Monster in Training!

The next morning Eternus bounced from his sleep from another nightmare. After a while of sweating and panting, he finally snapped out of it by shaking his head and getting off the bed.

He looked at his torn collar which was roughly stitched, "I suppose the nightmares aren't going anywhere... At least I mended this collar last night." He sighed and continued as he got up, "I should get ready for training."

The door opened and Vankolv entered with breakfast that was nothing more than roasted meat of the Deerpard from yesterday and some berries.

"Here is your breakfast, eat well… Inura is waiting for you outside," Vankolv said and immediately handed over a shirt, again not being able to look eye to eye.

"Your training won't be easy… Wear this so you don't ruin your shirt." Vankolv suggested.

He finished the food immediately and came out in the open ground just outside the hut, wearing the shirt Vankolv had brought for him earlier.

Nearby on a chopped log, Inura was sitting nonchalantly with a gourd to his mouth, drinking from it.

"I hope you ate well today… This won't be as easy as it was while training with me back in Ignotus." Inura tossed a regular sword in the air that landed right in front of Eternus with a quarter length of its blade buried in the ground.

"Now you fight like your life depends on it, every day! No Wooden swords, No Holding Back! Your consequence is Death or severe injury." He smirked.

Eternus pulled out the sword from the ground and looked at his reflection in the blade.

"Don't worry about that, I won't hold back!" He said with a serious attitude.

Inura's smirk widened as he threw the half-filled gourd away.

"Good, Try not to die then!" He said while wiping his face with one hand and unsheathing his sword with the other.

Eternus stood cautious with a high guard stance and eyes dead-set on his teacher.

Inura provoked him by waving his sword, a gesture implying 'Come at me!'

Without hesitating or wasting a single moment, Eternus charged forward with a Vertical slash ready to strike. Inura easily dodged the move and countered with a horizontal slash to the boy's chest.

Eternus barely dodged it with his life and received a fair cut on his chest that was bleeding out.

"Amateur move, You left your chest wide open for a strike… A fatal mistake!" Inura scoffed as he unleashed consecutive slashes from right and left over and over, not even giving Eternus time to counter.

Eternus could barely parry those blows and constantly got pushed back with every strike. However, he did not lose focus for a moment, his eyes followed every movement of the sword and he slowly began to adapt despite the blood from his chest soaking his shirt.

After parrying those blows for a while and receiving a few more cuts on non-vital areas, Eternus was no longer being pushed back and held his ground.

Inura, surprised by the Boy's massive improvement in just a few minutes started laughing out loud ecstatically.

"EXCELLENT BOY!!! I can see your improvement! Show me more!" He exclaimed in joy and strikes one powerful blow. Eternus slid back but didn't not fall, still focused on his opponent with unyielding focus.

"I've trained with you before, Chief… There is something different about you. Not just your fighting style, but your whole entire self." Eternus commented as he noticed a difference.

The Grand Mage Vankolv, surprised at Eternus's perception groomed his beard and pondered as if he had found some sort of a ray of hope.

'This Boy… he is sharp… and he's suffered too much. It might be possible that maybe…' He stopped his mind from wandering too far.

Right when he was just about to think of something important, "Hufff… Never mind, what am I thinking." He changed his mind and pinched the top of his nose.

Eternus stood back on his feet and retook his stance, but this time it was much more refined and efficient than before.

"It doesn't matter what happened to you. All I care about is getting stronger than you!" He yelled out as he leaped forward to strike once again, "Here I come!!"

However this time, he did not leave an opening, his knee covered his abdomen and his arms guarded his chest but at the same time, he was ready for a diagonal strike.

'And he's a fast learner too… but his aura is all over the place.' Vankolv kept a sharp eye on the Boy's every move while grooming his beard.

On the other hand, Inura dodged the strike once again but didn't find any opening to counter this time.

"You're getting good at this, Boy" He applauded Eternus and lifted his sword once again, concentrating with his eyes closed.

A red flame manifested around the sword and Inura unleased his sharp burning gaze,

"But do not think you can beat me, General Inura of Ignotus army, that easily!" He said proudly.

While bringing down his sword, Inura screamed out, "Crimson Strike Ablaze!!"

Eternus lifted his blade in order to parry this blazing blow but upon impact, Inura's overpowered strike melted his sword like candle wax, cutting through the steel and throwing it away.

Seeing that the battle had concluded, Vankolv threw a bottle with green fluid inside toward Eternus, "Drink this, it is a healing potion." He said loudly.

"Hahhaa!! How do you like that?!" Inura cheered at his own victory and taunted the boy.

Fascinated at this move, Eternus grew more eager to learn, "How did you do that? Was it Magic?" he asked curiously.

Inura thought for a moment and then haughtily began to explain, "Well, We all-" but is interrupted in the middle of his sentence by Vankolv.

"I think I should be in charge of teaching the boy Magic, I see a great deal of promise from someone with an aura such as his… Let me teach him, Old friend…" Vankolv proposed his idea with something else in mind.

Inura, not bothering to investigate further, knew his field of expertise as well as his limits, "You're right… I am a warrior, teaching the use of magic isn't my thing." He looked at Eternus and continued, "Well Boy, Vankolv is going to be teaching you Magic."

Eternus nodded and agreed. Even he knew who would be the better choice for this sort of thing.

'Learning magic from the Grand Mage… What an honor...' He said inwardly with a dry tone.

"But not now… The boy and I will take a trip to the forest first." He said while waving his hand in the air, "The two of you can do whatever you want after we return."

Vankolv knew that they had plenty of food at home, "We already have some meat, why go to the forest now?"

"Hahha… We're not going to hunt today… perhaps… But a little bit of Poison resistance didn't hurt anyone." Inura smirked and yelled out loud, "Get up Boy! You'll have plenty of time to rest in the night… As long as you're here with me, your days will be hellish!"

Eternus drank up the potion and immediately stood up, then both disappear into the forest.

Watching them from behind Vankolv shook his head "Poor Child… Inura, what are you doing to him."

The whole day goes by, and just before the sun was about to set, Inura returned with Eternus unconscious in his arms.

His color was pale and he had slight cuts on him from head to toe.

Vankolv quickly realized something and asked Inura angrily, "Don't you think this is too much for this poor child?! What if he isn't able to handle it and dies?"

"Do you have any Idea who you're talking about? This boy is a monster!" Inura answered him in a serious tone, "When was the last time you heard of someone born with resistance to poison such as his?"

Inura looked at the Boy and continued, "Small weed does not affect him in the slightest, and poison that would be fatal to a strong warrior just makes him a little dizzy." He picked up his gourd and drank from it to quench his jealousy as Vankolv's eyes were still dazed out with surprise.

"Don't be surprised at that... The brat pushed me to spar with him Thirteen times after being poisoned… I had to knock him out cold just to carry him back!!" He slammed the gourd on the table.

"Don't worry, this bastard won't die so easily at all!" Inura laughed drunk.

The Next day, Eternus woke up with another nightmare, and the same routine repeated from breakfast to sparring. However, today was Vankolv's turn to teach.

At first, he only taught Eternus about the basics of Mana. He spoke in a gentle tone, the complete opposite of Inura, and his voice was filled with empathy and sorrow for the Boy,

"Every person in this world is born with a Mana core which circulates Mana through the body. And it is this Mana that makes magic possible." He continued gracefully as Eternus showed much interest, "Some use it to strengthen their body and enhance their physical prowess, like Inura there… They're called the warrior types."

"I see" Eternus said, noting every bit of information in his mind.

"And then there are others who use Mana to manipulate the world around them. They're called Mages... I am a Mage."

"And very rarely it happens that a person is a Warrior and a Mage at the same time. A prodigy with a gift like that is known as Warrior Mage."

"So you're a mage and Inura is the Warrior type… What about me?" Eternus asked with curiosity, wondering about himself.

"Hmmm… I think you should be a Warrior Mage… Considering you have the seal of heaven on your chest and all the previous Champions were also Warrior Mages." He continued while his eyes avoided meeting the Boy's, "But we won't surely know till you try to master both types."

Vankolv pondered for a moment and continued, "That's it for the basics now… Let's begin our practical training."

"Alright…" Eternus replied with a nod.

Vankolv took him to the open area again and set his staff aside. "To draw out Mana, you must focus on your core… Concentrate on the area around your chest… Do you feel anything?"

Eternus closed his eyes and begins to concentrate deeply and just after a few moments.

"It feels warm… and Powerful. It's giving out streams of energy." He replied with surprise.

"Good, that is your Mana core, and those streams of energy make up your Mana channels. Now, watch closely as I conjure wind-" Vankolv responded with a gentle smile

The lesson had barely begun and Inura suddenly barged in, interrupting the two.

"I don't think that the boy is fully grasping your boring lecture, let me take it from here"

Vankolv stepped back with a bitter face after releasing a sigh, acting obediently.

"Alright, it's simple… You already located your core and you can feel the Magic energy called Mana too. The only thing left for you to do is guide it."Inura walked toward a thick tree nearby.

"Now observe your master."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes with a Crimson glow and his Arms emitted a faint vaporous glow as well.

"I have directed Mana into my arms, now watch what it can do!" He boasted proudly and shoved his hands right into the thick stump of the humongous tree and after showing off a smirk he uprooted the entire thing from the ground along with its roots that made sounds of snapping and breaking.

"HHAAA!!" After releasing a grunt, Inura split the tree open in two by opening his clasped hands in opposite directions.

This whole show-off act took a toll on Inura and he kneeled while panting, "Guess your germs of old age are affecting me too, eh Vankolv?"

Vankolv seemed unfazed by this feat and snorted in disappointment,

"It's a shame you've gone senile way before me, Inura."

Eternus however, was extremely fascinated by what he just saw. He had never seen anything like it as he was confined within the boundaries of the Capital and never allowed to leave.

'I have to learn magic and master it, as soon as possible!' He said inwardly to himself.