When Alice looked up, I expected anger or defiance. But instead, she nodded and lowered my axe.

I rolled off and helped her up. As she stood she winced, reaching for the back of her head.

“There’s some blood, but not a lot,” I said.

“You held back.”

“A little.”

There were moments when I could have rebuffed her attack or more forcefully pushed her away, but I didn’t want that. The fight was dirty, quick, and exactly what she needed.

“A little? Just how many levels did you get, Cain? Alice should be stronger than you, unless your strain pushed you heavily into strength.”

I shared a look with Alice who shrugged.

“Sorry. Had a few lucky encounters that gave me a boost.”

Adeline scowled but Kierra interrupted her with a quick clap.

“That was more intense than I expected. Can you guys shift now? I thought that it took awhile to learn how to do.”

“I’m not sure. I’ve done it twice, and I can at least control parts of my body. But I haven’t tried to do a full shift willingly.”

“And your axe? Did you get a new skill?”

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In response, I deactivated the shift and pulled back my hoodie. As I threw my axe at the wall, mana flowed into the rune. I caught it on the return and held it out.

“Like I said, lucky encounter. Got a new axe and it came with cool magic powers.”

Alice reverted her shift and pulled out some bandages and water. She cleaned up her injuries and I winced at some of the damage. We could heal, and it wasn’t like we hadn’t sparred a lot during the ride to the capital.

But there was more blood than I intended.

When she was done she tossed the supplies over and I did the same.

“Can I see your axe?” Adeline asked.

I handed it over and she pulled off the caps and ran her thumb along the blade. The stone easily sliced her skin and drank in the blood that dripped across it.

She almost recoiled before handing it back.

“That’s stone. Where exactly did you get this?”

“From a Keeper. He grew the wood and morphed the stone into a blade as a gift. I still haven’t named it.”

“A Keeper eh? Good one.”

I paused. “I’m serious. His name was Rock-splitter. I drank some of his blood too.”

I showed her the dirty bandages and held it up to the light. The green flecks were clearly visible.

“You’re not lying,” she whispered. “How even? That’s insane, Cain.”

“It just sorta happened. Was a good bump to my stats though.” I extended my arm and conjured a flame. Then I burned my blood. “I can even do this now.”

She reached for it but stopped just shy from touching it. “It’s hot. What does it feel like?”

I gestured to the flame. She scowled but did not hesitate to push a finger through it. Her hand retracted and she winced as she rubbed the black spot along her finger.

“It stings.”

“Like getting shocked constantly.”

Kierra studied it but she didn’t touch so I extinguished the incantation.

“Did you want to go again? Or…” I pulled out the scroll. “We can practice with this.”

She grabbed the scroll and headed for the exit. “We need practice.”

I waved goodbye and followed Alice into a second training room. It was identical to the first, with even the training weapons an exact match.

I handed her the scroll and got into position.