Vivana began Fahon's first day of training with three laps around the grounds of Drakk Palace, their Casters cruising in the air alongside them.

Promise's parent planet, Haven, glowed yellow with snarling storm clouds, sliding slowly out of sight as dawn turned morning. Claw-like patches of clouds lingered in the skies. From the east, the newly risen Twins glowed like rubies.

The palace perimeter was about five kilometers around, Fahon guessed. After a fifteen-kilometer run, Fahon collapsed on the palace lawn. His hair was matted with sweat. Beads streamed down his face and stung his eyes.

They both wore Warrior Sect physical training uniforms. A charcoal pair of pants that could convert into shorts and a short gray sleeve shirt. The run drenched his shirt in sweat.

Vivana paced on the asphalt driveway, catching her breath. She tossed Fahon a canteen of water.

He guzzled it, wiping his face. "You know, I asked you to train me for a reason. To teach me about being Bonded. I didn't know it included sprinting around the palace until we die."

"Don't complain," Vivana said and stretched her calves. "You asked for this. Besides, I begin every day with a run. You should too."

"Fifteen kilometers every day?"

"No. I wanted to assess your endurance. As Bonded, we need to maintain peak physical performance."

"Sorry, I never received a training manual."

Vivana rolled her eyes. "Don't make excuses. Especially for yourself."

"I was kidding." Fahon raised both hands, one still gripping the canteen.

Vivana crossed her arms and glowered at him. "I'm not your friend; we're not here to joke around."

Fahon rubbed his face. "What, in the name of the Cosmos, is your problem with me?"

"You are entitled and spoiled."

Fahon's shoulders drooped. "But you barely know me."

"My judgments are purely based on your actions. You received the best education the moon can offer. You scored among the highest in scholar graduates. You shirked the Ophani tradition and the education you received by joining the Warrior Sect. All because you seek the adventure and fame of an Argent Knight, like your grandfather. Your Caster was simply handed to you. You get to join the Argent Knights without proper training or experience because you're the son of the Sovereign. You pulled rank on the Knight Commander to get what you wanted. Now I'm stuck in here, in Whitestone, training you. Instead of being at home, tending to my responsibilities."

"Wait…I inherited my Caster, the same as you did."

She narrowed her amber eyes, pointing her thumb at the shiny chrome-shelled orb floating over her left shoulder. "You have no idea what I went through to become Bonded."

Fahon's eyes diverted to a black coupe passing through the palace gates. "Why don't you tell me?"

"My grandmother fought alongside your grandfather during the Unification Wars," Vivana said. "She retired as an Argent Knight two decades ago. My mother, being disabled, could not inherit the Caster. She's no warrior. Grandmother pitted me against my two sisters and four cousins for a chance to be the house's Bonded.

"The training was arduous. There were days I couldn't get out of bed and go to the Academy with my body covered in bruises. We were forced to fight each other brutally without holding back. Despite the pain. Despite the struggle. I surpassed them all in skill. I won. I proved myself to my grandmother, and she allowed me to inherit the Caster."

Fahon nodded solemnly. "Thank you for sharing what you went through. It must have been difficult."

Vivana folded her arms, watching the coupe approach. "I don't need your pity."

"Pity? It's called sympathy."

The black coupe drove to the palace entrance, and the door slid open. Arik, slightly disheveled in his colorful clothes and stumbling drunkenly, climbed out. The coupe drove away to the garage to park itself. Arik ran a hand through his mess of red hair and padded across the grass towards them.

"You two are up early. And you look sweaty," Arik commented as he approached.

"And you haven't been to bed," Vivana stated.

Arik took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on it. She flushed and yanked it away.

"Knight Vivana, the tourney champion!" He nodded at Fahon. "Little cousin."

"Arik," Fahon said. "Please tell me you've paid your debt."

"Which one?" Arik asked, scratching a few days of stubble on his face.

"Your debt to the Syndicate."

Arik owing twenty-thousand marks to a foreign criminal organization was terrible enough. How many loans did Arik take out? He gritted his teeth in frustration. He loved his cousin and would protect him no matter what. The family took care of each other. Except, what could he do when the man was off the rails? Arik's biggest enemy was himself.

"I'm this close." Arik showed a tiny gap between his thumb and index finger.

"We shall discuss your debts later," Vivana said. "For now, Fahon and I have the training to do. We've wasted enough time."

Huh. Vivana clearly must like him if she's interested in his problems. She didn't even condemn him for it. Maybe I don't have to worry about Arik after all.

Arik yawned. "I suppose I should get some sleep."

"By the way, I told the steward to bring breakfast to your room," Fahon said.

"I would give you a hug right now, Fahon, but you're a little gross." Arik waved them goodbye, marching across the lawn to the palace entrance.

"Let's spar," Vivana said.

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---

Vivana grabbed Fahon's wrist mid-swing of a baton. He struggled to pull himself free. She slipped her leg behind his and took his knees out, slamming him onto his back, gray eyes wide with pain. Vivana stood over him, glowing magenta staff under one arm, Caster spiraling around her.

She dismissed her staff, and it dissolved into flickers of magenta. "We've had enough sparring for today."

"Yeah…" Fahon said as he rolled over. Both his batons, lying on the ground, puffed from existence as he dismissed them. He wobbled to his feet. Everything hurt. Undoubtedly, some of the welts she left with her staff would turn to bruises. She didn't mess around when it came to training. It was full contact without any armor.

"Your reflexes are a bit slow. It will come in time as you adapt to using Bond-sense," Vivana commented. "Your stances and forms are pretty good. Seems you had some formal training."

Fahon stretched his stiff shoulders and arms. "Speaking of Bond-sense. Back in the park, how did you know Kormel was attacking us?"

"I see…You haven't figured that out yet." Vivana tapped her chin with a finger. "I was only a few blocks over and could sense your Bond-link. "

"Bond-link?"

"The total range of the ability is about five kilometers," Vivana explained. "Every Bonded vibrates at a certain frequency. Learning to discern an individual from their Bond-link takes practice. It reminds me of music. Each person plays a distinct set of chords. If the Bonded is idle and not using their abilities, the link is quiet and hard to detect. You must be close, within meters, to detect the Link. Using Caster abilities makes the Link vibrate at a higher frequency."

A vibration pulsated from her Caster, nudging against his consciousness. He smirked, pleased with this new discovery. This was an ability he would have never guessed his Casters were capable of. Once you knew the sensation of a Link, it became apparent. A light had been turned on in his mind. It cast away the darkness, and he could finally see what was right in front of him.

"I see…by your smirk, you can feel it now. You're a quick learner, Your Highness."

A new sensation tingled at the back of Fahon's mind, like a thread of invitation. He tugged on it with his intent, and their minds became tethered.

His mouth fell agape. Vivana's voice vibrated through the mental thread as if she were speaking in his ear. Her lips never moved. You can Bond-sync with other Bonded through their Link, communicate with them, and detect their current location.

"Thank you for teaching me," Fahon said and gave her a bow of respect.

"I think that's enough for today," Vivana said. She returned the bow and started to leave.

"Wait! One other thing." Fahon caught her by the arm. "In the park and during our match, you ran through the air on Phasematter. How did you do it?"

"It's called Phase-stepping. It's an advanced technique. Few Bonded master it."

"Can you teach me it too?"

"Maybe another time," Vivana said, dismissing him with a wave. "We should focus on mastering your Bond-sense. For now—I'll be going."

Fahon didn't argue. He needed a shower and to nurse his battered body. "See you tomorrow."

---

Fahon ran along the perimeter fence of Drakk Palace. A mist hung over the grounds, swirling and parting as he passed through it. The grass and trees were slick with dew. The Twins were a sliver on the horizon and a chill hung in the air.

Vivana said the best way to train Bond-sense was hand-to-hand combat. It focused on all the senses, putting them to the test. After a few weeks of sparring, he was taking less of a beating.

The vibrations of her Bond-sense changed when she fought, becoming a subtle calm rhythm. During a fight, she was in her element. She proved focused and relentless. She always had an answer to Fahon's moves and executed her techniques flawlessly.

If her discipline and control were not enough, her astounding speed was. She struck like lightning and hit like it too.

Fahon found himself anticipating her attacks, hoping to control the ebb and flow of the fight and relying on longer reach. He couldn't move fast enough to compete for long in a hand-to-hand brawl against her. Despite his best efforts, she usually found a way through, and it always ended with him on his back or yielding.

Vivana usually arrived after his morning run. This morning she was early. She was placing a stationary archery target, It was a large brick of dense foam with a small red dot in the center for a bullseye.

"What's this?" Fahon asked, lips puffing with mist. He jogged over to the target to take a closer look.

Vivana took a few steps back, checking if it was level. "Today is your final lesson. I must return to Gade tomorrow. There are matters of my house I sorely need to attend to."

"I figured you would be leaving soon. Does Arik know you're going back?"

"I haven't seen or heard from your cousin in a week."

Fahon saw a flicker of uncertainty in her amber eyes. He rubbed his chin. "I haven't seen him at all this week either."

She focused on the target, studying it for a long moment. "There must be a good reason for Arik's isolation."

Did she really believe that? Sensing her discomfort, he decided not to talk about Arik anymore. He would contact his cousin later to find out what was going on.

"Anyways," Fahon said, stepping up beside her. "What are we practicing?"

"Watch." Four tiny bolts, magenta shards of Phasematter, materialized in the air in front of Vivana. They pulsed and zipped off toward the target, striking dead center on the bullseye.

Fahon whistled.

"You figured out Phase-jumping. You'll understand this. The principals are the same." She held her hands out in front of her, spread apart. Between her palms, a small chunk of Phasematter shimmered into existence. It shrunk and emanated a bright magenta glow as it continuously compacted in on itself.

Fahon studied the demonstration intently. It's the reverse of dismissing a Phase-crafted object, where the energy is recycled.

The shining sphere burst with a bright magenta flash, pushing her hands sideways with considerable force. "There is a repulsion effect to Phasematter when compressed. The further you condense it, the greater the force. Phase-jumping uses this to propel your body in the direction you desire. With that same technique, you can also propel any Phase-crafted object with a little focus and practice."

She summoned another bolt, which stretched towards the target, embedding beside the bullseye. She could make the bolt tips even sharper if she desired, punching straight through the target and into the palace wall. Fahon immediately saw why this ability would prove invaluable when fighting multiple foes or while at the range. It's why Bonded didn't need to carry firearms.

"Once you master the basics, there are more complex applications," Vivana continued. This time she shaped a Phasematter disk. She generated two tiny pulses on the disk, the first to hurl it forward and the second to put a spin on it. It moved slower than the bolt, being heavier, but put a sizable dent in the target on impact.

Vivana stepped back and crossed her arms. "Give it a try."

Fahon took a deep breath and stepped to where Vivana stood a moment ago. All it took was proper visualization. He understood the concept now.

With a mental command, a bright blue bolt appeared in front of him, quickly careening off into the grass a few meters from where he stood.

"Hey! At least it moved," Fahon said.

Vivana laughed. "Not bad. Better than my first attempt."

She formed another bolt in per palm and handed it to Fahon. He examined its shape and structure, getting a better idea of how to visualize it. It was nowhere near the bullseye, but he started to get a rhythm going, landing additional shots. It took him about twenty tries before he was able to land a bolt on the target.

Vivana Phase-crafted plates of magenta Phasematter and whipped them into the air; to practice hitting moving targets. He learned to lead a target in motion during rifle training. The concept was the same. It took him a few shots, but he managed to hit one, falling into the familiar rhythm. To continue making it more complex, she generated two plates and threw them, forcing Fahon to adapt.

He quickly recognized the versatility of Bond-sense. Divinity tugged at his mind, gently correcting him. The aid enabled him to focus on multiple targets, calculating perfect trajectories. A few dozen attempts later, he simultaneously knocked three or four plates out of the air with a grin on his face.

"I think I understand something else now." Fahon tapped a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "The compression of Phasematter generates a repulsive effect. When you're Phase-stepping, you're creating compressed plates pushing you upwards. It's how you're able to maintain your altitude. If you want to go higher or lower, you create steps. You dismiss the steps immediately, before they fall, to recover some spent energy to your Caster."

"I'm glad training you wasn't a waste of my time." She stopped hurling plates and turned to Fahon. "The rest is a matter of you practicing and developing your own fighting style."

Fahon formed a compressed plate of Phasematter in front of him and went to step on it. Vivana grabbed his shoulder to stop him. "Wait. Your Highness—it takes patience and hours of practice. I don't recommend trying to Phase-step any higher than a meter off the ground. Not until you are competent. You don't want to fall and break your legs."

He rubbed the back of his head. "Right, I nearly broke my legs when I first discovered how to Phase-jump."