The day started off with running 10 miles.

He was able to do it no problem but I almost died on the way back. The neighborhood was nice and quaint; albeit the fish smell.

Everyone knew each other. The laughs and cheers filled the air as we passed by the homes. Her grandpa would stop and talk with the others until he saw me. Then he started sprinting again, leaving me in the dust.

“You’re slow,” he said to me. He pulled out a notebook and started jotting down into.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“None of your business. WE’RE ALMOST THERE!” He said, sprinting once more.

We arrived back at his house, where we heard thunderous booms.

“My granddaughter’s amazing,” he sighed, wistfully.

He turned on me with a disappointed look before going to the backyard to check on her. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. I popped off the cap and chugged it.

“Alright Gramps, I’ll see you later. Don’t push him too hard,” she shouted before walking into the kitchen.

“Slow down, champ,” Aura said, slipping past me and into the fridge. She grabbed a water bottle and chugged it as well.

I’m not the only one who’s training their ass off, she’s been going at it harder than I have been. She’s hit Mana Zero at least twice over these past 4 days.

“Aura, you gotta relax with the training,” I said to her.

“I gotta push myself. I’ll never be able to face anything head on unless I do. I get it, people think I’m this weird, quiet girl who doesn’t want anything to do with anything but I’m so much more. I have dreams, I have fears, I have hopes and desires. I want to be strong enough so I can protect the people I care about. I don’t need you protecting me anymore. I’m not ungrateful or anything,” she looked away for a moment,

“I know you haven’t heard this yet so I’ll be the first one to tell you. Thank you. For everything. For saving me. For saving Rose. For being the reason we didn’t die at Enchantopia. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Now let me save you for once,” she walked away, bottle in hand.

“She really does care for you, kiddo,” Vodgel said.

“Yeah but I don’t need someone caring for me, I’ve got enough to deal with,” I finished off my water and headed back outside.

Vodgel and I sparred until the sun went down. He began teaching me how to use the Stone Fist technique.

“The stance is everything. Make sure your body is tight yet fluid, rough yet smooth. Feet need to be shoulders width apart. Tighten your core and focus everything on that punch well unless you whiff it then you’re fucked. Draw your fist back and keep your elbow close to your body. Rotate your shoulder and twist your torso for momentum. During the strike, make sure your knuckles are aligned with the target. Last but not least, you need to make sure that your strike has all of the force in the knuckles as you reach your target. Let the strike flow normally, you should return naturally back to your defensive stance,” he explained.

We went through the motions until I got the basics down.

He looked at me; water bottle in hand. He pointed it at me and spoke,

“Your kicking power and technique are insane though. Did you practice those more than punching?” He asked.

“Yeah, I couldn’t tell you why, I just always thought kicks were cooler when I was a kid,” I responded.

“They are cooler but punches are probably more effective.”

“I’ve come to learn that.”

“Tomorrow is strength and grip training. Since we only have about 3 days left, it’s going to be absolute hell,” he laughed loudly as he walked away.

Tomorrow came around and he delivered just as he said he would.

He walked me down the hall and into a room I didn’t see before. The room was locked off by a large steel door with many locks and biometric recognition. He unlocked the locks one by one, scanned his retina, and face before the door finally hissed open.

“Here she is,” he pointed to the large pearly white machine that sat in the middle of the room. The purple lines lit up along the sides, lighting up the room. The window was matte black. I wasn’t sure if it was tinted from the inside or not. The wiring ran across the floor into a different room inside this one. He walked over and pressed a button on the console that was on the other side of the room. The machine hummed to life as smoke fell out when the door opened.

“Was it supposed to do that?” I asked him.

“I added that for flair,” He replied.

The inside was glowing an otherworldly white. It looked somewhat bland inside compared to the design and the whole dramatic entrance it had.

“Step inside,” he ushered me in.

“I don’t trust you,” I walked in anyways.

The white made my skin glow an ethereal tone. The door hissed shut. I looked around but there was nothing that I hadn’t missed. I could see his face from here. I guess the window isn’t tinted from inside.

“PREPARE YOURSELF!” He yelled before a loud click. He pulled the giant lever down, starting the training.

The air suddenly felt heavy as I found myself struggling to breathe. I lifted my hands up, trying to hold something I couldn’t see. I grew dizzy as my stomach began to ache. Nauseous. I couldn’t get a good sense of my surroundings as my legs began to give out on me.

I slumped out as he finally ended it, seeing me almost on the brink of death.

“Is that supposed to help?” I mumbled.

“Does your body feel lighter?” He asked.

I stood up slowly and felt lighter than before. I punched a few times and it felt faster than just a few hours ago.

“Woah.”

“Yeah. Woah is right. This isn’t it, though. You’ll be doing this and lots of other exercises over the span of these next 3 days. I, even, have plans for you to be lifting boulders!” He put his hands on his head, showing his sarcastic expression of being excited, “cue the montage.”

“What-”

The 3 days flew by as I never got a break. Aura and I worked our asses off for the remaining home stretch that was laid out in front of us. My body burned as I worked past it. Protein shake after protein shake. That’s all he gave me to eat and drink.

2 hours of sleep was all I had for the day. I have never been so exhausted in my life.

2 days later;

“ALRIGHT, SON, HOME STRETCH BABY! I have an amazing plan for today. We’ll be going to explore a dungeon today. Me, you, and Aura,” Vodgel said.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Huh? Why? That has nothing to do with my training,” I questioned his methods.

“You’re not gonna just be fighting people, you gotta learn to face the monsters too. Literally and metaphorically.”

I threw him a confused expression before Aura joined us.

“I heard we’re going to a dungeon,” she said.

“Yes, we are, kiddo,” he noogied her.

“I’m so excited! I’ve never been in a dungeon. Will there be any adventurers coming with us?” She asked before looking at me.

“No, why do you ask?”

“No reason.”

Aura and I looked at each awkwardly before turning back to face him.

“LET’S GO!” He shouted and began walking.

The trip through the gloomy town passed by in a blur. I tried my best to ignore the smell but it just kept getting into my nostrils as we constantly passed by butchers and other stores with dead fish and other dead sea creatures in them.

We arrived at a large building towering over the rest of the town. A white marble building with pillars at the entry. This building was the only one that seemed to be taken care of.

“This is the Adventurers’ Guild. Where adventurers around the world come to; to get their name out there. This is how I started my journey,” he sighed and smiled, walking up to the receptionist.

“Ah, hello, Vodgel! Are you here to go exploring in the dungeon today?” She flashed a bright smile before facing us,

“Are you two the new pillars’ squires?” She asked Aura and I.

“No?” I answered, questioningly.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Vodgel, here, usually brings in the squires for training down here. What was the last one’s name?” She was snapping her fingers as she scrunched her face; digging through her mind to try and remember,

“Everett!” She shouted.

“Everett?” Aura repeated, her face wearing a confused expression.

“Yes, the one from your class.” Vodgel grabbed a poster from the bounty board and walked over to us.

He gave it to me. Aura appeared over my shoulder as we both read it aloud.

“QUEST: 5 SLIME CORES

GRADE F

REWARD: 5 OMERAS”

Mr. Lainhart offered more than this for me to beat up other students.

“Mr. Hunt, this isn’t even worth it,” I turned to face him.

“I didn’t ask you if it was worth it now, did I?

I shook my head side to side and handed him the poster back.

“Let’s go, kids,” he said, skipping down the sidewalk.

We arrived at a large black steel gate as it slowly opened. The doors creaked as an ominous aura poured out of the darkness that engulfed below. The stairs ended after 12 flights of them, marking the end of the outside world. We walked down the stairs and into the void.

“Are there more stairs?” Aura asked.

“Just trust your instincts,” he responded.

I closed my eyes and hovered my foot above the space in front of me. I set my foot down, hoping there was another stair in front of me. My foot landed on something solid. I sighed a sigh of relief and treaded carefully.

The staircase spiraled downwards until we ran into some torches on the wall, lighting up the rest of the path. It wasn’t a lot of light, it just lit up what was in front of us. I put my hand against the wall. It was rough; like dirt. A drop of water fell onto the ground, echoing throughout.

“Grandpa, how are we supposed to see in here?” She asked.

Silence.

“Grandpa?” She yelled one more time.

“Hey, we can’t shout in here. There’s monsters everywhere in here,” I whispered to her.

“But where is he?”

“We can always head back and get someone to search with us,” I responded.

“Yeah, we should do that.”

We turned around and started walking back. We stopped as we spotted a man and woman standing in front of the staircase.

“Excuse us…” we tried to slip past them but they weren’t budging. I pushed one of them and they toppled over. I ran over to help them. The other one stood still.

“Aura.” I shouted quietly. I turned the person around. Their face was lifeless, pale. Their eyes were also missing.

“What?” She came over and squatted down next to me.

“These two are dead.”

“WHAT?!” She yelled.

“SH!” I put my finger over her mouth.

“We’re only on the first floor, how did this happen? And why were they just standing there? Did someone put them there?” She kept asking question after question.

“Probably,” I turned to the left as I felt something was off.

“AURA, GET DOWN!” I tackled her to the ground as a knife soared through the air. A figure appeared out of the shadows. Vodgel had reappeared before our eyes.

“GRANDPA!” She ran over and hugged him. He didn’t respond. I squinted my eyes and looked at him.

“AURA, GET AWAY FROM HIM!” I grabbed my sword and threw it at his head.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” She screamed.

The sword went through his eye socket as he stood there. He roared before bolting towards Aura. I dashed over to her and pushed her away before blocking his strike with my sword.

“W-what?” She fell to her knees and started crying.

“Why?” She muttered to herself as her lips trembled.

“The Shadows sent me here.” A figure appeared from the shadows once more. This man was eloquently dressed. He wore a white dress shirt that was covered in blood with black overalls. He adjusted his glasses. He combed his fingers through his middle part.

“Can’t we just have a normal experience for once?” I sighed, exasperated.

“Maybe, once you’re dead,” a woman’s voice muttered.

It was the same girl from Enchantopia.

“You’re the one that attacked Rose!” I yelled.

Aura’s head shot up as she looked at her. Aura put her hands together.

“FLAME WRAITH: COME OUT!”

A shrieking creature appeared from a ring of fire on the ground. It looked like a frail monster; ribs apparent. It had razor sharp teeth as it’s jaw looked like it was about to fall off. Its robe was covered in flames and covered in holes. The creature shrieked once more before hovering next to Aura.

I dashed over and attempted to kick the man. He simply evaded and tried to grab me. Something about his hand threw me off. It was sinister or at least the feeling of it. I backed away.

“You’ve got good instincts, kid,” he said, snarling.

“Aura, do NOT let him touch you,” I told her, emphasizing the point.

She looked at me for a split second before nodding to me.

I looked back at our opponents’. We have no idea what their magic is and our best chance is standing there, altered and transfigured. I glanced over at Vodgel and saw the glimmer of the sword shining ever so slightly from his hilt.

If I’m gonna beat him, that sword is my best chance. The Vodgel before us wasn’t even a challenge compared to the one we trained with.

Vogel ran towards me. His speed was incredible but nowhere near his old version. I jumped over his claws as he sliced the area where my legs were, previously. My foot landed on his back. I kicked off of his back and landed back on the ground.

“Ok, it’s time,” I relaxed. I cut out all distractions from my mind and breathed heavily. In and out.

I spread my feet apart about the width of my shoulders and narrowed my gaze onto the creature that lay before me.

He screeched before sprinting at me once more. I stood still. He grew closer and closer. Every instinct in my body was telling me to swing now, to dodge. I can’t.

Closer.

Come on. Closer.

I could feel his breath as I swung my fist forward into his chest. I allocated all of the power into my knuckles on the point of impact. I felt his bones crunch underneath my strike. He flew backwards into the wall. He attempted to get up but his body fell back down to the ground. I walked over and grabbed the sword from his hilt.

The sword hummed as I swung a few practice swings in the air. Something about this felt right. I lifted it up and turned it around to see some writing on the side.

It’s in a language I can’t understand but that really isn’t the problem right now.

I sheathed my sword and wrapped both of my hands around the handle of the magic sword. I can’t quite tell you why but it feels as if I’ve had this sword for my entire life. I bent my knees and lowered the sword in front of my abdomen.

The two of them stood across from us with wide, eerie grins on their faces as Aura and I looked at one another. We were scared. Fear ran through our blood and our eyes gave it away. We nodded, realizing that this fear.

That this anxiety is just here to remind us that we’re human.

We cannot allow that fear to hinder us.

We can’t lose here.