by Aaron Oster
That said, the small creature took off once more, leaving Grace to hastily shove the lunch of bread and cold meat down her throat.
15
Morgan returned just in time for Grace to finish packing her sodden clothes into the pack.
“Rested, are we?” he asked, making her jump.
He was seriously going to have to teach her about being aware of her surroundings. For now, he had a different lesson in mind — doing the same types of things that Gold had taught him.
“Not exactly,” Grace replied, turning to face him. “My everything hurts. Please tell me we’re not doing more exercise now.”
“We’re not,” Morgan replied simply. “I wouldn’t have let you eat if we were. No, this part of our lessons will be reserved for sharpening the mind, and we will begin with a history lesson.”
Though it was clear she wasn’t overly excited about that, the fact that she wouldn’t be running until she dropped was more than enough for her to not complain. Morgan sat, motioning for her to do the same. Grace looked good in the armor he’d gotten for her. It didn’t fit as perfectly as he’d have liked, but that was what the straps were for. Another thing he’d have to talk to her about was tying her hair up. Having that blow into her face in a fight was akin to a death sentence. Still, that was a conversation for another time.
“Long ago, back when the world was young, the world was a far different place. Supers, mages, and the system we know today did not exist. Instead, people awakened all their power at once…”
Morgan ran through the lesson, telling Grace all about the Tyrant King, the man who tried to conquer the world but was stopped by a mysterious figure and stripped of his power. He spoke about the founding of the Central Kingdom and the new limitations placed on their power. His lesson took a bit of a turn here, one that Gold had never added or had needed to at the time.
“Things have changed since then. The restrictions placed on everyone’s power have been removed, and now, everyone can continuously grow. However, that part isn’t important right now. What is important, is the knowledge that while you have the potential to be powerful, you will not have the overwhelming advantage of growing to rank 100 while everyone else remains locked at 50.”
He could clearly see that all this information was new to her, and the mere fact that she was reacting, showed that she was actively listening, rather than simply allowing it to drift into one ear and out the other. That was good, because it meant that despite his initial assessment of her, Grace was actually willing to learn.
Being willing and being able were still two quite different things, though. The real test would come later today after she’d had a bit of downtime and really allowed the muscle pain to set in. For now, though, he had a lesson to finish.
Morgan knocked twice on Katherine’s door. He knew she was in there, but it was only polite to knock. He’d already intruded once without giving warning and now had a group of guards who glowered at him every time they passed. Grace was back in her room. From what he’d gathered, she was going to take a nap, which, in his opinion, was a very bad idea. Still, the process of learning was just that — learning. If she didn’t make a few mistakes along the way, there would be little point.
“Come in,” Katherine’s muffled voice called through the door.
Morgan twisted the knob, letting himself in and shutting the door behind him. Katherine was dressed in more practical attire today, consisting of an armored top and leggings. However, practicality seemed to have taken a break from her neckline, which plunged in a deep V-shape, all the way to her navel.
If Katherine hadn’t been as hardy as she was, Morgan would have called this idiotic. But, as he’d learned long ago, if something were to hit her hard enough to cause real damage, there was little her armor would do to protect her. The day when such armor existed, was the day he’d start calling her out on her choice of attire. Until then, he’d keep his mouth shut.
“I’m glad you came,” Katherine said, leaning forward a bit and giving him an eyeful. “I was almost afraid you’d left.”
“You know I always keep my word,” Morgan replied simply, moving to take a seat across the desk. “So, why did you want to see me?”
“Going straight to business, I see.” Katherine sighed, leaning back once more. “Fine. The captain of Garrison Blue, Nathan, will be here shortly to explain why he destroyed a city while trying to stop some beasts. I need you here for some extra intimidation. He’s been getting way out of line and is costing us too much money.”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve been meaning to tell you about that,” Morgan said, bracing himself. “I have amassed a hefty sum of adamantite over the past couple of years. I won’t really be needing it once the week is out, so you can have it if you’d like.”
“Wait. What?” Katherine said, sitting up straight. “Just how much are we talking? And for what possible reason do you need adamantite, but just for this week?”
“I used it to lock something up while I was training. The metal is very dense, as you well know, so I’ve been using it as extra weight for training. However, once we leave, there won’t really be time for that, and leaving all that metal lying around when it can be put to better use would just be wasteful. Now, as to how much — I’ve got roughly thirty-five tons.”
Katherine’s jaw went slack, her eyes widening with a mixture of shock and utter disbelief. She knew the value of such metal, far better than he did. In fact, the value may even have gone up in his time away.
“You’re joking,” she finally said.
In answer, Morgan pulled a hunk of the metal from his pack and placed it on her desk.
“You’ll find the rest about fifty miles north of here in an abandoned village. I’ve left them in large enough chunks that they can’t be easily moved. You’ll likely have to retrieve them yourself, but that shouldn’t be an…oof!”
Morgan was cut off as Katherine practically slammed into him, driving the air from his lungs and knocking his chair over backward.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Katherine said, squeezing so hard that Morgan began to feel his ribs creaking.
If he’d had any doubts as to whether Katherine had kept up with her training in their time apart, he no longer did. As the force of her hug increased, he began to grow alarmed.
“Yeah, it’s not that big of a deal, really!” he said, trying to pry her arms from around his neck.
“Don’t give me that crap!” She practically squealed. “That kind of money can solve a huge chunk of our problems!”
She placed a very wet kiss on his cheek before finally releasing him and sitting up. She was still very much on top of him and didn’t look as though she wanted to relinquish that position. A sudden knock at the door made her jump, and Katherine quickly scrambled up off him, making her way back around to her desk. Even as Morgan righted his chair, he could see how happy he’d made her.
Her eyes were shining in a way he’d only rarely seen, and he had a feeling that had they not been disturbed, she’d have done something that both of them – or at least he – would have regretted. Katherine took a moment to compose herself before calling for the person to come in. In his mind, Morgan muttered a silent thanks to Nathan, the troublemaker who’d saved him from Katherine’s…gratitude.
“This looks like a good place,” Morgan said, looking around the Beast Zone.
“Don’t you think this place is a little too high-level for her?” Lumia asked, looking around as well.
She was in her hybrid form, having taken it up only once they entered the area. She maintained her smaller form at all times, just in case they were being watched by the enemy. Having an ace like Lumia as a reserve was something that they’d discussed at length before leaving their training area.
So long as they were out in the open, the drake would remain in her small form. Inside Beast Zones, she didn’t have to, as it was far easier to sense anything out of place. Even muddled and hazy as their cores were, the en
emy spies would still stand out.
“It’s perfect,” Morgan rebutted. “I entered a similar Beast Zone on my first day of training, so I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“You’re forgetting that you’re you and that you had help,” Lumia shot back.
“That’s why you’re going to help her,” Morgan replied.
“That hardly seems fair,” Lumia said. “How will she be able to learn anything if I tear through all of the beasts before she can? Besides, I don’t want her coming to depend on me in a fight.”
“You won’t be helping her as Lumia, all-powerful drake Matriarch. You’ll be helping as the small drake, the one that isn’t all that powerful.”
“She might already know that I was once the Matriarch of a Beast Zone,” Lumia said, looking away.
“So, you’re the one that told her about the second chance she’d be getting.”
This was a statement, not a question. Lumia didn’t try and deny it, for which Morgan was grateful. He knew he could count on her to always be truthful, even if she did keep secrets from time to time.
“No matter,” he continued. “You didn’t tell her you were the Arc of a powerful Beast Zone, did you?”
“No,” Lumia admitted.
“Then everything is fine,” Morgan continued. “You’ll be her partner in the first run, and we’ll see how you do. If it’s a disaster and the two of you don’t get along, we’ll figure something else out. If not, then you’ll be backing her up. I also trust that you won’t purposely get in her way, right?”
Lumia let out a huff, then turned the other way. It was clear that she was unhappy with the arrangement, but that she’d go along with what he wanted. He knew she didn’t like anyone else and that she had issues trusting other people. In fact, he was pretty sure she still couldn’t stand Gold, even after all their time spent together.
In her defense, most people couldn’t stand Gold, so it was no surprise there.
“Alright then,” Morgan said, turning towards the exit. “Let’s go find our young protégé and give her the good news!”
Lumia somehow doubted that the girl would view this as ‘good news.’ Still, training was training and as long as Grace passed the trial period, that was all that mattered to her.
16
“Why does everything hurt so much worse than before?” Grace groaned as Morgan shook her awake.
“Because you made the mistake of not stretching before lying down,” Morgan replied without an ounce of pity in his voice.
Grace continued wincing as she rose from the sofa, every movement seeming to cause a great amount of pain. Morgan remembered well how he and Sarah had done exactly the same on their first day of training and had ended up in a similar situation. The only difference here was that Grace was on her own. Shul had basically thrown Grace at him, abandoning the suite for a much smaller, quieter room on the opposite side of the palace.
If Morgan were a betting man, he’d say that the man was probably throwing a party, all while desperately hoping that Morgan would keep the young girl with him when the week was up. That still remained to be seen, but as Grace rose, cranking her neck from side to side and wincing at every move, he had to admire her tenacity.
Most people would have quit halfway through his morning exercise. She had made it all the way through, continuing even after she’d vomited and had been unable to rise. She’d taken all the punishment and kept going. Now all that remained to be seen was how she did under pressure.
“So, where exactly are we going?” Grace asked as she finished stretching.
“You’ll see when we get there,” Morgan replied, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Grace only had time to utter a single, “Wait!” before Morgan teleported out of the palace.
From there, he used the skill again, coming out fifteen seconds later, hundreds of miles from the North Kingdom’s capital. Grace vomited once again, dropping to her knees and emptying what remained of her lunch.
“If you keep doing that, I’m going to starve to death!” she snapped as she rose unsteadily to her feet.
“I’m sure you’ll manage just fine,” Morgan said, holding out a canteen.
Grace glowered at him but took the proffered container, cleaning out her mouth before handing it back.
“I feel like I’d rather travel any other way.”
“Well, if you prefer to take a two-week trip by horseback tomorrow, I’m sure I can oblige,” Morgan said dryly.
It was only then that Grace realized that they were nowhere near where they’d started.
“Where the hell are we?” she asked, looking around at their unfamiliar surroundings.
There was an awful lot of sand, and they were surrounded by short shrubs and prickly-looking plants. It was much hotter than it had been a few seconds ago, and she was already beginning to sweat. Additionally, a massive sandstone cliff rose before them, towering high into the sky. At its center was an open cave mouth.
“We are now in the West Kingdom,” Morgan said, opening his pack and pulling a sleeping Lumia from within.
The drake was less than happy to be awoken in this fashion and snapped at him, but when Morgan released her, she had little choice but to concentrate her attention on flying.
“Can’t you be more gentle?” the drake snapped, smoke streaming from her nostrils.
“I can be,” Morgan replied.
When he failed to say anything else, she let out a huff and flew to land on Grace’s shoulder.
“I’m going to be staying with her until you learn to be nicer!” Lumia said, turning her nose up in the air.
“What are we doing in the West Kingdom?” Grace asked, scarcely believing how far they’d come.
“We’re going into a Beast Zone. I had to look around to find a suitable one, but I believe this should be just fine.”
This caught Grace’s interest, the girl’s eyes looking upon the cave mouth in a new light.
“You mean…?” she asked, turning to Morgan with barely repressed excitement.
“Yes, we’re going to train against beasts now. Kill any beasts, and you’ll be allowed to keep their cores as well.”
Morgan turned and headed towards the entrance, followed by an overeager Grace, who was now practically hopping with excitement. The fact that she hadn’t asked what a Beast Zone was meant that she already knew. That being said, she likely hadn’t expected to come to a Beast Zone for quite some time.
Still, he didn’t think they’d be spending much time here. If what he’d seen so far held true, Grace wouldn’t be able to kill even a single beast on her own. He doubted they’d be here more than five minutes. Grace dashed ahead of him as they entered, eyes wide as she looked around.
The Beast Zone was pleasant enough, though Morgan had been through enough to know that it was pretty tame as far as they went. It looked much the same on the inside as it had on the outside — sand, stony outcroppings, and a hot sun beating down on them. He could already sense several beasts nearby, but he wasn’t going to warn Grace. That would defeat the whole purpose of the exercise.
Morgan spotted the first beast just a few seconds later. It was fairly small, perhaps two feet at the shoulder, and walked on four spindly legs. Its coat shone a bright tan, and its black, metallic horns curled forward an impressive two feet in length. The beast’s status became visible to him in under a second, showing what Grace would need to face.
Name: Ironhorn-Gazelle
Rank - 2
Ability Type - Super
In a straight-up fight, Grace should win against the gazelle, hands down. However, he very much doubted in her ability to do so. In fact, it took her a further minute to even spot the approaching beast, only managing to do so when it was about thirty yards away. In her defense, it blended pretty well with the landscape. Morgan also had to remind himself that she wasn’t him. She didn’t have his eyesight, hearing or perception. Nor did she have the Aura Sense skill, so it would be impossible.
If
they were going into enemy territory, he’d have to give it to her. Perhaps he’d save the skill as a present for when she blended her cores and unlocked her true abilities as a supermage.
Morgan shook himself. He’d been thinking of their time together in terms of when, and not if. Grace still had a lot to prove, so he wasn’t just going to allow her to pass just because he was starting to like her attitude.
“Woah, look at that thing, Morgan!” she exclaimed, pointing at the gazelle. “I’ve never seen such a weird-looking beast before, let alone one so big!”
She looked back at him, the question clear in her eyes. Morgan just motioned forward, letting her know that she could do whatever she liked. Lumia took off as she ran at the beast, pumping her legs for all she was worth. Her form was still way off, and Morgan crossed his arms, carefully observing the oncoming gazelle.
Grace charged with reckless abandon, closing the distance and taking a wild swing at its head. The beast was faster than her and nimbly dodged to one side, spinning in place and lashing out with its hind legs. Morgan hid a wince as the loud crack echoed through the quiet air. It wasn’t quiet for long, though, as Grace hit the ground hard, letting out a cry of pain.
Judging by the angle of the kick, the beast had connected squarely with her chest. She should have at least fractured some of her ribs, if not broken them. He was about to step forward as the beast pawed at the ground, but to his surprise, Grace got back to her feet. She’d taken less of a pounding than she would have had she not been wearing the armor, but still, moving with an injury like that couldn’t be easy.
Lumia helped this time, swooping down and letting a stream of fire billow from her open mouth. The gazelle danced to one side, letting out a cry of pain as its hindquarters were singed. Morgan let out a small hiss of annoyance between his teeth when Grace failed to capitalize, instead taking the time to expand the size of both of her fists before charging the creature head-on.
