Alric's eyes were rudely forced open by the first rays of sunlight peeking through the windows. His attempts to stave off the march of dawn for at least several more minutes were rudely interrupted by his grim reminder of last night’s battle. The soreness that came from day old bruises. Any serious injuries were just fine and dandy, but Pa determined that a real man would keep the superficial ones as a reminder to keep training.

He should go and get started on that, but Alric wasn't too sure he could face his Pa after the kind of explanation Danny gave. It was a long drawn out affair, of Danny having to constantly repeat the frankly quick fight as both Sis and Pa had questions. At least they were concerned, that was more than some could say for their own family. Danny in all his benevolent wisdom decided to hightail it out of there. Not that Alric could blame him; he was more just mad about Danny not taking him as well.

Oh, there was the knock on the door, no doubt it would be Talbot, Pa's ever watchful adviser, some old comrade from one of the many battles he fought in as part of the Ironforge family tradition. "Young sir would do best to get out of his bed if he wouldn't want additional punishment from Sire," came the faded voice oozing with the warmth of a kindly old man. Didn't hurt that Talbot was a kindly old man, with a gnarled back, thick grey beard and even a cane to boot. He possessed none of the vigor that Pa did, despite their similar age, it was cause of the old man having not been able to reach a transformation essence in his youth, stuck with just a mundane essence as he aged.

Sis had taken the liberty to explain some of how elevated grow stronger if only cause Alric kept asking her how Theodric Fury or Edgar Crownslayer from the stories got their names. He wasn't supposed to share the knowledge with anyone before their Nameday, even Danny, because it broke some law some duke set up ages ago to prevent stronger mortals in his land. Alric never understood that bit very well, it seemed to him that if someone could become stronger that easily than those in charge, then surely, they should be in charge, right? That's what always happened in the stories, a hero overcomes the odds and ascends to the high court to be a Lord, strengthening the balance of the empire in accordance to the world so that all may prosper.

A polite cough interrupted Alric's idle pondering, causing him to take another sweep of the room only to realize that Talbot had been standing before his bed waiting for him to move. Talbot stood like a willow tree with most of his weight pressed firmly on his twig of a walking stick, at least it looked that way. It was carefully carved wrought iron to look like it was made from a limb of ebony, a gift from Pa from several Sun Fairs back. The rest of the old man reflected this appearance of grandeur, with a finally made doublet that was wrinkled and stretched from its years of molding to Talbot's sloped form. His few remaining wisps of hair were as ash as his beard but as neatly combed as could be expected for the unruly mess. The wrinkles were everywhere on his body, making him look less like a person and more like a bolt of fleshy cloth. However, the servant was spry and anyone who doubted that typically ended up with several welts from that cane of his, as Alric learned the hard way. 

Realizing he already spent way too long staring at Talbot, Alric braced himself for the pain as he threw off the sheets and shuffled towards the edge of the voluptuous bed. At least the strain would go away after some stretching. Unsteady on his feet and feeling an awful lot like Talbot, Alric wobbled to the wardrobe in the corner of his room. 

It was a fine piece of craftsmanship, well matched to the rest of well adorned room that like the rest of the hose was a series of dull metals and brown metals with a few green curtains thrown in for a semblance of design. Inside the wardrobe's confines were all manner of dress, from formal wear for balls, to simplistic training outfits that were little more than bolts of linen roughly stitched together to fit tight against his body yet still somehow sag. He chose the training outfit.

It took quite a bit of going and more help from Talbot than Alric would ever be willing to admit, but eventually the both of them hustled to the training grounds, though that was a bit too generous a term for the speed at which an old man and injured boy traveled. By the time they had arrived at the yard behind the house, Alric had safely upgraded from a staggering gait to a hobble with only some minor stiffness. He felt it boded well for today's training session. What didn't bode well was Pa waiting for him with arms crossed beside the posts. Lords above, why couldn't it have been Sis today? He didn’t feel quite prepared to face that same disappointed gaze his Pa had held the night before. The one filled with accusation, not at Alric, but himself. As if it was Pa’s fault Alric was a meek coward.

The posts were a series of groed logs stuck deeply in the ground to be just above waist height to be balanced upon while juggling the weight of the nearby rocks in buckets which Alric would hold while being pelted with a different pile of rocks thrown by whoever was near. Alric didn't quite understand how this was supposed to train his body to be tough and resilient like all the other servants were doing, considering he just spent his time ducking and diving out of the way as he hopped between posts. A real man would stand there and take a beating, but that just seemed like a good way to break a rib. Besides Pa never said he was doing it wrong. So Alric would just continue to plead ignorance. Maybe Danny was a bad influence like Sis said?

Pa stepped closer to Alric, getting down on one knee so Alric would have nowhere to run from that blasted gaze. “Look son, I know you’re probably feeling lost after your first fight ended so terribly. I can’t pretend to completely understand what you’re feeling right now, your mother was always better at this touchy-feely guff. Maybe I’m just not a good enough dad for you. However, I do know training and can only tell you that the longer you wait to face these fears, the harder it will be to overcome any problems you have later in life. What do you say? Want to humor your old man who doesn’t know any better?”

It was the bittersweet smile that broke down Alric, the one laced with a lifetime of hidden concerns and self-doubt that Pa always tried to hide away from him. It left him feeling like he just had gotten punched again, wracked to the brim with emotional turmoil. It took all he had to be coherent as he sobbed out, “Yes Pa, I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else in this world.”

Alric felt his Pa stiffen as he enveloped him in all the love he could muster. It was there in that long moment that the world seemed just a little bit brighter for the father and son pair. They both savored it for as long as they could bear before parting back into their usual roles.

"Alright Alric, time to start training!” Pa spoke with his usual levity, no traces of his earlier heart to heart, “We'll need to hit the iron while it's hot, don't worry I took the liberty to send a runner down to school to inform your teacher you'll be out for the next year with urgent family matters."

"Wait, what do you mean Pa? The naming ceremony is in a year! We were supposed to finally cover how to internalize essences!" Alric couldn't help that he began shouting at his dad, he had been looking forward to this for years. It was supposed to be a part of his journey to become a great and honorable man as his sister. Pa himself even talked about how a man should be forthright and honest in all his actions, so how could he prevent him from his dreams? Hopefully, he wouldn't be mad at his outburst.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Alric guessed he must have trailed off into a mumble somewhere along the way as his dad burst into that rich laugh of his that showed his white teeth through the bushy scruff. "Boyo, don't worry about that, after all who would know more about internalization than your old man eh? I’ll get you polished like a new blade in no time. As for the explanations? That's a load of crap those wimpy teachers came up with. It's simple. You practice enough with the thing you internalize it. The essence of that thing influences the development of your body and helps guide you to a useful ability. Any more than that is superfluous garbage you'll have to ask Talbot for, he's the only one that's read through the library in my office."

Having finished all he intended to say as he began to start hurling the small stones to Alric who stood balanced on the posts and struggling to deflect the rocks after having been focused on his father's every word.

Huffing and puffing, Alric turned his questions to the old servant who managed to find a chair near his dad, "Wh-what... is the reason why... there are earth ele-evated?" Man, Pa must have doubled the weight of these buckets. It’s unbearable. Stealing a glance down, Alric saw not dull stones but the telltale glimmer of slag iron scrapped from the forge. Never mind, more important things. "Why does that... impact the Nameday cere-remony?" Lords above he couldn't handle much more of this.

Thankfully, Talbot got his hint for more than his father's shoddy instruction. That or he just took pity on the number of welts Alric was acquiring for asking. "Young sir, the nature of elevated is fairly long winded and complicated to the point where most scholars have little clue." 

Pausing for a moment, Talbot continued, "Yes there are four domains of the energy that can inhabit a person's body, coming from the natural essences of the world. Each one represents the four extremes of advantages warriors can grasp in battle. Earth, as is popular with Sir and myself, is a body's ability to take a beating and give it out in equal measure, grow stronger and harder as they say. It’s what causes the muscles that your father is currently putting to great work." Apparently, that was a joke, as Talbot stopped for a laugh that never came. 

"On the opposite end is wind, representing someone who would rather beat any punches thrown their way with a faster punch of their own. Nasty little buggers to hit in a fight. That's about all that you should fret about right now lad." Oh, there goes some of that butler exterior.

"Okay... but that do-doesn't answer my quest-ion about Nameday Talbot!" Alric felt like he needed to shout out his question to the servant, only seemed appropriate given the circumstances.

"Essences are different than domains, you see all things fall within one of these four domains. Take the iron of your namesake, it is classified as earth both due to its origin as a metal but also its hardness. However, that doesn't mean it isn't also malleable like the water domain. Same thing with the myriad of other mundane objects and phenomena that our world is composed of. All have a unique combination of the domains that we can identify by the traces they leave on our body. Nameday is when youngins like yourself get their first mundane essence forcibly triggered and then identified to become your last name. Like the Broom of your young friend Daniel's last name."

Talbot's lecture was so interesting Alric completely missed the rock aimed for his gut, knocking him clean off the post and very messily on the ground. Lords above that stings. Going to need to stretch that one out. 

"Well, that's good enough for a warm-up. While you get your head on right boyo we'll take a break. Talbot talk more of your gibberish later; we need the boy focused on training. Alric I'll see you at the breakfast table. Now let's see if I can't get someone to make us some grub." Pa said probably just wanting some eggs and anchovies, a disgusting combo that Alric was glad he was away from right now.

Flipping over to his stomach, Alric began to push his upper body towards the sky and left the rest of his battered body on the ground to stretch his core. It'll have to do. Sighing, Alric got up and collected the now scattered bits of slag iron in the pails. It's a sad way to end a training session, having to clean up after your mess, but real men don't let others deal with their responsibilities. Or so Sis said. Alric has never seen her clean up after training.

Enough bemoaning later, Alric snaked his way through the now vibrant training fields back to the house. Inside he found the dining hall filled with the usual characters, Pa, Sis, and Talbot. Well, filled isn't appropriate, it was the biggest room in the house, easily seating five times the occupants on its oblong pine table.

Everybody had already taken their places, with Sis enjoying her redclove bread. She claimed it was a requirement for her continued growth to constantly supply her body with magical heat to forge it, but Alric thought she just liked its spicy taste. Pa sat near her with his abomination of a meal, Talbot shadowing him with the grace to turn his head away from the stench. Alric's plate had already been prepared, a pile of meat with little else. Not that he particularly liked meat, it was just "what a growing boy needs."

Taking his seat, Alric turned towards Talbot with a mouth full of meat, “Okay, so I get that an essence changes an elevated body but why do we focus only on earth? Surely, balancing that out with wind would create a stronger warrior overall?"

"Many have tried exactly this Young sir, but every essence is predominantly of a single domain, and once affected by this domain the body is reformed to only react to that domain, with every other showing only the shallowest of improvements. Once your body becomes tough like a mountain, you'll struggle to be as light as a falling feather. Of course, this doesn't mean it is impossible, just that the resulting elevated will struggle to advance just as a leaf struggles against a roaring river and be markedly weaker than their compatriots if they do succeed."

Alric thought he understood, or maybe it was all the gibberish flowing out of his head. Long story short he just needed to focus on his path and force his way through all obstacles to grow stronger. Lucky for him he already knows his path. The path of iron. Just like his sister. Oh wait, how was he supposed to start his path?

"Um...so, what is internalization, and how do you trigger it?"

Talbot had one of those little kindly old man smiles prepared for Alric's question, as if all his thoughts were as readable as one of his books. 

"I believe that should be all I offer forward for today young sir," preemptively raising a hand, the servant stopped Alric's complaints before they could come into the fold. "After all, an important part of internalizing essences is reflecting on all previously gained knowledge. I know you have many, many questions but they will be answered in due time. Right now, you must do as your father asked and focus on training."

Alric felt that daze getting worse. Talbot was probably right. If anything, he was swimming in even more questions than when he woke up this morning. What was his future? Was he on the right track? Had he already doomed himself through something he didn't understand? Just as he was losing himself to the tides of his thoughts, Sis tossed him a rope, "Alric, don't think about it too much, you just need to double down and train until it does make sense, that's what I did. It's the Ironforge way."

"Thank you, Sis. You're right. I've got a busy day ahead of me, I just need to trust things will work out with time."

Renewed and invigorated Alric devoured the rest of his breakfast before exploding into a coughing fit. Ate too fast. After half a pitcher of water, Alric calmed down enough to start the bulk of today's routine.

It was back out to the yard again, but rather than one of Pa’s “special” programs it was simple exercises consisting of stretching and holding certain poses with weighted weapons or doing mock fights with the servants. It went on for hours, with only a short break for lunch.

After lunch is when the magic happened. It’s when Alric got to practice his forge work. He had always felt enamored by the singular focus required to blacksmith. The blazing heat of the smithy always filled Alric with a giddy warmth throughout his body. Every weapon forged was a chance to improve himself and to try out something new and challenging. Now with a deeper understanding of how working with iron was apart of his path forward, Alric hit the smithy with an excitement he could hardly contain. However, he had too. Taking a deep breath Alric steadied his mind in a way he often found difficult elsewhere. It was time to get to work.

All through the afternoon and late into night, at the small smithy beyond the fields of the Ironforge manor, the clear chirp of newborn wrought iron rang true.