Darius stared out his window that night at the city streets below. He wasn't quite sure what to feel as he watched the line of crest fallen soldiers march. Their armors were all smeared with dirt, and their banners didn't flicker bravely in the wind. They simply hung lull without breath. At the lead of the group was a man on horseback, his expression sour and grim.
Darius rolled away from the window, laying his head down on his pillow as he stared up at the ceiling, watching the shadows dance from the bobbing torches.
'So many dead.' He thought. 'And yet they gained nothing. They didn't even fight. That must feel terrible, to be a warrior and go down without even being able to have a heroic death. The Black Rose is cruel. How much longer will this land, no, world, have to deal with this?'
He flicked his feet as he thought. The Nameless Lord. How could one be so corrupt? How could one have such a lack of empathy for others? That was something Darius never understood. How could a living person not think of those around them and how they suffered?
He rolled on his side, tiredness taking his sight as his mind trailed away. His dreams that night consisted only of warped metal and solemn flames.
~~~
'CRASH'
Another blade shattering to the ground.
"Damn!" Darius cursed through grit teeth. "This is stupid! Why can't I just make my conjurations stronger?"
"Because, Darius. Your conjurations are already nigh perfect. And here is a tip, if you only practice one form of magic, there is a limit to how much you can grow. But if you tend to both, then each will raise the other. From one form you learn tools to add to the other." Alabaun explained calmly.
Darius sighed dejectedly, "I realize that… it's just that we've been doing this for two days now with nothing to show for it."
"Then come at it differently." Alabaun said simply, as though it were such a menial task.
"How?" Darius asked, "What am I supposed to do, hum like I'm meditating?"
Alabaun shrugged. "Maybe."
Darius threw up his hands in frustration.
"Let's try something else." Alabaun sighed. "You seem to perform better under pressure, so,"
"So? So what?" Darius turned about to look at Alabaun just as the man rushed him down. Darius panicked, leaping away as he conjured a spear of glass to cover the distance. Alabaun swept the projectile away and came upon Darius, cracking the butt of his sword atop his head.
"That was a conjuration. Not a manifestation, kid." He said.
Darius rubbed his numb skull, "Well, how was I supposed to react? I went off instinct. And you are the one who rushed at me."
"Well, I thought, since it's gotten so boring, I'd liven things up. Chop chop now, no daudling." With a smile, Alabaun swept his freezing blade through the air and Darius leapt away again.
"Hey! Just, hold on-"
He leapt away again, weaving between Alabaun's swings.
"Why are you running?"
"Because, what the hell?!"
"That's a great reason, you know what, just keep doing that, that's good, keep it up. Cardio!" Alabaun suddenly flashed forward in a burst of speed, taking Darius by surprise as his fist slammed into his stomach and the wind was knocked out of his lungs.
"Oh well, looks like you're out of breath. Guess that's the end of cardio training." Alabaun shrugged as Darius fell to his knees coughing.
"Oh, come on, I've seen you take hits harder than that." Alabaun said, crouching in front of Darius. "Look, kid. You've gotta get your head in the game. And it's obviously not. So let's talk. What's on your head?"
Darius glanced up at Alabaun and then back down at the ground. He'd been figured out. "It's nothing." He insisted.
"I've raised two whole brats, you think I'm gonna believe that? Come on, now."
Darius rolled his eyes. "Look, I just," he sighed. "I'm frustrated. I've gone twelve years on my own. I couldn't protect anyone but myself. And I've come all this way just to find out I'm a weakling. How could someone not be annoyed by that?"
Alabaun let out a long breath, then placed a firm hand on Darius's shoulder. "You're not weak. If you were, you wouldn't be here. You are young. And inexperienced. I was once inexperienced too, you know. A garden doesn't grow from one day of watering it. You have to keep going, keep reaching higher and higher. I'm not one for pep talks, but look, I'll lay it out plain and simple. You have potential. It's not as if I've been ridiculing you and putting you down. I've noted your skills, your potential, have I not? But at the same time, I've take you under my wing, and thus, I want to see you grow. Which means I'm going to call out your flaws, not to insult you, to help you grow. How can you grow if you don't know what you are lacking?"
"Yeah. I know, and I appreciate it. It's just… annoying." Darius clenched his fist. "I just want to be there already."
"Don't we all. Imagine how I feel, I've been training all my life, for hundreds of years, just to kill the Nameless. And I'm still not there yet. Everyone is eager to reach the end, but they don't realize the end may not be better. Even still, we march on, in hope that it is. But you have to take a moment to take a breath and accept the present. Because the faster you rush to the horizon, the faster you may be running to your grave."
Darius stared blankly at the grass, taking in Alabaun's words. 'The faster I go the closer I get to my grave. I know that's not what he really meant but..' Darius stood up.
"Okay. Let's get back to it then." He manifested a sword. He felt more firm now where he stood. If he wasn't strong yet, as long as he put some effort, he'd be eventually. As of now, he wasn't thinking about the possibility. Now, all he was focused on was the smooth glass in his hands and the crystalline sheen of the blade he held.
Alabaun smiled. "Good."
'CRASH!'
The crystalline blade shattered in Darius's hands as Alabaun stood, swiftly swinging his sword. But this time, Darius felt a firm, jarring vibration run up his arms as the blade resisted. He couldn't help but grin a little as he manifested another.
This time, Darius swung at Alabaun, his sword clanging at it bounced off of the mage's.
"Oh?" Alabaun spoke, "is that how it is?" And he returned his own strike, which Darius moved to block, but his blade shattered once more. But he knew that was coming, and he let go with one hand as another blade manifested and he swung that, the sword glancing off of Alabaun's frozen edge while Darius reformed the other, crossing over his arms as he swung one blade after the other.
Alabaun lazily deflected each strike, smiling all the while as he stepped back before quickly slashing across both swords, shattering them. Darius leapt back as he reformed the swords before rushing at Alabaun, who swung his own blade down as Darius's rushed to greet the edge, but this time, it didn't break. Though cracks split across it's sleek frame, it remained solid, and with newfound confidence, he kept on swinging again and again, the blades dancing with glinting light as they clashed beneath the sun.
"Stop." Alabaun spoke. "Manifest one blade."
Darius stopped, panting, and held out his hand, a blade ringing out as it formed. He held it up with both hands, gripping it tightly as he tensed, ready for it to break. Alabaun brought back his arm before crashing his sword into the glass, which rang out as the vibration ran down Darius's arms, but it didn't break.
Alabaun grinned. "Well done. How hard was that?"
Darius grinned giddily. Then his eyes moved past Alabaun. In the distance, he saw a red haired boy with his arms folded as he leaned against the stone wall of the towering castle. His red eyes glared down at him with distaste. When their eyes met, the boy frowned and leaned away from the wall, turning and storming away.
Alabaun followed Darius's gaze, seeing the boy as he left.
"Ah, yes. That was Nillan I do believe, my son. He's, ah, how do I say it, a bit of a hard head? He is rather aggressive. But he's got a good heart. It'll be a while before he warms up to you, I'm afraid." Alabaun spoke.
"I.. don't expect him to." Darius responded.
"Hm?"
"It's not like I'm family. He isn't obliged to open up to me. So it's fine, I get it. I'll just give him a wide berth."
Alabaun studied Darius for a moment before shrugging. "That's up to you. Just know, while you may not be family, we are all the same here. We all share a common goal, so you have just as much of a right to be here as he does."
"I guess." Darius spoke, but he really wasn't thinking about that. His mind wandered to the march he'd seen before, and the worn, glum face of the man who had led his sorrowful men.
'CRASH!!!'
Darius's hands flew off to the side as his sword was obliterated, taking him by surprise.
"Ow." He said, rubbing his arms from the vibration of the clanging blades.
"You are getting distracted, Darius." Alabaun chuckled. "Shall we continue?"
"Yeah.." Darius said, manifesting another sword, but his mind was still stuck on that solemn scene.