Zell focused with all his might as he used his gladius to parry yet another blow from Misazel’s deadly fist. Sweat darkened the heavy shirt he wore, and grew stiff as the piercing wind froze it to his muscular frame. Sunrise was still an hour away, and the two battled by the light of the stars.

An anima stone floated around Zell, threatening to slam him with brutal force if his concentration wavered even for a millisecond. This additional layer of difficulty was self imposed, and even Agitha had grudgingly praised his determination. Zell kept the anima stone with him at all times, and his growing control of the thing was quite impressive considering just a month ago he couldn’t come within a dozen yards of it without being knocked down by it.

Misazel, not to be outdone had two stones floating in the air around himself. His stones would occasionally collide with Zell’s as the two played out their furious morning routine. When this happened, a shower of blue sparks lit the pair in an epic flash. Despite appearances, this was no life or death battle between legendary warriors. This was just a walk to school for two remedial class students.

A healthy fan base had gradually appeared over the past month composed mostly of ice fishermen and coal vendors on their way to their respective jobs. They formed groups to chat and wait for the inevitable spectacle of the morning fight like it was a private play organized just for them. The two odd but undeniably powerful boys always fought and it was always terrific entertainment in an otherwise drab and miserable season.

Misazel’s onslaught of strikes built in tempo. Zell loved the young dragon’s style of fighting in humanoid form almost as much as he hated dealing with it. The motions were oddly circular, flowing like water and cracking like lightning. Behind every punch was another two or three, often with a kick, knee or headbutt mixed in. Beyond that, every single strike was delivered with the worst of intentions. Oftentimes fighters that relied on flurries of attacks only used them as feints to set up the finishing strike. Every strike was the finishing strike with Misazel.

It was early, freezing, dark, and Zell ached in a dozen places from deep bruises and cracked bones which would require a potion to heal. His nose had an icicle of blood hanging from one nostril and his left eye was swelling rapidly, but Zell wore a smile so wide it bordered on maniacal.

He was starting to feel it, that elusive and drug like euphoria that only came in moments where he was about to have a breakthrough. His mana was obeying him now, it had become almost as natural as breathing. He didn’t need to think about focusing mana into his senses to keep up with Misazel’s blinding speed. He didn’t need to consciously direct mana to his limbs to speed this parry or that dodge, it just happened. It just happened on its own and now Zell could watch the beautiful flow of the sparring for what it was: a spirited conversation between two skilled warriors.

It was so comfortable in fact, that Zell’s mind drifted to wonder about Cora. She had begun some mysterious training regimen with the salamander mage Karakis and their mother. Apparently, having that rude Vira around was shaking up the whole community of magic users across the entire kingdom.

A strange sensation drew Zell back to the fight violently. His sword had struck something that wasn’t Misazel’s steel-hard forearm or fist. And he noted Misazel had hopped back a step and was holding a hand over his bare midsection. He drew it away and a deep cut was revealed with a thin drop of blood fast freezing to his rock hard abdomen.

“You did it!” Misazel cheered. “You landed a clean hit on me!” He rushed over and threw a headlock on Zell and rubbed the knuckles of his free hand on Zell’s scalp. “When you went all droopy faced I figured that you were gonna lose control of your stone like always but then wham! You lost all hesitation and moved almost like a dragon!”

Stolen story; please report.

“Uhh.” Zell stammered and pointed at the wound on Misazel’s stomach which was now producing an alarming amount of blood. “Do you want a potion for that?”

“Oh, no that’s fine.” He passed a hand over the gruesome cut and a green flash of light caused the blood to reverse direction and the wound to close with no trace that it had ever been there.

“You have healing magic like that and you’ve been watching me chug potions every day!?” Zell was turning red.

“What? No, come on man I wouldn’t do that. It only works on dragons. Well actually I guess I’m not totally sure who it works on. I just always assumed it only worked on dragons. Let’s see!” He passed a hand over Zell and the flash of light came.

Zell immediately fell to his knees and vomited as a wave of agony ten times worse than simple potion healing assaulted his every cell. His wounds didn’t close, in fact many of them became immediately more severe. To add insult and just a bit more pain to the scene, Zell lost his focus and his anima stone slammed into his back which drove him to his belly in a puddle of his own former breakfast.

“I think... it only works... on dragons.” Zell sputtered between ragged breaths.

After drinking a normal healing potion and changing into the spare set of clothes he now kept with him at all times, Zell was more or less himself again. He accepted a clay cup of water from a baker whom had come out to enjoy the show, and waved to all the clapping bystanders.

“You did great today, lad!” A fisherman clapped him on the back as he walked past in the direction of the docks.

“Keep it up!” A stout woman hoisting a bulging sack of coal over one shoulder encouraged him. “You’ll have that bully’s number in no time.”

The duo arrived at the school grounds just as the sky was beginning to turn a lovely pink on the horizon. Zell’s heart sank just a bit. It was time for the part of his day that he hated most of all, in spite of all his recent efforts to improve.

“Hold steady, Boss.” Misazel grimly intoned. “Grendol’s lair shan’t defeat us this day.” Misazel also hated the Monster Ecology and Biology class. “Did you study for the test?”

Zell allowed himself a rare smug expression. “I trained late into the night with my sister’s evil and all-knowing teddy bear. I learned everything there is to know about hill giant migration patterns in the Farian highlands.”

“That’s impressive!” The dragon agreed. “I can copy your answers!”

“You’re just going to get both of you in trouble again.” Cora’s unmistakable voice heralded the approach of the trio of girls and Zell’s spirits instantly lifted.

His blunt and cocky sister had come a long ways since Autumn, when the demilich Vira had first possessed her and nearly stolen her body. She was now the big sister figure to the twins, Rin and Nin Corso. Zell and Rin had fallen hard for each other and the romance was still growing every day. Nin had been hounding Agitha night and day for private sparring sessions, and was actually helping to keep the delinquent elf from slipping too deep into her typical party-animal lifestyle.

Overall, things had been quite pleasant. Aside from the looming background threat of a demonic invasion, Zell had been enjoying the best days of his life so far. His family spent many evenings together, and had grown to include Ms. Sira’s recovered son Valin and his adopted sister Nilah, the orphaned Leonid.

Zell embraced this time of love and growth, knowing all too well that everything could change in the blink of an eye. That sentiment was shared by everyone in his circle. They were all training furiously in their own ways, preparing for a season of trials which they all instinctively knew would exceed anything they had endured so far.

Zell’s smiled happily as he walked hand in hand with Rin. At the same time, Misazel began to give Nin the play by play recap of the morning duel. This had become a daily thing as well, and Misazel was an animated story teller. He and Nin got along surprisingly well, like two brash meathead peas in a pod. At first Zell thought the two might actually be developing a romantic relationship, but the longer it went on the more he realized that was absolutely not the case. They were certainly becoming buddies, but that was all.

“What are your plans later?” Rin’s question brought Zell back to reality.

“Today? Hmm I need to check on something in the market, and I wanted to talk with my dad about a few things.” Zell touched his chin as he mused. “Did you have something in mind?”

“I managed to get my hands on a really rare book, and I thought you might want to have a nice evening of reading. It’s been quite a while.” She squeezed his hand gently.

“That sounds great, your house?” Zell smiled wider.

“I think yours.” Rin answered. “The loveseat in your study has been calling my name.”

“It’s definitely the most comfortable piece of furniture around.” Zell agreed. “Think it’s enchanted?”