While there were many things Kaztos appreciated about Saiya, her ability in the culinary arts was one he appreciated the most. While the meat and mashed potatoes weren’t close to the best thing he had ever had, there was something special about eating something made by a friend. It made the times they got on each other’s nerves inconsequential in comparison. The fact he could enjoy a meal with his friends completed the experience. Kaztos was all too used to eating alone back at Molinar Manor. Or worse, suffering through an awkward meal with his mother.

  They had just gotten through another day of work. Euronar had him, along with Shi and Li, go into a nearby forest to gather wood again. Demand in the camp had increased because the perimeter torches needed to be lit all night. Most also used extra wood to keep their campfires lit later into the night for extra security. The attack still weighed heavily on everyone’s minds.

  The trip had no interruptions, unlike last time. Kaztos even had fun talking with them. It took effort, but he could now say that they were friends. And wasn’t that just an oddity in itself? Growing up, Kaztos couldn’t say he had anyone to spend his time with. Even for Zeltara and Saiya, it felt different. Their bond was something more than just a simple friendship. So, having just a casual friendship with others was nice to have.

  One thing Kaztos noticed and appreciated was how much more he could carry. Sure, the enchanted backpacks the Al’Yanda used decreased weight, but they didn’t eliminate it. Today, he could chop down trees more easily and carry more than before. An accomplishment Kaztos silently celebrated. It meant that he was making progress with Dollanti’s training.

  Even he would admit that the exercises were boring. Kaztos had heard enough complaints from the others to know how they felt about it. However, he couldn’t deny that it worked. The training may be demanding, but it more than made up for it in the results. Kaztos wondered if Zeltara and Saiya noticed their own improvements. He’ll have to ask sometime. They didn’t have physically demanding jobs compared to him. A laugh across from him drags Kaztos out of his thoughts.

  “This is fantastic, Saiya. This is my mother’s recipe, yes?” Pence asked. His punishment ended today, and he was allowed to rejoin them in the evenings. Kaztos had given him a warm welcome upon his return. The group sorely missed the Al’Yanda boy during the evenings, although Saiya probably wouldn’t admit it.

  “He’s right. You’re getting good at this. It’s much better than what my father and I could do,” Zeltara added on. Kaztos was glad to see her in a better mood than before. He made a note to check up on her more often. She seemed all too willing to take their burdens, but not let them ease her own.

  Saiya said nothing as she ate, but Kaztos could see the faint blush at the praise. Getting no response, Pence leaned in closer to her.

  “Come on, Saiya. I just complimented your cooking. The least you could do is acknowledge my existence.” Saiya turned away and kept eating. Pence pouted at her continued indifference. “Well, at least you can cook. I’m sure your future husband would appreciate that.”

  Zeltara burst into laughter while Kaztos tried to suppress his own chuckles. He failed upon seeing both Saiya’s annoyed face and Pence’s cheshire grin. Getting herself under control, Zeltara said, “Yeah, Saiya. I’m sure your would-be husband will be head over heels. It’ll be love at first bite.”

  “It’ll help him survive her continued disinterest. I’m sure the marriage will be cold in more than one way.” That finally got a reaction out of Saiya as she turned and glared at Pence.

  “Pence!” Zeltara said in between laughs. “I can’t believe you said that.”

  Kaztos decided to enter the conversation. “That was completely inappropriate to say. You need to apologize.” He was all for harmless teasing, but that was too much for him. There was no need to be so crass.

  Pence seemed to realize he might have pushed too far. “You’re right. Saiya, I’m sorry.” Saiya’s look softened, but then she turned away again. Pence took exception to the abrupt dismissal. “Don’t ignore me, Saiya. Saiya.” He steadily got closer to her. “Saiya. Come on. Saiya.” Pence was now leaning on her, his head on her shoulder. “Saiya. Saiya. Saiya.” From where he was looking, Kaztos could see how angry she was getting. He estimated Pence had ten seconds before knives would start to fly.

  “How about you step back, Pence? You know how Saiya feels about her personal space,” Zeltara said, humor in her voice but with an underlying seriousness. Pence heeded the warning and backed away.

  “Sorry, I just got overexcited.” Kaztos saw Saiya move her hand out of her cloak and keep eating. He wondered when she had even reached in there to begin with.

  “It’s fine, but please don’t bother her like that. You can get overbearing with your teasing sometimes,” Zeltara said. Pence bashfully nodded and got back to eating. Saiya gave Zeltara a thankful look for the intervention, which was returned with a nod.

  As the group finished eating, Kazto’s thoughts went to tomorrow. He would have his first day of specialized training. The thought of it filled him with anticipation. Would it be like Zeltara, where they would talk, or would there be actual training involved? Maybe Zeltara left something out when explaining her session this morning. Putting down his plate, Kaztos turned to her.

  “Zeltara.” She looked over. “Did you leave anything out about Dollanti’s training? I want to get an idea of what to expect tomorrow.” Zeltara then grinned at him.

  “Oh, you want to know more? Getting nervous about tomorrow? Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll enjoy talking to Dollanti the whole time.”

  “No! That’s unacceptable!” He exclaimed. Did she know something about his training session tomorrow? Did Dollanti tell her? “Surely there’s more to it than that.” Kaztos paused when Zeltara started laughing at him.

  “I’m just teasing you. I have no idea what he has in store for you. Though I assume there’ll be at least some talking. Even if it’s just to explain things. He seemed to want to use the time to fix problems he noticed.” Zeltara seemed to get embarrassed at that. “Again, sorry for the way I acted the past week.”

  “Just drop it. We already settled this,” Saiya said. Kaztos nodded in agreement. Zeltara relaxed at the affirmation.

  Pence looked confused. “Wait, what happened this past week?” That’s right. He missed the drama that had happened lately. Kaztos got ready to explain it to him when Saiya interrupted.

  “It’s nothing to worry about. So stop asking.” They exchanged looks as Kaztos wondered why she had stopped him. Saiya tilted her head to Zeltara, who looked nervous. Ah, that made sense. He shouldn’t be talking about her problems to some else like that. Even if it’s with another friend.

  “Ah, now you’ll talk to me? Now that you have something to hide? Have anything else to say?” Pence asked. Saiya proceeded to ignore him. He let out an amused huff. “Very well. I’ll get you talking someday.” It was that or Saiya would stab him. Kaztos honestly wondered which was likelier at this point.

  “Well, there is one more thing we talked about,” Zeltara said. They turned to see her looking smug.

  “What was it?” Kaztos asked. Her smile widened.

  “Dollanti admitted my inventions were impressive. That I had a unique fighting style. He said that I would need to work on my own to improve myself because of it.” So perhaps Kaztos would be looking forward to supervised self-study then. Not what he had in mind, but something he can work with. “I’ve already come up with several ideas for new inventions. I’ll be a whole new fighter before you know it.” Kaztos leaned forward in interest. Pence did as well with excitement.

  “Really? What are they?” Pence asked. Saiya then groaned and covered her face as Zeltara shot them a coy smirk.

  “That... is a secret.” Pence stumbled over in surprise as Kaztos sighed. Zeltara was always one for the theatrics. Couldn’t she at least give them a hint? These things would be nice to know before a crisis.

  Saiya lowered her hands, revealing an amused look directed at him. “You really didn’t see this coming, Kaztos? She does this every time someone asks her about it.” She then glanced over at Zeltara. “Though it’ll probably end up with her blowing herself up. I can already imagine the tinker cabin going up in smoke.”

  Zeltara said, “Thanks for the vote of confidence. I’ll be sure to stand next to you when I try out a new explosive.” The group laughed. Kaztos then got back to the original topic.

  “I’m still curious about what I’ll be learning tomorrow. It’ll obviously be different from Zeltara’s training.” The group quieted down to consider the question.

  “Maybe it’ll be weapons training. He’ll teach you new skills for your hammer,” Pence said. Zeltara shook her head.

  “No, I think Dollanti will do something else. You weren’t there for the spars, but he criticized Kaztos for only using his hammer. He’ll probably try to introduce him to a new weapon. Something to expand his skill set.” Kaztos nodded. The idea of a new weapon intrigued him, but a part of him shied away from the idea.

  There was a reason he chose to wield a war hammer. It was the traditional weapon of the Molinar family. While not all of them used one, it was by far the family’s most practiced weapon in the past. When Kaztos was younger, he had naturally gravitated towards it. The war hammer was a part of his legacy, and he wanted to commit to it. To show the world he was a Molinar through and through.

  Saiya pulled him out of his thoughts by saying, “I doubt Kaztos could learn a new weapon. He only seems to think ‘hammer smash’ when in a fight. Anything more might break his brain.” Kaztos might have taken offense to that if he hadn’t seen her smirk at him. Well, two can play at that game.

  “Oh, you shouldn’t be so quick to criticize me. After all, you have a wand that shoots fire, and all you’ll do is use your knives.” Saiya waved her hand at the remark.

  “Yes, but at least I have the option. You don’t even have that. How sad.” Kaztos chuckled but conceded the point. Maybe picking up another weapon would be helpful. As long as he could still mainly use his hammer, that is.

  Pence said, “Ah, I’m kind of jealous of you three. Getting to learn under Dollanti would be great. All I get is my brother, and I know he goes easy on me.”

  “It’s not as fun as you might think. Dollanti is a real slave driver. He also revels in our continued misery while he trains us,” Zeltara said. “Though who knows, maybe you’ll get the opportunity someday. But try not to rush it. Remember what happened the last time you did?” Pence nervously rubbed the back of his head.

  “I won’t, promise. I learned my lesson from the last time. Those monsters...” Pence trailed off as he got lost in thought. Kaztos could only imagine how dreadful that night had been for him. Being so close to death wasn’t a pleasant feeling by any means. Good thing Saiya had been there to save him. Perhaps that’s why Pence was so fascinated with her?

  “Are you alright, Pence?” Kaztos asked. He shook the Al’Yanda boy’s shoulder to snap him out of it. He successfully got Pence’s attention, who looked at them, embarrassed.

  “Sorry, I just got lost in thought. How about I leave the adventuring to you guys? Some time learning from my father might be good for me.” The camp fell into a silence as the group settled into their own thoughts.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  By now, night had truly settled in. The sun had fallen hours ago. A slight chill settled in the air. Kaztos thought it interesting as the wasteland had been at best warm for the entire time they’d traveled through it before now. Perhaps it was the heat from the cataclysm dissipating more? Or maybe the seasons were changing? Kaztos doubted there was much of a difference between summer and winter where they were.

  Pence stood up and stretched. “It’s getting late. I need to get going, or I’ll be in trouble again. Have a good night.” Kaztos and the others said their goodnights, and Pence left. It was just the three of them around the campfire now.

  “We should be heading to bed as well. I don’t know about you two, but it’s been a long day for me,” Zeltara said. Saiya snorted beside her.

  “We were the ones who had to do all that running. All you did was talk. Not much use for your muscles?” Zeltara gave her a smirk.

  “What is with you today? You’ve been in a mood today.” Saiya only shrugged. “Fine, don’t tell me. But I’ll have you know I exercised my most important muscle today. My brain. Something I’m sure you have no experience with.”

  Kaztos sat there as the two traded lighthearted barbs at each other. If someone were to listen in, they’d think Zeltara and Saiya were having a heated argument. But he could recognize the mirth the two had as they hurled insults. It was the same feeling Kaztos himself had. He leaned back and continued to watch them joke around.

  A sense of fondness filled him at this moment. To think, all of this has happened because of an argument. If Kaztos hadn’t been angry at his mother, then he would never have gone to the town square that day. It wasn’t somewhere he’d ever really visited. And the day he went there was when Saiya needed help. Kaztos was at the right place at the right time. To think if he had gone a day before or after, they never would have met.

  That singular moment led to such a drastic change in his life. Before, his life had been lonely, hopeless, and even if he didn’t want to admit it, bitter. Part of Kaztos knew he would never have reached his dream. Not in the way he was going about it. A bitter pill to swallow, but one he took without hesitation. His mother had been right. It really had been fruitless.

  But now, everything had changed. His dream lay before him. A path he can now follow. It would still be treacherous, and he could fail at any time. However, that mattered little to Kaztos. It was infinitely more than what he had before. All thanks to his new friends arguing before him.

  Their friendship was still recent in the grand scheme of things. They knew each other for under two months. Still, Kaztos had never experienced such a strong bond before. They forged their friendship in the fires of hell. Despite just meeting each other, they had to band together and survive. It made sense to him why they had become so close. And his life was all the better for it.

  A new resolve filled him as he realized something. This bond was one of the most important things in his life. Kaztos would do everything he could to protect it. Whether that be through his words or his hammer. He would be the pillar the others could lean on when needed. Zeltara proved that to be necessary just today. Both were strong in their own right and, in some ways, larger than life. But they still needed help. Kaztos promised himself that he would be there for them.

  So, it didn’t matter what Dollanti threw at him. Kaztos would overcome it and reach new heights. Not just for his family’s honor. It would also be for them. They were worth it for setting him on this path. For being his friend.

  Kaztos’ thoughts were interrupted as Zeltara tackled Saiya onto the ground. He watched as they wrestled on the ground, wondering how their teasing got to this point. Saiya, while trying to escape Zeltara, gave him a pleading look.

  “Kaztos, help me.” He thought about for a moment before shaking his head. Better not to get in the middle of those two.

  “Sorry, but I can’t. I don’t want to stop Zeltara when she has that look in her eye.” Kaztos chuckled as Saiya cursed at him. The momentary distraction allowed Zeltara to pin her to the ground.

  “Ha! Take that, Saiya!” Zeltara yelled triumphantly. Saiya struggled, but couldn’t escape her grip. She glared up at the redhead.

  “Let me go.” Zeltara pretended to think about it.

  “How about... no.” Saiya futilely struggled some more, growling.

  “Get off me, Zeltara!” She shook her head.

  “Nope. This will teach you to watch your words. I can’t believe you thought you could say that about me,” Zeltara said in a teasing tone. “But don’t worry. I’ll let you go. All I need is an apology.” Saiya stopped resisting and gave her captor an exasperated look.

  “Really?”

  “Yup. Just one apology and I’ll get off.” The two stared at each other, neither seeming willing to give in. However, Kaztos knew how this was going to end. In the time he’d known them, Zeltara could be as stubborn as a draft buffalo.

  He was proven right as Saiya sighed and said, “I’m sorry.” It was one of the most insincere apologies Kaztos had ever heard. He would have almost felt insulted on Zeltara’s behalf if the situation were more serious.

  As it was, she smiled. “Apology accepted.” She let her go, and both stood up. Kaztos saw Saiya elbow Zeltara in the stomach on the way up. The two brush the dirt off themselves. Zeltara turned to him. “Hey Kaztos. What’s with the sappy look on your face?”

  Kaztos realized he was looking at them with a soft smile. “I was just thinking about some things, reminiscing.” He paused, considering his next words. “I appreciate having you two as friends. You’ve changed my life in a lot of ways.” A wide grin bloomed on Zeltara. Saiya turned away, failing to hide the small smile she wore.

  “Ah geez, Kaztos. You really know how to make someone feel special. Thanks, I feel the same way about you two. I don’t know where I’d be without you,” Zeltara said. Saiya nodded in agreement. That feeling of fondness filled Kaztos again.

  “I’m happy to hear that.” He would have said more, but he ruined the moment with a yawn. Zeltara laughed.

  “That’s a sign we should go to bed. Maybe this time, someone won’t interrupt us,” Zeltara said, side-eyeing Saiya. The blond girl appeared unrepentant about the previous interruption. “Alright, good night you two.”

  “Good night,” Kaztos said.

  “Night.” The three walked to their tents. Kaztos yawned again as he entered. He took off his armor and laid down. Between work and training, Kaztos has found himself exhausted by the end of the day. He knew Zeltara and Saiya experienced the same weariness, as they'd been going to sleep over an hour earlier than before. Just the price they had to pay for training. Kaztos closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

  His dreams were happier than what he had been used to. It was just him spending time with Zeltara and Saiya out in the forest. They didn’t even talk, just enjoying the beauty of nature. From the evergreen of the trees to the movements of small critters. The three just relaxed, soaking in the scenery. After a while, Kaztos realized his tent flap opened, and the outside breeze was coming in.

  Kaztos woke up and rolled his way to the back of the tent. He turned to see Dollanti looking at him, almost impressed. “Good reaction. You’re finally getting it.” He left, leaving Kaztos to get dressed. He did so and climbed out of his tent. Kaztos was outside just in time to see a knife fly by Dollanti’s head. He got up and stood next to Zeltara, who was waiting.

  It took a minute for Saiya to leave her tent and join the rest of them. They had gotten ready quickly enough to follow Dollanti to their training area. The veteran adventurer gave them an almost impressed look. Kaztos felt proud of himself. They not only gotten better at detecting threats, but at getting ready at a moment’s notice. Zeltara and Saiya seemed happy about the morning’s success, too.

  Once the group reached their training ground, Dollanti said, “You’re finally getting it. This is the first time I’ve not had to tie someone up.” The three held a quiet pride in the accomplishment. “Still, there’s room for improvement. I want you three ready to attack just hearing my footsteps outside your tent.”

  Zeltara appeared confused. “How are we supposed to do that?” Dollanti motioned to Kaztos.

  “How did you tell I was there?” Kaztos thought back to a few minutes ago.

  “I could tell the tent flap moved and felt a sudden breeze in my dream.”

  “And did you specifically hear that? Or was it a feeling?” Dollanti asked. Kaztos took a moment to respond.

  “No, it was like the knowledge was there in my mind. I can’t recall having heard it. It was like a new sense.”

  The veteran adventurer nodded. “Exactly. Your sixth sense picked it up.” Now Kaztos and Saiya joined Zeltara in her confusion.

  He said, “Excuse me, sir. But what exactly is a sixth sense?” Dollanti channeled a small mana ball at the end of his pointer finger.

  “It’s another way to use your mana. Most people only use it to channel, whether that is by hand or through a medium. Few know mana can be used to enhance one’s senses indirectly. You won’t be able to hear or see better, but you’ll get the most out of the senses you have. For Kaztos, he would have heard the tent flap normally if he had been awake. His latent mana just allowed his brain to process it even while sleeping and perceive the danger.” Kaztos nodded, satisfied with the answer.

  Meanwhile, Zeltara still seemed confused. “Wait, but how am I able to detect you, then?”

  “Elves have much more sensitive hearing than humans. While it allows you to hear much further distances, it can be a headache in places with a lot of noise. Unconsciously, you filter out most noise unless you concentrate. You’d go crazy in a city otherwise. You’re training a different kind of sixth sense, where your brain unconsciously processes dangerous noise by itself,” Dollanti explained. Kaztos and Saiya looked at Zeltara, impressed.

  Zeltara still seemed unsure. “I don’t understand exactly. How is my brain able to do that? You just said humans needed the help of mana to develop a sixth sense. How can I do it without?” Dollanti stroked his beard thoughtfully.

  “I’m not sure exactly. There wasn’t a guarantee that it would work. But this was something you needed to learn, so I gave you the same training as them in hopes you’d figure it out. Perhaps elf biology is still developed for the presence of mana. The mechanism in your brain might still be there, able to be used.” Dollanti waved his hand. “Like I said, it’s different from a human’s sixth sense. There will be things they can do with theirs that you can’t. But we’ll figure that out later.” The area fell silent as the three processed this. Kaztos accepted the information while Zeltara and Saiya seemed to be still trying to figure it out.

  Dollanti cleared his throat. “Enough about that.” He turned to Zeltara. “Did you make any progress with what we talked about?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I have several ideas to try out.”

  “Good, keep working on it. Otherwise you’ll fall behind.” He pointed at the girls. “You know the drill. Twenty laps around the village and then your exercises. Twenty-five for you, elf.” The two nodded with surprisingly no complaints. “Get to it then.” Zeltara and Saiya gave Kaztos a quick goodbye and ran off, leaving him alone with Dollanti.

  He grinned with excitement. Finally, his training would begin. Possibilities ran through Kaztos’ mind as he asked, “What are we going to do first, sir?”

  Dollanti hummed as he seemed to think. “I need to check on something first.” Kaztos felt his excitement dim a little.

  “What is it? Will you be gone for long?” He didn’t want his training time cut into too much. Based on yesterday, Kaztos only had an hour of personal training today.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. What I need to check is right here. It won’t take long at all,” Dollanti calmly said. The veteran adventurer walked closer to Kaztos. They now stood a foot apart. He wondered if there was something wrong with his appearance. Before Kaztos could ask, Dollanti’s hand blurred, and he was punched hard in the gut.

  Kaztos stumbled back as his hands covered his stomach. His knees almost buckled under the pain as breathing came in gasps. He felt like puking, but managed to hold it in. Kaztos glanced up at Dollanti and gasped out, “Why?” The elder man was unaffected, examining him.

  “It’s just as I thought. Pull yourself together, and I’ll explain in a minute.” The nonchalant reply infuriated Kaztos, but he had little choice. He took deep breaths as the pain subsided. His strength returned, and with it came righteous indignation.

  “Explain yourself! Why did you assault me unprovoked?” Kaztos yelled. Dollanti held up his hand.

  “Sorry about that. I needed to confirm my suspicions.” The apathetic apology did little to calm Kaztos, but he held his tongue. “And I can tell for certain that you are unconsciously enhancing.”

  Confusion doused some of Kazto’s anger. “Enhancement? What’s that?”

  “It’s exactly as it sounds. You enhanced your body to absorb the hit. That punch should have knocked you unconscious, lying in your own vomit.” Kaztos grimaced at the description. “It works by channeling mana through yourself when you're attacked. The energy strengthens your body at the point of impact, and you take less damage.”

  “So, it’s like sixth sense?” Kaztos asked. Dollanti nodded.

  “Exactly. Your body uses sixth sense differently, though. That’s mostly in the brain, while most enhancements happen in the skin and muscles. I suspected since your battle with the abominations. You’ve been unconsciously enhancing your durability to soften blows. You should have been much more injured during that fight.” Kaztos brightened up at the explanation. He was doing this the whole time?

  “Is that how you move so quickly? Your hand was a blur when you punched me.” Dollanti raised his hand and punched the air. It blurred again from the speed, as Kaztos couldn’t keep track of how many punches he threw. A thought came to him. “Wait, why doesn’t everyone use enhancement? This is an amazing ability, and you don’t even need a medium. Why is nobody using it?”

  “Good question. The answer is that most people are using it.” Dollanti smiled at Kaztos’ confusion. “Almost everyone with mana unconsciously enhances at some point in their lives. Think about the stories of mothers saving their children from burning buildings, moving heavy debris out of the way in their path. That’s enhancement, though through an extreme example. The problem is that for almost everyone, it’s uncontrolled. They can’t will their bodies to do it whenever they want.”

  “But you just did so with your hand. So, obviously one can train to do so. Why don’t they?” Kaztos asked. Dollanti sighed.

  “Because it’s very difficult. To enhance consciously, you need to commit to hundreds, or even thousands, of hours of training. There’s no uniform way to learn it either. Everyone’s bodies are different. It’s an art that’s almost completely self-taught. I can give only general guidelines and exercises to help. The reward is worth it, though.” Kaztos smiled. It sounded challenging, but he was ready to face it head-on.

  “So, will I be able to move fast, like you?” Dollanti shook his head.

  “Maybe, maybe not. That’s the interesting part. Most people can learn only one or two different kinds of enhancements. It’s all their bodies were built for. While there are an unknown number of unique enhancements in the world, most people only have a combination of the four general body enhancements: strength, speed, durability, and self-casting. I can only use speed. Yours is durability, and it might be your only one. You’ll have to wait and see if a second one shows up.”

  Kaztos asked, “So will you be teaching the other two this technique?” It almost disappointed him that he wasn’t learning something unique.

  Dollanti said, “Not right now. I haven’t seen anything from Saiya yet. Zeltara won’t be able to learn it. Enhancement requires mana to use.” He noticed Kaztos’ frown and grimaced himself. “There’s a reason there aren’t elf adventurers. All it takes is for them to run into someone who can consciously enhance, and that’s it for them.” Kaztos thought about how Zeltara would take it. She’d probably throw a tantrum at the unfairness of it all. But then she’d declare it didn’t matter and invent something to compensate. He smiled at the thought.

  “I think Zeltara will be fine. Now, where do we begin?” At this, Dollanti gave him an almost bloodthirsty grin. It doused almost all the enthusiasm Kaztos had.

  “That’s the fun part, at least for me. How do you think one trains their durability enhancement?” Kaztos dreaded hearing the answer as Dollanti got into a fighting stance. “You have to get hit, repeatedly. Feel how your body is channeling your mana during the point of impact. Eventually, you’ll understand and be able to control it.”

  Kaztos braced himself. “So you’re saying I have to get hit repeatedly? Fantastic.” The two stand across from one another. He prepares himself for what is likely a painful next hour. Kaztos did say that he’d do anything to become an adventurer. He just didn’t think it would be this painful.

  Dollanti took a step closer and said, “It’ll all be worth it. Enhancement is always much stronger when you can control it. You’ll waste much less energy and push it several times further. You can even keep training it to improve it further. Now remember, mana without a medium is useless. You are the medium. Your body will channel to protect itself, just like a wand channels to produce a spell. Unlike a wand, you need to form the spell manually. Try to feel for it.”

  A blur of movement, and Kaztos took another punch to the gut. He took a step back to catch himself. Releasing a breath, he realized it didn’t hurt as much as before. Kaztos grinned, “Ha! not too bad, huh?” Dollanti nodded.

  “Good job, kid. Did you get any feel for it?” Kaztos thought about it and shook his head. “Then we’ll keep going. Tell me when you're tired. Enhancement drains your mana. If you’re not careful, you could fall unconscious from the strain. Understand?” Kaztos nodded, bracing himself again. “Good, good. One more thing, though.”

  Dollanti’s hand blurred, and Kaztos closed his eyes for the hit. Nothing came, and he opened them to see the veteran adventurer gone. He suddenly took a hard hit to the back of the head that dropped him. Kaztos turned to see Dollanti standing over him.

  “Unconscious enhancement only works when you can tell the hit was coming. Although your core was protected, your head remained exposed. Another reason you want to learn control. You’ll be able to cover your entire body at all times. No mana drain unless you actually get hit.” Dollanti circled Kaztos as he struggled to stand up. He only managed to get to his knees.

  “Your team needs a frontline fighter. Someone who will absorb the punishment from enemies and keep on fighting. If you fall, then your friends will follow.” Dollanti stopped in front of Kaztos, offering him a hand up. “So, are you ready, kid?”

  Kaztos stared at the hand as he thought of the path laid before him. He could already tell that there would be a lot of pain in his future. Was Kaztos willing to do this, to be the pillar his friends needed? To take the suffering their enemies would bring down upon them?

  He thought about the previous night. Of the smiles, laughs, and warmth. That feeling of belonging that was just now becoming commonplace. Would he be willing to make the sacrifice to keep that feeling? To protect Zeltara and Saiya from whatever may come for them? Kaztos smiled. The answer was easy in the end.

  Grabbing Dollanti’s hand, Kaztos pulled himself up and said, “I’m ready to begin.”