In Eimira's private training room, I sat on the ground. Eimira sitting opposite me, and the gauntlets in between us.
"Alright put it on." Eimira said.
"Are you sure your father would be ok with this?" I hesitated. "I mean this was a gift from his late friend."
Eimira rolled her eyes. "Why are you being such a princess? My mom already said you could have it."
She opened the gauntlet's case and held one of my arms. She brought out a gauntlet.
She smiled. "At least, give it a try, see if it fits you. And if you can't take this, we'd have yours custom made."
I sighed.
"You sure do have a way of making me agree to things. Just too cute." I muttered.
She giggled. "Exactly why I said you shouldn't worry about my Dad."
I held up the gauntlet at eye level, and examined it. Admiring the details to it and the craftsmanship it took to make this.
It took a while but I finally got both of them on. I stood on my feet, and clenched my first. The gauntlets rasped as the steel plates ground together.
"Hot. Those forearms." Eimira smirked. "If Chichi was here I'd have had her make some practice dummies for you to punch but..."
She drew her blade.
"We can test it with a duel."
She smirked.
Then in an instant.
Boom.
She lunged towards me with no sign of holding back.
I took my fighting stance and blocked her.
Sparks flew from the contact between the two metals, and a little Shockwave spread across the room.
She grinned. "You said you lost your memory, but it seems your body remembers to defend itself."
She followed up with another attack.
I blocked with ease.
What she said must have been correct.
I lost my memory, so where did I learn how to fight?
I never really thought about it.
Steel rang out as Eimira's blade clashed against my gauntlets.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Each of her strikes came sharp and precise, her sword flowing from angle to angle, trying to get in-between gaps, forcing reactions. But I didn't retreat like I did earlier. Instead, I matched her pace.
Every slash met my gauntlets. Every feint was answered by a turn of my wrist. A raised forearm. A clenched block.
Eimira's eyes narrowed.
"He's keeping up." She whispered.
She pressed harder. Faster footworks. Tighter arcs. Her blade hissed as Aqualis and Aeris flowed into her sword. Water trailing each swing like liquid ribbons, and instantly freezing them making them sharp, as well as accelerating her strikes mid swing.
I felt the pressure. The weight. The speed. The intent.
And yet... My body still moved.
"Because I can't lose to someone I promised to protect. That wouldn't happen the second time." I thought.
That fired me up, and instinctively, I slipped under a diagonal back swing cut.
My gauntlet scraped along the flat of her blade.
That exchange left a little room for Eimira to burst forward, but I blocked it once more. This time the impact sent both of us staggering backwards.
Eimira breathed heavily.
"The movement, the timing... Who's this guy..."
She lowered her sword. And I wondered if she had given up.
She grinned.
"Feel the rage of the tempest. Vael'Nyrriss"
"Tempest Wraith"
Aqualis surged. Her right eye glowed blue while the other remained closed.
She had entered a Blessing Surge.
Water spiraled around her sword, dense and violent. Compressing into a rotating sheath.
The pressure doubled. The air trembled as Aeris fed the spiral, driving it faster.
Her presence changed.
This was half the power of a Dual Blessing Captain.
She vanished, reappearing behind me and tried to strike me down.
I turned, barely able to raise my guard before her sword tore through my defense. The force cracked past my gauntlets, slipping inside.
The blade was heading towards my chest.
"Fuck..."
Then—
A memory struck.
Not a thought.
Not a vision.
A feeling.
My veins heated up. The weight in my fists doubled.
This rhythm— was something my body recognised before my mind did.
The gauntlets answered, as if knowing what would come next.
The plates flared up.
Energy compressed.
Released.
I drove my fist forward.
The impact thundered.
A burst of compressed force detonated from the gauntlet, slamming into Eimira's stomach and knocking her out of the Blessing Surge.
Water exploded outward. Wind shattered against the walls.
Eimira flew back.
She crashed through the doors, splintering wood, before hitting a stone wall in the corridor, outside the training room, hard enough to crack it.
Silence.
Then—
"Holy shit. I-Isn't that Mira?"
Three heads peeked through the ruined doorway.
Ryona. Tabbi. Chichi.
Feona leaned in last, eyes wide and visibly shocked that I was the one who sent Eimira flying.
"What the fuck?" she said slowly. "That's definitely not normal."
I stared at my trembling gauntlets.
My heart raced.
I came back to my senses shortly after realising I just punched the consciousness out of my lover.
"Shit."
I ran over to her to check if she was alright.
Tapped her face softly. "Hey, hey, Mira, you good?"
She coughed. "You better do a good job protecting me from now on."
She groaned in pain.
I sighed, relieved she was fine.
"I'm sorry..." I smiled, then kissed her forehead.
----
Eimira was moved to her room shortly after, for healing. Her family had a healer class writer, who was the family's main healer. This healer got Eimira walking within minutes.
After healing he left the room, leaving me, Eimira and her friends. Her mom showed up soon after.
Ryona laughed. "You lost a duel to Zandren?"
Feona smacked her.
"You're gonna hurt Eimira's feelings." She said.
"Did you see how far and hard he sent her? You shouldn't be laughing." Chichi said.
Ryona scoffed. "Oh please, she probably went soft on him and paid for it."
"I could sense Eimira's Aqualis Blessing Surge from outside the house, so I don't think she went easy on him." Tabbi added.
"Blessing Surge? How?"
Ryona's laugh died down, as she turned to Eimira for answers.
Eimira turned away. "I-I don't know."
"It's the gauntlet." Yor chipped in. "Zandren got used to it so fast that the gauntlet roared back to life after decades of slumber."
She stepped forward.
"Though that might not happen again, unless he masters it." She said.
"I refuse to believe this." Ryona protested. "It's not possible... I mean not fucking possible for the second strongest captain in all of Terraka to lose to some strayer she found in the woods."
Eimira sat up.
"Enough!" She snapped.
The room went silent.
"What's it to you either way? Why do you care so much that I lost.". She added.
"Hnng." Eimira groaned.
"Hey, hey, lay back down, your body still needs rest." I whispered, gently laying her back.
Eimira continued. "He might not look like it, but I know he's strong."
She paused.
"Strong enough to hold back that powerful attack, giving me enough time to shift my defense to that area."
Feona, who had been quiet most of the time, suddenly spoke. "Zandren, come to the training room."
"What, why?" I blinked.
"I want to see if you are strong enough to protect her. You passed her test, now you should pass ours."
She walked out of the room, the rest following her.
"What?"
"These girls love Mira too much don't they, haha." Yor laughed. "You don't need to win, just last as long as you can."
"I can't believe this..." I lowered my head.
Eimira held my hand. " You facing them now is you protecting our relationship, which is also you protecting me. So give it your best shot."
She smiled. "Though I would have stopped them if I wasn't in so much pain."
I laughed, softly. "Haha, sorry."
She sent me off with a smile.
"I'm coming."
----
I arrived at the door that led to the training room.
I walked in, since the door got ruined earlier.
My body reacted immediately after walking in, dodging an arrow that nicked me a bit on my left cheek.
"You took too long, Strayer." Feona muttered, with another arrow drawn.
"Why are you guys testing me this way?" I asked.
"Eimira, that girl. Each and every one of us in this room are only alive thanks to her. And we vowed our loyalty and life to protect her..."
Ryona stepped forward, her twin blades in hand.
"...and we won't just let you get to the point that she puts her safety in your hand, just because she loves you." Feona added.
Chichi made a loud noise behind them, as a result of her dropping her hammer.
She chuckled nervously. "Sorry Zandren, I kinda feel the same way too."
The three of them stood in front, armed and ready to face me. Only Tabbi watched, she didn't see it necessary to test me again.
"Take your stance." Feona said, her voice cold.
One I had never heard until now.
My heart pounded fast.
Ryona charged. Coming at me at full force.
Chichi leaped into the air. Her landing spot? Me.
Feona channelled Aeris blessing into the arrow, and released it.
"Fuck—" I got ready to defend myself, as each attack got close.
Then
A thick wall rose from the ground, blocking everything. Then a voice.
"You guys are really going three on one on a guy without a blessing?"
Xilohe.
She brought the wall down. "Think about it. Someone without blessing won a duel with a captain and won. That should be enough."
"You won't understand, she's not even your real sister." Ryona blurted.
The entire room fell silent.
"What did you just say?"
Xilohe entered a Blessing Surge. Her left eye glowed a bright gold.
She bound Ryona's limbs with Terra.
Ryona struggled, trying to break free, but she was powerless against Xilohe.
Xilohe stood over Ryona.
"Just because I'm not a captain doesn't mean I'm weak. Know your place, Ryonar'thra."
Ryona flinched.
Xilohe calmed down.
"Everyone out of here now, I don't want to see any of y'all till tomorrow. Got that?" She ordered.
"Y-yes ma'am."
They answered, and walked out of the training room.
Xilo turned to me.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
I collapsed on my knees. "I'm fine, Thank you."
"Though."
I lowered my head.
"You didn't have to do that."
She walked up to me. Then a light smack on my neck.
She smiled. "And you don't need to prove anything to them. You've proven your love for Mira multiple times."
She leaned in. "Wanna learn a lil secret?"
"Hmm." I nodded.
Xilo leaned closer to my ear.
"Eimira was happy that you were able to beat her. She loves strong men. Hehe." She whispered.
She was about to leave the room when she suddenly turned back.
"I'm not sure you can make it back to your dorm. How about you stay the night?" She laughed. "Not like you have a choice."
She stepped out.
Moments later, I packed up the gauntlets and headed to the living area to take a seat.
I sat down, arms crossed and staring at the ceiling, worried that all the altercations would cause my relationship with the girls to turn sour.
Tabbi walked in as I sat, lost in my head. Taking a seat beside me, and reading the book she had in her hand. I glanced slightly at her to check what book she was reading.
"It's about the Void of Whispers." She said, her eyes still on the page.
I blinked. "Oh, uhm, ok?"
She glanced at me briefly.
"If you're worried about us, you don't need to be. You already passed their test by not backing down." She said.
"Oh."
She continued reading, flipping through the pages. I stared at the book a bit longer, then at her
"Do you know a lot about the Dark forest?" I asked.
She groaned dryly. "There's nothing like knowing a lot about the Dark Forest. And there are no books on its history or origin either. I only know of the paths we take or the voids we've already been to."
"So, you guys finding me was by coincidence?"
"Yeah, it was strange. What shocked us more was the fact that you were still intact when we got there." She answered
My brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Well... Uh... Let's say that most times we see people in pieces."
She closed the book.
"Some veils have intelligence and they know we take the Soul tree to be a resting point. So they ambush."
"Oh my..." I said softly. "I'd like to visit the soul tree again. Maybe, I can recall a memory."
"As much as you'd like to, you can't." She replied flatly
"And why is that?"
"It's simple." She pointed to my heart. "You don't have a blessing."
I frowned. "What does having a blessing have to do with going to the dark forest?"
She sighed. "The Dark Forest is a forest of Voids. At the core of each Void, is a Void Ruler. Every veil or monster in the dark forest aspires to be a void ruler and they can only do that by spreading corruption. Which is why they constantly attack every nation. In hopes of laying their chaos seeds and becoming a void ruler.
She took a breath after.
She stood up.
"The blessings are a gift from the Primordial Dragons, with it came some sort of protection against corruption like that. Well depending on how strong the individual is. It doesn't also mean we are immune, we just get affected slower."
I pondered on what Tabbi just revealed about the Dark Forest.
"So without a blessing I can't go back?" I thought, staring at my hands.
"Even if Eimira tried to get you into the vanguard. She'd receive queries from the board." Tabbi added.
She started leaving.
She chuckled. "Gotta get out of here before you ask me another question."
I remained silent.
"Stay with Eimira for the night. I know she won't mention it but she wants you with her." She said with a smile, before leaving the room.
"Do I really have no blessing?" I whispered.
I stretched out my hand in hope of a miracle happening.
I stood still, hand stretched.
But nothing came.
I sighed. "Haha, What'd I expect? "
Xilohe walked in. "Oh, Zandren, you are still up?"
"Yeah, I was just about to leave." I said, making my way to the door.
Xilohe yawned. "Just came here to grab a cup of water." She fanned herself with her hand. "It's a bit hot in here, don't you think?"
"Hmm. Not really." I replied.
She walked past me. "Oh, maybe I'm just imagining it then. Go get some sleep, you'd most likely spar tomorrow, since you already have your weapon."
"Hmm, ok then. Goodnight Xilo"
She chuckled. "Goodnight brother-in-law"
I smiled. "I'm too tired to react now."
"Haha, Go get some sleep, we leave early tomorrow."
I waved her goodnight and left the room, and made my way to Eimira's. It took me a while to get there because of how big her house is.
I knocked then entered. It seemed like Eimira was asleep already. I walked to the side she slept on, then crouched beside her, looking at her.
I placed my hand on her head and gently stroked her hair. "I'm sorry for hurting you."
"You protected yourself, and you also protected me. Don't think I didn't notice how you held back last second." She replied.
I smiled. "Oh, you're still awake?"
She grabbed my hand and gently placed it on her face. "I've been waiting for you."
She shifted a bit and patted for me to join her on the bed.
I took off my outerwear and joined her. She shared her blanket with me and clung to me, placing her head on my chest like she always does.
"You're extra warm tonight. I like it." She whispered.
"You don't need to wear this, you know." She dug her hand into my inner wear, untying the rope that held them together.
I chuckled. "Shouldn't you be resting?"
"I am." She replied, kissing my neck. "I'm recharging."
She kissed my neck again and again, unhurried at first, then deeper, as if testing how far she could go. Her lips traced upwards, brushing my jaw. She turned my face to hers and planted her lips on mine.
She straddled me, breathing hard. Her fingers moved across my chest with purpose, slipping beneath my inner wear and tugging it away. She kissed me again, harder this time, like she wanted my full attention and nothing else.
I pulled her closer and kissed her back. She responded instantly, a soft sound leaving her as her body pressed into mine. I sat up, bringing her with me, then eased us back onto the bed, repositioning until I was on top.
We paused. Both of us, breathing too fast. She looked at me, then turned her face slightly away, her cheeks flushed, her lips parted like she was deciding something.
I didn't think.
My hands slid over her, stopping at the base of her clothes. I intended on closing the distance between us. Her breath hitched as I began to pull off her clothes.
Then a sharp but light knock broke the moment.
My heart jumped. I pulled away at once. We were both breathing too fast.
Eimira went to the door while I hurriedly fixed my clothes.
Aurivelle clung to Eimira as soon as the door opened.
"E-Eimira... I had a nightmare. Can I sleep with you tonight?"
"Ohh." I exclaimed, my heart still pounding.
Eimira laughed under her breath and stepped aside to let Aurivelle in.
I steadied myself.
I offered them the bed.
Aurivelle shook her head.
"It would be better if we were all there." She muttered.
"If you weren't here, she'd have gone to look for Xilo or mom instead, haha." Eimira added.
I ended up agreeing.
Eimira laced her fingers with mine.
"Goodnight, Zandren." She whispered.
We slept holding hands, with Aurivelle in our middle.