King Liam and his guards laughed. Madeline, still smiling, began to walk towards the edge of the training field. "Come, little donkey. I want to see what you're made of."
Luke sighed, picking up his wooden sword and chasing after Madeline. She walked remarkably fast for her age. Were all of his training sessions going to be so weird?
They went past the training grounds to the back of the castle, where an enormous boulder stood. Madeline pointed to it.
"I'm tired of that boulder being there,” Madeline said. “I want you to move it."
"That's impossible."
"No, it isn't."
Rolling his eyes, Luke approached the boulder and pushed with all his might. He groaned and strained, but nothing happened. "Look. I tried. It's not happening."
Madeline lay her staff aside and pushed the boulder with ease. That wasn't possible. Someone had to have replaced it with a fake while Luke wasn't looking. Frustrated, he looked at Madeline's stats:
Name: Madeline
Age: 90
Race: Human
Level: ???
Light Mage, Warrior
He couldn't see her level. He gave up.
Madeline gave him a sympathetic smile. "Oh, don't worry, lad. You'll get there soon enough. You'll get stronger in a hurry. Your world produces people of a fragile build. Here in this world, you can use your body's full potential and so accomplish the impossible."
The next day, before the sun had even fully risen, Luke began his training in earnest. He was running up a hill with a rope around his waist, pulling Madeline in a small cart behind him. It was enjoyable, until Madeline made him wear a suit of armor while running.
The sun was fully up by now, and the armor trapped all of Luke's body heat. Sweat dripped from his brow and swam in rivulets down his whole body. When he finally got to the top of the hill, he vomited up his breakfast.
Paying no attention to her charge's pain, Madeline got out of her cart and stood in front of Luke. "You know what to do now," she said. "Push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. Three sets of fifty each."
Luke started doing push-ups. If his chances of returning home weren't on the line, he would have given up by now.
After his second set of sit-ups, Elora approached him with a cup of something that smelled sweet. Luke drank it gratefully. "You're doing quite well," Elora said. "I'd have given up by now."
Luke smiled, but a noise startled him.
System: You did physical training for the first time. Reward: 50XP.
System: Level up.
Luke was surprised. He felt lighter again, and his energy returned, so he gave Elora the now-empty cup and continued his workout with renewed vigor. Elora and Madeline looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
"That's some savior you've got there," said Madeline.
When the third set of exercises was finished, Madeline brought Luke to a small shack. It was clumsily built, the only light in the room emanating from cracks between the boards. Despite that, it was clean. The only piece of furniture in the room was a table, on which sat a caged rat. Luke stepped a bit closer and realized that the rat was oozing blood.
He took a step backward, nearly gagging. He was used to seeing blood in video games, but seeing it up close was a different story.
"I don't do blood," he said.
"What does that mean?"
"I hate the way it smells. It makes me sick."
"That's why you're here," said Madeline. "You're to learn your first spell of light magic. A healing spell. Repeat after me: Hu. Li. Ci. Bri."
Luke drew a deep breath and repeated the chant. A tiny light appeared over the rat, but it disappeared quickly. Madeline shook her head. "You're afraid," she said. "The spells won't work unless your mind is clear."
After Luke's short lunch break, a servant came to Luke and told him that Madeline had requested his presence. Luke followed the servant, relieved to see that they weren't heading for the training fields. Instead, they went to the same ramshackle building.
"More spells?" Luke asked.
Madeline nodded. "After you, Crimson Savior."
Luke stepped into the hovel and stopped. Four dead rabbits and a dead stag littered the floor. Blood was everywhere. It dripped from the walls and covered the floor and the table. Luke tried to bolt out the door, but Madeline had shut and locked it.
"Let me out!" he cried.
"You'll stay in there until you're used to the smell of blood," she said through the cracks in the wall.
"Please! Just let me out!" Luke beat on the door for what felt like hours and yelled until his voice was numb. He pulled on the rickety boards of the shack, but either they were held magically in place, or he wasn't strong enough to break them yet.
Finally, Luke realized that there was no way out of the situation. He fell to his knees and focused on blocking out the fear and disgust he felt. Think about happy things. His parents. His little sister.
A small light ignited in his heart. Slowly, gently, he fell into a trance. His fear grew silent. The light within his heart flickered and grew until he was one with it. Peaceful. Balanced. Controlled.
Suddenly, Madeline clapped her hands, startling Luke out of his trance.
"Why'd you have to do that?" he demanded. It didn't matter; the little screen in his mind was lighting up.
System: You have unlocked light powers and trained in magic. Reward: 100 XP.
System: Level up.
Name: Luke Pennywood
Age: 17
Race: Human
Level: 9
Savior
Hp: 470/470
Str: 155
Mag: 155
Agi: 110
Sta: 155
Exp 20/90
Abilities: Auto Regen (38HP per min)
Insight (able to see the stats of anyone around his level)
Skills:
Slash (regular slash attack with or without a sword, with sword 18dmg, without sword 13dmg, no CD)
Flash (dodge attack by turning into light particles, CD 30secs)
Equipment; Rabbit King Earrings (+20 points in stats and abilities)
Ring of Destiny: ?????
It was night. Luke and Madeline washed up for dinner and ate ravenously. Between bites of roast boar and garlic toast, Luke told Illana and Elora about the bloody room.
"Madeline, you're a cruel-hearted hag," Illana scolded. "That's not training. That's torture."
"Only if it didn't work," said Madeline calmly. "Is the boy still frightened at the sight of blood?"
Illana took her dinner knife and carved a neat slit into the back of her wrist. Luke watched as a drop of blood tracked down her pale arm. "Does this bother you?" she asked.
Luke blinked, but he didn't look away. "Nope," he said. "I'm not afraid anymore."
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