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Into The Abyss
Interlude 1: Arianna

Interlude 1: Arianna

"Draven!" Master Al'Manti Aldren's deep voice quieted the chatter amongst the acolytes. Everyone's eyes landed on Draven. Draven stood alone, his fellow acolytes forming a circle around him. "Get into the arena."

Draven made his way to the arena, the acolytes in his path hurrying to get out of his way. He could hear the other acolytes whispering as he passed through the crowd. They gossiped about his weird pale skin that never tanned, even during the summer. How his red eyes could paralyze you with just a glance. Draven locked eyes with one of the gossiping acolytes; the boy took three steps back and looked down to avoid eye contact. Draven shook his head and continued onto and entered the arena.

"Now," Master Aldren stood with his hands clasped behind his back. He scanned the assembled crowd of acolytes, "Who here wants to face Draven?" When Aldren locked eyes with an acolyte, they would quickly turn their gaze away. "Are all of you not striving to become Al'Manti? The first way of the Al'Manti is to seek power, not shy away from danger!"

"Master Aldren, may I speak?" A tall, lanky boy with brown hair held his hand up.

"You may speak."

"Draven is just too good at fighting. He has won every single ranked spar since he got here." The boy cleared his throat to stop the quivering of his voice. "We should even the odds and make it more entertaining for Draven."

"Then what do you suggest?" Master Aldren asked.

"That three acolytes fight against Draven at once," the boy replied.

Master Aldren laughed, "Yes, this could be good." He turned to face Draven, "Draven, what do you think? Do you want to fight three acolytes at the same time?"

Draven nodded, "I don't think it would change the outcome." Draven then pointed at the tall, lanky, brown-haired boy, "But I will only do it if he is included since he suggested the idea."

"I agree to those terms." Master Aldren swiveled on his foot, turning around to face the gathered acolytes, "Tywen, Draven and I agree to your idea; get up on stage!"

Tywen looked scared. On shaking legs, Tywen walked towards the arena, entering at the opposite side of Draven and staying as far away from Draven as possible. "Master Aldren," Tywen's voice started to quiver again. "Can I pick my other two teammates?"

"You can pick one, and I will pick the other." Master Aldren smiled, revealing his teeth that had been imprinted with gems. "You pick first."

"I select Endra," Tywen replied.

Now, it was going to be more of a challenge. Endra was the second-best fighter in this acolyte cohort, but Draven's skills far eclipsed Endra's. The boy was from a long line of Al'Manti Knights and Masters. If Draven had not been here, he would have been the best.

Endra parted ways from his clique, entered the arena, and stood by Tywen's side. Endra stared at Draven the whole time, never breaking his gaze. Draven laughed; at least someone has the guts to face me, Draven thought to himself.

"Then I pick Ariana," Aldren let out a chuckle at the end.

The crowd erupted, whispering how Aldren doomed Endra and Tywen. That the duel had already been decided and that Draven would win. How Aldren sabotaged them.

A girl sitting by herself stood up and headed to the arena. She held her head high as the other acolytes around her laughed and snickered at her as she passed. She had a look of determination on her face. She stepped into the arena with as much, if not more, confidence than Endra.

"Don't hold back against us," Ariana drew her blade. "Because today is the day we defeat you." She pointed her sword at Draven.

The crowd of acolytes started to laugh at her. Master Aldren had to quiet them down before they got out of control.

"Are you ready, Draven," Master Aldren looked toward Draven.

Draven had just finished his stretch and mobility routine, then nodded to Master Al'Manti. Draven's red eyes took on a crimson glow. Flames manifested around his body as he cycled Essence through himself.

Aldren then swiveled in the opposite direction of Draven, "Are you three ready."

"Yes," Endra answered. His eyes began to glow blue as he channeled Essence throughout his body. The energy cycling through him gave him an extra physical boost.

"Then fight!" Master Aldren jumped out of the arena.

Draven activated his kinetic force soul matrix, an innate spell bound to his soul. Usually, if you wanted to cast a kinetic force spell of the first circle, you would have to Weave the spell from the Threads of the Weave and then channel Essence into the Spell Matrix. Draven's soul had reached the first circle long ago, allowing him to create one first-circle soul matrix. The spell allowed him to release kinetic force from any point on his body.

A blast of kinetic force propelled Draven across the arena, straight towards his opponents. Draven willed a cone of kinetic force in front of him. He then began to pluck and pull at the Threads of the Weave with his off-hand. His hand blurred as it Weaved a force-flame spell. He channeled Essence into the spell, and three missiles made of force and flame zipped ahead of Draven toward Endra, Ariana, and Tywen.

Ariana divided herself into three identical versions of herself. She scattered in three directions, forcing Draven to choose one to target with his flaming force bolt. The spell collided with one of the Arianas and exploded, bursting apart the clone construct. Draven quickly found the actual Ariana when another clone split from her original body. Draven took note of that information for later.

Endra waited for the bolt to reach him, lightning arcing around his body as he waited. He dodged the bolt, a trail of lighting lining his path. The bolt exploded on the ground away from him.

Tywen's skin took on the texture of rock, and he tanked the bolt head-on. Draven then collided with him, and the kinetic force cone around Draven pushed Tywen back and off his feet. Draven constructed a mental representation of Tywen in his mind. Then, he sympathetically connected his mental construct to the real Tywen. Draven pictured the mental construct of Tywen slamming into the ground. Then, the real Tywen slammed into the arena, causing the ring to shake. Draven then imagined the mental version of Tywen being dragged towards him, pulling the real Tywen along the ground.

Draven stab at Tywen’s prone form. Tywen blocked Draven's blade and kicked the other acolyte in the shin. Draven constructed a force barrier around his leg, stopping Tywen's attack. He then kicked Tywen's head into the ground, kinetic force enhancing his attack. Tywen's head sank into the arena's ground, the hard exoskeleton around his body protecting him from much of the damage.

A spike of danger from the Weave reached Draven's mind. He leaned to the left, dodging Endra's sword slash. The lightning acolyte blade nicked the surface of Draven's armor. Draven then shot a blast of kinetic force into Endra's chest, flinging the acolyte backward.

Two versions of Ariana came at Draven next as Tywen was picking himself off the ground. Draven grabbed Tywen, then grunted as he flung the heavy acolyte at both Arianas. Tywen's speed towards them was enhanced by the kinetic force Draven attached to him. Tywen collided with one of the Arianas, shattering the construct. The other dodged Tywen and continued on towards Draven.

Draven accelerated toward them with kinetic force and punched through Ariana's clone before she could act. Draven then created a mental construct of the final Ariana across the arena. She was in the process of splitting off more versions of herself. Draven imagined her spell pausing its process, and the real version of Ariana did so. She tried mentally fighting back, but Draven's will was too strong. Draven then pulled Ariana towards him, and she flew through the air.

Draven created four force bolts and fired them at Ariana, guiding them with sympathy. All four collided with Ariana and exploded. She fell to the ground and did not get back up.

Endra went to help Tywen to his feet, "We have to fight him as a team if we want to beat him."

Draven took his time walking towards the two acolytes as they plotted. He twirled the sword in his hand and smiled at the two.

Tywen nodded, "All take the brunt of the assault. You look for any opening," his voice shook with nervousness. Tywen charged Draven, his heavy footsteps leaving dents into the arena floor.

Draven blocked Tywen's attack; he was forced to step back at Tywen's heavy overhead swing. His arm tingled as a hint of numbness manifested in his limb. Draven then gripped his sword with two hands. He swung his blade, cutting into Tywen's chest. Sparks flew off Tywen's skin as Draven's blade ran across it but did not pierce the flesh.

Tywen attacked again. Draven released a tiny blast of kinetic force, shifting himself out of the way. Then Draven felt pain; Endra's sword had cut into Draven's stomach. Draven released a massive blast of Kinetic Force, pushing both Tywen and Endra away from him. Draven concentrated on his wounded stomach. The first circle of body granted the user the ability of body supremacy. The ability allowed Draven to have complete control over his body. Draven willed the wound on his side to close and heal.

Draven was done taking it easy on them, he was going to finish this now. A thin layer of kinetic energy manifested around Draven's body and sword. Draven's speed exploded as he launched himself directly at Tywen. Draven punched Tywen in the gut, causing Tywen's hardened skin to crack and break. Tywen coughed up a mouth full of blood and fell to the ground on his knees. Draven kicked Tywen's head into the ground, knocking out the acolyte with the attack.

Endra attacked Draven from behind, which Draven dodged, latched onto Endra's outstretched arm, and crushed it, breaking the bone. "I give up!" Endra said before Draven could do any more damage.

Draven let go. Endra cradled his broken arm as he left the arena. Other acolytes came into the arena, removing Ariana and Tywen. Both were still unconscious and were carried away on stretchers.

"Now that was a fight!" Aldren yelled, breaking the silence of the crowd. "I think we will continue with these three verse one fights. Who wants to fight Draven next?"

---

Draven heard the sound of feet crushing leaves as someone approached him from behind. He sighed and stopped meditating, "What do you want?"

"The same as yesterday, the day before, and so on," Ariana walked around to face Draven, a big smile plastered on her face. "I want you to train me."

Draven stood up from the ground, brushing off the dirt and leaves from his pants. He started walking away from the crazy girl. "I'm busy."

"You're not busy," Ariana said, catching up with Draven. "You're out here in the woods just meditating."

"I'm working on maintaining more sympathetic links," Draven responded as he sped up his pace. "I need to upgrade by Soul Matrix as fast as possible."

"Why are you in such a hurry? We're only acolytes, and we still have much to learn." Ariana asked as she kept pace with Draven.

Images of his family's death flashed through his mind. The bomber that killed his family. His dying mother lying in a pool of her blood next to his dead sister. The El'Dresi soldiers that destroyed his city and murdered his people. Draven grew angry.

"What's wrong with you? Why does your face look like that?" Ariana's voice started to grow higher as she panicked. "Was it something I said?"

Draven calmed himself by breathing slowly, "Why can't you just leave me alone. I need to train in peace. Don't you have friends or something to hang out with?"

"You don't have to be rude!" Ariana crossed her arms and blocked Draven's path. "I don't have any friends and don't see you with anyone else either. Where are your friends?"

"I don't need friends. They would just hinder my growth. Now move out of my way."

Ariana's expression fell, sadness slipping through her expression. "Everyone needs friends. We could be friends."

Draven laughed, "Get out of my way or else."

"No, make me," Ariana drew her sword. Two clones split off from her and surrounded Draven.

"Fine," Draven drew his sword from its sheath. "You want a fight? I'll give you a fight." He launched himself at the Ariana in the center and simultaneously fired off two force bolts at the other Arianas. The central Ariana shattered as Draven slammed through her. The one to Draven's right also shattered, and the one to the left fell to the floor screaming.

Draven pulled her towards him with a quick sympathetic link between her and his arm. She flew through the air, and Draven caught her, grabbed her by the neck, and slammed her into the ground. The ground caved in, and Ariana grunted in pain. Ariana screamed, and Draven felt her form a sympathetic link and attach it to himself. Draven went flying away from Ariana. He formed a sympathetic link between his arm and the ground and pulled himself towards it, landing on his feet.

The fingers of Ariana's off-hand blurred. Draven connected his sight to the Weave, revealing Ariana Weaving a spell. Ariana finished Weaving her spell and channeled Essence into it. She blinked from existence and appeared behind Draven, thrusting her sword towards his back. Draven spun around and deflected Ariana's blade. He then coated his hand in kinetic force and punched Ariana.

Ariana split herself in two. The real one backed away from Draven and fell to the forest floor. The other punched Draven in the face, breaking his nose. Draven is stunned, shocked that she hit him. He touched his lip, finding warm liquid pouring from his nose. He pulled his hand back and stared at the blood coating his hand.

The clone of Ariana launched a kick towards Draven's head. He caught it before it made contact with him. Kinetic energy poured from Draven's core, coating his entire body with tactile kinetic force. He stabbed the clone in the stomach, shattering the construct.

Ariana pulled herself up from the ground and wiped the blood from her face as she chuckled. "You're not so untouchable as-"

Draven launched himself toward Ariana, his suit of kinetic force accelerating him toward her before she could react. He punched her in the chest, breaking her rib cage. He then kicked her legs from under her, breaking both with a sickening crunch.

Ariana fell to her knees, clutching her chest as she struggled to breathe. Draven kneed her in the chin, sending Ariana flying into the sky. He quickly attached a sympathetic link to Ariana and pulled her down onto his sword. Ariana grunted in pain as Draven's sword pierced her stomach.

Draven throws Ariana from his sword, and she collapses, groaning in pain. Draven steps over her and stares down at her with hate in his eyes.

"Please, no more," Ariana tried to crawl away from Draven, "I'm sorry. It hurts. I give up."

Draven came back to himself, looking over Ariana's injured form. This was supposed to be a duel, not a battle to the death. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do this," Draven said as he scooped Ariana into his arms. "Don't worry, I'll get you some help." Draven started running back to the Al'Manti school.

---

"You're making great progress with your studies," Sygvar sat across from Draven as he sipped on a mug of coffee, "You have mastered Body Supremacy, Mind Supremacy, and Soul Supremacy to the level of a Disciple. And you have made great strides in the concepts of Swordsmanship, Fire, and Force. You can even divide your mind into seven and form seven Sympathetic links. Your Weaving abilities are great as well."

"Thank you master for the praise," Draven bowed. Sygvar was the same as always. He still wore his dreaded grey hair in a ponytail. Draven was so thankful that he rescued him from that El'Dresi hollowed all those years ago. Sygvar was the rock that kept Draven from falling apart.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"But what about the other assignment that I assigned you." Sygvar drew closer to Draven. "Have you made any friends?"

Draven's mind instantly thought of Ariana. "I don't need any friends," Draven crossed his arms and looked away from Sygvar's eyes, "What I need to do is to train more. There are El'Dresi out there wreaking havoc in the Imperium. I need to stop them before they do any more damage."

Sygvar sighed, "You need someone to talk to." He placed a hand on Draven's shoulder, "Someone to hang out with and do kid things with."

Draven looked Sygvar in the eye, "I have you. Isn't that not enough?"

"You need to make friends with people your own age. Even just one friend would be good enough for me." Sygvar smiled, remembering, "What about that girl you put in the infirmary? Wasn't her name Ariana or something? You visited her almost every day. She even managed to land a hit on you," Sygvar pointed towards Draven's crooked nose.

Draven scowled. He hated how his nose looked now. Even with using Body Supremacy, it would not go back in place. He asked Master Aldren why that was and Aldren said that Draven's soul recognized how his nose was now as the true state of his body. There was nothing more Draven could do. "Ari is not my friend."

"Ari, is it? You even have a nickname for her," Sygvar's smile widened, and he hugged himself as he chuckled.

Draven squinted his eyes, "What so funny?"

"I never thought the day would come when my little Draven would grow up and find love. It's all happening so fast."

Draven shot up from the chair, growing red, "I'm not in love with her! She's just-. She's just an acquaintance. Yeah, she and I are acquaintances, nothing more. I visited because I felt bad for how far I took the duel."

Sygvar nodded, a grin still on his face. "I think you two are more than acquaintances. You're lucky she didn't push for you to get punished. The council wanted to whip you and lock you in solitary confinement. You should thank the girl."

"I will; now, can I go," Draven got up from his chair, "I need to get back to training."

Sygvar nodded, "Yes, and be open to making new friends. You never know what you will miss out on."

Draven slammed the door behind him.

---

"I brought you the cookies you wanted," Draven handed the box of chocolate chip cookies to Ari.

Ari clapped her hands together and squealed, "Thank you so much! How did you get this? They put us on such a strict diet." Ari took out a cookie and stuffed it into her mouth. "Wait, did you sneak out?" Ari whispered as she chewed on her cookie.

Draven stared at Ari, not moving a muscle.

She nodded as she bit into a second cookie, "So you did sneak out. Here, have one; they are good." Ari extended the box of cookies towards Draven.

He shook his head, "It would interfere with my training."

"One won't hurt much. And if you have one, it will make me heal faster."

Draven looked confused, "How would that work?"

"I don't know. The universe works in mysterious ways, so just have a cookie."

"Okay, but just one." Draven grabbed a cookie and took a small bite. His taste buds lite up. The food fed to them at the school was excellent and nutritious, but they never had dessert. It had been years since he had anything sugary. The last time he could remember having sugary foods was with his family. A tear leaked from Draven's eye. The smiles of his family played in his head as they all sat around a dinner table eating.

"Woah, you must really like cookies," Ari's voice broke Draven out of his daydream. "Have some more."

"No, I'm good." Draven smiled at Ari, "But thank you for this one. It helped me remember better times, happy times."

"We're friends after all. The least I can do is help you."

"We're not friends."

"Okay, keep telling yourself that. Let's move on to the lesson plan. What are we studying today?"

Draven pulled out two identical coins, "We will be working on sympathy and Apathy."

"What? Why that? It's so simple and boring," Ari put her box of cookies down on the table next to her bed.

"Sympathy and Apathy are the foundation of all advanced forms of magic. With a strong foundation, you will be unstoppable."

"Okay, but when are you going to teach me how to be good at the sword like you are," Ari pouted.

"When you are out of the hospital," Draven then positioned the coins a foot apart. "Tell me what you know about Apathy." Draven forged a Sympathetic link between the two coins and picked one up. The other one followed, levitating at the same height as the one in Draven's hand.

"Apathy is the process of forcing the universe to see two objects as individuals," Ariana peered into the Weave and focused on the Thread Draven was using to link the two coins Sympathetically. She then broke the link with Apathy, and the coin floating in the air fell to her bed. "Apathy is primarily used to break the Sympathetic links between objects. You do this by highlighting the differences between the two objects, mainly both objects being two individual entities."

"Good, now tell me what you know about Sympathy."

Ari paused and looked to the ceiling as if searching for something. But Draven knew that looking up was one of her quirks that meant she was thinking. She looked back down, her eyes bright with enlightenment. "You won't be able to trick me with this one. Sympathy is forcing the universe to accept two objects as being a single individual object."

Ari picked up two cookies from her box. She then formed a sympathetic link between the two.

"What happens to one," she lifted one cookie into the air, and the other did the same. The other cookie floated at the same level as the cookie in Ari's hand.

"Happens to the other," she finished by breaking a piece of the cookie in her hand and dropping it on her bed. An identical piece from the other cookie fell and landed on her bed.

"And what about the force required for Sympatheticly linked objects?" Draven asked.

"Well, the force required to change Sympatheticly linked objects depends on how efficient the Sympathetic link is. The more similar two objects are, the more efficient energy is exchanged between the objects. Because the two cookies are so similar, the energy exchange between the two objects is nearly one hundred percent. Meaning that for me to lift one cookie, I'm using the force to lift two cookies at the same time.

Draven nodded, "Very good. Now, how come I can do this." Draven sympathetically linked a coin to his hand. He lifted the coin into the air and linked it to his finger. The coin spun in mid-air when he twirled his finger. "My hand and the coin aren't similar at all, but the Sympathetic link between them is one hundred percent efficient."

"Well, there are many explanations for that. That coin could be made out of copper. You could link the copper matter in your hand to the coin, creating a one hundred percent efficient Sympathetic link," Ariana smiled at her hypothesis.

"That was a good answer, but that's not what I'm doing," Draven stopped spinning the coin and had it doing figure eights now. "A method like that could only be used in perfect situations where the elements in your body aligned with the elements in your environment. Try again."

Ariana paused, looking up at the ceiling. "Your bond with the coin could be so extreme that the Thread in the Weave could be so thick that you could for a one hundred percent efficient link."

"Another good guess," the sword on Draven's hip unsheathed itself and floated along with the coin into the air. "It's a method that is extremely useful for objects you share a deep bond with, like the weapon of an Al'Manti. But that is not what I am doing with the coin. Try again."

Ari's eyes twinkled with light as she pounced toward Draven. "Your understanding of the coin could be so great that you create a mental representation of the object in your mind. Then, Sympatheticly linked the mental and real coin. Then imagine yourself manipulating the coin with your hand, making the real coin move."

Draven smiled, "You're correct; that is what I'm doing. You don't have to move your hand to move the coin for this method. You could move the coin mentally, and the real coin would move. But that is more of a challenge, and using an aid like imagining moving the coin with your hand is much easier."

"But how are you doing that as an acolyte?" Ari hopped out of her bed and drew closer to Draven, "That technique is a technique at the level of an Al'Manti Knight. Heck, Al'Manti Disciples struggle to learn that technique in their first few years of training."

"Practice," Draven pushed Ari back into bed. "Today, we will be working on this technique. We will work on forming mental images, forming Sympathetic links between the mental and real objects, and disrupting those links with Apathy. It's not so hard once you have done it enough times. And the headaches you get from practice get better with time."

"That's easy for you to say; you're a genius. This is going to take me forever to learn."

---

"I'm here," Ari shouted as she ran through the forest. She stopped before Draven, resting her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. "I'm sorry I'm late. Master Nedal held me back."

"Why did she do that?" Draven asked as he struck the air with his sword. Threads of the Weave spun around him as he twisted and turned, Weaving a spell that enhanced his sword strikes.

Ari collapsed, "Because I broke a bunch of elixirs during the lab."

"Well, I used the extra time to focus on my training." Draven's strikes became faster, and the force behind them grew heavier. A faint red aura began to manifest around him.

"Where you out here the whole day?" Ari found a sizeable stick on the ground and threw it at Draven.

He turned around, cutting the stick in half. Draven nodded and continued going through his sword strikes.

"What about Sygvar? Don't you usually hang out with him?"

"The council sent him away on a mission about a week ago."

"You must have been lonely out here by yourself all day."

Draven stopped mid-strike and turned around to face Ari, "Why are you trying too hard?"

Ari looked confused, "Trying so hard at what?"

Draven sheathed his sword, "Training and getting stronger. What are you trying to achieve?"

Ari got a faraway look in her eyes, "To never be weak again. When I was a girl, my family was attacked by monsters. The only survivors were me and my brother. We lived on the streets for many years. It was tough, and my brother later died on those streets."

Draven bowed, "I'm sorry for asking and your loss."

Ari stood from the ground and brushed off the forest dirt and vegetation. She laughed and picked Draven up, "It's okay, you didn't know. There is nothing wrong with being curious."

"Then, let's begin today's lessons. The ranked spar is coming up, and I want you to take second place."

Ari's left eyebrow rose, "What makes you think I won't take first place?"

"Because you have never beat me in any of our duels. Maybe if you focused and stopped talking so much, you would have by now." Draven smirked.

Ari rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, so what are we doing today."

"Today, we will focus on the Trinity: Body, Mind, and Soul Supremacy."

"Okay," Ari drew her sword and jumped into a combat stance, "I'm ready to fight."

"Before we start our duels, I need you to explain each." Draven shook his head from side to side, "Ari, you should be familiar with my teaching methods now. First, I start with a lecture, or I have you explain concepts to me, then we duel and practice techniques." Draven then sat down on the ground

Ari slumped her shoulders and back, "Okay." She resheathed her sword and joined Draven on the ground.

"What is Body Supremacy?" Draven asked.

"Body Supremacy is a technique that allows a user's body to perform at the pinnacle of their physical capabilities. It also allows the user to have complete control over their bodies. Things like moving their muscle tissues, causing bones to grow, and forcing wounds to close and heal faster."

Draven nodded, "That's a good enough basic explanation. Now, what is Mind Supremacy?"

Ariana sighed, "Mind Supremacy is just like Body Supremacy, except for the mind. It allows the user to use their mind at peak capacity, heighting every aspect of the mind. It also allowed them complete control over each aspect of their mind. Like creating mental representations of objects for Sympathetic links."

"Good, now tell me about Soul Supremacy."

"Soul Supremacy allows the user to interact with the Weave. They can form Sympathetic connections by binding Threads of the Weave. Those Sympathetic Links can be disrupted with Apathy. Advanced users can weave spells using sympathetic links and inject energy into the pattern to cause an effect. Another advanced technique is to install a Weave Spell inside of a soul, creating what is called a Soul Matrix. This Soul Matrix would become an innate spell, and the caster would only have to supply Essence for it to function."

"For today's duels, we will only be using the basics of Trinity. So no Weaving or Soul Matrices," Draven got up from the ground and started to stretch. "You can use Sympathy and Apathy, though."

Ari stood up as well, joining Draven in his mobility routine. "That doesn't seem fair. When will I ever be limited to just using the basics of the Trinity."

"Probably never," Draven said as he cracked his back. "But I'm not trying to teach you how to fight without Weaving or your Soul Matrix. I'm trying to teach you how to utilize the basics effectively. With a solid foundation, you will be unbeatable, remember?."

"Yeah, Yeah, I get it," Ari drew her sword, "You ready to fight?"

"One more thing. You can use Essence binding."

"Essence binding?" Ari had a puzzled look on her face, "What's that?"

"You don't know what Essence binding is? It is one of the first things the Al'Manti Masters taught us once they had us formed our Essence Soul Matrix."

Ari looked up, searching her mind, "Oh, I remember! I haven't used that in ages. Weaving is so much stronger than using Essence binding."

"That is true, but Essence binding is faster and harder to disrupt with Apathy. With Weaving, you need to bind multiple Threads at the same time. This allows an enemy to use Apathy to disrupt your Weave more easily because your mind is split between multiple Threads, while theirs only needs to concentrate on one of your threads to disrupt your spell."

"I never thought of that." Ari nodded her head, "Now, can we fight."

"Not yet," Draven started, stripping off his armor, "Take off your armor. I want to test your ability to heal mid-combat."

Ari followed Draven's example, taking off her armor. The armor given to Al'Manti Acolytes was made of brown leather. Symbols, called Sygaldry, were engraved onto the various armor pieces. The Sygaldry enchanted the armor, granting it a supernatural level of defense.

"Now we can fight," Draven said.

"Good," Ari charged Draven at full speed.

Draven jumped into the air and connected his feet sympathetically to the ground, standing up mid-air.

"Not fair. How are you even doing that," Ari tried and failed to jump up and hit Draven.

"A simple application of Sympathy," Draven began walking in mid-air. He released a sympathetic binding when he took a step and connected it back to the ground. He tapped his finger to his head, "You need to think outside the box when using Sympathy. Sympathy allows the transference of matter and energy between two objects. You can choose what gets transferred by filtering out their matter and energy forms." Draven dropped down and then Symapthetically pulled Ari towards him.

Ari screamed at the sudden motion. She then cleared her mind and apathetically broke Draven's link. Ari slid to a stop a few feet from Draven. "You're not getting me again with that trick," she sympathetically threw a dead tree trunk at Draven.

Draven flung the trunk away, revealing Ari running straight towards him. He accelerated his mind with mind supremacy, and Ariana drastically slowed to his perception. Draven slid out of the way of her sword and cut her on her arm. "You're going to have to be faster than that." Draven put some distance between her and him.

Ari grunted and sprinted at Draven again.

"Wait!" Draven held out his hand.

Ari slowed to a halt, "What? I was just getting into it."

"You need to heal the cut I gave you."

Ari looked down at her arm. The cut was shallow and was leaking a little bit of blood, "This little thing? It would be a waste of time to heal it."

"This is training for real combat. If I had wanted to, I could have inflicted a more serious injury. You would have been forced to heal it mid-combat."

"Fine," the cut along Ari's arm instantly healed, "Happy?"

"Yes," Draven smiled. "Let's continue."

---

Draven watched as Ari stood proudly inside the circular arena. She had won her last two matches, and her previous opponent had to be dragged out on a stretcher. The crowd cheered her on every step of the way, amazed by her transformation into a competent fighter. This week was the day of the ranked spars. By the end of today, a new list of the top combat students will be created. Draven knew Ari would be at the top of that list.

"Who do you challenge next?" Master Aldren asked.

"I want Endra," Ari pointed at Endra amongst his clique.

"Whoa, aren't you ambitious today," Master Aldren commented.

Endra approached the arena with his head held high, marching forward with confidence in his step. Draven grabbed Endra's arm, stopping the young man in his tracks. Endra turned around, anger in his eyes. When he saw Draven, he relaxed.

"What do you want?" Endra asked.

"I want you to take this seriously," Draven said.

Endra scoffed, "Just because she managed to gain a little ability. Improving enough to challenge some lower-ranked Acolytes does not mean she can beat me." Endra pulled his arm free from Draven's hold.

Draven shook his head as he watched Endra continue on into the arena. Hopefully, the fool would heed Draven's warning and take the fight seriously. The last few duels between Ari and Draven had netted the woman massive progress in her combat abilities. If Endra is not careful, he may find himself losing his spot as second best.

"Are you both ready?" Master Aldren looked back and forth between Ari and Endra.

"Yes," Ari said as she held her sword, ready to strike.

"Let's get this over with," Endra said, drawing his sword from its sheath.

"Then fight!" Aldren yelled and then jumped out of the arena.

Ari split into three copies. Two ran at Endra, while the final one stayed back.

Endra erupted into arcs of lightning. He accelerated forward faster than Draven's eyes could track. Endra's sword split the first Ari in half, shattering the clone. The second clone of Ari pulled Endra towards her with sympathy. Endra's feet left the ground as he flew through the air. He turned around, blocking Ari's sword strike, then shot a lightning bolt into Ari, shattering the other clone.

"Is that all you got," Endra said as he approached the final real Ari. "The same old tricks with your clones? I'm not like the rest of the Acolytes. It will take more than that to defeat me." Endra turned into a streak of lightning, heading directly toward Ari.

Ari blocked Endra's attack and was pushed back a few steps. An ethereal arm emerged from Ari's form, cutting Endra across the torso. Ari then shifted to the left and kicked towards Endra. Endra blocked it, but an ethereal leg emerged from Ari's leg and kicked Endra before shattering.

Endra tried to distance himself, but Ari pulled him in with another Sympathetic link. Endra coated his arm in lightning and punched Ari in the stomach. Her stomach shattered, covering Endra in particles. Endra took a knee to the head, sending him falling to the ground.

"What was that about old tricks?" Ari said as she stood over Endra, gloating.

Endra yelled and shot a lightning bolt directly at Ari. Another Ari emerged from her form, and Endra's lightning bolt shattered the one standing directly over him.

Ari kicked Endra in the head and then placed her blade on his neck, "Do you yield?"

"I yield," Endra growled as he stared at Ari with hate.

"And the winner is Ari!" Master Aldren announced.

---

"I have something for you," Ari dug into her pocket and pulled out a necklace. A green teardrop-shaped gem hung from the center. She handed the necklace over to Draven.

"What's this for?" Draven said as he accepted the necklace. He stared at the necklace; the green gem was clear, and the sunlight reflected from its surfaces with an emerald hue. The gem matched Ari's eyes. The necklace was made up of interlocking golden chains.

Ari pulled out another necklace. This one was made up of the same interlocking golden chains, but the only difference was that it had a red gem at the center. Ari smiled, "Now we each have something to remember each other by?" Ari put on her necklace.

"But why are you giving this to me?" Draven asked. He stood frozen, the necklace still in his hand. "I see you almost every day."

Ari took the necklace from Draven's hand and put it around his neck, "That is true. But what about the times when I'm not around? Or when we become disciples, and we part ways."

Draven's stomach sank; he did not want Ari to leave him, "We'd just be assigned to Al'Manti that work together. I'm sure Sygvar would find someone willing to work with him."

Ari finished snapping the necklace into place, and Draven turned around to face her, "Most Al'Manti only work together during missions. After the mission is complete, they part ways." Ari pointed at Draven's necklace. "But that doesn't matter, as long as you have that, I will always be with you." She then held onto her necklace, "And you with me. Thank you for everything you have done for me." Ari rushed Draven and hugged him.

At first, Draven stood paralyzed, unsure of what to do. He then closed his eyes and hugged Ari back. A warmth that he thought died with his family returned, breaking apart the ice that covered Draven's heart. Draven felt happy for the first time in years, and a genuine smile crept onto his face.

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