Dawn- An Age Of Darkness

I yawned and woke up. The others were already up apart from me and Dick. The dude was sleeping too peacefully. I almost had the urge to draw on his face but contained myself.

Besides, there wasn't anything to draw with apart from charcoal anyway.

"You're up. Let's go and practice." Lianne came walking over the moment I woke up. Was she waiting for me to come alive all this time?

I didn't know why but I wanted to go back to sleep again.

"You're not even going to give me time to get fresh?"

"No. Cause we don't have time. Our journey would be shortened to just a day and half thanks to these birds." She smiled. "SO I'm going to pound everything I know about bows and canes into you. Starting now!" Her words were like a song: a song of death. She threw a stick aimed for my head the very next second. I barely dodged it and looked at her with disbelief. She had a dozen more. "Let's see how long you can stay there lying."

Oh, boy.

I got up almost immediately and she was on my tail like a missile. Demons looked like innocent children compared to her.

***

Eventually, Lianne began to teach me in earnest. But by now I had quite a few lumps on my body here and there.

"You see the cane isn't a typical weapon."

Tell me about it. 

I rolled my eyes and shrugged my shoulders.

"Pay attention." She slapped my face with a thin branch. It stung. "First, don't do that with a cane." For someone who just slapped me, she sure knew how to contradict herself. 

"You tell me that after you hit me?"

She ignored me without hesitation and continued. "If you should be this close to a person using a cane, don't use it as a primary weapon unless you have to. I've seen your cane up front and it's not designed to be used for close combat. Rather you can use it to fire of spells efficiently. "

"So it's like the ultimate staff from stuff like the FF's." Dick walked towards us. Apparently he woke up.

"FF?" Lianne asked.

"It's a game. Don't worry about it." I didn't feel like explaining every little thing. 

"Anyway, if you do have to use a cane in close combat be sure to aim for the weak points, like the nose or eyes. If you hit someone on the head, you'd probably only anger them." She thought for a moment. "I'm pretty well versed in most weapons so I won't be a good sparring partner at your skill. Why don't you try to hit Mr. Mig instead? He doesn't seem all that proficient at this."

This was the first time I heard Lianne call Dick by his name. And for some reason, Dick squirmed around with utter pride. How much of a narcissist was this dude?

"I'm not too sure about that. He'd master this weapon in seconds."

"Yeah," Dick said, reluctantly. "Not the best idea. I never used canes so maybe you'd be able to land hits on me easily. But the moment you'd touch me with it I'd master it. And then I'd be able to counter."

And you're jealous of me? 

I knew his skills were broken but I didn't realize they were this broken.

I really envied the guy. Here I was, trying my best to survive Lianne's teachings and all he had to do was wiggle something around and master it. I really felt envious if nothing else. 

"Then how about you and I practice? I'd like to see the strength of the man who slew Xerphas, the king of the dragons." Ven was behind me: I didn't even notice. The guy seriously didn't have much of a presence. He seemed interested in fighting though.

I'm not even surprised by these titles anymore.

"Sure, but just so you know, I don't know shit about using this thing." I held the cane in my hand. It was an ordinary cane, at first glance. A minimalistic design, totally black. But the grip and the solidness were impressive. It wasn't too heavy or too light. 

Meanwhile, my partner, Ven stood in front of me with nothing in his hands. He looked like a fighter straight out of a fighting game.

"You fight barehanded?"

"Yes. Weapons are meaningless to me." Though he just said that, I could tell, he wasn't taking this seriously. 

Dick giggled when he saw Ven's stance. But I couldn't laugh at this. Though the guy wasn't serious, I couldn't take this nonchalantly. 

"Okay." I focused. Fighting with a cane was different than fighting with a sword. I felt rather uneasy. And even without learning any styles or anything, I'd have to fight. It was very unsettling. 

"Begin!" Lianne declared.

I stood my ground and watched Ven with utter concentration. He moved fast, very fast even. I could follow him with my eyes but I saw contrails. 

Contrails in broad daylight? This isn't funny you know. 

Needless to say, I saw mirages as he moved. But he didn't come for me. He circled me. And his presence was hidden well too. 

This guy was good.

"What's wrong, dragon slayer? Afraid to come at me?" He taunted.

I didn't know why but I kind of cringed when I heard the term 'dragon slayer.'

"I'm afraid I'm not up for cheap taunts." Besides, wasn't it my job to taunt?

I kept a close eye on him. Under normal circumstances, I stood no chance against him and I knew it from the moment the sparring started. So I channeled a steady supply of mana to my armor and cane. But I kept it low enough to not get noticed outright. It was one of my abilities, so it didn't count as cheating- I consoled myself by thinking that.

In a flash second, he closed in on me. I dodged his jab from the left and swung my cane. He back-stepped faster than I could swing.

"That's not a sword you know." He started to circle me again.

I kept swinging the damn thing like a sword. I knew it was wrong but I couldn't help it. Habits were a dangerous thing.

I controlled my breathing. It was getting out of control. I was sweating even in this cold weather. 

I guess, I still had a lot to learn. 

Wait, didn't Lianne say something about increasing magic efficiency?

I smiled and released the full force of my mana. I was going to cast spells but through my cane. 

Let's hope this works.

"Oh, that's an interesting thing you got going there," Ven said.

He closed in very fast again. He didn't want me to finish my magic. 

I grinned. I led him to that. "Oh, you thought I was just casting a spell? Too bad."

To cast a spell I had to first channel my mana to the cane. That meant the cane was pretty Imbued as it was. Which in turn meant I was set to kick some dragon butt. After all, dragons were weak against the holy element.

Ven clicked his tongue. "Guess you weren't all talk. But-" He partially transformed his hands and formed claws. This guy was good.

His claws and my cane clattered against each other. Sparks flew. He was strong. If I moved a second slower, I'd have been minced, or rather, clawed.

"That's enough. Any more and this will cease to be just a spar." Lianne declared the end of our match.

I stopped my magic and he transformed back.

"I guess you are correct." Ven retracted the claws.

That guy is fast.

Ven walked out of the area. Lianne and Dick stood there without a word. 

"What now?" I asked.

"Come, I'll teach you some tricks." Lianne continued with the practice.

I didn't know anything about canes but I wasn't glad for Lianne's knowledge. I mean, why the hell was she smacking me instead of teaching me styles?

***

After practice and breakfast, the journey started. This time Ven grew two wings on his back and flew with us. He looked like a dragon but also human. A very odd combination. He was also barely two inches taller than me in that form. Normally he was two inches shorter.

If I had to say, he looked kind of cool.

Biteria flew with Lianne and I felt a stabbing pain. Why'd she had to choose Lianne but not me?

I still had a consolation prize. Alisa was with me this time. She was half bunny, so it was fine - probably.

I sniffed and looked back at her. She just stared back with blank eyes. So much for my bunny love. 

"We should be closing in on the border very soon. I didn't think we'd have this tailwind. We'll arrive sooner than I thought. But maybe not today-" Dick yelled in a loud voice. But even so, I couldn't hear half of what he said. I could make out the gaps though.

I was still barely clinging to the crow, but I got a bit better. Better enough to not scream to my death that is. 

If we arrived early, then that would only be better for me. 

After all, I wouldn't have had to train with Lianne anymore. Just the thought of it was exhilarating.

"Then I better pound in the rest by tonight. Feel free to rest as much as you can. You're going to be up all night," Lianne yelled. I believed her. With almost tears in my eyes, I looked forward. Forward to a brighter future. A future without training and all the fighting. Alas! This wasn't earth. 

I wanna go back home….