Dexter’s POV

Morning came like an uninvited guest who refused to leave. Light and noise, all around, intruding upon our moment. Valentina, still sniffling softly, looked at me with puffy eyes. She smiled weakly then snuggled close and rested her head on my chest for a brief moment before she sprang up out of bed.

“Are you still planning to…”

She nodded before I finished the question.

“Val, we can take a break. Maybe we need to slow down, learning so many spells so fast can’t be good for you.”

“No,” she said resolutely. “It’s not the spells, but even if it is, we can’t let that stop us.” Looking at me with the determination and ferocity of a hellcat protecting its young, she continued, saying,

“I want to keep going, I want to keep learning magic and get stronger so that—so that I can be useful…” Her voice trailed off as her gaze fell.

She looked back up to meet my gaze, a hint of hope and desire glimmered like stars in her deep Indigo eyes. I couldn't help but think how I’d let her down. Guilt tugged at my heart for the way I reacted to her at first. I should never have tried to trade her away, or complain that she was broken. I was the broken one and I needed her just as much, if not more.

Her hand fell on mine as her face beamed, she squeezed gently as she whispered, “Dexter…”

She looked away, and her cheeks turned a dark shade of red, then she cleared her throat.

Lifting my hand and pulling me forward, she said,

“Come on, we don’t want to keep Donovan waiting, do we?”

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After getting dressed we rushed through the morning routine. Alex and Amhir were eating breakfast when we came down the hall. Both turned to us and Alex waved me over. “Grab a plate and join us,” he said.

“Thanks, but we’ve got something to do this morning.”

“We?” Amhir smirked. “I’ve heard the rumors, but are you really dating your spell tome?”

Alex glared at Amhir, then looked apologetically at Valentina. “Don’t be so foolish, she could do a hundred times better than our buddy Dex.” He then looked over at me saying, “Although I admit, he looks happier than usual, maybe he found some other girl, eh buddy?” He raised his eyebrows several times in quick succession. Continuing without waiting for a reply, he added, “Maybe I should call you Dexy instead—Dexy-Dex, the ladies man. Has a nice ring doesn’t it?” He chuckled a bit too loud.

I laughed a little at that, then turned to Amhir and shook my head. I couldn’t hold it against Alex for trying to lighten the mood, and I didn’t really care about the rumors, or Amhir’s question, especially given the fact that I had left them out of the loop.

“If you’re really curious, I’m going to train with Professor Kaylastal. He agreed to show me how to defend myself without magic.”

They both stared, with wide eyes and dropped jaws, neither could find a response for a while. Then Amhir said, "Why would you want to learn that? You’re a magister so…”

“Yea, that’s pretty much why,” I answered, not wanting to get into detail.

His confusion seemed to deepen, but before he had time to ask anymore questions I turned away. Pulling Valentina along. Behind us Amhir chuckled, “Training with professor littles…must be deepe—”

“Hey!” Alex cut him off. “You aren’t in our class so you don’t know, but professor Kaylastal is actually pretty horrifying.”

The door slid shut behind us and we hurried down the dorm hall. When we reached the stairs I released Valentina.

I paused, placing my hand on the rail as I looked over at Val with a grin. She smiled back, her eyes twinkling and beautiful like the first night I saw her. It was hard to believe that we’d only been bonded for a little less than a month. She had already become the center of my world.

Her cheeks darkened and she looked away as she whispered, “Thank you...”

I wasn’t sure exactly what for, but I nodded, and together we headed down.

I hadn’t noticed before, but as we stepped onto the stairs, everything except the white steps vanished. A dazzling star scape appeared around us as the stairs seemed to wind and spin endlessly, never reaching a floor.

The only sign of our descent were white signs hanging in the air, slowly drifting past. Each had a letter and string of numbers signifying which dorms could be accessed from that level.

It was strange to think that I could have missed such a marvel as many times as I’d ascended and descended these stairs before.

We continued to the ground level and out into a round room with eight other stairwells spiraling up. We only passed a few students before coming to the rune-activated door. After passing through we came to a familiar scene in the compass hallway rotunda.

Magisters milled about, going from hall to hall. Several came from the direction of the dueling arenas, and a few passed us to ascend the stairs, but most went to the entertainment square.

Donovan stood outside the dueling rune waiting, smiling pleasantly when he noticed us approaching. His eyes looked over Valentina and his smile grew, but his expression turned stern and serious when he met my gaze.

When we got closer, he nodded his greeting.

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I returned his nod as he stepped aside to let us go through.

Several of the black boxes were hovering low overhead, some appearing transparent to display the duels or trials underway within. Others remained opaque, leaving the duels a mystery to the public, as well as their outcomes.

Valentina took my hand and squeezed, drawing my attention to her. Her eyes narrowed with resolve as her grip tightened. We walked through the open doors into the small room where the same two men from before were each helping magisters order a box for whatever purpose they might need.

The line moved quickly, but not quick enough for Val, who seemed anxious to start. She tugged me along, almost bouncing as we took our place at the back of the line.

When it was our turn, the miserable clerk grumbled, “Next.”

I shuddered, wondering what caused his seemingly eternal sour disposition.

The professor stepped up as the clerk asked, “You want a trial box, a duel, or something else?”

“Either a private dueling box, or a custom trial room will do.” Donovan answered.

The man looked down at his screen, swiping his fingers over it several times before he stopped, saying, “We only have one left available; it’s a private dueling box and it’ll be fifty sparkz to rent for an hour.”

Professor Kaylastal shook his head with a wry smile as he said, “Actually, we’ll need it for as long as the kid can stay standing.”

I glared at the back of his head, wondering if he’d forgotten that he looked like a ten year old boy and I was twice his size.

“What’s the daily rate?”

The clerk nodded. “Given the demand today, I’ll have to charge you a full point.”

“Are you trying to get axed?” The other clerk with the topknot yelled. “That’s professor Kaylastal, you idiot; he doesn’t have to pay!”

Donovan nodded as the man apologized.

“If there’s nothing else, then I’ll just send you right in,” The clerk said as he glanced from Val, to Donovan and finally at me. After a brief pause, he added, “Are you ready?”

“Yes!” Val answered, more enthusiastically than was really necessary.

The clerk nodded, as a bright light swallowed us.

“Welcome to your private duel,” an automated voice chimed as we appeared inside an empty black expanse. “Would you like to adjust the settings?”

The professor scoffed in frustration. “Shazhad at least loads my preset. We should’ve waited for him.” Taking a deep breath, he turned from me and took a few steps forward, saying, “Yea, we’ll change the settings.” Glancing over his shoulder, he added, “Sorry, Dexter. This might take a while.”

The scene shifted as the voice and Donovan went back and forth. The walls and floor shimmered like a heatwave, then we were standing in a forest. Tall evergreen trees grew around us in every direction and a dirt path stretched off into the distance, vanishing over a hill.

A heavy scent of pine permeated the air and a cool breeze drifted down the path, carrying a tune of chirps, chitters, and tweeting that put me at ease.

The gentle rushing sound of water was close enough that we should be able to see the stream, if we looked in the right direction. I found it flowing a few dozen meters behind where Valentina stood.

She was stiff. Her expression tense and her eyes focused, but she looked at nothing in particular.

I could practically hear her voice telling herself ‘You can do this, Val.’ And I wondered if maybe we should have taken the day to rest.

The professor continued with his customization until the sky was painted in deep purples and dark blues, birdsongs turned to droning cries of buzzards, and the once lush green forest became a desolate place of death.

Finally he turned to face me, nodding approvingly at his handiwork.

With a grin he said, “Shall we begin?”

Valentina didn’t move, but her gaze turned to Donovan with a hint of anger in her eyes. She nodded and I followed her gesture.

Kayla personified beside the professor saying, “Valentina, come with me.”

As they walked towards the river I asked the professor, “What are they doing?”

He shrugged. “You only need to worry about yourself today.”

“No, I—”

His fist whizzed past my face as I pivoted left, letting his small body glide past me. He landed on his feet, ducking low and spinning toward me with a leg out.

His small stature made avoiding him easy, but his speed and percussion still required all my focus to evade.

He stood, letting out a heavy breath and cracking his buckles. “Your turn, kid. Try and hit me.”

I launched my best attack, a side kick that should have connected with his head. Instead it sailed clear over his body. As my leg passed, he whacked my calf with a backhand, throwing me completely off balance.

My foot landed, but only for a moment before he hooked it out from under me, causing my back to strike the ground.

I groaned, not because it hurt, but because I wasn't able to put up even the slightest fight against him.

Looking down at me, he said, “You’re decent at evasion, but you move too much, and you’re over confident. I imagine you’ve never actually been in a fight, but probably ran away from a few.”

I nodded.

He continued.

“Fighting and winning isn't easy, and just like with magic, overconfidence is the fastest route to death, especially when you’re fighting against a magister. There’s a reason most magisters never learn these skills.”

My eyes narrowed and I gave the professor a confused look. I opened my mouth, about to ask what he was getting at, but he stopped me.

He crouched, offering me a hand. When he helped me to my feet he continued saying, “You thought I’d be easy to hit because I’m small. Now that you know better, try again.”

I waited first, moving close enough to strike, but staying out of his range. I squared my feet and bent my knees a little, like I’d seen in old holofilms. Bringing my fists up I threw a test punch.

Snorting as he leaned away from the blow and grabbed my arm, Donovan asked, “Is that your stance? It looks more like you have to take a shit.” He pushed my arm away, rolling his eyes as he continued, saying, “Don’t just throw punches at your opponent, attack their centerline, their heart and lungs. Keep your arms tucked in so your enemy can't hit your head, elbows, or stomach. Also, whatever that is you’re doing, stop it now. Just stay balanced with your weight over your back foot and keep your hands up over your chin and your eyes. Try and stay focused on the whole person and don’t fixate on one body part.”

I took a step back and followed his advice as best as I could, then I swung a roundhouse kick, intending to strike him in the ribs.

Donovan stepped into the attack, catching my leg between his shoulder and neck as his arm closed around it. Spinning with my kick, he lifted me off the ground and threw me face first into the dirt.

I rolled over and coughed a few times, wiping dirt from my eyes. I glared at the professor as I stood. He simply smiled back. “Ready for more?” He asked.

I nodded.

And so the cycle of getting my ass kicked, learning what I did wrong, then trying to improve began.