Panting, Kael took a step forward, wary of his opponent. The snow compressed below his weight in a satisfying crunch. His ragged breathing came out in quick puffs of rapidly cooling air. Sweat ran down his body despite the cold air surrounding him. Seconds passed, and what should have been restful, at least to some extent, was instead costing him a lot of energy. Right leg forward, slightly bent at the knee and his arms held up high, his entire body was hurting from the strain. The enthusiasm he had at the start of the day was long gone, and only sheer stubbornness allowed him to stay on his feet. Hands balled into fists and held up in a boxer's defense, he waited for his opponent to move.

Snowflakes were slowly falling from the cloudy sky, and wherever they touched his skin, they quickly melted, making him feel damp and cold at the same time. The last of his energy was already dwindling when one particularly big example of frozen water decided to land right above his left eye. Quickly, it turned into a drop of water, dangling from his brow before running down into his eye. Distracted, he blinked his eye a few times to get rid of it, and when he looked back up, Martin was already right in front of him.

Purely out of reflex did he manage to throw his arms into a blocking position before his stomach. Off-balance and running low on energy, his conscious mind checked out and left his reflexes in change. A left hook followed the straight he had just blocked. Already off-balance, his body moved backward, out of the way of the strike, coming to a shaking halt as he slid his forward leg back. Or at least that was what his body expected to happen. Clearly, the snow, which was ankle deep at this point, had other plans. His leg got stuck, and while he did evade the strike, he was now in motion and on one leg. Desperation set in, and in his panic, he twisted sideways, using his arms to keep from falling into the cold embrace of winter.

When his position stabilized, he held himself up by his hands and feet. Suddenly he heard loud laughter from somewhere above him. “Yes, very funny, haha, I’ll laugh later if that is alright with you. Help me up, will you?” He could not see his friend from his awkward position, and his mood took an even bigger hit when he heard the iconic sound of a smartphone ‘shutter’. Oh. Great, he thought. “Real friend you are. Thanks for getting me into this mess in the first place. Really cool of you.” The vitriol in his voice sounded harsh even to his ears, and it must have rattled his friend. Martin quickly arrived at his side and pulled him up. “Hey, I’m sorry Kael. Fuck, this was just… just supposed to be funny. I am sorr” - “I know, Martin. Look, I am sorry for how I sounded.” He interrupted before the situation got out of control. “I am cold, wet, and in pain, and I still should not have let it out on you. If not for your help… I don’t know what would have happened. Now, let's get out of the cold, and then you better show me that stupid picture.”

Leaning on his friend, they walked towards the line of trees that surrounded their circular arena. There, right at the border of the ‘forest’, he felt the movement of magic again. With one more step forward, they crossed the barrier. One foot was still in the wonderland of snow and ice, while the other stood on the warm floor of the underground training area. Once they were outside of the magical barrier that surrounded the once dry fighting ring, Kael turned and looked at the spectacle that was magic while Martin went towards the console that controlled all of it.

Today was the third day of the summer holidays for Martin. It was also his third consecutive visit to the restaurant. When he had arrived here right after his last exam finished, Kael had expected them to hang out, maybe drink something. Being dragged into their underground gym and taught hand-to-hand combat sure was not what he understood as letting off some steam. Martin's enthusiasm had only grown once he found out that the arena could replicate various environments and training routines.

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Once the arena powered down and returned to its regular sandpit appearance, they left for the shower. The cold of winter was still in his bones. At first, he had expected the environment in the arena to be some sort of illusion, a gimmick for the fighters, but Martin had quickly convinced him otherwise. Somehow, the arena made the environment Real. Want to fight in the sandy dunes of a desert? Duel on an iced-over lake? Training in a dense forest? All of it was possible. Today had been their second time using it, and Kael still could not fathom how something like this might be possible. His friend soon joined him on his journey for warmth and, after grabbing their supplies, they each entered a stall. The warm water did wonders for his cold, bruised body.

Án hour later, they sat on the small table in Kael’s room, gorging themselves on the delicacies that Edward had prepared for them. “You really did pretty well today, you know.” Martin said after leaning back and patting his full belly. “We only started a few days ago, and fighting in the snow is tricky.” - “How are you so good at it then? Didn’t you start school just a year ago?” He had pestered Martin for hours on the topic, and only after threatening with cutting him off of Edward's food did he give in. It still blew his mind that, apparently, combat was a required class at his future school. There were courses for different weapons, and even a dueling club, of sorts, existed.

“Yea, but learning this stuff is normal in magical families. My dad started me on it when I turned twelve. You never know, he said, what kind of monsters lurk behind the walls.” Martin said, imitating the aloof voice of his father. “Still… Damn man, I can’t wait to start school. If only so that you don’t have to keep secrets anymore. Stupid wall. Stupid magic” - “Me too… So, wanna go back down and work on choosing your weapon?” Kael cursed the stupidly infectious grin on his friend's face. “You are going to be the death of me one day. Fuck. Let’s go!”

Time moves fast when you have fun. He was not sure that, with all of the bruises and muscle sores, he could call the last few weeks fun, but time moved quickly nonetheless. Between his work in the kitchen and Martin visiting almost daily, he had little time for himself. Only on the rare days that Martin would have obligations did he have time to relax and think. His life had changed a lot since coming to work here. He had developed more in the last few weeks than in years before. Kael was still learning to fight from Martin, and his mana gathering was progressing well, but where he saw the most significant change was in the kitchen. Over time Edward had given him more and more responsibilities, and now he was responsible for a few of the easy dishes in addition to everything else. While still not much, he could confidently say that he knew those dishes in and out. That had been Edward's focus for his training. Instead of teaching a recipe, he focused on teaching how and why certain ingredients worked together and why others did not. This made Kael able to adapt on the fly when a customer requested it.

The summer holidays were now halfway over, and tonight was the festival that Andrea had invited him to. After bringing the event up with Martin one day, his best friend had just snatched Kael’s phone out of his hands and accepted the invite for the both of them. Remembering that day brought a smile to his face. A quick look at the clock in his room to confirm the time, he opened the text from Martin again… Yep, his friend was almost an hour late. They had decided to head to Markov-Rainer together, so instead of eating a delicious crunchy taco or watching the crowds, he was here, in his room, waiting.