The next day’s travel was spent very similarly to the morning’s encounter with the Fogfangs. Occasionally, Nold would spot monsters at a distance and take his students to fight them. The monsters were relatively simple to take on, like Roaches or Fogfangs, and Rep and Zalan were growing used to fighting with their feet, alone. They hadn’t even attempted to use their hands since they had sustained damage to them.

Their ability to evade was getting significantly better. Elemental powers were coming naturally to any part of their body. Kicks were stronger and far more well balanced. Rep was able to curve his attack more and more with every encounter. While Zalan’s Elemental redirection was much more limited, he was able to imbue himself much better than Rep. His injuries were only tingles or scratches on the surface at this point, where Rep would still largely burn his feet with every attempt.

The days went so long with these bouts to break the monotony of travel that they had forgotten that using their feet was a limitation rather than a strategy. They were no longer hopping and stumbling as they fired blasts, but remaining stable and giving out decisive kicks. They weren’t just kicking monsters they encountered, but targeting specific points of the creatures. Nold was much more interested in Zalan’s progress, often making remarks about how to make his imbued power better. Whenever it seemed like he was favoring Zalan a little too much, he would drop Rep an occasional tip about his form.

That evening, Nold continued to spar with them, making them learn how to best dodge different forms of attacks. Where Zalan’s previous instinct was to cover his weak points as he jumped away, he was quickly learning to dive and duck under attacks and keep himself close to an opponent. Not that Nold ever let either of his students lay a hand on him anymore. Neither Rep nor Zalan could hit him after the first day. Their instructor made sure they could always see the gap in their abilities. They grew frustrated by their inability to strike him, but he assured them that they were getting faster with every bout.

After training, they sat around a fire in their small sand wall. As they ate food and relaxed after a much less pain-inducing day, Zalan began to look over his instructor with curiosity.

“How come you never take off your gloves? They look really uncomfortable,” Zalan ventured.

“I have no reason to remove them,” Nold replied stoically.

“But your knuckles look swollen under there. Are they okay?”

“They are fine,” Nold replied simply.

“What about your wrist? I saw it when we were sparring. It’s all dark and gnarly. Overall, it seems pretty messed up. How come you haven’t healed it?” Zalan asked.

Nold didn’t reply, but did pull his sleeve down to cover his wrist better. When the silence stretched, Zalan felt like he got an answer. He looked at the flat of his palm where a scar remained from when he was trying to get his Elemental power. The Healing Rest had no effect on it.

“It’s a scar, isn’t it?” Zalan asked.

Nold didn’t answer, his eyes looking away slightly.

“Rep told me that some scars don’t heal. Especially when it’s a self-inflicted injury. Is that what happened to your knuckles and wrist?” Zalan asked.

Nold seemed ambivalent, pursing his lips.

“Perhaps he does not want to discuss this,” Rep offered.

“Oh, come on!” Zalan said, immediately upset to his own surprise. His emotions were always on the brink of impatience. “Aren’t you a little curious? I thought he would trust us enough to share!”

“Trust?” Nold asked, immediately interested. “Do you trust me?”

“I mean, maybe. I don’t know. If you don’t trust me enough to tell me anything, then how can I be sure I trust you? It’s not a one-way thing,” Zalan said.

“I see,” Nold weighed Zalan’s words and nodded to himself, taking interest in exchanging trust between himself and his student. “My knuckles are unharmed.” He offered.

“So you keep them on even if they get all sweaty?” Zalan asked, trying to make light of the subject.

“I do not remove them,” Nold replied simply.

“Are they Artifacts?” Zalan asked.

“No.”

“These aren’t really much of answers,” Zalan said.

“Fine. My wrist.”

Nold pulled up his sleeve to reveal the mutilated forearm. Its black and purple hue was clear even in the faint firelight. Both Rep and Zalan leaned forward eagerly as Nold decided how much he wanted to share. Nold looked it over with an air of disinterest, as though trying to get his students to be less interested as well.

“This is not necessarily a self-inflicted wound. But it will not heal. This was done to me by an Artifact. I knew that it would take some part of me when I used it, but I was unaware that it would be a lasting scar like this,” Nold explained.

“I have never heard of an Artifact leaving an unhealable wound. Which Artifact?” Rep asked, interested.

“The Transfer Table. It can transfer…” Nold trailed, deciding on his next word carefully. “Attributes. But the attribute cannot change once it is transferred.”

“What do you mean?” Rep pressed further.

Nold pursed his lips as he thought even harder about his words. He came up with an example.

“Let us say that perhaps you are bald. The Transfer Table can work to transfer someone’s hair to you. You would then have their full head of hair. But you do not own that hair. Not in the same way your own hair acts. It remains at the same length forever. It does not grow. No matter what is transferred, it will remain exactly as it was when it was transferred.”

“And the person who transferred his hair to you would just grow his hair back normally?” Zalan asked.

“No. Once it has been transferred, the attribute is gone forever. Unless, perhaps, the one receiving the hair transfers it back,” Nold considered.

“What did you transfer to get that scar?” Zalan asked.

Nold’s face went cold, and it was clear he didn’t want to share anymore with them. But Zalan still had more questions now that Nold was in a bit of a sharing mood.

“How many ranks of the Elemental Rage Tournament are there? I know we’re planning on entering the Level 5 and Under, but how high does it go?” Zalan asked.

“It stops at Level 10 and Under. There has been an increasing use of the term ‘Death Levels’ to describe the Levels beyond Level 10. It is a pathetic way to look at the onset of power, but it is because those that go chasing Level 11 and above often die at the hands of the monster that give them Experience,” Nold replied distastefully.

“But wouldn’t you be super powerful? What kind of monster kills people above Level 10? I feel like everything we’ve fought would be killed in an instant if I was a few more Levels higher,” Zalan mused.

“That is true. If you were Level 10, a Sand Shark could be obliterated in a single strike of Lightning. The problem comes from the fact monsters that weak would no longer give you Experience,” Nold answered.

“Sand Sharks and Boznoks would be worth 0 Experience?” Zalan clarified.

“Indeed. And so those of higher Levels would pursue much more dangerous creatures. Leviathans. The Mind of Madness. Even Beasts of Slumber. Creatures they have no chance against, but think is their only means of gaining Experience in the realm,” Nold answered.

Zalan was suddenly glad he wasn’t a thrillseeker. He couldn’t imagine willingly heading toward The Mind of Madness to challenge it.

“How many Elemental Powers do you have?” Zalan asked. “We know about Fire, Sand, and Water. Are there more?”

“Perhaps,” Nold said flippantly.

“How did you acquire more than two?” Rep asked.

“It was not easy,” Nold answered.

Zalan remembered reading about Elementals back in Oriton. The more Elemental Powers you had, the more difficult it became to acquire new ones. Elementals didn’t like granting powers to people that already had them. The level of difficulty sounded like it increased exponentially. Zalan almost died just getting his first Elemental Power. Somehow, Nold challenged two more Elementals and survived.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“What kind of challenge did they give you?” Zalan asked.

“Immensely difficult ones,” Nold replied.

“Come on, just give us one example. I wanna know what it’ll take if I ever want a new power,” Zalan said.

“Very well,” Nold sighed. “I was looking for my second Elemental Power. I found a Sand Elemental by means of an Elemental Echo in the middle of a desert.”

“What’s an Elemental Echo, again?” Zalan asked Rep.

“An Artifact that directs you to where the nearest Elemental is located,” Rep answered.

“Do you wish to hear what the challenge was or do you wish to converse between yourselves?” Nold asked impatiently.

“Sorry,” Zalan said.

“Please, continue, we will not interrupt,” Rep added.

“The Sand Elemental was found where there was nothing but sand to be seen for miles around,” Nold said. He waited for either of the students to chime in, but they listened intently. “The Sand Elemental challenged me to create a sand castle in the desert.”

Rep looked stunned by the information, but Zalan couldn’t tell what was supposed to be shocking. He was honestly more surprised to hear that they made sand castles in this realm. It seemed really odd for a challenge. Especially when it was supposed to be an extra-difficult challenge.

“After hours of work, I was able to create an entryway. Nothing more than a single room, much less the towers I was required to add above. I underestimated how long it would take to make something stable enough for me to walk under it,” Nold said, looking up and imagining the structure he made.

Zalan blinked in recognition. He had suddenly realized that Nold wasn’t required to make a little knee-high sand castle. He was challenged to make an entire castle out of sand. That sounded impossible. Much more fitting a challenge for a second Elemental Power.

“When I had begun on the next chamber of the structure, a sandstorm rolled in. Try as I might with all of my Elemental Power, I was unable to stop the sand castle from falling over,” Nold said, sighing.

Rep and Zalan stared in fascination as the firelight danced across Nold’s disappointed face. Nold said nothing more which prompted Zalan to try and ask a question without sounding like he was trying to interrupt him.

“What happened next? How did you beat the challenge?”

“I did not. I left the Elemental in the desert. The challenge still stands if I wish to return,” Nold said.

“But then how did you get your Elemental Sand Power?” Zalan asked, feeling like he was cheated of a full story.

“By other means,” Nold said simply.

He was done talking about himself. Zalan didn’t mind. He had gotten a lot more of an answer than he was expecting. He tapped his finger to thumb to summon stats at his wrist, checking the Experience he gained by the day’s battles.

LEVEL: 04

STRENGTH: 04

WISDOM: 05

EXPERIENCE: 87

ELEMENT: LIGHTNING

“I noticed that when I last gained a Level, my Wisdom and Strength were no longer the same. My Wisdom is 5, but my Strength is 4. Why is that?”

“Your Strength and Wisdom will grow more if you use them disproportionately in combat. If you spend an entire Level focusing on your Elemental ability, you may gain two points of Wisdom instead of one. Same goes with focus on Strength,” Nold said, happy to move on to a new topic.

“And what’s the most Experience I can gain at once?” Zalan asked. “Shouldn’t an Elemental Dragon be worth like, a thousand or something?”

“The most one can gain from a monster is 100,” Rep answered.

“Did you really defeat an Elemental Dragon?” Nold asked, once again in disbelief by the claim.

“Yeah, really. Why would we lie about that?” Zalan snapped suddenly. He always felt like he was on the cusp of an outburst. And implying that he wasn’t in a battle that ended Fran’s life was a quick way to anger him.

“You both do not seem like the lying type, so I do not know. I suppose I just never would have expected either of you to be capable,” Nold said.

“We are your students,” Rep said facetiously.

“Mmm,” Nold grunted.

They listened to the fire crack for a minute, then Nold excused himself to take the first watch atop the sand wall.

Zalan was very happy with the progress he’d been making on imbuing himself. While he still could barely curve a bolt of lightning, he could almost imbue his foot without causing it to burn and tingle, much less cause real harm. The imbue-created cuts on his feet were nothing in comparison to the wounds on his hands. He wondered how much more powerful he would be at full strength when he next healed himself. The tournament was growing more exciting for reasons outside of seeing Madam Hikma. He felt like he had so much more agency in this world when he was this strong. And with control over this world, he felt confident he could regain control over his own life once he returned. The prospect was even more enticing than getting revenge on Hikma. Not that she still didn’t deserve some retribution in his mind.

With these thoughts in mind, Zalan rolled over on the floor and quickly found sleep, with a slight frown on his face.

The next day granted them a sight that brought Zalan and Rep to jump with joy. A town. They would be able to really rest and heal their wounded limbs. The days of constant soreness and inability to use their hands properly would finally be behind them. For all the progress they made in being able to shoot Elemental power from their feet, they never gave up wanting to use their hands again. The town was so close.

“We do not have time to stay the night. We will quickly make use of the healing rest and then move on,” Nold announced.

“No problem!” Zalan replied, eager to feel a mattress under him.

Rep, Zalan, and Nold quickly entered the town. The guards at the wall informed them that it was named Naverforth, and that it was the “last stop before reaching the Elemental Tournament.” Zalan felt like the messaging was a ploy to get travelers to spend more, like a gas station on a highway. But he didn’t really care since he was flush with cash ever since taking from Docrun’s hoard.

They made a beeline to the nearest inn. As soon as Rep and Zalan recognized the etching of a bed atop one of the buildings, Zalan began running. He burst through the door in excitement. He bashed someone just on the other side of the door, toppling them over.

“Hey, watch it!” the young man screamed annoyed. He scrambled to his feet and dusted himself off. “I just healed myself for the last time before the tournament, I don’t want to have to pay to rest here again.”

“Sorry about that,” Zalan said, feeling embarrassed. “You’re entering the tournament too?”

The stranger looked Zalan over as Rep entered behind him, watching the interaction unfold.

“You are joining the tournament as well?” the young man asked.

“Yeah, me and Rep,” Zalan said, introducing him.

“What bracket are you entering? Actually, it does not matter. Stay away from me,” the tournament goer said sharply, suddenly looking closed off.

Zalan’s trigger-happy emotions went haywire and he immediately reacted with a menacing glare. He was trying to be friendly to this guy after he pushed him over, but he didn’t care. Zalan hated it when his efforts went unnoticed. He hated it even more when his efforts to be affable were cast aside like they were worthless. He stared into the man’s eyes silently, not backing down as he boiled within.

“What did you just say?” Zalan asked, his teeth grit.

“I said stay away from me,” he repeated.

“Perhaps he does not wish to be in scuffles with his opponents ahead of the tournament,” Rep suggested, stepping to Zalan’s side.

“I do not want to be in the presence of those that will lose the tournament. I am better alone,” the young man said, though he sounded like he was forcing the insult.

Zalan closed his eyes in disbelief, breathing loudly from his nose. Rep placed an arm on his shoulder.

“We’ll give you your space,” Zalan said through his teeth.

“At least pretend your mother gave you some manners,” the young man scoffed.

Zalan’s fist clenched, ready to throw a fist at another snarky remark. The stranger saw the change in Zalan’s demeanor. He hesitated, looking as though he wanted to say an apology, then quickly switched course.

“Go ahead,” he said. “I will have you immobilized before you can blink.”

“What is taking so long?” Nold asked, finally entering. Zalan was an instant away from throwing a punch, his energy dispelled by Nold’s interruption.

“Instructor Nold?” the young man’s features morphed immediately, a deference on his face. “Are you attending the tournament this year? I will be a contender.”

“I will. You are in the way of my student,” Nold nodded to Zalan. The stranger looked between Nold and Zalan for a few moments.

“You need to teach your student some etiquette. He struggles to follow the most basic instructions. And he slammed the door into me,” the stranger said.

Nold regarded him down his nose.

“What is your name?” Nold asked.

“I am Slauson,” Slauson said, his chest displayed proudly. Rep made a face at the name, as though he recognized it.

“Zorgon, apologize to Slauson,” Nold directed.

“I already did,” Zalan said in a strained voice.

Nold gave Slauson a curious look, and Slauson took that as a sign to leave. He moved to the doorway, staring at Zalan all the while.

“Farewell, Zorgon. I hope not to see you at the tournament,” Slauson waved and slipped out of the inn. Zalan shivered as Slauson exited the room, a sudden chill running through him.

“I hate that guy,” Zalan declared as soon as the door closed.

“Good. Save that rage for the tournament. Anger is a tool,” Instructor Nold said, moving to the counter to request a room for the three of them. When asked for payment of three silver, Nold began fishing in his pockets. Zalan stomped over and suddenly slammed three gold coins on the counter, shocking the clerk. Zalan needed to get some energy out, and the counter seemed like the best place to do it.

“This is far too much money,” the clerk said, holding out a key hesitantly.

“I don’t care,” Zalan said, snatching the key and stomping away to go to the room.

Rep followed closely behind, trying to calm him down after the encounter. Nold looked at the clerk, then at the three gold coins on the counter. The clerk joined in looking over the gold. They stared at the money awkwardly. Nold slowly dragged one of the gold coins away and tucked it into his pocket. The clerk shrugged, the trio still having overpaid for the room, and pocketed the other two coins.

Inside, Zalan laid himself down.

“Zalan, please, just talk to me,” Rep said.

Zalan kept his lips closed, not even looking at Rep.

“Anger is not a tool. Do not grip so tightly to its uncontrollable essence,” Rep said.

“Nold said it was a tool. He’s a good teacher,” Zalan said, dismissing Rep.

“He does not know everything,” Rep rejected.

Zalan didn’t reply. He didn’t take to any of the other conversations that Rep tried to get him to participate in. He was determined to heal himself and get out there to train even harder. The more severely he could beat this Slauson character into the ground, the better.

Minutes later, he was able to fall asleep and begin healing, a deep scowl on his face.