Kain stepped back, he wasn’t too fond of the distance between his neck and Maleek’s staff. After the step, he jumped backwards to widen the gap and give himself a breather. Maleek didn’t let the gap last long, he charged him. Throughout their ‘spar’, he never gave Kain a moment to rest. The aggression of his fighting style contrasted drastically with the precision of his movements. A spectator may have confused the pace of his attacks as a sign he favored speed over accuracy, but Kain had realized very early on that, that was anything but the case. Each swing, each jab went exactly where Maleek wanted it to. Each felt deadly. Kain dreaded to think what Maleek would have done if he allowed him use a spear. It would have been wooden of course, but Kain wondered if that would have even meant anything. He was being thoroughly and completely outclassed.

Maleek caught up to the backtracking Kain and thrusted his staff at his forehead. Kain didn’t have time to dodge, but he could move his neck. He jerked his head to the side and narrowly avoided the tip of Maleek’s staff. Unfortunately, before he could get his feet set to try to distance himself from Maleek, Maleek swung his staff downward into his shoulder. The swing had an incredible amount of force behind it, dropping Kain to his knees immediately. The staff ultimately split apart in the process, but it had accomplished its goal.

Kain fell to the ground exhausted. He had taken a royal beating. Even with his armor and the fact that his teacher was using a wooden weapon, he still had bruise and injured bones all over his upper body. They hadn’t accumulated over the few hours they’d been ‘sparring’ either. Each one was new, fresh.

Maleek turned and headed to the weapons rack. The healer on standby moved to aid Kain. While he was being healed he stared daggers into Maleek.

“So this is all you training amounts to? Trying to kill me?”

It had only been a day since Kain’s mother had rushed over to see him awake for the first time in a week. Maleek had spent much of yesterday trying every trick and every angle to get her to agree to letting him train Kain. It was completely ineffective. Each approach was met with a stern ‘no’. It wasn’t until after dinner, when his wife took her off to have a private chat, that she relented. Both Maleek and Kain were flabbergasted when she walked into his study fully onboard with Kain taking Maleek as his master. Maleek had questioned his wife incessantly about it afterwards, but she only responded with a kiss and a ‘This is my apology’.

Maleek chuckled, “Where we’re from, those are one and the same. But,” Kain breathed a sigh of frustration, Maleek could see he was unhappy with that statement, “That will be all for our sparring session. I needed to gain a good grasp of where you are as a warrior.”

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“And I’m guessing you believe almost killing me is the only way to do that?”

Maleek walked back, bare handed, and chuckled again. “I was under the impression you wanted to learn how to use your powers quickly. Am I mistaken?”

While Maleek’s tone was somewhat mocking, his face was stiff and stern. The relatively warm aura he had given on previously was nowhere to be found. Kain sighed again and said nothing. Maleek read that sign of concession and continued.

“Now. I do agree that our sparring has been quite excessive. Truthfully, I had never really intended to spar this long. But while we were sparring I noticed a few things I had to confirm.”

Kain furrowed his brows.

“For one thing, while your mouth is eager to complain there rest of you is not. I don’t know the exact details of your upbringing but I’ve been told you were born and raised here in Bruyn, to Martha Basileus”

Kain was fully healed now so he got off the ground and stood up, “I was.”

Maleek stepped right up to Kain, “And yet In the face of an opponent that is easily capable of breaking you, you’re not afraid.”

Maleek quickly caught himself and stepped back, “Your footwork is superb, your reflexes are sharp, and your instincts are honed. You’re already a warrior.” There was a brief pause, “At least that was what I thought, until I saw you actually swing a sword.”

Maleek started slowly walking around Kain, “You aren’t a warrior, maybe. Maybe you’re just incredibly gifted. You are blessed with the power of sahirlah after all. Maybe you’re just special. Maybe.”

“That’s a lot of maybes.”

Maleek stopped walking. He was standing directly in front of Kain again, “There are. There are indeed.”

Maleek looked straight into Kain’s eyes, “Even now, I’m still unsure.”

Kain was growing tired of game of charades, “Unsure of what?”

“Who you are. Looking at you now I see nothing but a disgruntled youth, but there are flashes, moments, where you look anything but. Where your eyes are cold, dark, unfeeling. The kind of eyes that kill. The kind of eyes that light doesn’t reach. The kind of eyes that don’t belong on a 15 year old born and raised in Bruyn.”

Silence followed. It was a lengthy silence.

“I did what I had to do. Being attacked by bandits and watching them attempt to torture a little girl may change how a person views the world.

Maleek nodded, "Yes. Bandits. You know, the sight of you massacring a few dozen of them is still fresh in my mind?"

Kain did not like the direction the conversation had headed in, "That happened after."

Maleek nodded again, this time the nodding continued for several seconds.

“Right...okay,” Maleek went silent, seemingly mulling over some things.

“Okay. I said I would train you and train you I shall. I must still ask however, out of mere principle, who are you really Mr. Kain Basileus?”