria. "You need to go back to Airvinia. Explore the lost temples and learn about your people's secrets. After that you can ditch the country. I don't care just stay alive, and Reg. I know I've never said it before but I've always thought of you as my son." At this point tiers flowed into his eyes and he looked away. This might be the last time I see you but you need to be strong now. Train and stand at the top, don't let anyone stand in your way in the future." Immediately after saying this Reg and the others disappeared and he was left alone against an army.
As Reg heard this he felt a lump grow at the bottom of his thought and in his eyes tears formed, but it was in this moment that his senses were overwhelmed with an obscene feeling. He felt as though his body was being pulled and disfigured as if fitting itself through a tiny hole in space itself. He watched as light shifted into streams of white and blue particles zipping around his now fading consciousness, and before he fades entirely he felt a strong surge of some sort of life encompassing his now disfigured body as if guiding his matter.
Heavy wind scraped past his face forcing his consciousness awake and for some reason he felt inexplicably light as if he was floating in space. It was just before he could force his eyelids open that he had plunged face first into some body of water. Unready for such a thing he sucked in a large amount of water. Now choking and panicking he forced his way back to the surface. Once he breached the air his lunges forcibly rejected the water and he was sent into a painful coughing fit.When he managed to calm himself down he had a chance to gleam his surroundings. He seemed to be at the epicenter of a fairly large lake, the shores of which seemed to be close to two miles away. It was at this point though that he realized that he couldn't find Aria or Sashia anywhere. In this moment though he was slammed back into the water a sharp pain forming on his head. When he floated back up again he was greeted by Sashia confused and coughing up water. Sashi, concerned and disoriented, shouted something unrecognizable, and regs first impulse was to pull her away from where they were swimming. "What are you doing? Where are we? What's going on?"
"no time just look up." Both of their attentions turned to the sky and a small body seemed to appear in the distant sky which was steadily growing. As Sashia continued looking up in confusion Reg pulled at her arm. When she continued to resist, Reg decisively swam away. When he looked back he saw Aria falling with a faint glow encompassing her. As she collided with the still disoriented Sashi a faint glow shot out from the collision. They soon resurfaced and a now familiar scene played out. "What was that weird glow just now?" Reg asked
"I don't know but I saw it on myself while I was falling." Sashia responded
"It's probably some sort of effect caused by the spell. It would make sense because at the height we fell it would normally be hard to survive that drop." Aria interjected "more importantly we need to figure out where we are and what to do next." This was followed by nods from Reg and Sashia, and they began quickly swimming back to shore. When they made it back to the sandy beach they're eyes filled with rolling green hills that stretched out into rocky mountains that laid at the edge of the horizon. It was then that Aria's eyes filled with a sudden glint of understanding. "I think I have a general gist of where we are. The mountain range to our front is where the dwarven kingdom resides, so behind us there should be a human territory called landfall. The Airvainian kingdom, my home is at the back edge of the dwarven kingdom almost directly north of here. If we go north we'll have to cut through the great river somehow…"
As Aria droned on talking about the most efficient course of travel. Reg's mind wandered, finally remembering the events prior, and the conceivable danger that Reg's master now faced. As the words Amerith spoke moments before seeped into his brain his chest finally couldn't bear the weight anymore. As tiers started forming in his eyes he grasped Aria's shoulders cutting her off of her thoughts. His voice was quietly quivering, and his neck was craned towards the floor. "What's going to happen to my master"?
At this moment the expressions of Aria and Sashia were pained, not knowing what to say, or how to respond. They both felt a sense of guilt and insensitivity after hearing reg speak. After a solid minute of silence Aria's voice was finally heard. Firm and awkward it felt as if she was trying to comfort him but didn't know how. "Amerith is much stronger than any of us can even imagine. I doubt he wouldn't be able to escape a situation like that."
"What do you mean a situation like that there was an entire army there, and what about when he was talking about all that stuff? He made it sound like he wasn't going to be able to make it out." The pain in Aria's face had doubled and when it looked as though words had started forming again they seemed to be caught by a lump at the top of her throat. It was then that Sashia intevened "Regardless of whether or not your master is safe we now have to fulfill his request. We should find Airvainia, and go from there. We can worry about his safety after that"
Obviously his worries were not dismayed by this and the fear in his heart grew rapidly. "We have to go back. We have to save him."
"Do you want to die? There is no way in hell that any of us could be useful to him even if we made it there in time we would die within minutes." After hearing this the tiers surged more dramatically and he fell to his knees sobbing. The more he thought about the outcome the more he couldn't handle the feeling in his chest until uncontrollably he smashed his head into the dirt until blood could be felt running down his face. During this Sashi grabbed a hold of him, restricting his movements, but his screams were still heard. Finally she had enough and she punched his stomach forcefully enough that he fell unconscious. The rest of the day was spent discussing the next course of action. At night they set up camp. Luckily they had most of the equipment they needed on them though some of it was ruined from the lake.
*****