Somewhere within the Cresthelm Kingdom
'Finn, I believe your plan to guide the boy is a bit extreme. Even I can not see the future of that boy should you continue with your plan,' an ethereal voice said softly within the Oracle's mind. "I believe you have forgotten what you put me through," Finn replied with a frown, "He is young, with no real experience of the world. Ever since you told me of his arrival all those years ago, I have worked diligently to prepare many things to enhance his growth."
The old Inheritor continued his search through the belongings of the dead bandit leader, "He knows not the truth of the world. Inheriting the power of the beast god requires one's will to be strong. I will set him upon the correct path."
'His path will already be full of treachery,' the voice responded, 'Yet you are willing to go as far as doing that to the boy. I do not know if that decision would be wise to carry out.'
"You did it to me as well," the old man huffed as he removed a patch of skin on the leader's hand, which had an ominous looking black skull tattooed to it. 'You are different,' the voice sounded a bit annoyed, 'I have told you many times. I've lost many Inheritors in the past when I first gave them my power. You have lasted the longest among all my Inheritors, which makes you special. But should your actions cause the boy to become hostile towards you, then I fear I may have to find another Inheritor.'
Finn didn't respond to the god, deciding he was done searching the dead leader's tent. Stepping out into the foggy night air, Finn once again took in the sight of the destroyed camp.
Without a word, fire erupted in all directions from the Oracle, consuming everything within the encampment. Finn walked calmly through the flames, enjoying the sight of vermin such as these being consumed. He did feel bad for the ones they had captured, but it was better for him to just put them out of their misery than have them live on with such trauma's. He had made sure his flames were intense enough so their deaths would be instant.
'I'll show you my visions, young Kenneth. I'll show you the ugliness of this world. I'll help you understand what must be done,' the oracle thought as his jaw clenched. For now, he will continue with his preparations. There was much to be done with so little time.
***
'This lady is going to kill me!' Ken cried internally as he fell on his face. "Did I say you can stop?" Althea's voice reached his ears, causing him to shiver. It had been three days since he started training with the witch of a woman.
Ken had spent the first day only running. The second day he was forced to do a plethora of upper body workouts, from sunup to sun down, while constantly in a state of mana exhaustion.
By the third day, his entire body had felt like jelly. His legs had given out on him when he first got out of bed that morning. Today was a mix of running and doing weight training. Ken was less than pleased when she had upped the weight of his vest and equipment. 'Don't these things take time?! Why the hell is she upping the weight already?!' Ken screamed within.
"Are you unable to get up?" Althea said from above him. Ken's body was completely limp as he struggled to catch his breath. "Looks like that's all you-" Althea started, but was cutoff as Ken swung his arm in an arc in front of him, landing on the ground ahead.
With bulging veins, Ken slowly began to pull himself forward until he once again needed to swing his arm forward. A smile formed on the woman's lips as she watched Ken continue forward, albeit at a snail's pace.
Stepping towards Ken once again, Althea knelt beside him and rolled him onto his back. Putting her palm onto his chest, a warm sensation began to spread throughout his body as a faint greenish glow emitted from her palm.
Ken almost groaned in pleasure as the physical exhaustion began to wash away from his body. He still felt the mana exhaustion, but that was still manageable. "I'm not going to do this for you everytime you're tired," Althea stated, "But only when you absolutely can not go anymore."
Ken nodded slowly as he thought, 'Healing magic is so awesome.'
Once she confirmed his body was back in shape, Althea said, "Alright. It's time to keep pushing you. SInce I've now used my healing magic on you, I'm going to push you even harder. I hope you're ready, Kenneth Lovell."
Standing up, Althea stared at Ken who quickly followed her movement. "Now," she said as she pulled a much heavier vest from her ring, "You're going to be running up and down the stadium's steps until I'm tired."
Ken gulped but still nodded, "Yes ma'am!" As he went to remove his current vest to replace it with the new one, Althea stopped him saying, "Put it over the one you have."
'Fuck,' Ken thought with a tear in his eye. Things really weren't going to get easier for him.
***
"Ugh, this is so booooring," Rex sighed as he shot off another fireball. "Eh, it ain't too bad," Fitz said as he also shot a fireball of his own. "We can shoot fireballs without even having to say it!" Dex exclaimed excitedly.
Dex, Rex, Fitz, and the rest of the rats had shot hundreds of fireballs over the last few days. The repetition of casting the spell had made it easier for them to transition from vocal casting to silent casting. Though it wouldn't matter much against human opponents since they couldn't understand the rodents anyways.
"I'm just tired of casting fireballs all day," Rex sighed again. He had tried to sneak off the day before, but somehow that green-haired witch had noticed him. She nearly squashed him just before he almost made it past the arena's exit.
"I still think using magic is super fun!" Dex said cheerfully, "I can't wait until Ken has more spells!" Fitz laughed at the youthful mouse, who was full of positive energy. Though the past few days weren't very eventful for them, Fitz was still happy with his current situation, along with his fellow rats. 'I can't wait to see how things turn out,' Fitz thought as he watched Dex try to cheer up the brown mouse.