After figuring out how Lu’s size-adjusting clothes worked, and wrestling with myself to not fall back asleep, I got changed and headed out. Making it downstairs I was greeted by the familiar clashing of steel from outside. Looking out the window it was plain to see Airsidh and Lu were back at it again. This time with full gear. ‘She doesn’t waste any time.’

“I see you're awake.”

Turning just slightly I could see my father, sitting just outside, watching them both closely. “Are you ready to learn the final technique?”

‘No…’ “Sure, hit me…”

He stood up and turned to me grabbing my arm.

I took a couple of steps backward “But like, don’t… actually hit me please.”

He paused, looking at the bruises and cuts before letting out a satisfied hum. “Thankfully you seem to already be pretty beaten up at the moment, so I won’t have to.”

I felt my jaw clench before he unexpectedly lifted my shirt to check the cuts on my sides as well. “You're not as badly injured as I thought you would be, but it's good enough.”

‘Bad enough… You're supposed to say bad enough here…’

I pulled down my shirt as fast as I could, trying to move things along. “The next technique…” I grumbled.

“Right, it's simple really, just make yourself heal faster. You’ll need to not only get injured less, which you can do with toughening, but also recover faster, to keep up with the fighting there. You’ve already used this technique before, this time though, I want you to try and use more manna, and heal your wounds without exhausting your body of energy, otherwise, it defeats the purpose.”

“Thats… It?”

He didn’t respond, just crossed his arms, waiting. “Well…”

“Well, what?”

“Do it already.”

‘This can’t be how people normally learn new techniques…’ I unclenched my jaw, forcing myself to let it go, not even realizing how much he was starting to agitate me. Every time I looked at him it only made me more mad. But… A part of me was glad that he wasn’t acting any different after our fight if you could even call it that. “Fine…” ‘Here goes nothing.’

I turned away from him, focusing on the dull pain from the scrapes and cuts and the process of their healing. I imagined new tissues being formed as blood circulated through my body. I focused on the warm feeling of Mara and Lu being next to me, and the heat in my chest whenever my sister was being sweet.

Before I knew it my whole body started to feel like a raging inferno, and my stomach emptied at the same time. Sweat began pouring out of me and I was suddenly short of breath.

I felt my neck jerk and everything calmed down. Only after the fact did my brain finally realize what had happened.

“You got lost in the spell again, you need to stay conscious, and in control. If you use this spell too much you will starve yourself to death in minutes.”

As my manna returned to normal and the spell stopped I began to feel a sharp sting on my cheek. ‘He hit me again… Wait, it’s different though. He slapped me this time?’ I rubbed my cheek to try and get the sting to go away. “What you hurt you’re knuckles or something?”

He responded with a small grunt. ‘Maybe I really should just start growling back…’ I knew why he felt the need to hit me… No doubt it was the fastest way to snap me out of it, and if I would have died otherwise it felt like I should have almost been thanking him. Still, I was counting it. ‘Just when I got even too…’

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

He grabbed my arm again, and I looked down at it, the bruises were gone, and the cuts had vanished, leaving red marks where the skin was still repairing itself. Taking out a dagger he cut me down my arm with a long stroke. “I know you can do this, it should only take one more try.”

I felt the sharp sting. The metal blade dug into my arm and blood started to spill out, as I growled back at him. ‘He thinks I can do it one more try?’

Either way, it didn’t matter, I had to heal it as best I could before losing more blood, and I had to do it without starving myself to death. Focusing on my manna, somehow the warmth inside me felt, calming that time, instead of raging.

I thought about how great I felt waking up that morning, wrapped in the warm blankets and hugging my soft “Pillow” I slept so well I didn’t even notice the pain from my wounds. That thought somehow carried me into a lull where a soft warmth flooded across my skin until the pain was gone. ‘Did I do it?’

He grabbed my arm, yanking it closer to look and wiping away the blood. Sure enough, the cut had already scarred over and the wound was gone. “Good.” He pulled me around, inspecting the other cuts that had also turned from red to fully scarred over. “Good.”

I grabbed the hem of my shirt, holding it down before he could pull it up again. “Th- they're all like that…” I grimaced. “They’re all healed up…”

He took my word for it, deciding not to bother inspecting the rest of the cuts like he did earlier. “Good, that means you're ready for your final test then.”

‘Well… I guess that’s that then.’ It was a bit of a relief, but just like before, the technique wasn’t complicated. The problem was his crazy tests. “So, what this time, are you going slash my throat and tell me to heal the wound before I bleed out?”

His eyes narrowed. “Not quite.” He turned and walked back towards the kitchen.

‘Not quite… So… It’s not actually something like that is it?’

I followed him in and he stabbed a knife right through the table, pinning it through a piece of paper before leaning against the wall with a wide grin.

‘A map?’ It was a complex diagram filled with lists, arrows, and other symbols, but I was pretty sure it was a map. The unsettling part wasn’t the layout, but rather the names on the map pointing to certain sections.

Skeleton, Undead, frost wraith, Ghost Wind. All of them were names of monsters, ones that I certainly didn’t want to fight.

“You’re going to a dungeon.” His smile grew wider probably as he remembered his days of being an adventurer, but I didn’t share that sentiment.

I took another look at the map before glancing back towards him. “Can we maybe try the throat-slicing thing instead?”

His smile vanished in an instant. “This is something you will have to do sooner or later at school anyway, and it will in all likelihood be the only thing you do where the threat of dying is both very real and very high IF you're not both capable and cautious.”

‘Maybe if you idiots used magic like the adventurers do you wouldn’t die as much…’ I sighed. “We won’t have to do that until much later though right Like, isn’t that the second or third year's test? I’ve already beaten my sister in a fight, doesn't that mean that I’m more than worthy of being alive yet? Why do I have to do more still? I thought I just had to pass the minimum, Lu is well above that, so if I can beat her then–”

“Stop whining, this is the last test!”

I suddenly got a chill as he raised his voice, and I started finding it hard to say anything. I tried to smile, simply as a means to cope, but it felt awkward. “R-right, ok… Can you at least explain why then?”

“Why are you being difficult…” He grumbled.

I felt chills run down my arms but I held my ground. “In case you forgot, there is a literal DEMON, trying to KILL me. And you want me to go to a DARK cave, filled with freaky undead monsters? You know it eats fear right? But no, I have to go and do it, because… Because why! What do you just think would be cool? YOU AND MARA WOULDN’T EVEN LET LU GO TO A DUNGEON AND SHE ACTUALLY ASKED YOU TO.”

We both froze, as I started to shake. My heart was racing as my breath tried to catch up. Surprisingly, my magic was as calm as could be, but I could feel my emotions still building up inside. ‘He must have a reason right? He always has a reason… If he would just tell me what it was then…”

“Why are you so insistent on me running to my death? Like… The wolves didn’t eat me so now you're hoping the zombies will?” ‘Just tell me… You’re not actually trying to kill me right? So why…’

My eyes were drawn down to his fist as it clinched. I knew full well he might hit me again, but I wasn’t afraid of it. It’s not like it could hurt more than the fangs of wolves or the metal of blades… He wasn’t Bhaltair, he wouldn’t break my bones… And if he really did want me dead then I was going to die either way.

I knew he wasn’t going to answer… And knowing that, it was like all color left my eyes.

He took a deep breath and let out a snort. “You won’t be going alone of course. I will be there, along with Zu. We will test his abilities as well, to see if he is capable of attending the academy alongside you as a knight bound to our house.”

I suddenly became aware of the weight around my neck. The pendant he had given. “What do you mean by that?”

“He’s close enough in age. He will be your guardian of sorts. Originally we were going to have Lu do that, but we don't want to hold her back from her own goals while she’s there.”

‘But I beat her… Is this what he meant when he said it doesn't count?’ “I don’t need a babysitter… But it's not like it would change anything…” ‘So I won’t be alone…’ “Still, wouldn’t it be better to hold up here until the demon shows itself?”

He raised his hand to his face rubbing his forehead. “Just go pack your… Nevermind. Finish up your business here today, we’ll leave tomorrow morning.”

‘Pack my things… I guess that would make sense if he was talking to anyone else. Everyone has their own weapons that are literally made for them, not to mention armor and clothes. I don't… So I don’t actually have anything to pack. All I can do is use whatever he decides to bring for me…’

None of it made any sense. I didn’t understand any of it. Before, even if you had to stretch things a little bit, everything he did seemed like it was actually for my own good, well… At least if you twisted it a little bit and squinted.

I couldn’t say anything to him as he walked away. ‘Why… Just… If there’s some bigger reason just tell me…’ “Please…”

But he was already gone.