Zaniyah was stunned. Partially because the air had been knocked out of her, but mostly because Beat had a split personality. One that was convinced that he was the gold of paladins… Noted. Now, this wasn’t quite the situation that Zaniyah had volunteered for. She didn’t quite know how to process this.

A grunt as she stood up, then she put her hands on her hips. Zaniyah needed a moment. Sometimes it was a good idea to take a step back from a situation in order to think things over. Would it be alright to make a complaint about the situation? On one hand, this seemed incredibly dangerous. On the other hand, fighting a crazy strong maniac did sound fun. It sounded like it would be a lot of fun...

“I said that training begins now!” Iath's voice boomed out the courtyard.

Zaniyah pointed at the god in a defiant manner. “I get a boon!”

“... What?!”

“It's in the rules! When a human meets a god for the first time, they get a boon!”

He walked over so he wouldn’t have to shout. Iath matched her stance of putting his hands on his hips. He also seemed taller than Beat. Not just because of the horns, but his whole stature was larger. Also wearing nothing but a loincloth was highly distracting for Zaniyah, but she was trying to push past that.

“You don't get a boon,” he replied calmly. “You are not meeting me in my proper form. I reveal myself to you by taking direct control of my vessel, thus I am under no obligation to grant you a boon.”

Zaniyah turned her head to the side and folded her arms. “Then I'm going to refuse to believe that you're Iath.”

Iath extended his hand and summoned his shield. His coat of arms was a war-painted minotaur with a snake's tail. A crown of horns sat at the top of the shield. It certainly was a lot fancier than the other shields that Zaniyah had seen. Even the color and brightness of it made it seem like it was woven out of sunlight.

“... That doesn't prove anything,” mumbled Zaniyah. That did seem to be the symbol of Iath, but maybe that could be faked. She didn't study enough about this stuff to know any better.

“Are you still willing to train?” Iath raised an eyebrow.

“Is guess… Uh, is Beat going to be okay?”

“The process is taxing, but his bloodline has served as my vessels for generations. He can endure several weeks of possession before his body begins to falter.”

The problem was that Zaniyah trusted Beat. He seemed rational. If there was something wrong with his master, Beat would likely step in to protect Zaniyah. This was an unpredictable situation where Zaniyah could be at risk for all sorts of trouble.

“It’s just us fighting the whole time?” She asked with a tilt of her head. “There isn’t anything else to do?”

Iath lifted his chin in a cocky manner. “I will proceed to break your body and reshape it through rigorous effort. I will explain other tasks as the need for it arises.”

Zaniyah shrugged. That seemed fair. She spun about and kicked at Iath as hard as she could. Her shin had made direct contact with his rib cage and yet…

He didn't budge. His expression didn't even change. However, Zaniyah’s mouth let out a silent scream as she began to hop around. She clutched tightly onto her leg. It hadn’t broken, but it felt like it would have snapped in half if she had hit him the wrong way.

“Damn the sagging tits of Tria! What are you even made out of?!”

“Hard work and perseverance!” Iath said as he punched her in the gut.

Zaniyah was sent sailing across the courtyard again, this time slamming into the wall. She skidded down the stone and sprung up to a stand. Darting forward, she went in for a series of strikes before she was knocked away again. Even if she was still convinced this wasn’t a god, Iath didn’t move as Beat did.

Beat preferred to dodge and counterattack. He was fast and light on his feet. Iath simply stood there. It didn’t matter how many times Zaniyah hit him, he was unmoving. As soon as he got bored with her, he would strike her away. Whenever she tried to gather her thoughts or her breath, he would taunt her into continuing.

Three days running followed by hours of sparing had left Zaniyah struggling to move. One last attempt to stand up made her realize that her legs had been replaced by mounds of jelly. She fell to her butt and began to pant and wheeze. What was the point of this? It didn’t feel like fighting, nor did it feel like she was learning anything.

Iath walked up and sat on his heels. His tail swished back and forth behind him. “The sun is still up. Are you able to continue?”

“N-not really, no... Ten minute br-break?” Zaniyah gave him a weak smile.

He wasn’t amused. Iath pushed her down by pressing on her shoulders. Suddenly, she was pinned in place as he loomed over her. “A paladin's power lies within their will. The reason why you are tired is that you believe you are in need of rest. You continue to be weak because you believe that you cannot improve. You are only limited by the restraints that you have placed upon yourself.”

Zaniyah spoke in a mocking tone. “Well, it's easy for a big strong guy who has been doing this for a whole lot longer, sure. That still doesn't mean that I get it.”

A sudden fear overtook her as his hands painfully tightened about her shoulders. He leaned close to her face, close enough that she could feel the hot air from his mouth as he bared his teeth and growled at her. The noise he made was inhuman. It made her heart race from panic.

“Then you will be beaten down again and again until you are made to understand,” he snarled. “Your ability to rationalize anything will be stripped away and you will be reduced to nothing more than a beast. Instinct will be your only salvation.”

Zaniyah tried to push him off, and he let her go with a deep laugh. A deep breath was taken, then she fought back. She did whatever she could to get her strikes in while at the same time not be hit by him. Light on her feet, and quick to strike.

This continued until the sun had set and she could no longer move “for realsies” this time. She fell over into a heap. Her body had faltered, as did her mind. Who cares about proving her will? All Zaniyah wanted was all she wanted.

A splash of water stuck her face. It was still dark outside. Iath leaned in and summoned a ball of light so that he could examine her face. “Are you able to move?”

Zaniyah let out a wheeze. Everything hurt. Breathing hurt. Thinking about moving hurt.

Iath shook his head with a disappointed sigh. He lifted her up and carried her inside the temple. They entered the hot springs. It was a large enough pond that could hold a dozen or more people, and the room was choked with steam.

Without regard to her privacy, Iath stripped her of her clothes and carried her into the water. He propped her up on a bench and began to mend her wounds. All Zaniyah could do was sit there and feel embarrassed. No wonder Shaw didn’t want to do the training. She could see him throwing a fit and leaving after the first day.

“In olden times, both men and women took up the shield,” explained Iath in a gentle voice. “They would pair off and enter my temple. After they had completed their training, they would have formed an unbreakable bond.” He sighed at the thought.

“Then what happened?”

“Eatha happened.” He rolled his eyes. “She complained that her priests and priestesses would do nothing aside from lay with each other. Her flock spread not her message nor did they do their tasks. They shut themselves away in her temples and kept their pleasures to themselves.

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Our sister, Tria, was asked to intervene. That was the day that priests of Eatha ceased to exist, as did my shieldmaidens. She claimed it was for balance. That, and,” Iath seemed embarrassed for a moment, “my paladins were plagued by similar issues... Though it was not due to my guidance. Battle and passion are one and the same. A good fight sets a flame in one’s soul and loins.”

Zaniyah's nose scrunched up. She felt that way after dancing, but not so much fighting. “I’ve never met anyone more prude than a paladin. It’s hard to imagine any of them being all… Rubby dubby lovey wuvey.”

“That is how the world became. Without a woman who could match their passions, one by one, my warriors became hollow. They slew their hearts and devoted themselves to their moral code.”

She winced as he moved behind her. He had started to massage her shoulders, but she chose to ignore him. “Beat said that I had to meditate on controlling my emotions.”

“Not at all.” Iath wrapped his arms around her stomach and looked at her from above her shoulder. “Your blood goes back to the most ancient of my warriors. The old code is what suits you best.” He grinned at her. “Let's be off. More training to be done.”

Despite Zaniyah being able to walk, he picked her up and carried her up the stairs and to a broken balcony. There, he set her down in his lap and put his arms around her once more. They faced the rising sun together as he continued to whisper gently in her ear.

“Each morning we wash off the dirt from the previous day. You will face the sun and meditate. A paladin's power exists in their stubbornness. You must believe that you are strong enough to beat a god.”

His fingers trailed down her arm and their fingers intertwined. He then stretched out her arm. Her shield appeared just beyond her palm. The emblem was different from either her father or Shaw. While their trees bore fruit, hers was adorned with flaming flowers.

Iath continued. “Your shield exists because you deny others the right to damage you. When you are injured, you do not ignore the pain, you command your wounds to vanish. When you free others of their weariness, you press your will into them and demand that they be healed.” Her shield shifted, becoming warmer as spikes protruded from it. “As an Arbutus, you show your enemies that they will only doom themselves if they dare threaten you. That is the boon of your bloodline.”

His teachings made a lot more sense than anything either Shaw or Beat had told her before. She didn't like how underdressed they both were, or why he had to be holding her like this, but she did appreciate the advice. If not for the fear that he was going to hurl her over the edge of the wall, she’d backtalk and object to the way he went about lecturing her.

“What should I meditate on?”

“Most paladins choose to concentrate on their relationship with myself and how to strengthen it.” He untangled their hands and went back to hugging her.

“... Uh.”

Iath shrugged as he tightened his grip on her. “There is no need for that. You can work on strengthening our relationship in other ways,” he said with a purr.

Oh no...

Iath was a pervert.

Zaniyah was trapped inside the temple of the sex goddess with an overpowered pervert who hasn’t seen a lady paladin in hundreds of years. Forget being naked or being afraid of being tossed over the edge of the wall, she wanted to leap off of it. Goosebumps rippled along her skin as Iath whispered huskily in her ear.

“Put on your clothes and brew the tea.”

“I'm sorry, what?” Zaniyah pulled away slightly so she could look at him directly. She quickly turned away again. That was Beat’s face. He still had Beat’s face. There were a lot of mixed emotions floating about and she wasn’t comfortable with any of them. “Brew tea! Aye, sir! I can do that!”

She scrambled away from him as fast as she could. While she brewed the tea, Iath went about reapplying his warpaint. They then discussed what he had learned from watching her fight yesterday. How her movements could’ve been cleaner or wasted less energy. A lot of it was stuff that Zaniyah had heard from Stonetoe.

“The paladins of old valued movement over defense. Warpaint was the only armor they sought.” They had finished their breakfast of mulberries and rations, and Iath was now mixing paint in the palm of his hand.

Iath began to apply the blush-colored paint to her face with his thumb. She didn't ask him to do this. He had decided this on his own. Dots were applied to her brow, and lines were placed from the corners of her eyes to her jawbone.

“I guess that explains why I never liked clothing,” she replied.

“A fine paladin trait, that is.” He nodded and started to draw along her shoulders and collarbone. “After I am done, we will practice forms until it's time for lunch. Then you will attempt to murder me again.”

Iath finished his work and showed her the fighting forms that he had taken centuries to perfect. His arms moved gracefully through the air as though he were doing a slow dance. Zaniyah copied his motions for hours. They ate a late lunch, then dueled until well after sunset.

Once more, Zaniyah felt incapable of moving. She knew she had to heal but she couldn't bring herself to do so. There were only so many hits she could take before she grew tired of it all nor did Iath offer to help her with his magic. He gave her some water and told her to sleep it off.

The next morning, he carried her to the bath and the process begun anew. They meditated, ate breakfast, practiced their forms, followed by combat. Each day, he was expecting her to go further with her stamina. Though he was cruel during their fights, he was kind and gentle once the new day began. Forget having a split personality, Zaniyah wished that he could just pick one theme and stick with it.

His elbow cracked through her shield as he raised his voice. “You are still frightened of me! Convince yourself that your shield is more powerful than I and nothing will be able to break it!”

He grabbed her elbow and threw her. Zaniyah flew like a dead weight and rolled along the ground. Her chest heaved up as down and she struggled to breathe. There was no telling how many days had passed. She didn't even know what time it was. All she knew was that it had seemed like it had been dark for a while and the only light she that she had were the brief times where she had summoned her shield.

“Are you able to move?” He sat on his heels next to her.

“I-I can.” Zaniyah attempted to sit up and fell back down again.

Iath examined her for a moment. “Channel your instincts. Animals do not fear death. They press on.” He poked her with a finger and frowned when she twitched. “... Is any of this getting through to you?”

“Yeah, of c-course it is...” She let out another wheeze. “I think I've been getting better? I'm lasting a lot longer... I also seem to be summoning my shield rather than just trying to take the hit. That's good, right?”

“Your progress has been slower than what I am used to seeing.” Iath helped her sit up. “I have not been motivating you properly. That is a fault I can only place upon myself.”

Brushing her hair away from her neck, he leaned in and bit firmly into her skin. A thin whine escaped her nose. He pulled her close and gripped onto her flesh so tightly that she was worried that he was going to tear off her clothes.

“What are you doing?!” Her voice came out as a nervous, high pitched squeak.

“I am attempting to put you into heat. The pleasure of mating with another should allow you to push past the limits of your body. Pleasure will be your teacher and tormentor,” he said as he firmly grasped her rear.

“I'm not comfortable with that,” she whispered. Zaniyah couldn't imagine doing that with anyone other than Vincent. “It isn’t appropriate, you know? You’re in Beat’s body, and we’re supposed to have this teacher and student thing going on…”

Iath let her go. He frowned as Zaniyah grasped her knees to her chest. “You are mistaken. This is my vessel. From the moment this child was born, I had the ability to possess him. His very existence, even before conception, was all for my sake.”

Beat. He said that his name meant war drums. The sound that carried a commander’s orders during battle. Maybe it actually meant that he was Iath’s vessel and that he has no choice but to live by his god’s whims. Zaniyah couldn’t help but be depressed by the thought. If Beat was willing to give up his body for the sake of helping her out, she was starting to feel like she really owed him something.

Zaniyah stood up and took a step away from Iath. Her legs were threatening to give out from underneath her as she did so. “Can't we do some dancing instead?”

“Dancing?” Iath stood as well. “You would have to show me. I have no doubt that dancing has changed a great deal since last I've done it.”

“How about you show me?” Zaniyah put a hand on her hip. “I want to know how you old folks do it. Plus, next time I go dancing, everyone will think I have some snazzy new moves when I'm really just tossing about the old classics.”

“I am able to grant you that boon.” He held out his hand and she took it eagerly.

They danced until dawn and every night after that. It quickly became the highlight of Zaniyah’s training. Being able to move freely underneath the moon and stars made the experience all the better. Not even the weariness of combat or Iath’s perverted self was enough to ruin her mood.

Zaniyah sat up one morning, having been awakened by the sounds of birds. She then looked around. The sun had been up for some time. Iath was still sound asleep in the grass but his horns had shrunk and his tail was gone.

Beat had returned.

Zaniyah walked over and knelt beside him. She ran her hand down the scales along his spine and he let out a loud yelp of surprise. Sitting up, he suddenly fell back down, curling up in a ball as he did so. He looked like he was suffering from a terrible hangover. She had seen Zynn do this a couple of times in the past.

“You alright there, buddy?” Zaniyah almost went to poke him again but changed her mind.

“... Why am I naked?” His voice cracked with weariness and he was struggling to keep his eyes open. “... Where did my loincloth go?”

“You’re not supposed to wear clothes when you go take a bath, silly.”

Beat opened one eye and quickly shut it. He let out a pained groan before speaking again. “... Why don’t you have a shirt?”

“... Uh.” Zaniyah coughed and looked off to the side. She then shrugged.

Beat’s jaw tensed. “Did you and my master sleep together?”

“Do you mean literal sleep or are you asking if we did the dirty?”

“Never mind... Don't answer that.” Beat rolled over to his other side. “Possession takes a toll. I will need some time to rest. We'll head back to the barracks tomorrow... Fend for yourself.” She patted him on the head. “... Don't touch me.”

“Would you like for me to catch you some fish and fetch you some water?”

He took a moment to think about it. “... Yes.”

After such intense training, she didn't mind taking care of Beat for the day. She fetched him his clothes so could hide his shame, fed him some food, and let him rest. They headed back to Braytons the following morning, unaware that another champion had only just finished their training as well.