Spending almost two hours swinging different kinds of implements of death and destruction was surprisingly... fun. Beginning with the light weapons, they worked their way through daggers and knives, arming swords, short and long swords, more exotic variants like the Khopesh or kris, axes, sickles, war hammers, and maces. Heavy weapons like 2handed swords, spears, staffs, and halberds followed, leaving Kael thoroughly exhausted in the end. Sean also turned out to be a capable trainer, advising Kael in the correct methods of wielding death in its various forms. "So, what do you want to focus on in the future?" That was the question his trainer had left him when they were done. Sean had not waited for Kael to answer and, after checking the time, retired to begin his shift in the restaurant. Kael was left lying on the sandy ground of the arena, recovering from the exertion.

That was also where he was when, sometime later, he heard the room's door open again. Only that there were now many discarded training weapons surrounding the circular field. "You here, Kael?!" He heard the excited voice of his friend echo through the room. Shame, excitement, and happiness colored his voice, answering the shout with one of his own. "Hey, yea, back here by the arena!" Kael closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable arrival of his friend. "Hey! Damn, look at you. How long have you been down here? You need a break. And a shower!" Despite his speeding heard, the edges of his mouth twitched in amusement. How did he do that? Kael asked himself, still stalling the confrontation with Martin. As if his closed eyes somehow made the young man not real. After all of that shit, he can still laugh as if nothing ever happened. "Mhh. I'm sure that's true. Sean started my training today, and I need to figure out what weapon I want to begin with. What else to do than train some more to figure it out, right?" He then opened his eyes, looking up at Martin's strained smile.

That was how they halted for a few seconds, just taking the other in. At some point, Martin stretched out his hand. The hand felt cold to Kael, and there was a stiffness in their movements when Martin helped him up. Their eyes met, and Kael quickly looked away, focusing on brushing off all the sand that stuck to his damp clothes. "Ah, yea, I guess that's true. So... do you have a favorite yet?" - "Mhh, no, I don't even know what I am to look for." His voice sounded strained, even to his ears. He ran his hands through his hair before trying to calm himself down again. "Everyone says that I have talent because I am a 'Physical'." He said, the sarcasm oozing from his voice as he air quoted the term. "Whatever the fuck that means." Not waiting for Martin to answer, he walked to the edge of the ring and leaned down, grabbing the handle of a long, spikey mace. "I swing, and swing, and swing, but. Nothing! HAPPENS!" The swoosh of a heavy weapon parting the air underlined his every word before he lifted it above his head and slammed it into the sandy ground. "Fuck!" His hands loosened, letting the handle drop to the ground, thumping with finality before Kael himself sank to his knees like a sack of potatoes.

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"It's fine, Kael! The talent does not mean you will instantly be good at one or more weapons. It certainly helps you fight, but" - "Damn! That does not help Martin. There must be something I am doing wrong. If not, what is this useless talent even good for?" He was becoming louder and louder the more he talked. "Too useless to learn how to fight, can't use magic because I suck at gathering mana! Maybe this is what I deserve." The words were tumbling out, too fast to remain precise. "What are you talking about?! You have just started on this path. There is no one that is" Kael registered that Martin was talking in some detached part of his brain but was too deep into his tirade to understand what his friend was trying to communicate. "Haha! Yea, that's it isn't it? I tried to escape my life. Tried to get out of what the universe planned for me. Maybe that was the reason that Mom and Dad disappeared? Did I do something back then too?" His head was slowly turning left and right, trying to get rid of his train of thought. "Am I the reason that Lucy is now without her real family? Ah! That's why she got adopted! RIGHT! IT all makes sense now! I bring only pain to those around me. First, my family disappears, then Andrea is almost killed, and Martin has to save the day"

Slap! Pain pierced through the haze that had clouded his mind. Why did the left side of his face hurt? His fingers reached out and touched the area. "Ouch!" The slowly fading pain returned upon touch. "Fuck! Kael! What are you talking about?!" A scream focused his attention on the figure kneeling before him. There was Martin, his best friend, his first teacher of magic, the one that had saved his life after his fight with Jason. Why were there tears streaming down the face that was always just a twitch away from a smile? "Why are you doing this?! Do you really think that I am so incompetent?!" Kael could not understand how his friend had gotten that idea from, wasn't he the incompetent one? "No?! Why? No! You are amazing! You can heal, and you held that, that Thrizon in place for help to arrive! You saved our lives, kept your cool and did what you had to do! I am the useless one. Andrea was instantly there, ready to help where she could. You were too! Instantly there, helping the girl and Andrea. While I needed your help to even understand what was happening! I could not even think clearly! If only I had not been there. Everything would have been better if I had just run away like I was told. Just useless!" Tears dropped from his scrunched-up eyes, blurring his vision.