Slowly, I clad myself in the garb of war, taking my time for there was no rush. Let Fen wait upon me, I decided. Though I doubted such a simple trick would work on her, it was the opening move in our game. The woman was as patient as death itself.

Finally, I felt complete, as ready as I could be. As I moved to leave the house, my hand reached for the door but was betrayed by hesitation. Wouldn’t it be better to wait here… to wait until the end of the dream? The more I thought about it, the more logical this course of action seemed.

No, the voices beseeched. Yes, even here in the dream the dark choir had found me.

They were right, of course, as they always were. Cowardice was trying to persuade me to its cause in the guise of logic and reason.

It was time to do what had to be done. I would not fail here. I was the chosen one. It was fated. Mine would be the path of eternity.

With a deep breath, I found the will to open the door. Anticlimactically, the head of my halberd got stuck in the doorway, a poor portent if ever there was one. Annoyed, I tried again and finally stepped into the arena of my trial.

The transition was jarring, and disorienting.

A cool breeze played across my face, carrying the scent of camphor. Fen stood before me, smiling, but something was different. Gone was the patient, kind teacher; her face was tight, the lines of her expression revealing a controlled focus. Now, I saw the truth of her.

An aspect of war incarnate.

Fen wore an open-faced helm and a riveted mail shirt that extended from her neck to her thighs, belted at the waist. At her hip hung a single curved sword. It was of medium length and a ribbon of crimson silk decorated the scabbard where it rested. She wore no gloves, likely to afford her greater dexterity. Or perhaps she did so to bait me into focusing most of my attacks onto her hands.

I had learned from her that one of the easiest ways to defend was to control the focus of an opponent’s attack. Or perhaps I was overthinking things and she had simply made a mistake?

“I will hold nothing back and will fight you as if you were my equal, though you are… well, far from it,” she stated flatly. “As a mercy, I will use only a single blade,” she added.

Fen was trying to goad me, an obvious attempt, but I would not lose control. Still, I let the ember of ire grow in the pit of my stomach. Anger, and indeed all emotions, were the fuel of human action.

This suited me fine. My magic in this place required an almost inordinate amount of time to summon. The more words were exchanged, the better.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I gave her my best, winning smile. “And this test? What if I should fail?” I asked dryly.

A few drops of Mana, the god-gift, filled me and my heart beat fast with excitement.

She looked me in the eyes, her gaze as cold as midwinter. “Then you will perish. In the waking world, you will cease to be you,” the Weaponmaster declared evenly.

“And? That’s it?” I continued blithely. I had expected as much, but there had to be more to it than just my simple death. The setup had been far too intricate.

“I take no joy in this, but as per my accord with Vincenzio, I will be you. Your body will be mine, and I will have one more chance to walk again in the world of the living. To breathe real air under an unshattered sky. To have another chance to do what must be done,” she explained with fierce vehemence. “This time, I will have all the advantages that come with being born a man.”

There it was. The unvarnished truth of the matter.

The flow of energy started, circulating with every pulse of my heart.

“There are not as many advantages as you think they are,” came my automatic retort.

Though she professed no joy in it, her eyes betrayed a different story. Writ plain in their depths was greed and a lust for new life. Bitterness welled inside me, reaching new peaks. I nearly spat in reaction.

This world, it seemed, would always hand me the raw end of the deal.

“Of course, you don’t take any joy in this,” came my retort. “And of course, you’ve probably taught me nothing more than a lot of garbage? After all, the allure of another life would be too great for the great Fen Vaigorus, no doubt,” I responded sarcastically.

She placed a hand upon her mailed breast. “Upon my honor and the Mantis Mark, I have taught you to the best of my ability. I have tried to impart all that I know to you, as I have with all my students and disciples. If you have been resistant to my teaching… well, that is no fault of mine.”

I grit my teeth, striving to maintain a calm expression. Had I known the conditions for this final trial, I would have tried much harder. Much harder.

Would have, could have, should have. The story of my life.

These were the useless words that spun around my brain in a futile procession, distracting me. Damn her eyes. Regrets, as always, never occurred before the fact.

“Did you honestly think you could have bested one of the greatest warriors with only a half-hearted effort?” she asked, raising an eyebrow and covering her mouth to stifle a laugh. It was yet another attempt to provoke me into greater anger.

Slowly, my magic had begun to well within. Too slow… too slow.

I straightened my shoulders and took a deep breath. “Perhaps for an ordinary man. But I am no ordinary man, and your time, Weaponmaster Fen, has long passed. Despite your less-than-adequate instruction, you will not find me an easy opponent. Do not think I have shown you all of my claws just yet,” I answered defiantly, slamming the butt of my halberd to the ground for emphasis. “You are nothing more than an antiquated echo of a bygone age.”

The graceful woman laughed at this, great peals of laughter that echoed all around. The embers of hate, anger, bitterness, and frustration rose into a flame that threatened to consume me.

The Mana within started to surge.

It was time for a different tack.

“Will you at least tell me of yourself, your true self? I would know who it is I truly face, and why you would go to such lengths to kill an innocent man?” I spat out in a bid to buy myself more time.