Chapter 3-2: Unconventional Studies

"What?" Ren froze in place.

"You heard me." Warthorn grinned as he unsheathed his sword. "Show me how much you've improved since then." He raised his sword. Ren felt the instructor's mana spread through the courtyard. It was crimson, like blood on a battlefield. A cold dread washed over him. As it formed a circle of flames around them, Ren grasped the hilt of his tachi.

"Really? A circle of flames?" He asked as he glanced at the dark red flames surrounding them.

"Makes for a nice arena, don't you think?" Warthorn pointed his sword at Ren. "Give it your best shot, kid."

The rest of the class was silent - or at least, Ren couldn't hear them. Warthorn was blocking all sound from outside the arena. Ren didn't dare look at them, as that short moment of distraction could spell his defeat.

Ren clenched his teeth. Compared to him, Warthorn was a giant. Ren lost in every aspect; strength, mana, and experience. He had to use every advantage he could get to try and even the odds if he were to have the slightest chance.

Warthorn patiently waited, his pitch-black shield covering most of his body. That was his conduit, not the sword. Ren had to somehow get past that eerie shield. He lowered his posture, slightly bending his knees and leaning forward just a bit. Warthorn wasn't going to make the same mistakes as Serana. Ren had to force him to make a move and hope for an opening.

"Fine." He dashed forward. Warthorn's eyes widened as he simply moved his shield between them. Ren lifted his sword up, just enough that the tip of the sword would be visible to Warthorn over his shield's cover. His opponent reacted by raising the shield just a bit more. Ren grinned, now Warthorn had blocked his own vision completely.

Ren jumped up and just barely landed on the raised shield. He immediately jumped again, over Warthorn's head and landed right behind him. Without skipping a beat, he swung with his blade.

The clinging of metal hitting metal echoed in the courtyard. Warthorn had just barely blocked Ren's attack with his own sword.

"Nice try, kid." He swung with his shield. Ren avoided his attack with a swift backwards tumble, then immediately rushed in again. Warthorn swung his blade, aiming for Ren's sword arm. Ren blocked the hit with his own blade, but groaned in pain as the Battlemage's sheer strength numbed his arm.

He couldn't win like this. Warthorn was too strong and he hadn't even used any spells yet. He had to somehow trick him. Ren once again rushed forward, only to be met with yet another swing of Warthorn's blade. Instead of trying to block it, Ren used his tachi to slightly change its trajectory and ducked under the deadly blade. He couldn't keep pressuring the blade anymore, but at least his own sword was freed as well.

Holding his tachi with one hand, he kicked Warthorn's shield and taking advantage of the small space that created, moved closer to his opponent. Seeing as Ren was too close to attack with his sword properly, Warthorn grumbled and threw away his sword. "What are you? A crawler?" He tried to catch Ren's hair, but Ren avoided his grasp just in time.

"Nope!" Ren motioned to attack with his tachi, a move Warthorn promptly blocked with his shield. As soon as his blade touched the shield, Ren let go of its hilt. The blade hit the ground with a loud clang. When the resistance against his shield suddenly disappeared, Warthorn stumbled forward, giving Ren the brief opening he was looking for. He immediately moved out of the way of the stumbling Warthorn and struck with the shorter blade of his ritual anchor.

Metal, hitting metal echoed in the courtyard. "Not bad." Warthorn said with a sharp tone. Stunned, Ren looked at the armoured hand grasping the blade of the wakizashi. Warthorn had caught the blade before it touched his body.

"Seriously?"

Before Ren had the chance to react, Warthorn grabbed his wrist and twisted it, forcing him to drop the blade. Ren let out a slight groan as Warthorn's armoured gloves cut through his skin. "Still weak!" Warthorn shouted, suddenly pulling him up, then flinging him across the courtyard.

"Sir!" A female voice cried out in shock as Ren hit the ground halfway across the courtyard. He felt something crack, as well as some of his clothes tear up. Warm, but thankfully not hot dark red flames danced on his clothes harmlessly. He could feel the blood seep from several cuts. He couldn't feel his right arm properly, nor could he move it.

"Oh no, Ren!" Aiden's distressed voice was cut short by Warthorn's bellowing voice. "Stop right there, Aiden Condor!"

Ren tried to see what was going on. He could make out the shapes of some of the people, but the world seemed to be spinning and everything was blurry. He heard Warthorn's voice again, though this time he wasn't shouting. "Six people, perfect. Form groups of two and prepare for your duels. Now."

As the students scrambled to find proper opponents, Ren heard Warthorn's footsteps approach. A carefully controlled string of his mana touched Ren's body, causing him to shiver. It felt as if it was sucking his body heat.

"A few cracked ribs, dislocated left shoulder…" Warthorn knelt down beside Ren. "Can you walk?"

Ren took a sharp breath as he nodded. "Slowly." He whispered, then immediately regretted it. His chest felt like it was on fire every time he talked.

"Good." Warthorn glanced at the students who had, by now, formed their teams. "First to disarm the other wins!" He shouted, creating small arenas with his dark flames around each pair. "Begin!"

Ren, finally having regained his clear vision, glanced at Aiden. He was paired with Lena and they were both intently watching each other, not making any moves. Warthorn traced Ren's gaze, then laughed as he saw the two of them. After watching the clashing students for a short while, he finally turned his attention to Ren.

"What was that, Ren?" His low voice surprised Ren. "Yu wouldn't have taught you something like that."

Ren nodded.

"So? What was that? You never let go of your weapon, Ren. Never. It's your conduit, the connection between your mana and the world. Without it you are powerless."

This time, Ren didn't nod. "But it's not. I still haven't formed that connection. As I am now, it's nothing more than a sword." He whispered with a catch in his voice. "Besides, surprising you was my only chance."

"You're just- Ah, never mind. Just… Get yourself some daggers or something. Stop using your ritual anchor as a weapon." Warthorn sighed and held his head in his hands. "I see now why Yu started aging so quickly in these last few years."

Ren, speechless, just stared at Warthorn. Yu looked no older than twenty. He then laughed, which quickly turned into a groan as he was painfully reminded of his cracked ribs. "Next time, can you please not throw me across the courtyard, sir?" He asked with a pathetic voice. Even simply laying on the ground was painful; he didn't want to have to go through this during each of Warthorn's classes.

"Only if you make sure to not use that Ritual Anchor as a weapon."

"I won't."

* * *

Lena carefully eyed her opponent while lightly holding her quarterstaff. Her mother had taught her how to use her weapon and she had chosen it as her conduit. It was a well crafted and carefully enhanced quarterstaff. She was well aware of both her and her weapons strengths and limitations.

Then why did her opponent scare her so much? Aiden Condor, the eldest son of the noble Condor family and the strongest person in their class. Unlike her battle-ready posture, Aiden was relaxed. He hadn't even unsheathed his sword yet. He was still masking his mana too, was he intending on winning with just his martial abilities?

Lena took a deep breath, then slowly took a step forward, tightly grasping her quarterstaff with her left hand. Seeing as her opponent didn't move at all, she suddenly took a few more steps forward, making sure Aiden was in range of her attacks while she wasn't in range of his. Aiden started reacting, taking a step back and slowly unsheathing his sword.

Why were his movements so slow? It seemed as if she'd already won. She quickly swung with her quarterstaff, targeting Aiden's head. She wasn't using enough force to injure him. He was going to be fine.

Her quarterstaff passed through empty air. Aiden had moved quickly, backstepping to avoid her attack, then rushing forward while her defence was down. Lena tried to pull her quarterstaff back as she jumped back. She just needed to buy a little more time, then she could blast Aiden away with a spell. She released her mana as she backed away from the young noble. All she needed was just a few more seconds!

She missed her step on the broken, uneven stones. One moment, she was ready to blast the young noble away, while in the next, she was sitting on the ground with a sprained ankle and a blade at her throat.

"I guess this means I win." Aiden said with some confusion in his voice. "Though… I'm not sure if Instructor Warthorn will accept it." He sheathed his sword and extended his hand. "Let me help you up."

"Thank you." Lena took his hand and let him pull her up.

"Did you sprain it?" He gestured towards her leg.

"I think so." Lena nodded. Great, she thought, now she had to go to the infirmary. Valuable time, lost. Her pride, ruined. Her image, completely destroyed.

"Condor and Nirei!" Instructor Warthorn shouted. "Come here!"

They slowly made their way over to Instructor Warthorn and Ren. Seeing Lena's limp, Aiden was quick to lend his aid. As they approached the two, Lena flinched.

Ren was laying on the ground. There were numerous scratches and bruises on his arms and some parts of his robe were torn. He was clearly badly hurt.

"Condor, take him and Nirei to the infirmary." Instructor Warthorn sighed. "Ren, make sure Fiora sees to your wounds." Ren nodded as the Instructor left them there to observe the other students.

"Aiden, can you help me up?" His voice was weak, nothing like how it was yesterday.

"Oh, sure. Can you walk? Lena, hold on a second." Aiden stopped supporting her to help Ren up. Once Aiden helped him up, Ren took a few small steps then nodded.

"I can walk. You should help her, that limp seems bad." He reached down to grab his sword and ritual anchor, then slowly started walking towards the main building.

"Ren, wait." Aiden grabbed her arm and helped Lena. They quickly caught up to Ren. "You don't even know where the infirmary is."

Ren let out a wry laugh, then visibly flinched. "Damn, don't make me laugh."

As they walked in silence, Lena couldn't hep but feel anxious as she constantly kept glancing at him. She wanted to apologise to Ren in Serana's behalf, yet she couldn't. Serana's words must have been hurtful. She didn't want to remind him of them again.

She shivered as she remembered his expression when he accepted Serana's duel request. He looked terrifying, with that dark, foreboding aura forming around him. And now, he had a similar aura, albeit it was lacking that crimson colour it had before. Probably due to the pain, she thought to herself.

"Is something wrong?" Ren's question pulled her back to the present. "You, uh, keep looking at me."

"No! Not at all! I'm sorry!" She felt blood rush to her face. How could she have been so careless? She was constantly embarrassing herself more.

"Right…" Ren mumbled after a short pause. As he struggled to keep up their pace, Lena noticed how his right arm was motionlessly dangling.

"Your arm, is it ok?"

Ren shook his head. "Dislocated shoulder. I'll be fine."

"He shouldn't have thrown you like that." Aiden said with an almost angry tone. "It was meaningless, served no purpose and unnecessarily harmed you."

"It's fine." Ren sighed. "It's just who he is."

"How is it fine? You-" Lena wanted to say more, but Aiden interrupted her. "We're here."

They were finally out of the woods. As they entered the main building, Aiden guided them to the infirmary. Lena remained silent as they passed through the clean halls.

When they entered the rather large waiting room, a panicked voice called out to her. Lena sighed as her older brother Daymon rushed to them from the receptionist's desk. "What happened?"

"I just have a sprained ankle." Lena quickly explained to calm him down. "You should help him though." She nodded towards Ren, who had collapsed on one of the couches.

"What in the - hang on, uh…" Daymon froze in place for a moment before running off to another room. "I'll be right back!" They just barely heard his shout as he disappeared behind the door.

Lena also sat on one of the couches and shot a worrying glance at Ren. His aura was pale, he was barely conscious. "Hey," She softly spoke. "Don't fall asleep."

"Yeah, Ren wake up." Aiden grabbed Ren's shoulder and shook him awake.

"Sorry." The young man mumbled. He opened his eyes and forced himself to sit straight. "I'll be fine, I just need some healing and some rest." He smiled, though Lena could see it was forced.

"You'd better." Aiden also smiled, then he looked out the windows. "The next class is history. I don't think you two can make it, so if it's okay with you, I'll go and notify the Instructor of what happened."

"Please." Ren said. "And thanks, Aiden."

Aiden paused a moment before heading off. He seemed conflicted. Lena couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something about him that made her nervous.

"You're staring again." Ren's words caused her to flinch and quickly avert her eyes. She hadn't even noticed that she was staring at him. Something about his ever-changing aura constantly pulled her attention to it.

"I'm sorry," She mumbled. She felt dread wash over her. Daymon wasn't back yet and Aiden was gone. Wasn't this a perfect chance to apologise? But… She couldn't gather the courage she needed. She could feel a lump form in her throat.

"It's fine." He suddenly said, bowing his head. "You probably resent me for my actions towards Lady Tesfel. You two are close, as far as I understand."

"Wait, no! I mean yes! We're close, but that not what I mean!" Lena sprung to her feet. "I've been meaning to apologise to you, actually. For what Serana said and for not trying to stop her. I'm sorry!" She blurted out. She motioned to bow, but Ren just barely stopped her.

"It's not your fault, and I'm sure she had her reasons. Just… can you stop putting weight on that ankle?"

"That's actually a good idea," Instructor Fiora's kind voice caused Lena to immediately sit back down. "I'm sorry."

Daymon had returned with Instructor Fiora in tow. He still seemed worried while she was calm.

"Daymon, take care of your sister. Ren," Instructor Fiora paused. "This will take some time. Come with me."

"Yes ma'am." Both Daymon and Ren answered quickly.

Lena and Daymon waited until the other two left. "How did this happen?" Daymon asked as he knelt down and gently touched her swollen ankle. "Did he do it?"

"No, I tripped and fell."

Daymon paused and stared at her. "Right." He sighed. "So, that kid, who was he?"

Lena took a deep breath as her brother's healing magic started to work on her leg. "Well, you'll probably learn soon enough anyways… During class assignments, he…"

* * *

"Warthorn did this?" Battlemage Fiora asked as she helped him lay down on the bed.

"It was my fault." Ren flinched. She had released her mana. It felt like he was submerged in a deep, calm lake.

"That muscle head…" She whispered. "I'll heal you, but it'll hurt. Try to stay conscious."

Her mana spread around him, gently touching his skin, calming his nerves. The scratches and bruises were the first to heal. He felt short, momentary bursts of pain but they immediately disappeared.

"I'll fix your arm and ribs. Take a deep breath."

Ren nodded and inhaled deeply. Without any new warnings, she grabbed his arm and with a swift motion, relocated his shoulder. As the pain washed over him, he exhaled, and his vision blurred and darkened.

"I… hate this." He whispered through his gritted teeth.

"You're doing fine. I'm actually surprised you didn't scream." Battlemage Fiora smiled as she pressed on his chest. "Almost done. This will take some time, just hang in there."

As her mana touched his chest and started healing him, her smile disappeared. Her expression darkened as her mana seemed to fluctuate. Even with her incredible skill, his cracked ribs took nearly a quarter of an hour to heal. Battlemage Fiora was kind and thorough through all of that, but to Ren it was nothing but torture.

Even though she tried to reduce the pain, healing magic was inherently a painful process. Healing magic forced the body to fix itself, accelerating and enhancing the natural process. It couldn't replace a missing arm or heal an incurable disease.

"Done." She finally said with a warm smile. "And you're even still awake. Rest here for a bit, I'll have the Nirei girl wake you up when it's time for your next class." She touched Ren's forehead. "Sleep now."

He felt her mana touch his mind. He could resist, it was a simple spell to put him to sleep, but he welcomed the idea of sleep.

"I wonder…" Her soft voice disappeared in the darkness.