The evening sun dipped low behind the Reginald Training Grounds, casting long shadows across the field as Luke paced around the three children like a drill instructor.
A faint breeze stirred the dust at his feet.
"Okay, let's get this straight, you weak, useless pebbles," Luke barked, his voice echoing through the empty grounds.
"Until the tournament begins, we're going to have training sessions here every day at six-thirty in the evening after school. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!" they chorused.
"He's not always like this… right?" Ren whispered to Jayden.
"Only when he's training people," Jayden whispered back, barely holding back a sigh.
Before they could say more, a sudden burst of wind slammed into them, knocking the two of them flat on the ground.
"Three! Two!—"
Jayden and Ren shot up before he reached one, not wanting to find out what the punishment for being late was.
"No talking without my permission," Luke snapped.
Nadia winced. It was only six-thirty-five, yet it already felt like they had been suffering for hours.
The three stood in their green training robes, tied together with white cords, breathing in the crisp evening air.
"Okay pebbles, the first lesson is simple," Luke announced. "You're going to race through this pathway as warm-up.
He pointed towards a plain pathway to the forest he had cleared off earlier.
"After that, real training begins. Now go!"
"Seems simple enough," Jayden shrugged—and instantly teleported to the beginning of the track.
He had learned teleportation recently, though it was still limited.
Six teleports was his maximum for now, but with time he hoped to teleport freely without restriction.
A few seconds later, Ren and Nadia arrived beside him.
"No teleporting allowed," Luke thundered.
"Follow the path. Anything else is cheating. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Then go!"
The race began. Jayden surged ahead, Ren following behind, while Nadia focused on pacing herself and preserving stamina.
"Too easy… something's definitely up,"
Jayden thought as he reached the middle of the track.
His suspicion was confirmed the moment he saw his father grin—a wide, unhinged, wicked grin that made Jayden gulp.
Luke raised his hand. "If you get pushed back, you start from the beginning.
Stay strong and reach the finish line, ya maggots."
A violent gust erupted behind him—enough to shake the trees and rip leaves from branches.
Nadia reacted first, forming two ice spears and driving them into the ground to anchor herself.
Ren's legs shifted into sharp claws that dug into the earth.
Jayden pushed forward, leaning into the hurricane-like force.
"I expected no less from my son," Luke shouted over the wind.
"Unfortunately for you, there are no free passes. The Four Winds!"
The air pressure targeting Jayden intensified.
The golden lines extended from his back, stabbing into the ground and holding him steady.
"Now struggle, you pebbles!" Luke roared with laughter.
Five grueling minutes later, the trio collapsed in front of him—hair messy, clothes rumpled, and eyes heavy with exhaustion.
"Aww, you guys made it. What a shame,"
Luke said cheerfully, clapping twice.
"Alright, let's start real training. Get up, you lazy piles of bones! This time we're doing something simple—a sparring match. All three of you against one me. See? Something simple this time. What a lucky bunch you are. "
Jayden sprang to his feet, a revenge-driven grin forming. "Let's do this, guys!"
Ren groaned but stood. "Well… I can't get stronger lying on the ground."
"We're not holding back, right?" Ren asked.
Luke snorted. "You think you can beat me, boy?"
Nadia sighed. "Men. Honestly." She stood, stretching her sore arms. "After this lesson we can go home, right?"
"You should have said, 'If we beat you,'" Luke taunted as he grabbed an iron sword from the rack.
"I don't plan on staying here all night," Nadia muttered.
Water swirled around her as she glanced at Jayden and Ren—a silent signal.
Jayden took the lead. "Xelvicar, come to me!" He lunged—and vanished—reappearing behind Luke with his blade poised at his neck.
Without even looking away from Ren and Nadia, Luke parried effortlessly and blasted Jayden back with a pulse of mana.
Jayden attacked again and again, relentless, but each strike met only air or steel as Luke danced around him.
Finally Jayden swung down in a clean vertical arc—only for Luke to sidestep and counter.
The sword was inches from Jayden's arm when an ice shield shattered between them, saving him.
"I was wondering when you two would join," Luke smirked, turning his sword toward Nadia.
"Wind Walk."
A misty blur whisked across the field—Luke vanished and appeared behind Nadia with a wind-charged strike.
The blade was inches from her neck but Nadia suddenly ducked.
A spiral of water wrapped around her fist, and she drove an uppercut into Luke's stomach.
The water burst, crystallizing mid-air into shards of ice that slammed into him repeatedly.
Luke stumbled back, shocked. "What was that?"
"I controlled the water vapor around your arm and redirected it," Nadia said with a proud smile.
She had secretly practiced techniques to use against swordsmen in preparation for the tournament, long before Jayden awakened—and Luke was the perfect test subject for all her learning.
Not letting off she continued with three mana slashes.
Luke dodged and slipped behind her—only to be pulled back by a tentacle grabbing his arm.
A second later, Ren's gorilla fist crashed into his jaw.
Still pinned, Luke's legs sank into the ground—Jayden had turned the soil to mud with stone magic.
"Nice coordination," Luke admitted. "But that's not enough to beat me."
A surge of mana exploded outward, blasting everyone back.
"Phase two!" Nadia shouted.
Rain began to fall—first a drop, then a steady downpour.
It soaked only the training field, darkening the earth.
"Mana Rain…" Luke muttered, impressed. "Such high mana for a young girl."
He activated Wind Walk again—becoming invisible for a moment—and appeared behind Nadia to take her out.
"Can't believe I'm doing this again?" he laughed.
This time Nadia ducked and launched a water-filled uppercut. Luke barely dodged.
He paused. "How did she figure out where I was?"
Glowing footprints shimmered above the water where he had stepped.
"Mana tracking…? Who is this girl?" he thought in awe.
"Now!" Nadia shouted.
"Eyes of the Gods!"
Thunder rumbled. The sky darkened. A crushing force descended from above.
"The power of the strongest one… presses down on you," a demonic voice boomed through the clouds.
Luke froze. The water around his feet turned to ice, locking him in place. His rain-soaked shoulder froze solid.
He was about to break free when Ren appeared and unleashed a flurry of gorilla-powered punches—but the strikes stopped just before Luke's face.
Luke smiled, emerald light filling his eyes.
"Raging Winds."
A roaring column of air crashed down on him, shattering ice and blasting water aside.
When the winds faded, the three children stood panting, their next attacks raised but their bodies too tired to move.
Luke looked around, pleased at his students.
Nadia—an all-rounder with incredible support and offensive potential.
Ren—deadly in solo combat with overwhelming raw power.
Jayden—a versatile fighter with a dangerous arsenal, though he had to limit his abilities to avoid harming his friends.
Having completed his analysis of their strengths and weaknesses he decided to stop the session.
Luke clapped. "Alright, that's enough for today."
Hearing that, the three collapsed where they stood, soaked, slightly bruised, and utterly exhausted.
"Okay, Starlight, can you fix this?" Luke asked, turning toward the spirit deer that appeared before him.
A spirit that based in recreating destroyed things. He had asked flora for help and she sent it here.
"Who's he talking to?" Ren whispered.
"A spirit," Jayden muttered. "You just can't see her."
They were too tired to be surprised anymore.
"Let me take you home," Jayden said. He placed a hand on each of them and teleported to Ren's house.
"Goodnight, peeps. I'm going to shower.
Thanks for getting me drenched, Nadia," Ren teased.
Nadia sighed. "Goodnight, Ren."
Jayden teleported her to her room. The moment they arrived, Nadia slumped to the floor.
"You okay?" Jayden asked softly.
"Yeah… just tired. Goodnight, Jayden."
"Goodnight."
Jayden vanished.
Silence fell.
Nadia's body trembled. She dropped to her knees, coughing violently. Something wet trickled from her mouth.
She lifted her hand.
Blood.
Cold fear clenched her chest.
"What's… happening to me?"
The blood smeared across her palm glistened beneath the dim room light as another cough wracked her body.