Three days after Narvari told Trixan she would stay in Draghein School, she waited in one of the large classrooms of the Academy for her first lesson. A few minutes later, Trixan showed up in a gray tank top with a pair of gym trousers, just like Narvari.

“What are we doing today?” Narvari looked around, wondering if other rookies would join the class. She doubted it.

“Your first lesson as a rookie,” Trixan said, “is to master your sacros.”

Narvar’s hand enthusiastically shot up.

“You need not raise your hand to ask a question, my dear.”

“Oh.” She dropped her hand. “What about elema?” If she were to become stronger as soon as possible, didn’t it make more sense to learn elema, the more powerful form of sacred energy?

“How do you know about elema, my dear?”

“Some muscular guy with purple hair told me about it. I think his name was Seven or something. Maybe Eleven. Yes, definitely Eleven.”

I should call him that. That would teach him to stop calling me Rookie.

Trixan smiled. “You’ve met Servin Rahalan.” In a firmer tone, she said, “You should not concern yourself with elema or anything other than sacros for now. Learning is a process. You need to take the first step before moving to the next. Do not use shortcuts, my dear. That is a sure way to disaster.”

Narvari sighed. “Alright. How do I master my sacros?”

“Easy, All you need to do is wield your sacros for as long as possible.”

“And how long is possible?”

“That’s entirely up to you, my dear. Now show me your sacros.” Narvari hesitated, a little confused by Trixan’s sudden instruction. “Go on, my dear. Release your first form of sacred energy.”

Well, she knew how to summon her sacros. All she had to do was summon Ushama.

Instantly, black and red flames shrouded Narvari’s entire body. The warmth around her was like another set of skin. Narvari stared at her hands ablaze with the black and red flame. Her sacros disappeared while her savaz appeared in each hand. Narvari tightened her grip against the smooth metallic surface. She lifted the savaz to her eye level. Grinning at Trixan, she asked, “So what do you think?”

Trixan’s expression was unreadable. Narvari couldn’t tell if the woman was impressed or not. “I didn’t ask you to gear up.”

Narvari’s smile froze. “Gear up?”

“It means to summon your vaz. That’s not what I asked you to do.” Trixan folded her arms. “I only asked you to wield your sacros. Do not gear up.”

“Oh.” Narvari’s savaz vanished. How the hell was she supposed to simply release her sacros without her savaz appearing afterward?

Perhaps seeing her confusion, Trixan moved closer to Narvari instructing her to close her eyes. Narvari followed the instructions.

“Focus on summoning only your sacros,” she said. “Empty your mind and feel the energy flowing inside you.”

Narvari followed the sound of Trixan’s soothing voice. She stilled the chaos in her mind, thinking of nothing but the so-called energy within her. Then a warm spark lit inside her core. The more she focused, the bigger the flame became until her soul was a mighty inferno surging within her. It intoxicated her with power, consuming her from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet. Her sacred energy coursed through her soul like an ocean of fire.

“Now grab on to the energy inside you and release it.”

She lurched onto the warmth and the fiery ocean inside her gushed out of her body like a tsunami. She gaped at the sheer magnitude and intensity of her sacros. It was larger than before. Usually, her sacros would transform into savaz after a few seconds. This time, however, it did not. She theorized it had something to do with her not summoning Ushama.

With her body flooded by sacred energy, her bones and muscles felt stronger. It made her feel like she could easily punch through steel or carry a blue whale with one hand.

Impressed with herself, she glanced at Trixan with a grin. But the Elder’s attention was on that watch-like device the vanquishers called xuul.

“How do you feel?” Trixan asked once Narvari got her attention.

“Powerful.” She tightened her grip on her fists, exposing the well-defined muscles in her arms. “It’s like I can do anything.”

“That’s right, my dear. Sacros doesn’t only power up our savaz. It amplifies our strength to even our odds against demons.” Trixan paused. “You’ve achieved partial union.”

Narvari narrowed her eyes. Partial union. Ushama mentioned it. “How did you know about that?”

“You can summon your savaz without saying their name. But you cannot wield both your sacros and savaz at the same.”

Narvari’s eyes widened. “That’s possible?” Every time her savaz appeared, her sacros disappeared. The same thing had happened to Azmel, Pheera, and Yanvirrak so she had assumed that was the norm.

Trixan nodded. “It is possible, my dear. But only if you’ve achieved full union.”

“Full union?” Why hadn’t she thought about that? If there was a partial union, then it made sense there was a full union. But she wasn’t even sure what partial union was, so how could she know about full union? Narvari had always been a fast learner. But there were simply too many things to learn in this school.

“It’s nothing you should worry about, my dear. Most vanquishers go their entire lifetimes without coming close to achieving partial union, let alone full union. I would not have mentioned it if you had not achieved partial union.”

Narvari’s breath grew ragged as if she was drowning. Her body shook as the profound strength slowly dissipated.

“Can you feel it now, my dear? The fatigue? The energy drain?”

Narvari’s trembling intensified like her bones were being forcefully ripped from her body. She screamed and caved to her knees while her sacros continued to burn around her. She dug her fingers into the stone cold hard floor, her teeth chattering. This had to stop. She couldn’t take it anymore. The fire within her snuffed out completely and with that went her sacros. She fell on her back, wheezing like an asthmatic tiger. Her entire body refused to move. It was like she had been trapped in ice.

“Not bad.” Trixan finally took her eyes off her xuul. “You lasted a whole fifty-six seconds.”

“What the hell was that?” Narvari sat up when the paralysis disappeared. “That was even worse than when I fought Stein.”

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

“You fought Hubert Stein with savaz which only uses about half your sacros,” the Elder said. “Wielding only your sacros drains you quicker, my dear. But the more you train, the stronger you get and the less likely you are at exhausting your sacred energy.”

Navari’s hands had stopped trembling, but they were still numb. Her entire life had flashed before her eyes and all she had done was wield her sacros for less than a minute. Damn. A thought struck Narvari and she suddenly looked up at Trixan. “How long can you wield your sacros?”

Trixan smiled. “Do you really want to know, my dear?”

“Of course I do.” Narvari scrambled to her feet. “I need a goal to aspire to. I need to know what’s possible.”

“You need to make your path, my dear. Do not follow others blindly.”

“I guess you’re right.” Narvari nodded. “So how long can you wield your sacros?”

“You are a stubborn one, my dear.” Trixan chuckled. “Forever.”

“Stubborn forever is my thing.” Narvari smirked.

The Elder laughed. “My dear, I’m saying that I can wield my sacros permanently. Forever.”

“What?” Narvari’s jaw dropped.

There was no way in hell anyone could wield their sacros permanently. She did it for barely a minute and she almost died. Narvari gaped at Trixan in disbelief. She could not see any sacros around Trixan. Was the woman making this up? No. She didn’t think so. This woman was the Elder after all and everyone Narvari had spoken to in Draghein school would not shut up about how powerful she was.

“How is that even possible?” Narvari asked. “I didn’t last for a minute.”

“It takes a lot of training, my dear. Thankfully, I had a great teacher to guide me.”

“Hellstorm, right?”

Trixan subtly narrowed her eyes, as if she had not expected Narvari to know about that. But then she sighed and nodded. “Mastering your sacros is very important, my dear. You can’t be a professional vanquisher until you can continuously wield your sacros for at least an hour. If you’re not a professional, go can’t go on missions..”

Narvari paled. “I have to wield my sacros continuously for a whole hour?” She wants to kill me.

“Yes, my dear,” said Trixan, with an innocent smile. “Using your sacros recklessly during a fight can kill you even before the demon does. But if you train yourself to hold it for at least one hour, that will be enough to fight strong demons for long periods without going into a coma.”

She knew Trixan was referring to that fight she had with the wraith lord. Fighting Stein had also taken a great toll on her body and mind. She sighed. So this was why everyone kept calling her untrained.

It was a good thing she was no stranger to extreme training. It would be difficult in the beginning, however, the more she did it, the easier it would get. She had hoped to follow Trixan’s example and aspire to her level. But damn. The woman was a freaking monster. Maybe she had to start with a smaller goal first. She would start by reaching a goal of one hour.

Wait. If she had to hold her sacros for an hour before she could go on missions did that mean Pheera and Yanvirrak had already reached that goal?

Curious about this, Narvari asked the Elder.

“Actually, my dear, Yanvirrak can wield his sacros for twenty-one hours nonstop while Pheera can do so for sixteen hours.”

“What. The. Hell.” Narvari’s soul left her body. Maybe if she had not tried it, she would never have understood the full implication of Trixan’s words. But she had done it and only lasted for fifty-six seconds. Had she mentioned that she almost died?

“I almost died,” she whispered.

“Do not be disheartened, my dear. Those two have more talent than the average vanquisher. Yanvirrak has been training for three years now while Pheera only began training three months ago. It takes a lot of work, Narvari and I believe you’ll get there as long as you commit to it. You have a lot of potential.”

No pressure at all. She might not catch up with Trixan now but she definitely had to keep up with Pheera and Yanvirrak. Her savaz may be of higher order, but she was certain those two had better endurance than she in terms of combat. She had seen them fight. They were like an army of warrior gods. Now it all made sense why Servin insisted on calling her Rookie.

Narvari had only been able to vanquish that wraith lord because she had taken the demon by surprise with her sudden awakening. She was also lucky that the order of her savaz was high enough to vanquish the demon. That might not work in future situations. If she did not improve her stamina by training her sacros, she might just drop dead in the middle of a fight from extreme exhaustion. This was not speculation. She had already experienced it twice.

Knowing that there were evil beings like demons and Vessels roaming the earth, Narvari had no choice but to become stronger.

“Now start over,” said Trixan. “This is our only lesson for the day.”

“Alright.” Narvari released her sacros. “Let’s do this.”

Soon, she dropped to the ground in exhaustion. But every time she was rested for a while, Trixan would ask her to get back to work. That went on for what felt like an eternity until she finally was completely paralyzed by agonizing fatigue. No amount of chastisement or encouragement her brain gave to her body worked. She sweated profusely as she panted. Was this what death felt like?

Trixan looked at her xuul and raised a brow. A small smile widened at the corner of her lips. “Amazing, my dear. You broke your record by leaps and bounds.”

“Really?” Narvari’s eyes lit up. She sat up, completely forgetting the excruciating pain torturing her body.

“Of course, my dear. You lasted fifty-nine seconds this time.”

Narvari froze. If her face were an emoji, it would look like the one with the dashes for eyes and mouth.

“You do not look impressed.”

“I only lasted for two more seconds. There’s nothing impressive about that.”

Trixan paused. It seemed she was garnering her thoughts to give a lecture. “When I first began training my sacros, I only lasted for eight seconds. Then I trained day and night for a whole week, and do you know how long I could wield it, my dear?”

“Um… forever?”

Trixan laughed. “Eleven seconds. After a week of rigorous training, I raised my time from eight to eleven seconds.”

Narvari gaped. “You’re joking, right?”

“I am not, my dear. It took me about six months to do it for an hour. For many, it can take years.”

Narvari’s heart sank. “Are you serious?”

But when she searched Trixan’s green eyes, there was no hint of a joke there. How long did Trixan have to train then just to be able to wield her sacros permanently? Or better still, what kind of training did the woman endure? Compared to Pheera and Yanvirrak, Trixan’s progress seemed painfully slow. Narvari could not possibly imagine what the woman had endured. Her muscles hurt just thinking about it.

Trixan came closer to Narvari and gently touched her shoulder. The sternness she had in her eyes while they trained was gone and replaced by the usual motherly fondness Narvari had grown accustomed to.

“My dear, you have no idea what potential you have. I’m not going to let it go to waste. Take it from me, it doesn’t matter how fast or slow your progress is, as long as you commit to your training, you are bound to achieve great things.” Trixan double-tapped Narvari on the shoulder. “Now go freshen up. We are done for today. We’ll continue tomorrow.”

“That’s it? No sacred combat?”

“Patience, my dear. We’ll only start practicing sacred combat once you can wield your sacros for thirty minutes. In the meantime, keep training your sacros every day. Do it every morning and evening. ”

Flashing Narvari a kind smile, Trixan turned to walk away.

“Wait, Trixan.”

The Elder spun around.

“Can you tell me more about this full union thing?”

“I told you not to worry about it, my dear”

“But I want to understand what it means to have a partial union. Ushama said my awakening was so powerful that it triggered partial union. He says the reason we can communicate is because of our partial union. But he doesn’t understand a lot of things yet. I don’t know how else to learn about these things.”

“Ushama?” said Trixan with a raised brow. “Is that the name of your vaz?”

“Yes.”

“Well, Ushama was right. To achieve full union is to become one with your vaz and sacred energy. That happens either through training or through the most extreme emotions. I think your case was the latter. I’m not completely sure, but I strongly believe that the rage and pain of having your home attacked triggered your awakening and partial union state.” She paused thoughtfully. “But it seems your emotions weren’t extreme enough to achieve full union.”

Narvari lowered her head.

“My dear, I’m not saying that what you experienced was not traumatic enough.” Trixan rested a hand on Narvari’s shoulder. “What happened to you was a tragedy and I’m really sorry.”

Narvari nodded. “I know. I just–I just miss them so much, you know.” A lump grew in Narvari’s throat. “I lost my whole family.” She tightened her jaws. “First my father abandoned me, and now the only family I have is gone. I’m all alone, Trixan.”

Trixan pulled Narvari into her embrace. “I’m sorry, my dear. I’m truly sorry for your loss. But you’re not alone.” Trixan rubbed her back. “You have me and everyone in Draghein School.”

She could no longer hold back her tears. Gosh, she was such a baby. She had already mourned Anana and Jimbaga so why was she still crying about this?

Narvari pulled back. “Thank you.” She wiped her tears, avoiding Trixan’s eyes. This was so embarrassing. Say something. Anything. “I’m going to find my father. It’s the only way I can honor my grandmother’s wish.”

This wasn’t only about Anana. Narvari wanted more than anything to learn more about her mother. Only her father could tell her about it.

Trixan nodded. “Would you like some help then?”

“What?”

“Do you want me to help you find your father?”

“I appreciate that. But I feel like I should do this on my own.” She paused. “Besides, you’re already helping me with Erasmus Shar.” She would simply be imposing if she put all her family problems on Trixan.

“I understand, my dear. Just know that you can always come to me for anything. Everyone in Draghein School is my responsibility. My family. That includes you, my dear. You are one of us now. Never forget that, alright?”

“Okay.” Narvari nodded. “Thank you, Trixan.”