Zell aimed his gladius for the shining eyes of the nearest beetle with a hard stab. The metal sparked as it impacted the ultra hard lens shielding the giant insect’s eyes. He paid for the move with a painful gash on his lower back as a sharp mandible grazed him from behind. In sheer desperation he dove to the side into a roll and narrowly avoided the snapping mandibles of the beetle next to him as he rolled under it.

The move bought him a second, and he noticed that the belly of the beetle was pale compared to the rest of the shell. He didn’t have the room to position his sword so reached to his thigh for his sharp dagger. He plunged the blade between two of the pale ridges and it actually slipped. in. The beetle lurched violently but Zell held his grip firm. The movement caused the beetle to disembowel itself, spilling uncomfortably hot green blood and innards all over Zell’s torso.

The beetle shuddered and went still, settling its considerable weight onto Zell who was in no hurry to climb out just yet. The many beetles closed in, seeming confused. They took no action to jostle their now dead companion. Zell developed a crazy idea in the heat of the moment. He rolled over to his stomach and braced his back against the dead beetle’s abdomen. Using all the strength he could muster, he lifted the carcass until the tips of its dead legs were just brushing the dirt. With determination brought on by survival instinct he began crawling toward the edge of the dung mound with the beetle carcass puppet on his back.

The beetles milled all around him with agitated movements occasionally cracking their mandibles. After several grueling minutes Zell reached the tall grass, and his trail of salvation was in sight. Just as he began to hope, a burning and crushing pain exploded in his right foot. One of the beetles had finally caught sight of him under the carcass.

Helplessly he was dragged out as the bones in his ankle snapped and his boot quickly filled with blood. He involuntarily screamed out, and a chorus of clacking mandibles heralded his certain death.

“Onigoro.” A familiar husky voice said abruptly from out of sight.

Something strange happened then. The clearing went quiet. No scuttling, no cracking mandibles, just a grave silence and light booted footsteps approaching. He rolled to his back and gasped in disbelief. Every single beetle had been beheaded with a single precise stroke. Above him loomed the apparition of his master.

He often teased this woman and played practical jokes at her expense. Somewhere during the months of helping her to bed after she drank too much, or watching her waste entire days lazily in bed he had forgotten. Agitha was the apex of mortal achievement, deadly beyond measure and the master of so many famous proteges. She had personally yanked him from death’s clutches time and time again.

She wordlessly extended a hand holding a red vial. he took it gratefully and downed the bitter liquid. The crushed bones and tendons in his foot rapidly knitted back into place with a wave of pain more intense than the injury itself. Zell growled and bit his lip, drawing blood which the potion also healed.

A few moments later he was back on his feet, healed but exhausted beyond belief. He went to step but staggered. Agitha didn’t say anything, but caught him. She draped his arm over her strong shoulders and supported him all the way back to camp.

“Did I screw up?” Zell asked groggily as she sat him down on a log next to the low fire, assuming her silence to be anger or disappointment.

“You didn’t screw up.” She locked her violet eyes onto his exhausted green ones. “I’m the one that failed. A second later and I would have lost you. I never let a pupil work in The Tear on their own before today. I was overconfident in you and it almost killed you.” She grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him in for a rough hug. “You did incredibly well. To kill a beetle and use its body as camouflage is an idea that no one else would think of much less execute. I’m very proud of you, but I do want to hear the whole story.”

“Can I tell you tomorrow?” Zell asked, fighting to keep his now welling eyes open.

“Go to bed Bait. Grab a hunk of snake meat for Goggles on your way so he doesn’t pay my pack a visit.” She released him and settled back to watch the crackling campfire alone or so she thought.

“Tough kid.” Captain Fargis said from the edge of the firelight. The handsome captain walked up to the fire but stopped before sitting. “May I?”

“You’re the captain aren’t you?” Agitha retorted, composing herself quickly.

“Maybe on the water, but out here there’s only one leader and I’m looking at her.” The captain uncorked his silver flask and raised it as he spoke.

“How does that still have anything in it?” Agitha asked him.

“It doesn’t, just brandy flavored water now but the habit is comforting.” He answered wistfully. “Want some?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“I actually do.” Agitha grinned lightly and he moved to sit next to her and passed the flask.

“Tastes like shit.” She noted. “Still, thanks.” She stood and stretched, adjusting the swords on her hips.

“Taking a lap before bed?” The captain guessed, knowing her routine well after the weeks of observing it.

“You guessed it.” She confirmed as she disappeared into the darkness without a sound.

“Woe to the marooned captain with his heart stolen by a grey haired siren.” Fargis muttered to himself as he tipped his flask back and gazed up at the night sky.

Zell swung gently in his hammock, reflecting on the day and the surprising tender moment with Agitha as he pet Merc’s head next to him. The experience of plunging over the cliff and nearly dying had caused him to seriously reflect on what was important. Without realizing it he had grown careless. He might have left his family in agony, and would never have been able to explore his future with Rin. He had forgotten the most basic rule. In order to live, one must first survive.

The following morning began with a summer squall. The rain whipped sideways as the intense wind howled in from the ocean. Zell, Agitha, Merc, and all of the sailors were not taking refuge from the weather. There was an important mission and it couldn’t wait. The process of recovering the thunder beetle carcasses was in full swing even in the terrible storm. Each corpse was a treasure trove of invaluable tools and provisions.

The meat was another coveted delicacy, rich in mana and nutrients. The real prize, however, was the carapace of the beetles. They were lightweight, incredibly resilient and water proof. With only minor modifications they were usable as an effective kayak, a necessity for crossing the marshlands to the north. A total of thirty usable carcasses were recovered, which would supply more than enough meat for the remaining four weeks of training as well as the journey to the lizardman city of Axis. Additionally, the severed horns and mandibles made excellent tools from spear heads to machetes for hacking through the area’s tough vegetation.

Zell worked hard along with the sturdy sailors, dragging the heavy carcasses to back to the camp where Agitha broke them down into their basic usable components. She explained that as long as the weather broke in the next couple days they could use the sun, salt, and the juice of an acidic fruit native to the tear to dehydrate and preserve the valuable meat.

He tried not to let on and the storm certainly helped hide it, but Zell was subdued. He couldn’t shake the memories of the previous day, the certainty of his death, and the people that would be hurt by it. He needed to become stronger, much stronger.

Later that afternoon, the storm passed and the sun returned bright and strong. As Zell assisted Agitha in preparing the beetle meat, he thought about how to phrase his thoughts.

“I almost died twice yesterday.” He began, noticing her slight hesitation as she heard him. “When I discovered the dirt mound, one of the beetles flanked behind me somehow. I broke away from the cut trail and fell down a cliff far below. I was seconds from death when I drank the potion. I followed one of the giant mammoths into their cave and waited until dusk to make my move for the surface. I failed and alerted the whole nest and became surrounded. That’s when I dove under the beetle and used it to crawl away. That’s when you saved me.” He finished his tale.

Agitha nodded but didn’t speak, she simply carried on scraping flesh from the inside of one massive carapace.

“I want to train deeper in the forest, where my mana is heaviest.” Zell continued. “I don’t want to worry you again. I have to get stronger.”

“You’re in luck. With this haul of beetles, chores are done. Now you and I can play together.” Agitha looked up, and flashed Zell a genuine smile. “It’ll take two days to finish this up. After that it’s you and me, dawn to dusk sparring and hunting.”

“Aye teacher!” Zell felt immeasurably better and went back to the messy work with enthusiasm.

As promised, three days later Zell found himself squaring off with Agitha deep within the tear. He had never properly sparred with her before and found himself immediately intimidated simply by her presence. His movements were sluggish and awkward here. The pouch of more than a dozen healing potions nearby were unnerving as well. Something told him she wouldn’t be as gentle as his former coach Nin.

With no signal to start, a fist slammed Zell in the right side of his chest and he flew backwards in a spin. He had enough reflexes to roll to his feet, his sword slashing across at hip level. There was no elf in front of him to fend off, and the flat of a demonbone longsword cracked across his shoulder blades, pitching him forward. He rose to his feet, spitting dead leaves and dirt. In spite of the intense pain and frustration Zell was smiling widely. This reminded him of his first days with Nin. A new mountain to climb had presented itself, and Zell was home.

Over the next three hours Zell was beaten into the dirt hundreds of times. His nose was smashed to the side, both of his brows were streaming blood, and his left arm which held his buckler hung limply at his side. His body was battered and bruised as bad as it ever had been, yet still he stood and tried to fend against the lightning fast attacks.

Agitha was getting a tiny bit tired. She had always known Zell’s fortitude to be borderline supernatural but what she was seeing now was unprecedented. His movements were correct, just lagging in speed. Even more astonishing, disabled parts aside he didn’t seem to be slowing with fatigue.

“Take a potion before that arm starts to heal wrong.” She said as she sheathed her weapons.

“Aye.” Zell grimaced as he snapped out of his combat trance.

He stifled a scream as his shoulder relocated and the torn ligaments in his elbow knitted back together. A few minutes later he stretched the arm and confirmed he was ready to go.

“It’s time to work on your speed and awareness.” Agitha said. “You’ve mastered the basics of channeling mana to your skin and somewhat into your swings but there’s alot missing.”

She motioned for Zell to sit, and she did the same cross legged in front of him.

“There are times when I seem to disappear and reappear in another location as far as you can tell right?” She asked him.

“It’s incredible.” Zell confirmed “Like teleportation magic.”

“That’s because our bodies are, by their nature, very lazy things. They only do enough to get by day to day and don’t bother processing any more than that. When a thing moves at a speed that exceeds those acceptable limits, it is filtered out by your sensory system. If you learn to channel your mana into those systems, you will see what I mean.” She held out her hand with her calloused palm facing Zell as she explained.

Suddenly her palm had moved a full foot to the side, and Zell blinked twice.

“Now just as you would direct your energy into hardening your body, focus it into your eyes. Open your mind to the fact that there is more to be seen. She moved her hand again and Zell clapped in excitement.

“I saw a picture of your hand in the middle for just a tiny moment!” He exclaimed.

“That’s the beginning. Soon these afterimages will multiply and you’ll be able to determine a direction to react in, and finally predict where your enemy is most likely to move.”

They continued to train in this manner for the rest of that day, and the next day after that. Weeks passed and Zell’s progress continued. His body adapted to the weight of his mana even as that mana continued to grow. His evenings were spent sharing stories with the rowdy but lovable pirates and deepening his bond with both Merc and Goggles who was growing at an alarming rate on the new diet of thunder beetle meat. Zell even made an incredible discovery about his pet spider. If he gave Goggles an image of himself as a spider, followed immediately by another image of a mundane item Goggles would attempt to copy the item’s appearance with his magical camouflage. With so many new and exciting doors opening before him, Zell was more resolved than ever to do his best and surprise everyone with his progress.