CHPT 219: After the Sun Sets.

Sunday Morning, Nov 11th, 2240

Back on a side of the globe that wasn't deep within the unrelenting embrace of the magical cold that was Islandia, a team of Heroes in the making were knee deep into another day of hard work— unknowing of whether or not something horribly demonic was a spectator to their trainings or not.

***

Another day, Claude found himself training within the calming green spread of the wild lands— only now he wasn't in the warming company of his only wolven brother. Today— and just like the day before, he was joined by a team. His friends.

Keeping in mind that they could be under the stalking gaze of a HellBreeder at any moment, they chose a spot within the green woodlands that was relatively close to the illustrious Aslan Estate— but also far enough away for them to speak privately and away from the listening ears of others.

Such a spot was found in a tightly fit open field surrounded by trees and backed by a loudly flowing river. To Claude it functioned as training music with its upbeat pulse and the violently echoing splash of liquid against rock. It seemed the others felt the same way, because they'd been in a deep focus for the past 25 minutes of relatively hard fighting that was only ever broken by times of intense meditation.

It wasn't the exact path Claude took months ago to unlock the skill, (Combat Meditation), but with Arne's advice, it was the best.

They would kill two birds with one stone by training in intense combative sparring sessions where they expelled high amounts of Mana, and then at zero, the meditations would begin. This way, they could all hone their elemental skills and increase their comfort in combat. Claude felt that it was the best they had, so he ran with it, and thankfully so did they.

***

THWACK!

Flocks of birds took to the skies as the clashing of weapons and grunts of effort rang through the forest abruptly. By now, all predator fearing life forms were gone from the forest— the ones that didn't flee when Claude and Frosty entered, for surely did after the intensity of combat increased another notch.

"DAMMIT! I hate endurANCE WORk!" Ursula roared— voice fluctuating in loud bursts with the rising of her Berserker's Rage. After a while they'd learned to ignore it, but her opponents knew to pay attention to the changes in her voice and flickering of her eyes. Today, that opponent was Warren.

"I'm right there with you…..heh! But...a new skill is a new skill." Isaac agreed in between ragged breaths from across the field while he and Maris continued combat with Claude and Frosty.

"Erhm….it definitely is, now let's continue. The point of this is to tire you both out." Claude reminded his partners who sat in exhausted remnants of their combat stances.

"Are you not tired then….?" Maris questioned while pointing at him with the wooden weapon Claude made her— along with the rest of the group.

"Of course I am. But WE aren't tired enough. You guys know the drill, let's work." Claude fumbled out under the flatly plain gaze of the liquid swordsman.

"Very well. Here we come." Maris said, gaining an understanding nod from Isaac before both of their wooden sparring weapons became shrouded in the bright blue and red colors of their— weak, Aura's. Another aspect of training that Claude happily welcomed as a byproduct of not having their real weapons. More Mana spent per fight, more skills to hone.

Fwoosh!

The Knight and Swordsman tore up the grass with their shoes as they took off towards the Lupine and his Wolf. Maris was ahead, but Isaac took the offensive first in the form of a steaming fireball that he threw at Claude's chest.

Claude watched the ball of fire sail from behind Maris and bullet towards him like a pocket sized flying sun.

Woo!

"Click!" Claude let out his signal to Frosty, causing them both to switch positions.

With an agile sidestep, Claude felt the heat of the fireball fly past his face before focusing his sights on his new opponent, Maris.

Frosty took off from beside him, ducking under the fireball and closing in on Isaac in a flash, forcing the Knight on the defensive against the inhuman speed of a Tangent bred Animal.

Swish!

Maris slid across the grass, effectively performing a stab with her Aura shrouded sword.

Claude sent it off track with his sword, sending magical sparks the color of their blended Aura's through the air like small fireworks as the weapons clashed.

He recovered quickly and swung at her chest.

FWO—ck!

Maris just barely blocked the strike before placing her freehand on the back of her sword and pushing, using all her might to push him and his blade off balance.

Woo!

The movement was effective in creating space between them— which didn't exactly work in her favor due to Claude's long and powerful limbs. To combat this difference, in a flash she dropped and sent a spinning leg sweep aimed at his ankles.

Claude watched her silky black hair raise as she dropped out of his sight in a flash. The sound of her legs sweeping over the floor caused him to just barely vault over the attack. He landed in a roll behind her and took the offensive.

While they continued to fight, sometimes switching opponents and other times colliding as a group, Claude couldn't help but notice how much she'd progressed since the night he saved her from her Goblin infested Village of horrors.

Back then, her unique fighting style was unorthodox and wild in its own way, but now, she'd incorporated practiced movements that blended seamlessly with her swaying and fluid form of combat. Even incorporating some of Ursula's wild sweeping attacks that she added her own emotionlessly precise and effective vibe to.

She was constantly absorbing and fitting to the mold of her scenarios— much like water. She was a natural with the sword— frighteningly so when you consider the fact that she'd only been using one for a matter of months for all they knew.

***

The group continued fighting, burning their stamina and Mana at lightning speeds as their use of Elements slowly came more into play.

With their intensity up, the hardcore sparring session lasted another 5 minutes before everyone on the clearing was thoroughly spent— most of them at least.

All that remained was meditation.

In the distance, Ursula sat in a field of white from the snow and flecks of ice she generated inadvertently now and in the middle of combat against Warren— who sat nearby equally as fatigued while sitting criss crossed in the cold grass.

Claude sat close to the river, seated comfortably while he focused on his breathing. Frosty laid next to him with his tongue hanging from his jaws loosely and ears moving like eyes in response to the harmless sounds of the forest.

Across from them, Maris and Isaac sat in similar positions with their eyes closed and spines straight.

The field's sounds lacked their abrupt clashes and angry grunts, now taken over by the slowly calming breaths that came with beings descending into a relatively deep state of meditation. Even now, the upbeat slashing current of the river worked in their favor, giving them all something to directly focus on other than their own breathing.

After a few seconds, complete relaxation found a home within the students minds— well, most of them.

Claude wasn't afforded the luxury of a calm mind. Even as he sat in the grass, wind blowing firmly against his sweat shined limbs and damp black clothing that clung to his lean and hard body like charcoal paint, his mind wandered. And like a horse startled by the presence of a predator in the dark of night, he had no control of its frantic wildness.

His gluttonous and dark appetite for revenge was partially satiated when he ripped Rikah's still beating heart from her chest. Yet, he felt no better. Not because he killed her, but because of what followed.

Ever since those two long days ago, a miasma of anxiety had magically enveloped him, wrapping his body so many times over that he was beginning to feel suffocated by it.

By the idea that even as they all sat in the forest clearing, it wasn't only the eyes of the HellBreeder that peered at them from behind the green bush. It could also be the eyes of thieving heartless nomads, Reborn and armed with weapons and armor stolen from fallen Heroes's that were leagues ahead of him in power.

The twisted clumps of thoughts and worries unraveled in his mind to the point that the meditations began to do more harm than good.

Shoulders tensed, beads of sweat collected, fingers formed into claws and sunk into the grass like a collection of hot knives through butter.

Frosty felt it all through their mental tethering and rose to his feet, no longer panting as he circled Claude in search of a threat he was unable to combat due to its location being deep within his Lupine brother's psyche.

Following the PitWolf's rise to action, Arne sensed his need for refocusing and chimed in, finding that he was once again called to his new given duty.

"[Remember where you are.]" His crisp English accented voice ran through Claude's mind as clear as day.

The sudden voice caused him to jolt slightly, "Remembering…" He replied, somehow sounding grumpy even in his thoughts.

"[I understand your fears. I had a similar issue after killing my first Scum of Remus— around an age very similar to yours actually. I'll never regret what I did to any of those feral minded bloody bastards. But, I know. That feeling that they're always coming to get you for what you did, that creeping anxiety over when the day will come that you do in fact have to face them and thwart their attempts at vengeance. I've felt everything you're feeling.]" Arne spoke as if reading a written script straight from Claude's mind.

"What did you do to get rid of it?" Claude questioned.

"[Nothing.]" Arne responded with an intense determination coating his middle aged voice.

The young Lupine's shoulders slumped in response while he meditated in the grass.

"[Never let yourself forget what's on the horizon. You get weak and sloppy when that happens. Let the thoughts stay, learn to leash them— like a dog. But keep them, in turn they'll keep you sharp and ready.]"

Claude made a confused expression while he sat with his eyes closed, "How the hell do I leash my thoughts….like a dog?"

Arne was silent for a moment, something about the silence he sometimes made in the middle of conversations led Claude to believe they were times when he was deep in thought about his past— something he seldom shared info about in detail.

"[Well….let's see; The first time I was plagued by the thoughts of vengeful eyes falling on me, I felt my nerves ease in time— and with every other enemy Lupine that had its heart pierced to pieces by my Rapier. But as I matured and began to more effectively live the battle hardened life of a Lupine in a pack, I learned that the most effective thing to do is what you're already doing. Train. Make yourself better and more sure of the fact that you'll be ready. Not just for yourself— but for the ones you've taken the responsibility of teaching in preparation for another vengeful spirit.]"

Following Arne's advising words, someone on the field roared with excitement as they blasted to their feet, snapping Claude out of his thoughts.

"[Speak if the devil…]" Arne commented coolly.

"No….way!" Ursula said while she rose to her feet with thick beads of sweat dripping down from the ends of her tightly fit blue shirt.

Warren flinched in regards to the Berserker unapologetically shattering the silence of their meditation in celebration.

"God damn, Ursula...you almost sent me into shock what's wrong with you?" Warren asked while he wiped snowflakes off his pants.

"I got it!" She said to him and the rest of them.

"You got IT.??…As in, the Skill?" Isaac asked while Frosty circled her with his tail wagging and nose sniffing curiously.

"I think so…." She replied while they all rose to their feet to join her.

"It really worked." She repeated as they approached, flashing Claude a smile warm enough to hold off the oncoming winter in SkyHaven.

"Well….don't tease us. Use it." Isaac said.

Ursula snapped out of her shock and shook her head, causing her long auburn colored ponytail to freely swing in the wind.

"Ok, check this out." She said, now holding a serious expression on her freckled face that caused them all to cautiously back up, leaving Claude at the forefront of the onlooking spectators.

Despite already knowing what the skill did, he couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement as he watched— not simply because she got a skill, but because this was proof that their training was effective. She was the first sign of that effectiveness.

There was a span of silence for mere seconds before she closed her eyes and activated, (Combat Meditation).

FWOOSH!

In an instant, luminous blue energy rose around her body like cold fire. It's skyward flow rose her long braid of hair and sent shining beads of sweat rising from her skin like reversed rainfall. The beautiful burst of power and replenished energy appeared in an instant and disappeared just as fast, leaving in its place a regular freckle-faced female Berserker. Looking less tired than before.

The group was silent, watching her in awe for a few moments before abruptly erupting in celebration in their own unique forms.

Ursula jumped up and down and bumped bulbous shoulders with Isaac.

"WAIT! THAT WAS COOL AS HELL!!!!!" Warren shouted before being yanked into Ursula and Isaac's barbaric embrace.

Frosty howled nearby while Maris ducked and dodged flying limbs as she questioned the ins and outs of what just happened in a cold and calculating manner that one couldn't help but to expect from her.

They all cheered and danced for a while longer before being snapped out of it by a scar faced scowling Beast Tamer who was still a bit too anxious to let go and celebrate with them.

He'd be the voice of relative reason and the tenacity they needed to keep going. Such a time was needed now.

Claude cleared his throat to grab their attention and fight off the lingering social anxiety that lined his body when he had to speak to groups.

"Erhm…..I hate to be that guy, but we've still got work to do. If we're gonna kick this HellBreeder's scaly ass, then all of you need this skill….and more. So let's keep training. We'll celebrate after the sun sets."