Though Rex had expected to be alone at the staircase, another figure was already there. A slim shadow, with long blonde hair catching the torchlight.
She turned. "You were right," Enna said. "Two decades is a long time to stay in one place."
"Then let's leave together." said Rex. "You and me, right now."
"I can't" said Enna. "Didn't Gemini tell you? I'm her favorite person. She'll be on me in a flash."
"Then just don't use your magic until you're far away."
"I don't have full control" said Enna. "The worst thing about the three of them is that they're annoying but correct. Mathilda says that if my dream is be the best thunder mage there ever is, then my place is here. And...."
Enna continued "...there's no reason for me to leave this place, although sometimes I wish there was."
"Your own desires should be enough." said Rex.
"But that's selfish!" Enna said. "To leave just because I want to? I'd be such a fool."
She walked down the steps and leaned towards him.
"My advice is that if you really want to beat the Demon Lord is to swallow your doubts and follow what the council says." said Enna.
When Rex went to sleep that night, he had terrible dreams. A gorgon turned him to stone, a dragon swallowed him whole, a soldier pierced his heart and all he could do was throw sand.
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Monday - the first day of combat training
"When you're done in the arena I'm ready to tutor you," said Enna. "I prepared some info on the Beastkin for you because you seemed interested in them. I'm really excited that we can read the entire history of Foxkin and Wolfkin in extended unabridged encyclopedia format. "
"That's just dandy" exhaled Rex. "Couldn't find anything about cat....?" He coughed and swung the sword he was holding for the hundredth and fifth time.
"Hahaha!" said Caliban. "Wanting to learn about beastkin? I had a phase like that once too, Rex boy. But I wouldn't pursue it if ya know what I'm saying. All the beastkin, the dragonkin too, ain't made to be with humans.
"What do you mean?" said Enna. "When beastkin are in their human form, they aren't that different. I heard that in the capital they even live together in peace..."
"No time for yer rambling!" said Caliban. "Rex, yer swinging yer sword wrong! The pommel's gotta be by yer belly!"
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Tuesday - the second day of combat training
Rex sparred with other soldiers now, though he still did not talk to them. Part of the reason for his silence was the Gemini's rule against it, true, but it was also because he was being beaten so quickly that he didn't have time to speak.
"Rex, ya still haven't fixed yer posture!" Caliban shouted. "What did I tell ya!"
"Hilt at the belly, grip with my right hand, guide the sword with my left. Make sure to move my foot back when I strike..." said Rex. "I get it! I'll get it!"
Rex shifted his position and dropped his sword into the sand.
"Sure ya got it," said Caliban. "Ya know what. Get me a drink Rex."
"Does that have to do with my training?"
"I need a drink afta watching that technique. There's a closet filled with em next ta the council room. Just bring one ta me."
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Wednesday - the third day of combat training
"Rex! Ya've gone back to dodging attacks!" said Caliban.
"But I haven't been defeated yet!" shouted Rex, ducking underneath the soldier's mock spear. "This is how I can fight!"
Caliban gestured with his head. Four other trainees surrounded him and though Rex dodged one, two, three, blows he could not dodge the fourth.
"Ah, ah, ouch, ow! I got it! I understand! Stop hitting me!"
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Thursday - the end of combat training
It was on Thursday that Rex found a secret.
"Ya been tryin hard these past few days, I know." said Caliban. "Why don't we end early today?"
Sweat dripped down Rex's face.
"I can keep going. If I try my hardest, I think it'll take much less than eighteen months for me to get in the shape you want me to be."
"Nah," said Caliban. "The Council room has another meeting. Can't supervise ya properly anyway. Piss off and get yaself a drink."
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He wandered through what he now called the 'Beer Chamber after having seemingly fetched Caliban half the room. The chamber was dark so it was hard to see, but the barrels in the corners were empty, while the crates held an ocean of grog. Rex took a grog bottle popped it open, and sipped it.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Ah, the delectable taste of- shit!" Rex coughed and knocked the bottle onto the ground, where it shattered. *Hack!* *Cough!*
"Do people actually drink this?" Rex said. "It's worse than Budlight..."
It was then that Rex noticed a cork in the wall. From behind it, he heard a faint strange hiss that rose and fell. "Maybe there's something better to drink here..."
He popped the cork open and there was a hole, and through the hole he could see a meeting in session in the council room.
Then he heard his name, and pressed his eye to the gap.
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"Will Rex be ready to lead the main invasion?" said Gemini.
"Maybe in 3 years," said Caliban. "If the war's taking place in a desert."
"We don't need to put this world's fate on the shoulders of just one person," said Mathilda. "We could ask for allies instead."
""Allies like that 'personal project' of yours?" said Gemini.
Her eyes flicked to the corner. In the shadows, someone or something was curled up and shivering. Rex realized that what thought was a hiss was actually whispering.
"I don't need it... I don't need it... I don't need it..." The figure shuddered.
"I prefer to judge people by who they'd like to be rather than by who they are right now," said Mathilda. "Does it matter if someone has a dark past if they wish for a bright future?"
"I've seen many people die of old age before they make new habits. Most people don't have the will to change their lives. " said Gemini. "And I don't want us to die before we change Omniscia."
Gemini propped up her chin. "Maybe we just sell Rex."
"Hahahaha!" Caliban guffawed. "Yerr always so intense Gemini, that it's all the more funny when you make jokes like that."
A quiet fell over the room, except for the whispering girl. "I don't need it... I don't need it... I don't need it."
"I'm not joking," said Gemini. "A summon is exotic and there are some rich scholars on the islands to the east. We could buy more weapons, the silver ones are costly. Or we could hire mercenaries."
"You criticize me for finding unreliable allies." said Mathilda. "And now it seems you suggest selling one of our allies and hiring people who only care for coin."
"Greed is reliable." said Gemini.
Caliban slammed his fist on the table. "We have to be reliable!" Caliban said. "It's okay ta push one another to the limit, but we can't be worse than the Demon Lord! "
"We can't afford to lose to the Demon Lord either." Gemini bared her fangs half as a smile, half as a threat. "I'll hunt Rex down after this meeting and then we can make a decision on the sell."
"What a freaky way to think." said Caliban. "I never forget that ya are dragonkin."
*thunk*
Gemini stood. "Do you want to explain what you mean by that?"
"How could I forget? With yer way of thought... yer smell... and yer creepy eyes..." Caliban raised his arms wide and flapped them like wings. "Yer a real dragonkin! I don't mean anything by it but that."
Gemini's nose twitched, and then her eyes flitted back and forth. "Why do you hate a dragonkin that wants humans to be free?"
"I don't hate ya! I never said I did!"
While Gemini herself was poised, her eyes continued to fly around as if she was looking for something, anything, to focus on and give her a reprieve. She paused and Rex almost felt like her gaze connected with his. But since it was pitch black in his room, he knew that that couldn't be true.
For a moment Rex felt a flash of sympathy. But then he realized something...
those beautiful, powerful, green-dragon-eyes...
those creepy, Orwellian, greed-filled eyes....
They had a power that he had almost forgotten. He scrambled backwards away from the wall.
"...Mr Chosen one?" said Gemini. "Is that... I could swear, through that hole in the wall... I saw him."
"Ya see? What freaky thing did ya do now?" said Caliban.
"Night vision," breathed Gemini. "He was definitely there."
"If so," Mathilda said quietly. "You owe him an apology. You suggested that we sell him."
"He's a reasonable guy," said Gemini. "He should understand."
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Thoughts ran hot and fast in Rex's mind.
3 year training time... selling me to an exotic merchant on an island... Caliban will probably never let me near a catgirl...
Enna's been here for 20 years and can't leave... they still won't tell me anything about who they are...
Someone knocked on the storeroom door, interrupting his thoughts. "Mr. Chosen One? You in here?"
They creaked open the door. "No one's there," said Gemini, "but there's broken glass on the ground so someone was definitely in here. We can take our time, but let's find Rex so we can see if it was him."
Shit! Shit shit shit shit! Rex thought.
The barrel was not a particularly good place to think. It was musty and smelled like old beer, so much so that maybe the alcohol fumes were beginning to cloud his judgement.
Because an idea popped into his mind.
I could leave this place. Just because they're the people who summoned me doesn't mean I owe them anything.
But they can train you, argued another Rex in his mind. This Rex he inexplicably imagined wearing a suit. Spend a year or two with them and them use what you learn for whatever you want. And it's a dangerous world out there too.
We want more adventure! It's easy. Your only reay enemy is a stupid flight of stairs.
We need more training! Just go back to the armory and grind it out.
No, I want more adventure!
I need more training!
I want more adventure!
If you want an adventure, said the suited Rex. You're going to need more than spirit. You're going to need money. You're going to need a weapon. There's no way you can leave without both of these things.
The barrel's lid clattered to the ground as Rex extricated himself, and then Rex lit a candle so he avoid the glass on the ground. By the time the candle's flame had sputtered and dwindled, Rex had come to a decision.
Instead of the staircase, he walked first to the armory.
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The three members were wandering the underground halls.
"Rex? Rex?" called Mathilda. "Gemini would like to apologize to you."
"I am not going to apologize," said Gemini. "We would just like to talk."
"I asked some of my soldiers and they said that the lad was in the armory a few moments ago," said Caliban. "He's probably in his room right now."
Someone stepped out of the library and approached the trio.
"You guys are talking about Rex, right?" said Enna. "I've already looked everywhere. He's already gone."
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"It feels like I'm in my third life right now," Rex laughed in the sunlight, strolling down the forest road.
Rex was whistling, waving his silver rapier as if it were a conductors baton. "If I don't need to sell this weapon I can fight with it... if I don't need to fight with it I can sell it."
"And I am not stealing it from their armory," Rex said. "I'm just borrowing it. When I defeat the Demon Lord, I'll give them back sometime that's worth the same."
For hours he kept walking. Here, he passed a gentle stream. There, he stopped to breathe in a flower's fresh scent. After the sun set and the moon rose, Rex found a sprawlng oak tree and a comfortable spot to sleep underneath it.
Though he had no bedding, the moss cushioned him and it was a pleasant spring evening.
This is the life, thought Rex, full of promise instead of fear. He drifted to sleep.
But he awoke soon to a chilling howl, and then a girl's muffled shout.
Rex drew his sword. Or the promise to save other people from their fears.
"I don't know who you are!" called Rex. "But help is on the way! Rex the adventurer is finally here!"