16

A/N: These two chapters have no sex, sorry. I hope ye enjoy them, all the same. Stay safe, and wash your hands!

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Glossary

Acharya:

A term used to refer to anyone regarded as a teacher.

Agrayodhin:

The Champion of the Indian Academy.

Bhaiya:

A term of endearment and respect which translates to "older brother", but is also used to refer to older males with respect.

Bhisaj Swamini:

Head Healer of the Indian Academy (Female).

Didi:

A term of endearment and respect which translates to "older sister", but is also used to refer to older females with respect.

Dvitiya Skandhavara:

The Second Division of the Indian Academy's army.

Protathlitís:

The Champion of the Greek Academy.

Rishi(ji):

A Sanskrit term used to refer to a sage/saint, or someone perceived as being highly knowledgeable. Used here to refer to the Dean of the Indian Academy.

Sapt Senapati:

The council of the seven commanders of the Indian Academy's forces. They form the judiciary wing of Indian Wielder society, as well.

Senapati:

Commander.

Sthanachintaka:

Quartermaster.

Vindex:

The Champion of the Roman Academy.

*****

Chapter 15- Training

14

th

February, 2013

5:00 a.m.

My Abode

For the second time in as many days, I was woken up by a loud banging noise. Groaning, I rolled out of bed and shuffled to the front door in the dark, somehow managing not to bump into anything this time.

I pulled the door open to see Sneha standing there, holding a potted plant, a wide smile on her face.

"Happy Valentine's Day, bhaiya!" she exclaimed, thrusting the plant into my face.

"Umm, thanks?" I said, a little unsure about what to do.

"Maa explained that it's different in Ireland," she continued, walking in and turning the lights on, "but I like to give everybody I care about something for Valentine's day."

"You care about me?" I asked, taken aback.

"I do!" she replied, nodding enthusiastically. "I really enjoyed the walk with you yesterday, and it was really cool to play with you in the night, too. You're awesome!"

"Thank you." was all I could say in response, unused to being accepted that easily. She shot me a wide smile as I set the plant down on the center table, before heading into my bedroom to wash up and get dressed.

A short while later, we were walking into the forest, Sneha enthusiastically talking about everything under the sun, while I just nodded along, still half-asleep. Hearing Byrav's name shocked me to full wakefulness, and I looked at her askance.

"What was that?" I asked her, surprised to see that I could see Swati, Vince, and Rahul in the clearing up ahead.

Rahul noticed us before she could answer, waving us over, impatiently. Sighing resignedly, I followed Sneha into the clearing, already dreading the rest of the day.

"Acharya." I greeted Swati, following Sneha's lead and giving her a bow, before nodding at Rahul, and asking him how he was doing. I ignored Vince on purpose, and could almost sense him bristling with anger.

His lack of an outburst did surprise me, however, but I didn't get any time to ruminate on it. As soon as Rahul and Sneha took their leave, Swati snapped into trainer-mode.

"Alright," she said, addressing me, "now that you have access to your magic, it's time we started training you to be a warrior. Unlike what you might see in a movie, being a good warrior isn't just about martial skill or bodily fitness. It's a mindset of its own, and understating tactics is a big part of inculcating that mindset.

"As such, we have something of a routine planned out. You will continue to meet Vince and myself here every morning for your physical training, followed by some Wielding exercises. After a quick break for a meal, you are to report to Ronald for tactical training, which will continue through the afternoon. Once he dismisses you, you'll be reporting back to me, right here, for a second round of physical training.

"You may be tested by myself or any other senior Wielder at any point in time. Some of these tests will be scheduled, while others may be sprung on you at any time. If you work hard enough, both, you and Vince, might be able to join the rest of the warriors in two or three years.

"Any questions?"

"Not at the moment," I replied, nervously, "no."

"Good." she stated, "Let's begin."

To say that she worked me to the bone would be an understatement. I knew I wasn't the fittest person around, but Swati really pushed me to the edge over the course of that morning.

We started with an all-out run through the forest, just Swati and I. She'd let me rest each time I got too winded to continue, but it couldn't have been longer than forty minutes overall, before my legs just refused to move. I tumbled to the ground and lay there, panting and covered in welts from branches and bushes, all of which were set aflame by the sweat flowing down my body.

"Okay," Swati said, after confirming that my limbs just wouldn't obey me anymore, "turn over onto your back, and close your eyes."

I did as she asked, wincing as my legs protested even that meagre movement.

"I know that you're in pain, and that it's hard to focus, but that is just what you need to learn to do. You will be a warrior, Chris. Warriors get hurt. They get beaten and stabbed, have their bones broken, and their limbs chopped off. Through it all, they must learn to remain true.

"The center of your being, the source of your Power, can be your sanctuary. In time, you will be free of the sensations your body experiences, while you're in there. Go there now."

I tried to do as she asked me to, but the pain was just too distracting. I simply couldn't will myself back into my center.

"I can't," I groaned, "I just can't."

"You can." she replied, in a tone that booked no argument. "Focus! Find a way to look beyond your pain."

I had no clue what she was talking about, but since she didn't seem inclined to tell me more, I decided to try to focus on my pain. I started with the cuts and welts on my face, concentrating on them, and on the sensations radiating out from them. The longer I "looked" at them, the less they actually seemed to sting.

Intrigued, I expanded my attention to the rest of my body, focusing on the sources of my pain. Gradually, they all seemed to fade away, till only my legs were still hurting. The pain was somewhat bearable, though, and I was finally able to find my way to my core.

"I'm here!" I exclaimed, as I looked around my cave, "You were right, I don't feel anything!"

"Good," Swati said, "and now, I want you to tap into your magic and heal yourself, just like yesterday."

I did as she asked, noticing that my pool seemed to be deeper than the last time I'd checked. Dipping my feet into the pool, I shifted my attention to my body, finding it easier to redirect the flows of energy into the wrongness I encountered. As I finished restoring the spent muscles in my legs, a sharp explosion of pain broke out across my torso, shocking me out of my core, as my eyes snapped open.

Swati stood over me, a thin branch in her hand, and a red welt spreading across my stomach.

"What the hell?!" I exclaimed, scrambling away from her, "You hit me!"

"I did," she said, calmly, "and as expected, you lost hold of your Power. Tell me, Chris, what would have happened if this branch had been a sword, and I'd thrusted it through your heart, instead?"

"I'd have died," I mumbled, seeing her point.

"Exactly. Now, get up," she continued, "we're going to repeat this over and over again, till you're almost drained of magic."

"Are you trying to kill me?!" I shouted, the prospect of repeating that all multiple times over, sending a surprisingly potent spike of rage through my brain.

"On the contrary," Swati replied, pulling out two pebbles from her pouch, "I'm trying to teach you how to survive. Stand up and hold out your arms."

Seeing that I didn't really have much of a choice, I did as she asked. A deep red halo seemed to flicker around her for a second, and was gone before I could even register it. I should have been paying more attention to my arms, in any case.

I jumped back with a start, as balls of dirt started flying towards me. Rather than hitting me hard, however, they seemed to stick to my arms, chest, and back, molding themselves to my frame.

In seconds, it felt like I'd put on over ten kilos.

"This should suffice." Swati said, with a satisfied smile, as I stumbled and caught my balance. "The added weight of the dirt will help stress your upper body as well, while we run. When I feel that you're strong enough, we can move on to actual strength-training."

With that, she turned around and started running again, leaving me with no option but to follow her. The added weight of the dirt taxed my body much more, and I was on the ground again, barely ten minutes later. My entire body was aflame with pain this time, but with a little effort, I could look beyond it and heal myself again. A pebble flicked at my head is what broke my concentration this time, and then, we set off running, again.

Two hours later, as the sun was about halfway to its zenith, my magical reserves were almost completely depleted, and I told Swati as much. Nodding, she released her spell, and I let out a sigh of relief as the mud fell off my body. She motioned for me to follow her, and we walked through the forest in silence for a while, eventually finding ourselves back in the clearing we'd started in.

Swati had clearly assigned Vince his own tasks as we ran through the forest, and he'd actually transformed the clearing into a training arena. A rack lined with poles of varying thicknesses, swords, axes, and bows of varying lengths— all made of wood— stood off to the right. To our left were a bunch of wooden dummies, which were obviously meant to be archery targets, and straight ahead, was a clear, circular patch of ground, which I assumed was to be a sparring circle.

Vince was standing by the weapons rack, and Swati nodded approvingly at him, as we walked towards the circle. He came over to join us, but remained outside the circle.

"Here's how this will work," Swati instructed me, as we faced off inside the circle, "I'll walk you through some movements and combinations, and correct you as you practice them. Once you have them down, you and Vince will face off, using them on each other, so you can see how to apply them in an actual fight. Two weeks from now, we'll transition to the two of you free-sparring at the end of a session, as well.

"Considering the fact that you have no training whatsoever, I think the best course of action is to spend a few months on hand-to-hand combat, before actually moving on to weapons. I will teach you to use each available weapon to a rudimentary degree, after which, we can decide which ones you should work on mastering.

"This plan only applies to melee weapons, however. The skillset you'd require to use a ranged weapon is different enough for us to begin assessing whether or not you'd make a good archer right away, so you'll be learning that from today, along with hand-to-hand combat."

I just nodded my agreement, and she shifted into the same ready stance as the one I faced when I first fought her. I tried to emulate her, and she stepped over to correct me, spreading my feet farther apart, but showing me how she actually kept her thigh muscles tense and ready to spring into action. Once she was satisfied with my stance, she walked me through some basic strikes and blocks, and had me repeat them over and over again, while she corrected me.

By the time she was somewhat satisfied with the way I moved, my muscles were screaming for relief, and a dull ache persisted in all my joints. Even my fingers seemed to hurt. I had no clue how she expected me to spar with Vince or learn how to handle a bow after all that, but we were interrupted before I could ask.

"Acharya!" Rahul called, riding into the clearing, "The Sapt Senapati have been summoned, as has Chris bhaiya."

"Now?" Swati asked, straightening up, "By whom?"

"Yes, Acharya," Rahul said, as his Stag came to a stop near the circle, "and by Paa. I've been sent to take him to them right away."

"What does he want with the Unbound wimp?" Vince asked, with a sneer.

"Vince!" Swati rebuked him, sharply, "You know better than to ask questions of the Sapt Senapati."

"The who?" I asked, confused, as Swati ushered me towards the kneeling Stag.

"The Sapt Senapati are the seven commanders of the Academy's forces," Swati answered, as Rahul helped me onto his Stag. "They answer only to the Champion and the Dean, and are the penultimate authority within our society."

I nodded, swaying slightly as the Stag rose to its full height, and we bounded away into the forest. While I still held on to Rahul as tightly as I had the last time, I managed to keep my eyes open, though I wouldn't have missed much, even if I hadn't. Everything flew by so fast, that I couldn't see anything beyond a green blur.

I was about to ask how we could even keep our eyes open at those speeds, and why we weren't experiencing drafts so strong that they blew us off our perch, when the answer struck me: Magic. I mean, it was only logical that Companions, being magical entities, would have some sort of enchantment that protected their Wielders from certain aspects of their nature. I wondered whether avian, subterranean, or aquatic Companions had any enchantments that allowed their Wielders to breathe freely in oxygen-deprived environments. I filed that thought away, adding it to an ever-growing list of other questions that I needed answered.

Scant minutes later, we burst out of the forest, and were on our way up the stairs to the academy. Rather than continue through into the academy proper, we slowed down, and turned left at the top of the stairs. We proceeded along a narrow path that ran around the periphery of the circular building, till we got to a smaller, human-sized door.

The Stag knelt down to let us off, staying close to the ground as Rahul walked around to its front, scratching a spot on its chin as he stared into its eyes. The Stag snorted, as if responding to something Rahul said, before starting to fade away.

"This way," Rahul said, moving towards the door. It was plain and unadorned, and on closer inspection, seemed to be made of some sort of metal. It swung open with a soft creak as we got closer, and I could see the top of a narrow set of gray stone stairs, which looked like they descended forever.

"Bhaiya, have you seen the main academy yet?" Rahul asked, leading the way as we started down the stairs.

"Not really," I replied, one hand on the wall to support myself as my eyes adjusted to the dimmer light inside, "I haven't had the time to, yet."

"Oh, yes, you were unconscious for most of your time here."

"Exactly," I remarked, dryly, "thanks for reminding me of that."

He seemed to pick up on my sarcasm, turning and smiling sheepishly at me, in response. I waved it off with a laugh, and we walked in silence for some time, the sound of our footsteps echoing softly as we descended ever-further into the depths of the academy building. Muffled sounds would occasionally break the almost-oppressive silence, though I couldn't place any of them.

"What goes on in the academy building, anyway?" I asked, after a few minutes of silence.

"A lot of classes." Rahul replied, simply, "Sneha and I have all our classes in there all day long, and I think Maa said that you'd have some classes there, too, once Swati Acharya decides that you're strong enough. The building also contains the Forge, the Hall of Heroes, some office rooms, and the Hospital."

"Are we heading to any of those?"

"No, we're going to the Dungeons."

"I'm sorry, the Dungeons?"

"Yes, the Dungeons, Interrogation Rooms, Situation Rooms, and Courtrooms are all below the academy building. I think they were built down here for increased security, or something like that."

"I guess that makes sense," I mused, as we finally got to the bottom of the stairs, which terminated in front of a stone archway. "But, why are we headed to the Dungeons?"

"Because there's someone I'd like you to meet." Byrav said, emerging from the archway in front of us. He was dressed in red Academy robes, but was unarmed, and I finally figured out that he was Bonded to some sort of snake.

"Hi Paa!" Rahul exclaimed, smiling widely at him.

"Rahul," Byrav responded, sternly, "what have I told you before?"

"Sorry, Senapati." Rahul apologized, bowing deeply, "I forgot."

"We'll discuss appropriate punishments later," Byrav said. "Go back to class, now. I'll take Chris from here."

Rahul bowed again, before turning and hurrying away, shoulders slumped.

"You didn't have to do that, Byrav," I remarked, irritated at the sight of a bright ball of energy like Rahul, looking so dejected.

Intense pain just exploded across my back the next second, but a tightness in my throat stopped me from crying out, or even from breathing in again. Fighting the panic, I realized that Byrav had slammed me into the wall, and was holding me up against it, fingers wrapped tightly around my neck.

"Let's get one thing really fucking clear," he growled, a whooshing sound in my ears dampening the sound of his voice, "I don't give two shits about whose son you are. Your father was a weakling and a failure, and your mother wasn't much better. The rest of these idiots may worship the ground they walked on, but to me, they were garbage. Which makes you garbage, as well.

"If you try to tell me how to raise my children, or how to handle my family, ever again, I will beat you to a pulp. If you disrespect me in any way, or fail to use my title when addressing me, I will beat you to a pulp. If you look at me wrong, I will beat you to a pulp. Are we clear?"

A wave of rage coursed through me, bringing his sneering face into sharp focus. How dare he say that about my parents?!

"No." I croaked, defiantly, unwilling to let him bully me around.

"What was that?" he asked, bringing his face closer to mine, as he tightened his grip on my neck.

"No." I repeated, my anger allowing me to look past my pain, and draw deeply on my Power.

A feeble trickle of magic was all I was able to muster up.

A surge of panic washed over me, as I remembered that my training with Swati earlier had left me with almost nothing in the tank. I started squirming against the wall, my hands scrambling at Byrav's, as my vision started to darken.

He just laughed, a harsh, joyless sound, and let me go. I fell to the ground heavily, my eyes watering, coughing and sputtering, as I gulped down mouthfuls of blessed air.

"I admire your backbone, boy," he said, turning around, "but that won't do you any good, unless you can back it up. The next time you taunt me, I will not be as merciful. Now, get to your feet, and follow me."

He started walking away, leaving me with no choice but to gather myself, and follow him. I stared daggers into his back as I did, a cold rage settling in my stomach. I was going to get him back for that. Someday, I'd make him regret everything he'd just said and done.

I all-but stomped after him, my inability to do anything about my anger at him only serving to enrage me even more. My neck felt sore and a spot on my back hurt with every step, so I channeled what little magic I still had left and healed myself.

Byrav was an asshole and a bully. What did someone as sweet and caring as Vaishnavi even see in him? Why was Mr. Ray so friendly towards him? It didn't make any sense at all.