Daniel had come out into the woods to train, and once Caspian had left, that was what he did. First by examining the box Brant had given him. It was a decent sized cube that took up most of his backpack space. All white and with more symbols carved into it that he didn’t recognize. The box felt light as a feather and the top panel slid back to allow him to place objects inside of it. Already in there were some of the objects on Brant’s list. Namely, a glass jar with an apple inside. Daniel extended his senses further and felt the essence battery within the bottom panel.

But Brant had underestimated how far he’d already come with the ability. Daniel summoned his gauntlet and launched an Invictus punch at the box. When he made contact for the briefest moment, he saw within his mind the inner contents of the box. The force of his punch passed through the wall of the box and then the glass jar without impacting either. He narrowed his focus further onto the apple in the jar and saw it burst apart in his mind.

Daniel opened the box and checked. Whatever residual essence had remained after the punch had been absorbed by the battery. The apple itself had been pulverized and there was no sign of damage to the glass jar. Daniel was pleased. He’d managed to clear two stages on his first attempt. The next one would be tougher, though. It involved hanging a piece of paper up with a large circle drawn on it and only destroying what was inside the circle. So far, the ability allowed him to ignore certain objects and let the force pass through them, but he had no idea if it was even possible to ignore part of an object. The rest of Brant’s list just involved making the circle smaller and smaller on bits of paper until it was just a dot.

It would have to be a test for another day. He was down to almost half a core and he needed to get some sleep in preparation for another long day of riding. Daniel reached out to the essence battery within the box and slowly starting pulling its essence towards himself. The cycling bracelet made the work grueling. What should have taken him a few minutes took over forty. But Daniel did not want to give up and, in the end, he managed to recover most of his essence.

I’m going to have to pace myself, he thought. That was way more intense than the last time I’d tried it. I’ve got to get the bracelet off as soon as I can.

He’d cycled it slowly, not out of choice but because he found it impossible to move the essence any faster. The cycling remained imperfect too as he watched wisps of essence turn into vapor and leave his body as he cycled. Daniel decided that next time he would go even slower until he’d mastered perfect essence absorption.

A twig snapped in the forest as more footsteps approached. Daniel wondered if it was Caspian coming back, already having gotten over the news that demons existed. It wouldn’t have been out of character for him. He always seemed to take everything that didn’t personally affect him in stride. When Daniel had told that he was an alien from another world, Caspian had only been excited to ask questions and learn more. But the Scourge being real seemed to be a harder pill to swallow for some reason.

Daniel looked up and was disappointed to see that it wasn’t Caspian. Instead, Dain strode forward with a fighting stick in each hand. His breathing was calm and even, but the perspiration on his body suggested that he’d been training hard on his own.

Considering how late it was, Daniel was baffled by his choice since there was such a thing as overtraining. But Dain hadn’t come here just to train. He wanted to spar.

“You really want to continue? Here, of all places?” asked Daniel.

Dain raised one eyebrow. “You want to give up?”

Daniel frowned. “This isn’t the time for this. It’s late and we don’t have access to the healing baths. Unless you want to go limited contact?”

Dain cocked his head to the side. “Do you?”

“Stop echoing what I’m saying!” Daniel snapped.

He ignored Dain and packed the box away in his backpack. He was about to leave when Dain twirled the sticks in his hands in frustration.

“Fine. Limited contact and no tricks,” said Dain.

Daniel put down his pack and drew his sword. He didn’t particularly want to fight, but he hated the idea of giving up. Still, he wondered how much this practice would benefit him. Holding back his abilities was one thing, but now he’d have to hold back his strength and his sword. Daniel was about to ask if there were any rules when Dain jumped forward and attacked with his sticks. Daniel blocked both with his sword before shoving him back.

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To make up for the lack of strength, both of them enhanced their speed with Daniel using his sharp sword, only to block or push Dain back. The longer reach of the sword wasn’t enough. He was faster than Daniel, and he didn’t have to worry about hurting him with the sticks. It allowed him to fight harder while Daniel worried about cutting him.

There was a flurry of movement on both sides. Dain hammered away at him with his customary aggressiveness and Daniel found himself only blocking in return. The sticks were so much lighter than his sword that Daniel never saw an opening. The same couldn’t be said for Dain. Every once in a while, one of Dain’s sticks would slip past Daniel’s guard and hit him. Daniel would grunt or hiss in pain, knowing that each strike was going to end up leaving a bruise that he’d feel the next morning.

The more Daniel got hit, the more seriously he took the sparring match. He began to see it as a challenge and was determined to land at least one punch on his opponent. Dain had more experience than him though and Daniel was still new to wielding a sword in his left hand instead of his right. Daniel would have to do something unexpected and take Dain by surprise.

On the next attack, Daniel put up his sword to block and noticed an almost imperceptible flinch from Dain. He’d only been using his sword defensively, but his opponent’s reaction had given him an idea.

Before Dain could strike again, Daniel lunged with his sword straight at Dain’s face. It doesn’t matter if someone says not to worry and that they’re holding back, or the rational part of your brain tells you that you’re safe. When a deadly piece of metal goes towards your eyes, the lizard part of your brain screams that you’re in danger and hijacks the body. Dain panicked and raised the sticks up to block and Daniel punched him in the stomach with his gauntleted fist.

Dain gasped as the air whooshed out of his lungs. He bent over, coughing and choking as he struggled to breathe.

“Considering how many hits you landed on me, why don’t we call that one a draw?” offered Daniel.

Dain nodded and sat down on the ground to catch his breath. It seemed odd to Daniel that he would be so aggressive about sparring when they both still had the essence bracelets to contend with. He decided to ask him about it.

“Brant told me you might be disappearing again during the trip. Something about seclusion training. I figured I’d try to get some time in before you go,” said Dain.

Daniel winced as he sat down on a log. There was a bruise on his left side that was going to give him trouble for the new few days.

“I get that,” said Daniel. “But if we keep going at this pace, then there won’t be much left of us by the time we get to Fordham. I have the box and the bracelet to focus on, as well as my seclusion training. If you need a partner that badly, ask Sister Greta. I’m sure she’d oblige you.”

Dain nodded. “I might have to, even if it means running the risk of hearing a sermon from her first.”

Daniel noticed that he was fidgeting with the bracelet. He had to have used up a decent chunk of essence in the fight. “You had any luck with the bracelet yet?”

Dain shook his head. “Haven’t tried it. Though judging by your face when you did it earlier, it’s not going to be a picnic.”

“Remember when Brant would have us wear a weighted vest and go running? Imagine that, but with weights strapped to every part of your body as you try to drag a slippery eel twice your weight up a hill.”

“Sounds like it’ll give me something to do on the road tomorrow, then.”

He was about to get up and leave when Daniel said, “how’s Abigail faring?”

Dain froze for a moment and then stoically asked, “why don’t you ask her yourself?”

“She won’t talk to me. We had a fight over her Spirit weapon and I was a little too blunt in how uncomfortable it made me.”

“Why ask me about this?”

“You spent the day riding with her.”

Dain considered telling Daniel it was none of his business or that he should still ask her himself. He didn’t want to get in the middle of whatever it was between them, and he certainly didn’t like Daniel trying to put him there. However, in his estimation, it was more productive if the whole group got along, so saying nothing would just cause Daniel to retreat into himself or stick to Caspian. Who he still considered to be a bad influence on his class and now on Daniel. The problem was that if he shared too much with Daniel, then Abigail would feel betrayed and pull away from the group.

In the end, he told Daniel only what he could have pieced together from their earlier meeting with Brant. Namely, that her library project might be completed by the time she returns and that she’s not sure what to do with herself should that happen. There’s also the question of what to do as a Spirited that dislikes fighting.

“By the end of the trip, she’ll have to decide whether she wants to forge a new path forward and continue her advancement, or remain in Veden and work as a librarian,” said Dain.

“You think Dawes won’t force her to advance?”

“I think that this is his last-ditch attempt at nudging her in what he sees as the right direction.”

Daniel didn’t let Dain see it, but he felt chastised. Abigail wasn’t just some well meaning rich girl with a scary Spirit weapon. There were a lot of expectations for her as the daughter of a Lord. She might even be expected to run Veden one day, though Daniel doubted it would happen unless she advanced. The title was called the Lord of the City and Irons and Steels wouldn’t take orders from a Bronze.

He thanked Dain for his honesty and the two of them returned to the camp to find that everyone else had already turned in for the night, though the fire was still going in order to keep the group warm. Daniel slid into his bedroll and tried not to think about the sounds of the forest. From the trees swaying in the wind to the animals out hunting. He’d never gone camping before and wondered if all the noise and the hard ground was going to keep him from getting a goodnight's sleep. But riding all day and training in the evening had taken a greater toll than he’d realized, and he was asleep within minutes.