Garro stepped back from the doorway and gestured me through into the training center. As I stepped past him, Garro closed the door behind me.

“Come on, then, Cassian” he said gruffly. “I’ll give you the tour.”

I glanced at him questioningly, noticing that he had used my name without any honorific. But of course, here in the training center I was not ‘the Prince.’ Here, I was just a raw recruit.

I left my flying carpet to rest on a boundary wall but kept my staff, using it to walk beside Master Garro.

Garro gave me his tour quickly, pointing out the different areas of the training center and explaining their uses in his gruff voice.

The training center was much larger than I’d expected. Looking around the big open space, I thought that the Hunter Clan village where I’d lived in my old life would have fitted twice over into the huge dome-roofed chamber where I now stood.

It was lit by a massive array of ornate-looking windows high up on one curved wall. Sunlight shone in brightly through them.

Garro pointed out the different sections of the chamber, which seemed to roughly correspond with the five elements whose symbols I’d seen on the doors. In one section, a whole host of large, intimidating-looking stone objects were laid out for lifting exercises.

There were big round boulders and sloped ramps to push them up, and net sacks of smaller stones on pulleys, which a person could lift repeatedly to build upper body strength. On one machine, a man about my own age was lying almost flat, pushing a level repeatedly with his feet. Every time he pushed the lever, a system of gears lifted a heavy sack of rocks up and down, and I realized that he must be training his leg muscles on this machine.

Looking to the other side, Garro showed me a set of wide, deep pits that seemed to be filled with fire. There were five of these, arranged in a circle. They reminded me of the bathing pools we used to dig as the Hunter Clans - deep pools filled with warm water where five people could sit submersed up to their necks. But these ones were full of flickering flame and seemed to have a base of hot coals.

“There… there are people in the fire pits!” I gasped, pointing. Sure enough, much like the bathing pools of the Hunter Clans, I could see human figures sitting in the fire pits. They looked - to my great surprise - as if they were reclining at their ease. I even heard the sound of chatter and laughter coming from that direction.

I looked up at Garro in bewildered amazement.

The big guy threw his head back and boomed with laughter, before slapping me on the back with a blow that nearly dropped me to my knees. “I can see you really don’t remember much at all,” he laughed. “Don’t worry about them. They’re increasing their fire resistances… but there’s plenty of time to get to know about that. You don’t need to worry about any of that just yet. They’re fine.”

“Ok, I’ll take your word for it,” I said, throwing a glance back toward the laughing people reclining in the flames.”

“Do that,” Garro said. He turned to me and eyed me keenly, as if he was taking my measure. I tried to straighten up and look him in the eye, but I felt a bit weak leaning on my staff and looking up at the towering Strength Master.

“All right. I’m going to assume you know nothing at all,” Garro said after a moment.

“I’d like that,” I replied, nodding. “I think that would be best. Let’s start at the beginning.”

“Uh-huh,” he nodded. “Just interrupt me if I start explaining something that you already know.”

“That really shouldn’t be a problem. The coma did a real trick on my mind. I truly don’t remember anything.”

Garro grunted. “Hmph. Well, let me know if anything comes back to you.”

He stared at me in silence, as if waiting for me to speak. After a moment, I cleared my throat, then spoke, if only to break the silence.

“So, I guess the castle must be really big if it can fit a training area like this inside it? It seems almost impossible. I saw the throne room, and that was enormous, but this is not much smaller.” I looked around the lofty hall.

“You really don’t know much at all, do you?” Garro said gruffly.

I shrugged. “As I said, my memory…”

“Yes,” he cut in, “the coma played a real trick on your memory. Well, you’re right. The castle is the largest man-made structure in the Outlands. It extends right across one side of King’s Mountain, and the throne room is up on the very top. But it’s not only big because of the physical space it takes up. The castle also exists within many metaphysical spaces.”

He spoke the word metaphysical as if he was not used to it, and struggled to pronounce it. As he said it, he waved his hand vaguely around his head.

I looked at him inquiringly, and he glowered at me.

“I’m just a Strength Master, so I don’t know the arcane science behind how it works, I just know it works. The outcome of the magic is that internal spaces - like this one - can seem much, much bigger than they would look if you were looking from outside. You understand?”

“Uh… not really, if I’m honest. I figured magic would have to be involved, though.”

“Yes, powerful magic,” Garro said with a nod. “The highest ranked mages come to the center every so often and ask if I need to make any changes. I like to vary the training area every so often. I’ll let the King know if I want to rearrange things, and he sends me mages. They listen to what I need, and when I come back the next morning it’s all done, just as I’d asked. Their magic allows them to make massive changes to the physical space in less time than it takes me to rest for the night.

“Pretty impressive stuff!” I said.

“I should say so. It’s something to do with metaphysical magic. They can pull objects from other worlds, meld them together, even change the size of the chamber, all sorts of crazy stuff.”

“That does sound incredible,” I mused.

“Look over there,” said Garro, pointing. He was clearly warming to his subject. With one finger, he indicated the bank of arched windows which were showing a wide expanse of blue sky. The light from the windows flooded the big training hall. “See those windows? I had the mages put them in a few weeks ago. It was always dark in here, and we went through a crazy number of torches to light the place. Had a magic light orb for a while but that didn’t work very well. So one day, I thought I’d get windows. Asked the mages, and there you go. Literally overnight.”

He grinned at me. “And you know the craziest thing about it?”

I shook my head. “What?” I asked.

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Garro leaned in closer to me, as if to impart a secret. In an exaggerated whisper, he said, “this chamber ain’t nowhere near an outer wall. There’s no way I should be able to have a window there, but I do. Just asked the mages. Whaddya think of that?”

“Impressive! Metaphysical magic, eh?”

He nodded, pleased with the impression that his story had made on me.

I gazed up at the bright windows that by rights shouldn’t be there at all. I’d never considered just how powerful Royal Magic could be in comparison to Hunter Magic. The sages and wisemen of the Hunter Clans could make all manner of powerful potions. They could heal terrible wounds, or imbue the person who drank them with the most amazing speed, agility, or courage. Even I, humble young blood Hunter that I had been, could brew a mean poison and a couple of decent healing draughts.

This “Metaphysical Magic” was on another level altogether, though. No one in the Hunter Clans would ever have conceived of being able to use magic to move a room around, or make it bigger, or create windows where no window should be able to exist.

I turned my attention back to the two training areas that Garro had shown me so far, the strength training area and the fire pit area. The training hall was populated. There was the young man on the leg-strengthening station, and the groups in the fire pits, but now I saw that there were various others working in an open space beyond the strength-training machines.

There were both men and women there, and at first I thought that some of them seemed to be sparring. They were standing in groups of two or three, spaced out from each other, and they seemed to be hurling rocks at each other.

As I watched, I realized that they were not trying to avoid or even catch each other’s thrown rocks. Instead, they were deliberately crashing into the rocks, allowing the painfully heavy looking objects to crash into their bodies. Mostly, the rocks thudded into their chests or shoulders and bounced off, but sometimes they would burst into fragments as they hit, and the onlookers would give an encouraging cheer.

It seemed a strange way of training. Perhaps they were trying to desensitize themselves to pain?

Garro didn’t seem to mind my ignorant questions - quite the opposite - so I decided I would take the plunge and ask him about it.

“They are cultivating strength of body,” Garro explained once I’d expressed my curiosity. “If a man wishes to cultivate power and strength with the Earth element, he must subject himself to that element. That’s what these people are doing. They have got to quite a high level to be able to do what they’re doing, and some of the strongest ones - as you see - are able to actually break the rocks on impact with their bodies. An accomplished Earth cultivator should be able to bash his way through solid rock with his head, or dig his way through a hillside with only his bare hands.”

I eyed Garro. He certainly looked like a person who would be able to bash his way through rocks with his head.

“So that explains what they’re doing there. And I guess that’s what’s happening at the firepits, too? Fire mages strengthening their ability to resist fire?”

“Yes, but not just their resistance. They’re also deepening their affinity to the element. Fire magic is one of the most temperamental forms of elemental magic we train here. The closer the fire mages can get to their element, the better they come to know it.” He shook his head, slightly disapprovingly. “Fire is a powerful ally, but it can be a terrifying master. Those who get too close to it… but now, I’m getting ahead of myself. You don’t need to know about that yet! One thing at a time, eh?”

“I guess so,” I agreed. “What about the other areas of the training chamber? I hardly got a glimpse of those.”

“And that’s how it should be. You’re a novice, Cassian, a rank beginner. You have seen Earth and Fire. You will not get onto Air, Water, or Wood or Metal for some time yet. One thing at a time!”

I grinned. I was getting to like the big, bluff Strength Master. He seemed a straightforward, honest person, and though he seemed like he might not always be the smartest man in the room, he was clearly knowledgeable in his specialism. Most importantly, he seemed like a man who could be trusted.

Keen to ask more questions, I drew a breath and was about to speak, but he stopped me with a raised hand.

“Here comes Martial Arts Master Kara,” he said in a respectful tone, nodding toward the Earth training area. I turned to look where he had indicated, and saw an impressive female figure striding in our direction.

She was very beautiful, but in a severe, dangerous-looking way. Every line of her body bespoke restrained, controlled violence. Her jet-black hair was drawn back tight against her scalp, and her bright, dark eyes held a gaze sharp enough to cut flesh. She had high cheekbones and a set of full, blood-red lips. She was about my height, but her erect posture and purposeful air made her seem taller.

Like Garro, she wore well-fitted but loose robes of deep black. As she strode toward me, the light from the high windows shone on her, and the robes could not conceal the rippling muscle in her arms, shoulders, and legs.

Strength Master Garro might be able to knock a man flying with a sweep of his hand, but Martial Arts Master Kara moved like a woman who could kill you with one well-timed flick of the wrist.

This formidable figure strode up and placed herself in front of us, her hands on her hips. She looked me up and down, making no attempt to hide the obvious dislike she felt for me. It was a bit disconcerting to say the least.

“Cassian,” Master Kara said, her voice dripping with disdain. “So you’ve decided to grace us with your presence once more, I see? They said you’d finally decided to come back and take up your responsibilities again. The coma got a little boring for you, did it?”

I was taken aback at her rudeness, and despite how obviously dangerous she was I felt my anger flare. I had a few choice words on my mind, but I managed to hold them back. Then I changed my mind. I may be just a student here, but I was not going to take that lying down, whatever my rank. I had to stick up for myself. I would say something in return.

Words came to me, and just before I spoke them, I thought they sounded strange, as if they were not my own in some way. Before I could check them, they came out anyway. “I figured seeing your beautiful face again was worth returning for, Master Kara. Although you’d look a lot prettier if you didn’t scowl so much.”

As soon as I finished the words, my head snapped to the side. She had slapped me, a perfectly-directed open-palm strike to my left cheek. The blow had come so fast that I hadn’t even seen her move.

I stumbled to the right, lost my balance, and fell full-length onto the stone-paved ground, my staff clattering to the floor beside me. Every bone in my body seemed to rattle as I crashed to the ground. Clearly, I was not yet even up to sparring in words with the Martial Arts Master.

“By the black pits!” I cursed, finding to my surprise that I used an Outlands curse rather than a Hunter Clans word. That was a saying I hadn’t heard before. Was that another of Prince Cassian’s memories appearing? Garro had asked me to tell him if anything that happened in the training area jogged my memory, but somehow I thought that I’d keep this one to myself.

My left cheek smarted as if I’d been branded. I reached one hand up to rub it as I groaned, retrieved my staff, and hauled myself to my feet.

“I see you haven’t changed, Cassian,” Master Kara said, her arms crossed over her chest. “You are still nothing but a petulant whelp. I hope you do pass your strength training, and soon. Once you do, you will be able to come into the ring and train with my students. I would love to see you beaten in the sparring ring.” She spun on her heel and marched away.

I looked where she had gone, sorely tempted to call after her with some insult, but I thought better of it and managed to keep my mouth shut this time.

“She seems nice,” I said, rubbing my cheek and leaning on my staff.

“You shouldn’t have provoked her. She’s killed for less, though I think even she would draw the line at murdering a prince of the blood, even in the training hall where all are supposed to be equal.”

“You sure about that?” I asked, and Garro chuckled.

“You really don’t remember anything about her?” Garro asked.

“I remember as much about her as I remember about you, which is to say nothing at all.”

“Then why did you mock her?”

“She made me angry. She seemed to imply that I had used the coma as an excuse or something. I don’t like people judging me for things I didn’t do. I’m going to try my best here, but it would be nice to be given the benefit of the doubt, you know? As you have done.”

“You’ll find there are a lot of people in the castle who will be judging you on who you were, Cassian. And not without reason, either. You were, quite frankly, a complete and utter asshole of the first degree. Even if you don’t remember it, plenty of other people will.”

“I’m starting to get that impression.”

He clapped me on the back again, but gently enough that I only swayed a little. “I, at least, can see that you’ve changed,” he said kindly. “I know what it is to be a fool in one’s youth, and Kara would too if she gave it some thought. The coma has changed you, that much is clear. I’m willing to give you a second chance. You’re going to have your work cut out if you want to build a better reputation this time around, but you know you can always come to me for help if you need it.”

I glanced up at the huge Strength Master and twisted him a wry smile. “Thanks Garro. So, what are we doing next?”

“Well, I think you’ve seen enough of the hall, and I think I’ve answered enough questions for a day. It’s time you started your first Strength Training session.”