A sudden contact with something cold at multiple places on my body woke me up, snapping from peacefully asleep to fully alert in a second.

Culain was approaching in full armor with his steel mace glowing yellow. The others were asleep. I tried to move, to shout, but ethereal chains and bars restricted my movements and no voice escaped my throat.

He approached slowly but surely and silently. When he was just a few paces away and took one more step the sound of a bubble popping resounded unnaturally loudly. Lyn snapped awake, and a snarl set on her usually-smiling face as she understood the situation.

“Culain’s trying to kill the kid !”

The whole team had slept with their armors on and shuffled to their feets while grabbing their weapons. The priest became a blur as he dashed to me, but was stopped by an invisible wall of solid air.

“Stop defending him ! He cannot be allowed to live a second longer !”

Raend looked pissed off. “Might be the case. But that’s not what the team decided. And we do things as a team. Stand down.”

“You hold no authority over me! The contract I signed is second to the orders of the church and the good of the people. He might not be one yet but he will be a danger to them. I cannot in good conscience let him live.”

An ethereal armor started encasing him, making him larger and taller, a shining axehead forming on top of his mace “ And though I hoped you would see reason, I prefer this impending crisis to be averted than keeping our friendships … and your lives. Though it pains me I will not-”

His head flew off and his body fell to the ground, with Kegen by his side, some splatters of blood marring the side of his flat hand. “ Too weak. No fun. Shame. “ The team just stood there with wide eyes, surprise painted clearly on their faces,. Raend quickly turned to rage “Wh-What have you done ?! Explain yourself !”

"Eh, I don't want to. Make me." The old one still had the same grin, though it was now filled with more sarcastic glee than love.

Raend was taken aback, but quickly got in fighting stance, focusing on Kegen.

"Guys, wait wait wait. Don't just go fighting now, I'm sure this can be resolved peacefully." Mark said, regaining a bit of composure.

Kegen chuckled " Lyn, kill Mark." Lyn's face went from shell shocked to perfectly neutral and emotionless.

" Wha- " Mark was sucked high up into the air, spinning and getting tossed around by violent winds. In a fraction of a second, small popping noises from multiple spots on the ground began to erupt as pebbles were sent towards Mark with explosive speed. With just the first volley of projectiles, a leg bent the wrong way and his head exploded. The wind let go of his now limp body, which fell and simply broke with a sickening crunch at the end of the drop, just a pace in front of me. A splatter of some red and pink fluids followed, tainting his green and brown attire.

Raend roared and dashed towards Kegen who leisurely walked to the clash. Once they began fighting, I could not follow their speed, and Raend started throwing spells around. His every move left a trail of dark red afterimages that vanished as soon as they appeared, his sword tracing one clear flowing cut through the whole fight, its trail getting brighter and brighter. Suddenly, that singular strand separated and vibrant crimson images of Raend appeared, akin to the afterimages but simultaneous to the movement. They did not follow Raend but complemented his own moves. When he struck overhead, two would block on the sides, one would swipe and another would lunge. His moves flowed and ebbed like a red tide, gaining ground and speed.

Kegen did not get struck once. From what I understood and the clangs that resounded, he must have been deflecting the flat of the blade with his bare hands so as to never get touched by the edge. He was just that fast. This beautiful dance went on for quite some time, and I was fully mesmerized, drinking and absorbing every detail of the fight I could. It went on until Kegen looked bored and jumped back. At this instant, Each of the afterimages and clones all converged one after the other into one smooth motion, each overlap causing the red light to grow in intensity. As the last and darkest image overlapped with the laid back stance of Raend, the blazing light diminished and focused to a singular point the diameter of a hair's width. Kegen smiled. The world turned gray and dark, the red dot absorbing every single other color, sound and feeling. Silence was too weak a word, it was more akin to every sound, every noise a thought would make being absorbed, cast to an eternal void. It wasn't cold. It just wasn't. The only thing that existed was the red dot.

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The world held its breath until Raend swiped through the red dot. It became a slice, Raend's sword akin to a brush creating that singular fine stroke of red. The cut didn't travel. It simply was. The dunes in front of him were sliced on hundreds of paces, some collapsing, most staying in place or shifting by a single grain of sand.

Kegen simply caught the blade with his hand, pinching the sides.

"Listen Raend, it was fun while it lasted. And that's a compliment I don't make lightly."

"YOU KILLED MARK YOU SICK PIECE OF SHIT !"

"Look, I really enjoyed teaching you. Truly. But I need to do something else now, and you're kind of in the way."

His leg extended and suddenly Raend was a few dunes away.

"Become stronger then come find me for your revenge and whatnot ! I'd love to fight again. When you're stronger, obviously."

He cracked his neck, taking slow steps down the dune to me, the blank-faced Lyn and Mark's broken and battered corpse. "That was nice."

" Why did you fight with Mark and Raend ?"

" You see, when I told you that I searched for fun, it means I searched for someone that could challenge me. And so it's been my routine for the last ... let's say years, to teach people so they can fight with me. He's grown up a lot, but he's still far from challenging me. I trained him as best I could, but he'll have to make this part of the journey alone. All kids need to leave the nest and find their own ways one day. You understand ?" The caring grandparent facade was back.

"Yes. But why did Mark have to die ?"

"He bored me. Now, you’re going to train . You have much potential by the quite simple virtue of your heritage. We will not let it go to waste. Tell me of your status."

That’s sad. I liked Mark a lot. “ I am fine. “

He laughed “ No, think of your race, your origins. Think of what defines you. Then tell me what you see. “

White letters floated in front of my eyes, I read him what was written.

Race [ Base Hecatoncheires ]

Affinity [ None ]

Feats [ None ]

Kills [ None ]

“ A newborn babe indeed. Fear not, I will make a fighter out of you. “

“ Why do I have no affinity ? “

“ If you are not born with one, you can become attuned to certain elements or concepts through the choices you make when you shift. Shifts are changes of race, be they vertical or horizontal.

Someone’s number of shift can give you a very, very rough estimate as for their sheer physical or arcane capacities, though it takes neither experience nor skill into account."

I thought about what I'd seen. "How many shifts had Raend done ?"

"He was a high human, so third shift. He was however quite strong for one. Remember that no two persons are equal."

I would. " How can I shift ? "

" You have to fight and kill.”

" How much ? “

He smiled predatorily. “ Lots. Lyn, take us to the Pit.”

She only nodded, face still blank. The winds caught us and propelled us to a high altitude, sending us tumbling.

The view was amazing, the sun still blazing orange, setting the sky on fire. It had not moved since yesterday. Not that I could notice at least. Still in the same place, still near its setting point. I knew this was not supposed to be so.

The dunes and sparse trees drew paintings across the land with their inky shades, as if the world was a text written by giants. It was beautiful… I liked it up there. Once the altitude we would stay at was reached, the winds merely carried me softly, parting before me, creating a comfortable cradle.

“ Thanks Lyn ! “ I tried to shout over the ambient noise. She brought me closer to her.

“ You’re welcome.”

“ Why did you change ?”

“ I do what Kegen says. By the way, that’s not his real name. “

“ Oh. Why ? “

She sighed “ I don’t want to tell you. But be careful around him. He’s not a good person. And neither am I, all things considered. “

What made someone good ? Why did she not want to tell me ? I had many questions but it felt inappropriate to ask. I felt as if I had done something wrong. Was this because I cared ? Why did I care ? I wanted her to teach me magic. I liked her. Quite the peculiar thing, affection.

Silence reigned for a long while, but I broke it in the end “ Will you still teach me magic ? “

She laughed and shot me a sad smile, her mask of coldness breaking as her shoulders sagged “ Yes, for sure. “

“ Thanks.” It meant a lot. It meant she didn’t hate me.

Meanwhile Kegen looked as if he was asleep, taking a comfortable nap. Why did Lyn not kill him if she did not like him ?

I watched the ground below for quite some time. We passed atop tall hills and mountains, not so big from up there. Their shadows covered vast distances, and I had trouble seeing what laid or roamed inside.

We descended as we reached a semi circle of walls, as big as a city and opened toward the setting sun, that encircled a large hole in the ground.

" Welcome to the Pit. "