Training

Caine was gone when Gavin got up. He got dressed and ate breakfast while waiting for Xanthe to come by for training. He found himself revisiting the thoughts that had kept him up most of the night. He knew that the path he chose would be one that he could never return from and wanted to make certain he could live with it. Life before had been easy, even the hardest choices were a walk in the park compared to this. But, then, choosing the right career and college was drastically different from choosing whether to join in a war on the side of the 'bad guys.'

What truly defines a bad guy? In his world criminals had been known to be leaders of revolutions, runners of underground railroads. To the demons the humans are the bad guys.

Xanthe arrived before Gavin could get bogged down again by his contemplations. They returned to where they were the day before. Today Gavin left the backpack of his dead comrades' items at Caine's quarters.

"We will be focusing on magic for the first part of our day. I want to see how quickly you can pick up dark magic."

Xanthe had him stand in front of her, right hand head palm up. Gavin watched as she conjured a small ball of dark energy and placed it in his hand.

"Get a feel for it, notice it's unique signature. Once you understand what is in your hand I want you to reach out and feel for the dark energy around you. Because of how this dimension is it shouldn't be hard to find it."

The energy in his hand felt heavy and oddly cold. It was almost like it tapped into a section of his brain that recognized what it was. He explored it a little longer before closing his eyes and 'reaching' out to feel the energies around him. It was in that moment that he understood what she meant about dark energy being strong here; the heavy feeling of the dark energy was so strong it almost blocked out all the other elements.

While training in Edicia he had undergone similar training to try and tap into energies of earth, water, air, fire and light. Dark energy had only been mentioned as one that no one but demons used. In the end they had pushed for him to use only light energy and he hadn't tried to utilize any of the other elemental energies.

"Now, I want you to conjure your own ball of dark energy and meditate with it. I want to see how strong you can make it."

Gavin nodded and opened his eyes. He sat down and called the dark energy to his right hand, it wasn't much bigger than a golf ball. He closed his eyes and began to meditate on the dark energy in his hand. His desire to succeed was strong. As he sat there his mind wandered again to Caine's words and he wondered, not for the first time, if he could fight someone with the intent to kill.

In his mind he pulled the image of the only person on two worlds that he had any reason at all to hate; Princess Joelle. He remembered her cold expression and how it seemed like she was always looking down on him. The day that he had been summoned he had asked about going home and she had come across as indifferent. 'You will be able to go home once you've defeated the Demon Lord.' His heart had dropped at her words, 'There is no other way to return?' She shook her head like it was out of their hands, 'unfortunately it's the only way.'

Gavin felt a foreign emotion well up within him as he relived the memory. He recalled Caine talking about regularly going to his home world and how he would be able to go. Six months he had been told he couldn't go back, six months he had been trained to kill, only to be told that it was easy to return home. A cold heat gripped his heart at the image of Princess Joelle on her knees, begging for forgiveness and him laughing as he cut her head off with the sword she had given him.

A loud gasp brought him out of his meditative state and he opened his eyes to see Xanthe standing in front of him. When he looked up at her her eyes were wide, eyebrows raised.

"I don't think I've ever seen that happen on the first try."

"What?"

Gavin looked down expecting to see a larger version of the dark energy in his hand but what he saw stole his breath. He was surrounded by the dark energy and the grass beneath him was black. In his surprise he lost the connection and the energy dissipated.

"Can you bring it back?"

The first time he tried nothing happened. He tried to remember what he had been doing at the time and he found himself laughing. He recalled the cold heat that had filled his heart and drew on the dark energy at the same time. In the amount of time it took for him to inhale then exhale the energy surrounding his body reappeared.

"Amazing. I'm going to say that we're done with that part of your training for now."

Gavin sent the dark energy away and stood up, stretching out his legs as he did so. He was amazed at the sight of the scorched earth. He had actually managed to pull up magic strong enough to affect the area around him. Pride swelled up inside him.

"Since that was finished early I will have you work on your stamina." Xanthe smiled as she laid out his exercise routine for the next couple hours. He ran to the forest and back twenty times, did fifty each of situps and pushups and repeated the whole process about a dozen times before he was allowed to stop.

After lunch break Xanthe pulled out two blades from her own pocket dimension and handed them to Gavin. They were short swords that looked like tanto blades from his world.

"I want you to use the dark energy to expand the blade on one of the short swords."

Gavin did as directed, drawing the energy to him and through the blade. He was excited when the blade was extended to the size of a regular sword. Unfortunately, a moment after the energy entered the sword the blade shattered. Xanthe had a curious look on her face as she pulled out another blade to replace the one that had been destroyed.

"Try again, this time use less. This is about precision and control, not force. Use only enough energy to extend the blade, not everything that you can draw in. I only have one more extra blade so try to not destroy this one."

Gavin nodded his head and focused again on drawing in the dark energy. He sent only a trickle of energy into the blade compared to what he had drawn within himself. Slowly he fed more energy into the blade until it had extended into the size he wanted.

"Now, we will practice using the two sword techniques I showed you yesterday."

They moved slowly at first as they tested out his blades and the dark energy that ran through the blade in his right hand. Once Xanthe was certain he could maintain the energy they started sparing for real. Xanthe didn't allow him to stop until he was too exhausted to raise his arm.

"You are doing well with the two blades, much better than the sword."

They sat down for a break and a drink of water to replenish what they've lost while working out.

"It feels better, more comfortable. I appreciate you taking the time to work with me on the different weapons. When I first arrived here they decided that a sword was what I was using. I didn't think to question it."

"I've trained other's enough to know that having the right weapon can mean the difference between life and death. It's important to be firm about such things. You can't allow others to make important decisions for you."

Gavin turned to look at the forest, her words hitting him hard. He had allowed Edicia and Princess Joelle to tell him what to do. Sure, he could use the excuse that he was in shock over the new world. It went deeper than that. He's always allowed others to make choices for him.

Never in the small things like his interest in books and movies, but in the larger things like not fighting back when he was being bullied. Or planning to go to the same college as his sister when he wasn't even sure if he wanted to attend college.

"Are we fighting for real when my training is done?"

Gavin turned to Xanthe who smiled in return.

"Yes. If Lord Caine feels that you are ready then you will formally challenge me."

"What will happen if I win?"

"You will take the position of Second in Command and I will step down to Third. Normally I would have to fight the person in that position, but no one currently holds the title."

"Are you ok with that?" If he shouldn't be allowing others to make his choices, she shouldn't be allowing it.

"Remember, this is how demons live. If you are strong enough to defeat me then I will gladly relinquish my title to you and move to a lower position. I will still be one of Lord Caine's Generals, I just would not be his right hand. There is no shame in losing so long as you put your all into battle."

And that is where he has failed up to this point. He has never put in the effort because he hasn't cared either way. If he asks about learning to drive and his parents say it's not necessary because they can drive him, then he just shrugs his shoulders and returns to his room. He had never had the desire to try.

The cold heat in his heart from before suddenly reappeared and he found himself standing. He was done sitting on the sidelines.

"I'm going to practice with the blades some more."

He picked up the twin blades and began working on his forms. After a while Xanthe joined him and they spared some more. Gavin kept pushing himself every time he felt like he was getting tired. He wasn't going to give in and give up any more. No more giving it the bare minimum, this is his life and his choice.

Gavin knows that, at the moment, Caine holds a portion of his choices. He understands all too well that he's lost that battle. There are still things that are within his control. He may have been summoned to this world for Edicia, but he has the ability to decide what role he plays in the coming war.

He continued to spar and work on his form until the sky began to darken. Like yesterday, Xanthe led him back to Caine's quarters and promised to send food. Today he looked through the books in the main room, seeking out all the ones on magic.

Gavin knew that if he wanted to win the fight with Xanthe he had to have something she didn't know about. With them training together it would be easy to come to a stalemate since they knew each other's moves.

His greatest advantage would be magic. Xanthe knows that magic is his weakness. I guess that's not entirely true anymore. No, he is quite proficient with dark energy, which is one step away from magic proficiency. Once he found the books that he thought would tell him what he needed to know he set them aside and went to wash up.

After cleaning up and changing clothes he came back to the main room and found Caine sitting at the table. The tray of food was on the table and Caine was eating. Their meal was sliced meat, a large chunk of cheese and a loaf of bread. Of course there was a mug of ale once again. What surprised Gavin was the sugared pastry.

"How goes the training?"

"It's going well. I was able to conjure dark energy."

Gavin grabbed a slice of meat and took a bite. The flavor was rather nice, juicy and tangy.

"That's interesting. Can you show me? I'm curious how well you can use it."

Gavin couldn't help but grin as he called up a rather large ball of dark energy to his hand.

"I was able to surround myself with dark energy and even scorched the earth."

Caine found himself returning Gavin's smile, the excitement coming from him was infectious. Xanthe had already given her report of the day. She had been just as excited as Gavin when it came to talking about his affinity with the dark energy. Who knew that a summoned hero would be able to yield dark magic easier than any of the other six elements.

"That's quite a feat. I imagine you'll start learning some spells. I'm excited to see how far you can go with it. I may be giving away some of my secrets, but Xanthe told me about your accomplishment before I returned home."

Caine pointed to the pastry. "They don't have cocoa here for a real cake, so I hope this pastry counts as a celebratory gift."

Gavin found himself at a loss for words. Caine got him the pastry to celebrate his achievement.

"It's perfect, thank you."

He released the energy in his hand and rushed to finish his dinner so that he could eat the pastry. When he did finally pick it up he made certain to break it in half and offer some to Caine.

"Celebrate with me."

"Of course."

The pastry was as close as this world could get to creating something that he could recognize in both appearance and taste. Sitting there with Caine, sharing the pastry and his accomplishment was the first time in a long time that Gavin truly felt happy. There was no hidden worry or anxiety, just this moment.

It felt strange to Gavin that he could feel like this around someone he had only known for such a short time. Add to that the knowledge that Caine was not a 'good guy' it just seemed extra wrong. Yet, for Gavin in this moment it was right.

"Would it be ok if I stayed up? I want to look through your books and learn more about magic."

Gavin felt weird asking permission to stay up. He knew enough about Caine to know that asking first would be necessary. He also figured it was best to ask now while the mood was good and Caine was happy about his training.

"Hmm, I suppose. Don't stay up too late, Xanthe will be upset if you fall asleep on her."

Caine's first reaction had been to say 'no', but he liked that Gavin was starting to show interest in his training and anything that made him stronger benefited Caine. He had been excited to hear about Xanthe's report of today's training. Caine thoroughly enjoyed the knowledge that Edicia's hero has a strong affinity for dark magic.

More than that, though, Caine enjoyed seeing Gavin so happy. He felt that denying Gavin his request would take away some of that happiness and he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

"If you wish to do more studying than one night's worth just let me know. I might be willing to give you a free pass for the remainder of your training."

Caine stood up and moved to stand behind Gavin then leaned forward to whisper in his ear. His arms came around to embrace Gavin. "You will owe me, though."

Caine stepped to the side and turned Gavin to face him as Caine's lips claimed him. He had only had Gavin in his bed for two nights but it had already become something that he expected. It would be interesting going to bed alone tonight, especially when faced with the possibility of doing the same thing the next five nights. Caine reminded himself of the benefits to Gavin becoming stronger as he disengaged and made his way to the bedroom. Caine hadn't realized how lonely he had been all these years.

Gavin couldn't quite explain what he was feeling as he watched Caine walk away. He found himself torn; wanting to stay up to learn more about magic but also wanting to go straight to bed. He had to remind himself that studying magic and formulating a plan would help him win the fight with Xanthe.

Winning the fight meant that he would be at Caine's side and be able to join the war. He would get a chance to see Princess Joelle again. He might get the chance to ask her a few questions, but mostly it seems that he is petty enough to stand beside Caine just to see the look of despair on Princess Joelle's face.

Gavin stayed up most of the night going over the books he had found on magic. He had an idea of what he was looking for, but came up short of actually finding it. Instead of being upset about it he made plans to explore it on his own the next couple nights since he now had permission to stay up.

*******

The next five days were primarily spent training with the two short swords and dark magic. He did more than his fair share of stamina training like the second day and Xanthe had him work on each of the other five elements. It was hard to practice with them due to the high concentration of dark energy around them, but that just made him want to do it more.

In the evenings, after Caine had gone to bed, he looked through more books before finally deciding to create his own magic. This would be his big finishing move, the thing that would definitely take Xanthe down and assure his victory. He refused to give up on his magical creation until it had been perfected.

Once he had the magic down all that was left was waiting for the day to arrive. He was ready to mark his claim on this world and prove himself.