“Tell me, where was your Elemental found?” Nold asked Zalan as they made their way back into the city.

“The Lost City of Xagon,” Zalan replied. 

“I cannot say I have heard of it. Where is this city?” Nold asked. 

“You didn’t know about it either!” Zalan said excitedly. Something about Nold being the first person to be ignorant of something in this realm made him feel like they could get along really well. “It’s about a two days’ journey in the desert!”

“And what was the nature of its challenge? Something regarding a storm, I assume,” Nold mused.

 “It wanted a ton of my blood!”

“You survived a bloodthirsty Elemental, then? Interesting, I always thought you would need to be a higher Level to achieve that,” Nold commented. 

By his tone, it didn’t sound like Nold was complimenting him, but Zalan beamed anyway. 

“So I hear that you’re really good at instructing people and getting them to win the tournament?” Zalan asked. 

“I know how to cultivate one’s power,” Nold nodded. 

“Cool,” Zalan said. 

Rep tugged on Zalan’s shoulder lightly. Zalan rolled his shoulder, tossing the arm off. Rep tried again and Zalan wheeled around on him. 

“What, Rep?” Zalan snapped. 

“Your sword,” Rep said, pointing to Zalan’s hip then to the nearby swordsmith’s building.

“What about my…” Zalan cut himself off mid sentence. He had no sword. It had shattered when he struck the Elemental Dragon’s eye. He shuddered at the memory. He turned to Nold as if to ask for permission. 

“A traveler needs a weapon. Be quick,” Nold dismissed him with a nod. 

Zalan raced to the entrance of the sword forge, leaving Rep behind. Rep rolled his eyes and followed, catching up before the door closed.

Junill, the swordsmith, was rushing around the room quickly, hardly tossing her patrons a glance as they entered. 

“Yes? Yes? Did I not just sell you a sword?” Junill asked irritably. 

“Junill, when was the last time you slept?” Rep asked in return. 

Junill had an Artifact called an Indefatigable Iron on a necklace. It gave her unending energy, at the cost of having to sleep an unrousable sleep whenever taking it off. If the Artifact was never taken off, the wearer would die.

“You want to know the next time I intend to sleep so you can rob me as I slumber?” Junill asked, challenging Rep. 

“No, I am concerned for your—”

“I am only joking!” Junill said, forcing a fake laugh. “How can I assist you? Quickly, I have many orders.”

“If you have so many orders, would it not be wise to consider the end of use to the Indefatigable Iron? You no longer need to prove that you are a worthy weaponsmith to your father if you have so many patrons,” Rep suggested, trying to offer sincere advice. 

“Rep, come on, we have to get moving,” Zalan stepped forward, irritably. “My sword broke. I need a new one.”

“How did it break?” Junill asked, sounding as though she was determining how to judge the statement. 

“I stabbed an Elemental Dragon in the eye and it broke,” Zalan replied. 

“Ah, that is a good use of my sword. I am willing to offer another,” Junill said. 

“Offer? We’re buying,” Zalan corrected. 

“Only because I am willing to offer,” Junill said smartly, she ran across the room and pulled two swords of the wall, her face red with burns from the forge. She placed one on the counter and held the other out to Zalan. 

“Thanks—”

“Wait, no, this one,” Junill said, quickly exchanging the swords. 

Zalan held the sword.

“Is it good to hold?” Rep asked.

“Yeah, sure, let’s get it,” Zalan replied quickly. 

 It felt good enough to him. He was ready to go back to Nold. Rep seemed unconvinced, but Junill was already nodding and tapping the counter for payment. Zalan flipped a gold coin to her. 

“I see you have come into wealth,” Junill said, catching the money.

“Yeah, sure,” Zalan immediately went back outside to join Nold. 

Rep sighed apologetically. 

“It was pleasant to see you, even if it was only for a short time,” Rep told her. 

“I look forward to your return. You are my favorite customer after all,” Junill said, digging around for change for the gold coin. Rep was stunned by her words and took a second to compose himself. 

“Keep the change. And please, get some rest,” Rep told her. 

“Eh,” Junill said dismissively, waving goodbye. 

Rep exited the forge to see Zalan and Nold were already back on the move without him. He breathed out in frustration and walked briskly to keep up. By the time he was back at their side, they had arrived at the guild. Zalan was going to make his way inside, but Nold caught him on the shoulder and pointed him to the side of the building. 

“My stuff’s inside. Stuff I need before we get moving,” Zalan pointed. 

“We can go collect your things after I discover just how prepared you are for the tournament,” Nold began ushering Zalan to a courtyard connected to the back of the guild. Rep followed them.

The courtyard was clearly a training area, littered with burned mounds of straw shaped like men and broken practice weapons. Nold stepped forward and stood up one of the straw dummies, posing it to look like it was preparing for a fight. Then he took a few steps back, looking at Zalan expectantly. 

“Go on, then,” Nold nodded.

Zalan pulled out his sword and gripped it tightly, preparing to imbue it with lighting before charging forward.

“What are you doing with that sword?” Nold looked confused. 

“Showing you what I can do?” Zalan replied, equally confused. He looked to Rep for support.

“The Elements of Rage Tournament does not allow the use of any weapons. Swords are definitely not allowed in any matches,” Rep explained.

“Oh, so it’s just fist fighting and Elements?” Zalan asked. 

“That is all. And no deadly blows allowed,” Rep nodded.

Zalan hadn’t considered that the tournament might allow people to kill one another. He was pleased to hear he wouldn’t have to worry about that. He was much happier sticking to his Elemental than he was with swordplay. He still felt like he could barely aim his stabs, much less parry multiple blows.

“Is he unaware of how the tournament works?” Nold asked, baffled. “Where are you from?”

“A far away land,” Zalan said, borrowing the line that Rep often used. 

“I am sure this land has a name,” Nold prompted. 

Zalan didn’t take as much time to think as he normally did to answer people, still trying to please Nold.

“Merced, California,” Zalan replied. 

“Mersidcalafornya? Unique name to match your unique origins. I will have to travel there someday, see if there are Elementals or Beasts of Slumber to be found,” Nold told himself, making a mental note. “But first, show me what you can do!”

Zalan held out his hand and emitted a blast of lightning at the dummy, scorching it with the large blast. 

“Excellent timing!” Nold said, his eyes lighting up. “With the ability to emit your Elemental ability so fast, you must have seen some real combat before!”

“Yeah,” Zalan said, embarrassed and excited at the praise. He didn’t think his power would look this good to a big-time instructor. 

“What is the largest thing you have faced, then? At your Level, I take it you have done battle with some Fogfangs? Maybe Boznoks?” Nold asked. 

“Yeah I’ve fought a Boznok before. But the biggest thing was definitely the Elemental Dragon,” Zalan replied.

Nold’s smile was frozen on his face as he blinked a few times in confusion. He turned steadily toward Rep who looked almost annoyed to only be acknowledged by Nold to corroborate a fact. 

“An Elemental Dragon?” Nold asked, his voice a curious pitch.

“Indeed. He and I killed it together,” Rep nodded.

Nold continued to stare, his eyes clicking between the two of them. 

“An Elemental Dragon?” Nold repeated.

Zalan and Rep nodded. 

“Rep, what Level are you these days?” Nold asked carefully. 

“Level 5, after defeating the dragon,” Rep replied. 

Nold’s eyes narrowed, his brain buffering to register the feat. Zalan was beginning to understand just how big of a deal it was to kill an Elemental Dragon. Even Nold was blown away by their kill.

“And you certainly were not alone. You had help from a much higher Leveled party,” Nold concluded. 

“Oh yeah,” Zalan said, his energy growing somber as he remembered Fran. “There were five of us.”

“And how strong were the other three?” Nold asked. 

“I think the most powerful was Level 7,” Zalan scratched his head. 

Nold blinked a few more times, looking between them. 

“How did you end up killing an Elemental Dragon!? That is impossible! Why would you lie about that?” Nold balked. 

“I’m not lying!” Zalan said, suddenly very offended. 

“You are correct, Nold. Why would we lie about that?” Rep asked. 

“I… I have no idea!” Nold said, throwing up his arms. “You really took down a dragon?”

The two nodded once more, more forcefully than the first time. 

“Then we should have a really simple time competing in this competition,” Nold said, shaking his head to himself. He abruptly snapped back to the straw dummy. “What else have you got to show?”

Zalan held up both hands and emitted lighting from both at the same time. Nold didn’t react as enthusiastically. 

“I said what else? You are at a Wisdom of 5, yes?” Nold asked. 

“Sure, why?” Zalan asked, feeling a little nervous. 

“Then show me how well you can curve your lightning,” Nold said. 

“I… curve it?” Zalan asked, looking back at Rep. Rep nodded his head in encouragement, miming changing something in midair. 

“You have never redirected an attack after you have emitted it, then? You can only fire straight?” Nold asked, disappointment in his voice. 

“I guess so,” Zalan shrugged. 

“Very well,” Nold nodded. “What about imbuing?”

“Sure, I can imbue my sword for a few seconds,” Zalan said, standing straighter and regaining his confidence.

“I thought we made it clear that your sword would be irrelevant. How well can you imbue yourself?” Nold asked. 

Zalan looked back at Rep. Rep shrugged, looking a little thrown off. 

“You can imbue yourself?” Rep asked. 

“More and more your story of defeating an Elemental Dragon sounds unbelievable,” Nold muttered as he displayed an arm in front of him. With a wave, his arm was washed in a cloud of flame, like it was made out of fire. Rep jumped forward to put out the fire, but Nold raised his flaming hand with a signal to stop him. Instructor Nold smiled wide, basking in the amazement the two amateurs showed him. 

“The real test of knowing how well you can imbue something is to imbue yourself. You should not hurt yourself in the slightest to do this, but you will be able to protect yourself and strike others with new power. This is a very challenging task and can be done in many stealthy ways to make you even more powerful to an untrained eye,” Nold explained grandly. 

Zalan and Rep continued to stare with a waxing eagerness. They wanted to attain this power to imbue themselves.

“Your Elemental Power is fire!” Zalan said suddenly as he came to the realization. 

“Ah, but is that my only one?” Nold asked. With another wave of his free hand, his other arm immediately surrounded in a tornado of fine sand. 

Zalan and Rep’s jaws dropped at the display of the man carrying two Elements so seamlessly. He swung them in the air to show how powerful his control was over the two Elements before waving both arms and removing his imbue. The fire dissipated and the sand fell to the floor.

“You may not be able to redirect lightning, but can you summon it from the sky?” Nold asked.

Zalan took a few seconds to respond, still lost in the fantasy of Nold teaching him how to be an ultimate lightning fighter.

“Summon lightning from the sky? No, I can't do anything like that,” Zalan shook his head.

“What about during a thunderstorm?” Nold asked.

“Maybe? I never tried it. I can redirect if I’m hit with it,” Zalan shrugged.

“Any simpleton with half a brain and even less of an Element can redirect something that touches them directly,” Nold said. “And I take it that the two of you never tried to imbue your bodies with your Elements?” Nold asked them.

Rep and Zalan shook their heads.

“Then give it a try. Right now, surround one hand in a thin bubble of your power,” Nold pointed to the two of them.

“Right now?” Rep asked hesitantly.

Zalan was already moving his hands around, trying to figure out the right angle to send energy through. Rep sighed and put a flame above his palm, wondering how he would send it over his skin. Zalan pointed one hand at the other and let out a tiny spark, trying to inject the power through his hand. Instead of power coursing through, Zalan just felt a shock of pain strike through him. He reacted by immediately flinching and waving his hand in pain. Rep’s hesitation greatly increased at the sight, but he also let out a small flame toward his hand, only to grunt in pain and immediately put out the fire.

“Well, then,” Nold said, looking between the two. “I have no idea how you ever took on an Elemental Dragon. You seem to be total novices. It looks to me that we have plenty of work ahead of us! Hurry up and gather your things.”

Zalan rushed inside excitedly, ready to start a journey that could make him even more powerful to bring justice to this world. Rep stayed behind after his friend ran out of sight.

“Instructor Nold, I did not want to bring this up in Zalan's presence, but I believe he is not well. His mind is out of sorts after the battle with the dragon and loss of one of our allies. Even before then, his mentality always stood on shaky ground. You should not push him too hard. He might break. He needs compassion and stability,” Rep confided in the instructor.

“Rep, you fail to see how this could be good for him! You want to help him, yes? Currently, he is in agony because he feels powerless. One of the best ways to climb out of the hole of powerlessness is to feel confident in oneself. Imagine if he could imbue himself or draw lightning from the clouds. He would certainly see that as an improvement on himself,” Nold said confidently.

“But his intentions in seeing Madam Hikma are malicious. I fear he intends to hurt her,” Rep said, his voice low.

“Nothing to be concerned about,” Nold waved away the sentiment. “I will keep Hikma safe.”

“You will?” Rep asked, sounding hopeful.

“Oh sure, sure,” Nold nodded.

“This eases my concerns. Thank you,” Rep said, heading inside to gather his things.

Nold regarded Rep with mild annoyance as he entered the building. Zalan had an extraordinary power; one that Nold absolutely needed to cultivate. It was just unfortunate that he came with such an opinionated friend.