7) True Beginning

A roar of thunder made Kairo bolt upright. There was a window in his room facing the rear of the house, where a large sanded field with training dummies sat before the cliff.

The sun peeking over the horizon illuminated a figure wearing a hood. He stood in the middle of the sandpit, a charred dummy to the left of him.

"Time for training. You guys have ten minutes to be down."

Burch's voice boomed from the field. If the thunder hadn't woken them, that definitely would have.

Kairo jumped out of bed, quickly pulling on his worn pants and shirt. Since they were going to be on sand, he decided that his hole ridden shoes would only get in the way. He didn't have anything else to take, so the only thing left was heading to the field.

The soft carpet padded his feet as he found his way back to the dining room; and from there the front lawn. Even though he had needed some time to remember the directions, Kairo was the first person to the sandpit.

Nothing was said between Burch and Kario, they simply waited the remaining five minutes. Zoe and Claire were the next to arrive, chatting up a storm.

Adon and Brion were the last to roll in with a minute left. Adon's hair was a mess and his shirt on backwards, Brion the complete opposite. He might have over dressed.

"Uh Burch, where is breakfast?" Adon asked sleepily.

Burch's hood moved in his direction, a cutting gaze felt by all of them despite the shadows hiding his face.

"No breakfast until we finish morning training. Start running. Follow the edge of the sand pit, no cutting the corners."

Adon, Brion, and the girls waited for a punchline to the bad joke, but there was none. Kairo had already begun jogging, the others soon following.

The field was three hundred by six hundred feet. The sand pulling at their feet made the trek back to Burch much longer than any of them thought it would.

As the group continued to run and start their second lap, a red faced Brion sputtered out between labored breaths; "How many...times...are we...going?"

"Run until I say otherwise."

They were quickly learning to take his words at face value, despite the fact none of them wanted to.

They ran for what felt like forever, and the sun had fully risen above the horizon before Burch told them to stop.

No one was exempt from a waterfall of sweat, also being left heaving for gasps of air. There was a bucket of water they were briefly allowed to drink from, before starting a series of stretches and calisthenic exercises led by Burch.

After that, they were finally allowed to eat. A breakfast spread just as exorbitant as the dinner last night was devoured quickly before they moved on to magic training in the sand pit.

This consisted of Burch describing the feeling of magic and how to form it, then leaving them to figure it out for themselves. At first, none of them were able to conjure anything. Not even a puff of smoke.

However, by the end of the period both Zoe and Claire were holding balls of their strongest essence element. Adon and Brion were able to start forming a shape from their elements before it would collapse.

Kairo, on the other hand, was only to heat up his hands a bit. Adon laughed at this before Burch reprimanded him, pointing out the he wasn't doing much better.

Afterwards Burch ran them through different martial art combos. They were all a mixture of punches, kicks, slips, dips, elbows and knees. Burch emphasized a raised guard, unafraid to slap and hit them where there were open.

They did this for a couple hours before eating a small amount and moving on to the last exercise, weapons training.

They were paired up to spar, the extra person told to work solo. Every thirty minutes they switched, and eventually Kairo and Adon were paired together.

Adon chose the spear again, flicking it from one hand to the other. Kairo held the same short sword from yesterday, spinning it in circles and loosening his wrist.

"Ready?"

Burch lounged on a couch he had made from soft earth. To be more precise, he formed it from the ground using magic.

A grin crossed Adons face as he took a stance.

"Hope you're ready for even more punishment than yesterday."

"The worst punishment for me is looking at your ugly mug."

Adon's face flushed at the insult. He lunged without waiting for Burch to say go, the tip of his wooden spear aimed for Kairo's throat.

The attack was handily deflected with the flat of the short sword. Kairo went on the attack.

Adon was barely able to raise the shaft of his weapon to block the overhand strike. The spear was nearly knocked from his hands.

Knowing the disadvantage of close quarter combat, Adon started retreating backwards. Each step of his was matched by Kairo.

Strikes came at Adon from all angles, all of which he narrowly blocked or parried.

There were a couple openings for him to stab at Kairo, but each attack he made left him open to being hit with the short sword.

Bruises and red marks gradually accumulated on Adon's body. A hard strike to his thigh was the last straw.

"You annoying brat!!!"

Adon bellowed and swung his spear in a wide arc as hard as he could.

The spear whistled over Kairo's head as he ducked and spun. He ending in a crouch facing away from Adon, and threw a donkey kick at his chest. The unexpected and powerful blow sent Adon flying to his back.

Sputtering for breath, Adon quickly got to his feet.

"That's-that's not fair! This is weapons training, you cant use kicks!"

"Wrong!"

Adon spun towards Burch, who was still lounging, with an incredulous look on his face.

"What do you mean?! You didn't tell us we could do that! So it's obviously cheating!!!"

Burch sighed and rolled his eyes, causing Adon to fume even further.

"You're limiting yourself with that thinking. In a fight to the death, anything goes. Even the grass beneath your feet could be a weapon. Besides, what are a pugilist or monks weapons? Their fists. Think before you speak."

Adon's silence spoke more than words, a look of shame plastered to his face. Kairo nodded and got into his stance again.

"Ready to continue?"

Adon looked up, the grip on his spear tightening.

"Fuck you, I'll train with Brion."

Adon turned away from Kairo in a huff and stomped off towards Brion, who had been the one training solo.

With a shrug, Kairo continued to practice by himself. Burch let out a deeper sigh and finally decided to get up.

"Well he's a sore loser."

Kairo glanced at Burch before continuing his movements.

"If he can't...face me...I'd hate to see...what a goblin...would do to him."

At this Burch chuckled.

"Everyone needs something to push them past their limits. He can't accept that, can't accept loss, so someday he may lose more than just a sparring match."

Neither of them said anything for a bit. The sound of Kairo's wooden sword swinging through the air filled the silence.

"Everyone here seems to have a bit of previous training, but you're even better than them. What's the story surrounding that?"

"Hmm...where...do I...even start..."

Kairo stilled his movements, sweat glistening on his brow.

"My-uh-father taught me a bit. He was a great warrior...but had his own share of problems."

"A great warrior you say? Well, maybe I've heard of him. Whats his name?"

Kairo was quiet. His hands clenched and loosened repeatedly, the muscles in his jaw twitching.

"I'd rather not speak of him. He had his own share of problems."

Burch's eyebrow raised at Kairo's response.

"Hmm, okay kid. Guess we'll leave it at that."

Burch turned away, glanced at the setting sun, and snapped his fingers.

"That's a wrap! Put your weapons back on the racks and head to the dinner hall!"

Burch's amplified voice bellowed across the field.

As everyone scrambled to follow orders, Kairo's jaw clenched as he glanced down at something he had never wanted to see again. A screen that neither Burch or Adon had noticed or seen.

{Congratulations! Quest: Defeat Envious Co-Worker Complete!}

{Rewards: 150 exp, +1 speed, +1 strength}