Training

A few hours after Raven had calmed herself down, she explained to Luna what she had to do.

"Now that I've turned you, and you can use magic, I have no choice but to train you."

Luna could hardly contain her excitement, but she didn't let it show due to fear that Raven would become more upset.

"This is all my fault," Raven yelled at herself. "If only I had let you die, then I wouldn't have to do this shit."

"Is there some kind of rule about this?"

"Of course, there is," she snapped at her. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing this."

"Okay, I get it. You don't have to be so mean to me."

"Don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against you; it's just that I'd rather not waste time training anyone."

Luna didn't get her. If it was her mission to turn and train new werewolves, then why did she have such animosity towards it? Why do it in the first place?

"Before your training starts, I have two rules. One, you have to do everything I say." Luna nodded her head to her first rule. "Two, you only get two questions per day."

"Two? That's outrageous."

"Fine. Have fun learning everything on your own."

"If you walk away now, won't that break the rule you have to follow?" Luna shouts.

Raven bared her fangs and let out a faint growl. "I'm not leaving you if you don't follow my rules. I'm going to punish you. You have one question left until tomorrow."

Luna thought for a moment and realized that she could frame some questions in the form of statements.

"What will my punishment be?" She cursed herself internally. Luna had to get used to this.

"Whatever doesn't kill you."

"That's a little vague."

"It gives you something to think about. Besides," a smile crept onto Raven's face, "I'm hoping you'll break my rule so I can punish you."

What had Luna done? She had become the disciple of a demon. She was curious about the punishments, though.

'No. Knowing Raven, I could imagine she wouldn't go easy on me. I have to keep her questions in check in the meantime. First, there was something I need Raven's help with.'

"I need to ask you for a favor."

Raven sighed, disapproved by her but tried to act like it didn't bother her. "Sure, what is it?"

"There's someone I want to find, and I think you're the only one who can help me."

"Tsk. We should focus on your training first. You may have superhuman abilities now, but I've seen how harsh this city is. I can't have you dying on me."

"Does that mean you care about me?" Luna snapped her mouth shut. She could sense something sinister building up inside Raven.

Luna got on her knees and didn't dare look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry, master. Please forgive me. I'm still getting used to these rules."

"Oh, you will. After I'm done with you. Since it's your first time, I'll go easy on you."

Raven grabbed Luna's arm and used her other arm to put pressure on her elbow until it broke. She cried out in pain. Luna had never broken a bone before, so this pain was a new and excruciating experience for her.

She fell onto the ground, holding her elbow, unable to do anything but cry out in agony.

After a few minutes, she looked up at Raven. To her horror, her devilish smile sent chills down Luna's spine. If this was going easy on her, then she'd hate to see what Raven had in store for her the next time she broke her rules.

"Don't worry, you'll heal soon enough. It might take a couple of days, though," Raven chuckled.

After the pain had become more manageable, Raven made a splint for the bone to heal correctly. She explained that if her regenerating abilities got fast enough, Luna wouldn't need a splint anymore.

"While you're healing, we should take advantage of this time to train. It might be difficult to concentrate in your state, but you'll have to push through."

"Not waiting for me to fully recover is devilish of you. Your looks make up for your evil methods."

"Flattery won't make me go easy on you," Raven grinned slightly.

She didn't think Raven was telling the truth. With an ego like hers, it wouldn't be hard for her to get into her good side. Did Raven even have one?

It would be better for her to take this seriously. Luna wants to be able to use magic, but at what cost?

"Let's begin then," Luna said with a blank expression. "I want to become as strong as you are."

"I don't think you realize what you're saying. You need to temper your expectations, reach for a more realistic goal for now."

"Alright. Tell me what to do."

Raven's animosity seemed to dwindle. Luna could tell Raven was genuinely impressed by her attitude. So was Luna, in fact.

She wondered when her body would change into its wolf form, but that question would have to wait until tomorrow.

Raven sat down and crossed her legs while letting her arms rest in her lap. "Do as I do. Clear your mind and bring yourself back to your space. The more time you spend in there, the more your magic reserves will grow. However, this will take many years to see any decent results."

As Luna entered the space that occupied her mind, she took a closer look at the bubble—no, she'd call it a field. Yes, a field of energy extending slower than a snail's pace outward into the darkness that lay beyond it.

After ten minutes, she realized that she had to keep her concentration high. Otherwise, the field wouldn't extend. This meant she had to cut out all distractions of the outside world. She was in a vulnerable state.

What felt like hours passed by, and the progress was minimal. Luna was right. She could see why this would take years. It had only extended an inch or two.

When she opened her eyes to take a break, the sun had gone down, and Raven was cooking food again. You would think doing something so boring would make the time pass more slowly. But Luna guessed it was kind of like sleeping.

"I see you're done. Here, you must be hungry."

Raven handed Luna another bowl of rat meat. She grabbed it and wondered how long it would take for her to like the taste of human flesh. There were plenty of people in this city to munch on. Anything would be better than eating this for the rest of her life.