Let's train
Maina found himself standing in a large open ground. The lush greenery all around him made the grasslands look so serene, especially since the plane he was on seemed to stretch for miles on either direction. In front of him was a sword.
Looking around and seeing nothing else in the vast space, Maina reached out and grabbed the sword, only to let it go instantly. The hilt was as hot as a furnace, and Maina felt as though his hand would fall off. Only, after inspecting his hand, he realized that it was perfectly okay, no burn marks.
Looking up, he saw the sword catch fire. It was quite the disconcerting sight to see something that was not combustible flame up like a log of wood, but what was even more disconcerting was the fact that the sword wasn't being consumed by the fire.
The fire seemed to flare up, growing larger until Maina had to take a step back or risk being burned. The fire grew until it formed a humanoid figure, much like Maina. The boy was 18 years old, almost on the precipice of manhood. The humanoid fire figurine standing in front of him was much like him, only he didn't have the face, just flames.
'So this is the spirit,' Maina wondered.
"You can read my thoughts?"
"How do I do that?"
Ever since that moment where Dane had revealed he was a scion of Keeling, the others understood his purpose. It was sensational news that had reached all the humans, even in this village, that the quest had been completed, and the gifts of Keeling had been uncovered. They concluded that Dane, therefore, must have come from there.
Furthermore, the elder shaman had confirmed that the spirit was indeed very young, and she couldn't sense any hostility, just wariness. As someone who was used to seances, she knew how to sense and look out for danger. Of course, a considerably powerful spirit wouldn't reveal its intent, but she was willing to bet that she was not wrong, this had to be a young spirit. If she was to know that the spirit she considered young was older than the world she was born in, she would cough blood.
After the seance session, Maina had stuck around with his grandmother and received instructions on his current situation. He also felt a lot safer with his grandmother. That day had been a happy one, with the entire family coming together.
As the night progressed, time to sleep had come. Maina knew what was waiting for him, and part of him didn't want to sleep, he was afraid of what might come. After being comforted by the grandma and mom, he finally managed to sleep, and now he found himself here.
Staring at the flaming humanoid, Maina put on his brave face. He needed to muster all the courage he could find, but he had to be strong. His grandmother had pressed upon him the need to have the upper hand always, especially when dealing with spirits. Once they detected any form of weakness, they would attack like ravenous wolves.
Dane had been present when all this was being passed on, so he had a clue what to expect from the boy. Seeing him now, the stance and his sure footing, even he was impressed. He had made a proper selection.
"What's that?"
Noting the stoic manner at which the spirit stood, Maina understood the value of what he had in his hands.
"So what do you want of me," Maina asked, "should I take you to Keeling's heir?" In truth, Maina had been thinking about this for quite some time. In his mind, doing so would not only solve his problems but also gain him quite a tidy profit while at it. If he was to deliver such a wonderful object to people who no doubt would see its value, he would gain recognition and even some form of remuneration.
Damn, there goes my rotten luck! Maina thought. He truly did not know what to do with the spirit.
"Why me?"
Dane knew this question was coming. There had been no definite reason, the boy was the right age and the right place at the right time. Well, maybe the grandmother had something to do with it. However, as things had played out, Dane could feel that there was more than meets the eye. Still, that question befuddled him, leaving him wondering what to tell the boy?
"Who chose me?"
"My destiny chose me?"
"Okay, you mentioned you are a sword spirit, what does that mean?" Seeing that he was not getting anywhere with this sword, he decided to take a different approach.
"Interesting, but how good with a sword are you?" Maina might have imagined it, but he saw a smile form in the featureless face of the flame he was talking to. Suddenly, a sword floated in front of him, and looking at this opponent, they too were wielding a sword.
Maina's sword was had a black hilt and crimson blade, Dane wielded a flaming sword that looked more like an extension of himself. Without warning, Maina attacked.
One powerful swing after another, the boy swung his sword over and over again. But try as he might, he couldn't make any advancement. At this point, all Dane was doing was blocking the attacks, he hadn't even moved from his position yet.
Maina had been brought up in a simple village. Among the best living humans, Maina lived in a rural area far away from the worries of city-states. All his life, he had ever only seen a wolfkin 5 times, and each had been from afar.
Needless to say, Maina had never held a weapon before with his hands. As a farmer, he knew his way around a hoe, and he was sufficiently strong enough to wield it, but he was no warrior. Dane, an expert swordsman, could take him on blindfolded and still give him a thorough beating. That was how much of an amateur he was.
Just as Maina was about to deliver another attack, Dane decided to go on the offense. Meeting the sword in the air, Dane not only blocked the incoming attack, but he leveraged the blade to parry the sword. As he did, he redirected the force of the attack back to the wielder, not only nullifying the attack but using the opponent's momentum against them.
However, Dane nodded approvingly when he saw that the boy was not giving up. The bad news was, Maina had to lose the fight, and lose it so humiliatingly that he would accept defeat. Dane could have won The blade cut him in half, instantly waking him.
It took him a while to get back to sleep, and when he did, he found himself standing in front of the sword again. This time he wouldn't lose. A few minutes after getting back to sleep, he was awake again.
This kept on happening all night, and had anyone been watching, they would have been convinced that Maina was having a troubled night. After several tries, of which Maina kept lowering his goal, he still couldn't land a hit on the Spirit. He finally capitulated and said "yes."
The moment Maina gave his consent, Dane felt a deeper connection than he had experienced with anyone else thus far in this body. It was as though Dane's and Maina's thoughts merged to form one. One would be hard-pressed to know where Dane's thoughts started and Maina's ended.
However, what was most surprising was that they each kept their personality intact. There was a distinct difference in the 2. Similarly, there was a hierarchy to be followed. Maina's need as the host came first. He remained to be the absolute overlord of the body and everything in it, only, now there was another sentient entity sharing his brain.
The following day, and the days that followed, Maina would rise early in the morning and run off to the forest. There he would spend the whole day training his skills. They started with the sword, but soon after, Dane decided that the vessel he'd chosen had sufficient aptitude to master other weapons and skills, and so that was what Dane did.
It had started off being pretty hard as Dane and his student still had to figure out the dynamics of training. As time went by though, and with continued interactions between the 2, communication and even transfer of information became easier.
Over time, Dane realized that he didn't need Maina to be in a dreamlike state for them to communicate. Due to deeper connections and lesser restraints, Dane could just pass a message even when Maina was fully active.
***
"Oh, land of the wolfkins,
Blessed land that was left by our forefathers,
Blessed land that will be home to our descendants,
Hear me now, Our Patron has spoken!
The shame that you suffered shall be scrubbed,
The pain you went through shall be relieved,
and the tears you cried shall be wiped.
A new day is dawning,
When humans shall forever know their place,
and the wolfkin shall be King,
To rule over everyone!"
The animated priest went on with his speech. He spoke with conviction, and his words were like salve applied over a wound, so soothing. After the battle of Harrow City, as everyone was calling it, the wolfkin realized just how outmatched they were. No mere mortal could hope to win against someone who defeated an entire city, then went on to complete an age-old quest. Fighting such a monster was akin to throwing one's life away.
However, to their eyes, they still saw Kedan as a mortal man. What could a mortal hope to achieve when facing a god? He could only face defeat! With their god joining their ranks and fighting for them, it was no longer a futile attempt.
Tsapo eyed the priest with skepticism. Most powerful beings did not like to submit to others, preferring to rely on their strength. As such, many would resist any form of religion as that would mean going through life with a clutch. Tsapo was no different.
Both the wolf God and Astrid saw this, as they too were present in the gathering. After facing such an attack, the wolf God knew that his flock was not ready for a large scale excursion. He also knew that every second that was lost meant that he was losing the initiative in the war, but sadly he couldn't do anything about it. His people had been too broken, especially his heroes.
Now he had to start the long and arduous work of putting them back together again, before molding them into a weapon that could face a Faction Protector. For someone who hadn't sort out worship in a long time, this was way more than he had bargained for.
The pressure was on him as a God. How could he walk in public among other gods after it was discovered that he had lost to a mere Grade C Super? Still, the question lingered, 'Could he do it, could he end up victorious?'