Chapter 11: Dungeon for Training Part 1
Three years have gone by.
The plains outside town are gold with wheat. The wind moves through the farms and the air smells like dirt and sweat.
Luis is twelve now. So is Rio.
Jack stands in the middle of the dirt path with his hands in his pockets. Luis and Rio come at him from both sides, wooden swords flashing fast.
Jack doesn't draw.
He leans left. Rio's blade cuts nothing but air. He steps right. Luis's thrust misses his ribs by an inch. He hops back and both boys slam their swords together right where his knees were a second ago.
They're breathing hard. Their shirts are stuck to their backs.
Jack is thinking while he moves. Three years straight. Every morning. Every evening. Rio learned how to use Maschew in just three months. His subtype is external force. Of course he picked it up fast. It's in his blood.
Jack's eyes flicker. He turns on his subtype. Mind Sight.
In Jack's view the world goes quiet. He can see it. Rio's whole body is lit up. Blue Maschew is spread through his arms, his legs, his chest, all the way into his wooden sword. He is pushing it out with every step to make himself faster.
Luis is different. After the seal, Jack locked everything except his Maschew. No X energy. That makes him weaker than Rio. Slower.
But Jack watches him and frowns to himself. Luis is a sage. Sages aren't supposed to be able to control there energy at all .Their energy just breaks. It overloads and tears them apart from the inside, just like what happened to Luis that day in the garden. That's why most of them die young. Only a few sages in history have ever been able to hold it together and learn control.
Luis did.
Jack can see it. Luis's Maschew is thin, but it's steady. It doesn't spike. It doesn't crack. And after he learned that, he found his skill shard. He can actually use it. Rio has a skill shard too, but he can't control his yet. It flickers out every time he tries.
Jack jumps up onto a low tree branch to get away from their next combo.
Luis stops, hands on his knees, panting. "Uncle! Come down!"
"We are not going to break this tree because of you!"
Rio points his wooden sword up at him and grins. "Yeah! Fight fair for once!"
Jack looks down at them. Luis is wearing the same big baggy t-shirt he's worn for three years. It hides the two small bumps on his back perfectly.
Jack drops down light on his feet. "It's good for today."
"We will train tomorrow."
He looks at both of them, both dripping sweat. "Your shirts are full of sweat. You both smell terrible."
Rio laughs and grabs the bottom of his shirt. "I'm removing it. I'm dying out here."
He looks over at Luis and his grin gets wider. "Come on, my wingy boy. Remove your t-shirt too. Let's see those little chicken wings."
Luis's face goes red. "Ahh, just keep your mouth closed, Rio. Shut up."
Jack starts walking toward the road home. "Keep them on. Both of you."
Jack walks in front. Luis and Rio walk behind him, arguing the whole way back to town.
"You're just scared I'll see you're skinnier than me," Rio says.
"I am not scared of you," Luis shoots back. "You're just annoying."
The town hospital is packed.
It smells like blood and herbs.
Guards are on every cot. Bandages soaked red. Deep bite marks on arms and legs.
Julia is moving between beds fast. Luis's step-mom. Her hands glow a soft green and wounds close under her palms in seconds.
Lily is two beds down trying to do the same thing. Her light is weak. It flickers. She is healing people, but much slower than Julia.
The door bangs open. Jack walks in with Luis and Rio still dusty from the farm.
Rio stops in the doorway. His eyes go wide. "Whoa. What happened here?"
Luis looks around at all the injured men. "Yeah. Tell me. What is this?"
Jack walks straight to Julia. His face is serious. "Did they come again?"
Julia doesn't even look up from the guard she's healing. "Yes. Blood wolves."
One of the injured guards on the cot next to them tries to sit up. His leg is wrapped thick. "They were in the old bathhouse. By the north wall. Big pack of them."
"We tried to kill them," he says, his voice shaking. "We tried. But they were about twenty or thirty. We couldn't. We just couldn't hold them."
He looks down. "Two of us are dead now. We're here because of them."
Lily's voice cracks from the next bed over. "Ma'am! Miss Julia! See here! I can't heal him! It's too deep!"
Julia is there in two steps. She puts her hands over Lily's and the green light gets strong. "I got him. Breathe with me."
While Julia is focused, Rio sneaks up behind Lily. Slowly. Slowly. He reaches out and pokes her right in the back.
Lily screams and spins around and slaps Rio hard across the chest. "Don't do that!"
Luis bursts out laughing. Jack starts laughing too, a deep laugh that echoes in the room.
Rio holds his chest, pretending to be hurt. "Ow! What was that for? I was just saying hi!"
Julia glares at them over her shoulder. "Out. All three of you. Or help."
Town chief's house. Evening.
Luis, Rio, and Jack sit at the big table. Across from them is Rustel, the town chief and Rio's dad. Next to him is the town officer and his assistant.
The assistant unrolls a map and points. "There are many blood wolves coming from only one place. Every track leads back there."
The officer nods. "From our nearest dungeon. The sealed mine."
Rustel rubs his forehead. "It's the biggest problem we have right now."
Rio leans forward fast. "Dad, then we should put it on the quest board at the Adventurer's Guild. Let a real team go in and clear it out."
Rustel shakes his head. "No, Rio. We can't."
"Why not?" Luis asks.
Jack answers for him. "Because that dungeon is government control. Only the government can decide what to do with it."
"Why would the government care about dungeons" Luis asks.
Jack sighs. "Because in that dungeon there are many good minerals and ore. Crystals too. That's why the government will never allow it. They make too much money from it."
The officer looks at Jack. "There is one request from the government. For you."
Rustel looks up. "They want you to clear whatever the problem is in the dungeon. Quietly."
Rio and Luis both turn and look at Jack.
Jack is quiet for a second. Then he says, "Mmm. Yeah. I'm ready."
"If you give me permission to take three kids with me."
The officer frowns. "It's our own need, so you can do it. But don't take any items from inside. Just find the source."
Rio looks at his dad, his eyes practically glowing. Rustel looks back at his son and for a second he sees someone else. He sees his older son Rayan in Rio's face.
Rustel smiles a little. "Yeah. I don't have any problem with it."
Luis and Rio both jump up out of their chairs. "Yes!"
They run for the door. "We're going to tell Lily!"
They bolt outside.
Inside, the assistant clears his throat. "There is one more thing I have to say."
The officer looks at Jack and his voice gets lower. "Artesik government called you back."
"Your holidays are over, Jack. They want you back for the war."
"This will be our last time with the kids for a while. So enjoy it."
Jack doesn't say anything. He just looks down at his own hands sitting on the table.
He slowly closes them into fists.
---
Rio and Luis are running full speed toward Lily's house.
They turn the corner onto her street and stop dead.
Three big men are standing in front of her house. One of them is shouting at Lily's mother.
"We want our money!" the man yells.
Lily's mother is shaking, holding her hands together. "I can't give it to you! I don't have that much money! Please!"
Lily is standing right behind her mother in the doorway, scared.
The man steps forward and slaps Lily's mother hard across the face. "If you can't pay, then give us your daughter instead! She's grown up too fast. She's better than the other girls. We are ready to take her now!"
The other two men laugh.
Rio's face goes red with anger. Luis clenches his fists so hard his knuckles turn white.
They both start running straight toward the men, shouting.
But just as they get close, someone tall steps out from the alley in front of them and blocks their path.
---
To be continued...