**Oriana**
Oriana drifted through the darkness for what felt like millennia.
She was angry about what happened, but as time was wasted away in the void, all she could feel was loss and emptiness. She didn't know how long she had been bound, but it took away her being. She looked inside of herself and checked her cores.
'The void is slowly taking my power.'
She thought as she watched her second core run dry like an hourglass.
She had just broken through to her ninth core when imprisoned in this hell. She should have never let them take her, but she was ready to die. She had killed billions, and the weight of it all was heavy.
She was a mortal being, she could only handle so much after all. She expected a quick judgment and a swift execution, but neither came.
She was bound to her blades and sent to an outer world, where she had no chance of returning to her physical form.
'How dare they send me to a dry world. I did what I had to, but they had no right to damn me to an eternity of loneliness and emptiness.'
She thought to herself.
'I have a purpose now; I'm going to get out of here. I will hunt down the king and end him and his God.'
She knew it was pointless to think about revenge, but it kept her sane. Her thoughts were the only company she had, and she would hang on to them as though they were her lifeline.
A sudden shock filled her consciousness, and she felt something she had never thought she would feel again.
Hope.
Her entire being flared, and she felt alive. Something had changed, and the void that had suffocated her for so long, had pulled away.
Her eyes shot open, burning with malice.
'Maybe revenge is possible after all.'
**Tyson**
'What was that?' he thought as he tried to gather himself.
"Are you okay?" the shopkeeper asked as he picked up the sword.
"Yeah, I, I don't know. I felt weak for a second. I think I'm okay, though." Tyson said as he stood up straight.
"Let me see the sword again." The shopkeeper handed him the sword.
This time nothing happened, but the sword felt perfect in his grip. The balance and weight felt natural, and he could swing it with grace.
"This is perfect. I will take this one." Tyson said as he placed the sword on the counter.
After Tyson purchased the sword, he made his way to Malric, who was studying a rapier and testing it out. He studied Malric, and the blue eyes he had seen earlier were now a brown color. Malric was a tall man, around 6 feet, toned, with dark black hair and fair skin. His features were soft and rounded, but his eyes carried a sharp look. He gave off a demanding presence, and it made sense now that Tyson knew who he really was.
"Ask the question," Malric said without looking up from the rapier.
"Which family?" Tyson asked without hesitation.
"Ethron, the third born son." Malric said, still messing around with several swords.
"Ethron?! You're the third son of the king of the Akhmar kingdom!?" this caught Malric's attention.
He glared at Tyson.
"Will you shut up? I'm not trying to give myself away, and here you are shouting it to the world."
Tyson looked at the shopkeeper.
"Oh, come on, Blaze is the only one here, and he won't say anything," Tyson argued.
Malric looked at the shopkeeper and back at Tyson.
"It only takes one to start a wildfire, and I prefer you to be the only one that knows so I can keep you in check."
Malric finally decided and went with a fortified gold steel rapier with an intricate handle made of polished obsidian.
They left the shop and decided to meet up in the morning to start their training schedule and prepare for the next few months of relentless training.
The next day Tyson met with Evans in the military district.
The district was small, with a barracks, a headquarters building for the commander, and a massive training field for soldiers and guards.
They entered through the small gate, and the cobblestone split into three directions, straight, left, and right. The training fields were to the left, but they had to meet with the command-quarters training officer who was straight ahead.
As they walked toward the headquarters, they ran into the training officer while making their way out of the building.
"Malric, Tyson, I assume?" the officer asked.
"that's us," Tyson said.
"Great, training is about to start so we don't have much time. You will train every day from sunrise until midday. You will no longer patrol the streets, as you have been assigned to train for the upcoming tournament." The officer said.
"Two of our users have returned from the frontlines to conduct this training for the chosen guards. They are at the training field now, so if you follow me, I will take you there."
The three men made it to the field within minutes and were met by fifteen guards, and two elite soldiers that Tyson assumed were the instructors.
The training yard was a massive open field of dirt and grass surrounded by a short wooden fence and a small hut with a sign that read 'training gear.' The shed was on the opposite side of the gate to get in, and the wooden fence looked worn like it had been there for years without any touch-ups.
"Listen up!" the first instructor yelled. He wore a black leather chest plate and legs with two wrist bands made of iron, and his necklace had an opal in the center of mithril plating.
"I am Henderson, and I will be turning you into a potential user!" he looked each guard in the eye as he spoke. "You all look unworthy, weak, pathetic, but after these next three months of daily training, you will be new men and women!"
Tyson looked at Malric.
"so, I guess looking down on people is a common trait for users, huh?"
Without missing a beat, Malric slapped Tyson on the back of the head.
"I guess slow reflects a common trait for non-users, huh?"
The instructor kept speaking.
"This man next to me is Elrod. We will be splitting the group in half, except for Malric, who will be put with his partner." Henderson pointed to Elrod and let him take over.
"As he said, I am Elrod. I don't have much to say other than I expect results, and I expect them quickly. There is no room for failure, I know only one will come out on top, but we will all be better in the end. That is all I have to say."
His accent was heavy, and his tan skin was covered in scars; he had long black hair tied up in a ponytail and a sharp jawline that sculpted his clean, shaved face.
Henderson stepped up to the front once again.
"We will start today with a demonstration of our user power. My necklace is engraved with the runes of ice. The magic I use comes in the form of ice and is handed down to me by my father. We are a family of ice warriors, and today I will show how it works," He scanned the 17 guards and locked eyes with Tyson.
"that's an odd choice of a weapon. What is your name?" he said as he pointed at Tyson.
Tyson looked around, a bit confused, and looked back to the instructor.
"My name is Tyson, sir?"
"Sir? Call me an instructor! For everyone else as well, call me instructor. I am your trainer, and I am here to better you, not be your supervisor or your boss; we are also not friends, so do not call me by my name." he said as he looked every guard over. "Is that understood?"
"YES, Instructor!" the seventeen guards yelled.
"Good," Henderson said as he focused back on Tyson.
"I want you to be my first test dummy."
Tyson looked around and stepped out of line to walk up beside the instructor.
"Draw your weapon, Tyson." The instructor said.
Tyson drew his weapon, and he felt the shock from earlier run through him, but less intense. It was like a cold breeze blowing against your neck. He felt more in control of himself than he had earlier.
He looked up and readied himself for a fight.
**Henderson**
Henderson pulled in the magic around him through his ice medallion.
He felt his core fill with cold, piercing power, and his eyes turned a deep blue with white vapor coming from his eyes. He stared Tyson down; the boy looked calm and collected.
He had expected him to be terrified, but he seemed unmoved by his sudden change in appearance.
He pulled the icy power from his core, using up a tiny amount to form a blade of ice. He enjoyed the convenience of not having to carry a sword when he could summon his ice fang.
"On three, we start."
1..
2..
3..
**Tyson**
When Henderson counted to three, Tyson was ready; he leaped at Henderson with his sword in front of him. Henderson easily dodged the quick attack, but Tyson was able to change the direction of his sword at the last second and forced Henderson to block.
He stayed on the attack and started swinging his sword in a fluent motion as Henderson went on the defensive. He dodged every attack Tyson sent his way, and when Henderson found an opening, he raised his left hand and shot liquid ice at Tyson's feet, trapping him in place.
"That was a good, aggressive start, but you kept yourself open, and users will take advantage of that every time." Henderson said as he looked at the 16 guards.
"My specialty is ice, and I can do many things with ice. You have seen two of my powers, liquid ice, and the ice fang." He raised his ice sword to emphasize his words.
"Now, there are many ways to defend against a user, but it is harder if you are not a user yourself." He switched his attention to Tyson and froze for a second.
Tyson could feel the power around him, and he did what felt like instinct; he pulled on that power. He felt something stopping him, but he pulled harder until he felt the worst pain he had ever experienced.
He wanted to scream, but his body wouldn't listen; all he could do was stand there and stare off into the void.
His world turned black, and he could see a floating ball within himself, and red liquid filled the ball to the top. He felt an overwhelming power fill him, and he finally left the void to stare at Henderson. He saw the shock on the man's face, and Tyson suddenly felt confused and weak. He felt the power around him vanish, and he fell to the ground. His feet broke through the ice as he fell to his hands and knees.
"what… what is happening?" Tyson said as he stared at the ground.
Henderson looked toward the guards.
"All right, lessons are over for now; come back in two hours, make sure you eat and rest; it will be a long day."
He stared back at Tyson.
"We need to talk; you aren't going anywhere."
Henderson helped Tyson to his feet.
"Where is your necklace? I saw you pull in power, and your eyes turned red with black smoke rising from them. I have never seen that type of power before."
Tyson looked at him, confused.
"I'm not a user. I don't know what you saw, but I am not a user. I felt power around me, and I pulled at it, and next thing I know, there is intense pain, and my world went black, and all I could see was a ball filling with red liquid."
Henderson studied Tyson for a moment.
"You forced open your core? That shouldn't be possible without a necklace and a gemstone. How did you do it?" he asked as Tyson stared at his sword.
"I have no idea, I was hoping you could tell me. How am I a user? This doesn't make sense... and why now? This would have been nice to know when those things had shown up," Tyson said.
"I have no idea. I'll have to talk to the scholars and see what I can find out. In the meantime, take the rest of the day off. Opening your core can be draining, and I don't want you to damage your potential by overdoing it on the first day. We will figure out how you were able to pull in essence tomorrow." Henderson said.
"Take Malric with you. You don't need to be alone right now. It can also have a massive mental effect if you aren't careful."
Tyson walked toward the field exit where Malric was waiting, leaning up against the wall.
"He wants me to rest…" Tyson muttered, his grip loose around the hilt of his sword.
Malric raised a brow and pushed off the wall.
"Rest? you barely did anything."
Tyson didn't respond right away. His eyes staring off in the distance, unfocused.
"I think I am a user."