“YYEAAA!!” Gareth screamed as he pierced his training spear into the wooden dummy. His arm lined up so perfectly that his hip twist did not just enhance the power of the thrust, it multiplied it. His feet were perfectly distanced so as to keep his balance on the balls of his feet, his left foot stepping forward at the exact right moment to increase the momentum of the thrust. His wrist was strong, his grip sure, and his focus single-minded. Then, as the tip of his spear struck the wood and met resistance, he had an epiphany.

  Of all the benefits of a spear such as its range, its versatility, its precision; at that moment the only thing Gareth could focus on was the spear's ability to pierce. Immense momentum and strength focussed down to a singular, miniscule point; the central axis of the pole, blade, and his arm aligned perfectly so as to drive that point forward...and through!

  His spear blade and a good 5 inches of pole thrust entirely through the wooden training dummy and out the other side. The metal tip gleamed with heat, generated by the friction of forcing itself through an unwilling material.

  Gareth was so surprised that he froze, exercise sweat beading on his forehead and tickling his brow.

  “Well done lad!” Oliver clapped once and confidently put his arm around Gareth's shoulders. “I would not be surprised if you get a mastery level from that! But before you look,” he hurriedly cut in, “do that again. Mastery is not doing an amazing move once, it is about consistently executing that perfect manoeuvre over and over again.”

  He spun Gareth around so they were looking each other dead in the eye, both hands on his shoulders, “Do not settle for mediocrity. Celebrate meeting milestones, but keep pushing for that next level of precision. That is how you will reach the top.” He looked at the gleaming pearlescent dome of the training arena far above. “That is how you will ascend beyond the heavens.”

  Fucked if he wasn't inspired, Gareth excitedly pushed Oliver away and took up his spear position again, ignoring the blue light blinking in the corner of his eye.

  As it turned out he was only able to execute the technique once more that session, but as Oliver said, “Progress, not perfection.”

  After the battle the day prior, things had settled back into normalcy remarkably quickly. The battle had lasted a total of an entire cycle, thirty hours exactly. A strangely specific time, as the moment the thirty hour mark struck the enemy withdrew like corpo debtors were chasing them.

  Guanji had only briefly appeared to tell Gareth it was safe to come back to the house and to stay there until he came back. He'd done so, and Guanji was there for breakfast, but promised Gareth he would answer all his questions that Night after his training sessions.

  Gareth had already achieved Beginner mastery in blade, polearm, and medium armour, but this would be his first mastery other than meditation that he would improve. He looked forward to seeing what happened.

  Congratulations!

  You have gained insight into a fundamental aspect of spears, and by extension polearms.

  Skill: Polearm - First principle: Pierce.

  Pierce: You are now able to see and exploit the weakest point of any familiar material or substance. This does not necessarily equate to being able to damage said material.

  Gareth blinked the message away and refocused on the wooden training dummy. Besides the three inch wide hole where his pole and blade had pierced through the wood, his eye was naturally drawn to a miniscule crack in the middle of the pole. He just knew that that was the weakest point in the wood, and that if he managed to perfectly place his spear point in that crack he could easily pierce through the training dummy once more. It was a deceptively powerful ability. His Beginner mastery had already given him near perfect muscle memory with basic maneuvers, and when it came to spears thrusting was as basic as it came.

  He carefully eyed the crack, wondering if he should try just one more time to pierce the dummy, but his training sesh was over. Oliver needed to be places, and Guanji was expecting him.

  When he got home that evening he was really starting to miss the sun. It had only been a few months since he'd been rescued and not seeing the sun was making him feel claustrophobic. He was keeping busy with training, which helped somewhat, but the ever-present darkness looming over him made completely relaxing hard.

  He casually hoped onto the railing of Guanji's porch, his feet dangling and swinging. He was soaked from the rain, but his stomach and lungs kept him at a nicely comfy temperature. he reached into his breast pocket, leaned his training spear against the porch beam, and opened his pouch of spiritual herbs. Slowly, making sure not to spill any and appreciating the beauty of the ritual, he cleaned and packed his pipe.

  Taking a few short but rapid breaths he lightly spooled up his fire lung. Not a lot, just enough to get a flame going. Then, with a gentle whistle he lightly blew a small stream of fire onto the spiritual herbs, lighting them. He puffed, savoured the strong herbal taste, and appreciated the dripping rain. It might be dark. It might be cold, but he was free. He was outside. The wind kissed his cheeks, splashing small drops of misty rain onto them and cooling his already cold body, but he loved it.

  Chapter 25: Dealing with racism and politics

  He found Guanji at a table of freshly prepared food, reading a jade tablet while waiting for him.

  “Master Guanji, your pupil greets you.” Gareth greeted him very formally, indicating that he wanted to have a serious discussion, but was still respectful of his master.

  Guanji arched an elegant black eyebrow but nodded in acknowledgement, “Please enter, disciple.” Short, concise, and friendly, he was receptive.

  The old Gareth would have just straight up started calling Guanji on his racist bullshit, but in his two months here he had learned that Volun expected courtesy. To not adhere to strict manners was to cause disrespect, which was a duel-able offence. He sure as shit wasn't winning a duel with Guanji, so he needed to be respectful even if he wanted to be confrontational.

  Gareth carefully took the teapot from the fire and poured them both 70% cups. The fresh smell of hot green tea filled the small room.

  Once he sat down, Gareth drank first as a sign that the tea wasn't poisoned, then Master Guanji as the master. Only then was the silence broken as Guanji finally asked, “What would you like to discuss?”

  “Master…” he started but had to stop as the phrasing he had practised earlier didn't feel right, all of a sudden, “Please allow me to explain in full before responding, I need to give both context and reasoning for the question I need to pose.”

  Guanji, master politician, didn't visibly react, but his internal self narrowed its eyes in slight suspicion, “Very well, disciple. I will wait until the end.”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Thank you.” He bowed slightly in his seat. He took a sip of his warm tea to wet a suddenly dry throat, but pushed on.

  “My world doesn’t have great magic spells, or impossibly strong cultivators. We only have our own wits and the tools at our disposal. The tools we did have access to were extremely reliant on the technology of the time, and this technology was not spread equally. Some people still had spears and shields when guns became a thing, then missiles, then nuclear weapons, and finally racially targeted viruses. If you didn't have a way to counter these, you died.

  Foreign countries would regularly invade underdeveloped villages, and subjugate them under the banner of ‘enlightenment’; as justification for their exploitation. The ‘dark continent’, the ‘savages’, the ‘barbarians’. They saw the local cultures and traditions as lesser, and because they were different, forced their beliefs down their throats...or killed them. An ‘other’ that was lesser somehow and needed to be ‘enlightened’ with their religion.”

  When he saw Guanji frown at the implication Gareth was putting forward he hurriedly continued, “I am not saying that this is what you are doing master, I’m-...I guess I'm just asking if that is what you’re doing? Because I refuse to be part of something like that.” He had tried to ask as politely as possible whether Guanji was a coloniser, now he just had to live with the consequences.

  Guanji frowned but he looked down in thought. It spoke something fierce for his open mindedness and self-respect that he would truly consider the question before answering.

  At length he replied, “To truly answer your question you must be aware of the political, cultural, geographical, and militant background of Volun. Please know that what I am about to share is not for the ears of common men. I tell you only so that you have a firmer knowledge-base with which to protect your future charge.” Guanji raised his dark brows and tilted his head forward to stress that this was a secret and he would be in deep shit if he shared it.

  When Gareth bowed slightly, Guanji ponderously took a sip of his green tea and adequately ordered his thoughts.

  “Please take notes.”

  He said and Gareth took out the little black book he used for quick notes.

  “Volun lies near the border of a Terminator. A location where Light mana weakens gradually until giving way to a land covered in perpetual Darkness. This is not unnatural, nor due to some ‘Eternal Night’ curse, but due to the way elemental mana affects and interacts with the world tree, as well as the way the shape of the world tree catches and refracts light from Sol, and darkness from Ginnungagap.

  It is important to remember that Darkness is not just an absence of Light, but rather a completely different form of energy, that just so happens to be the perfect opposite of Light. Then, just like life is wont to do, creatures adapted to live in such perpetual darkness. Until Volun came along, the Yun Cheng Empire had no idea that there existed a sister empire within the shadows. Ivor Hansen, in all the gods’ wisdom, was the first to make contact. You yourself are aware of his charismatic air and likeable disposition; he therefore, somehow, managed to befriend them. Skip forward a few decades and the empire is facing a crisis. The native Dark aligned creatures are rampaging through the empire and adapting quicker than we are. We need a place to train true warriors that specialise in fighting at Night. It just so happens that the Saudari empire sees an opportunity in our predicament. They are an extremely militant empire, and are facing pressures from multiple external threats. They need a place to train warriors in matters of war, without just throwing their soldiers at enemies and hoping for the best.”

  “Are you telling me that that battle, where I definitely saw someone die, was a war game?” Gareth asked incredulously.

  Guanji shrugged slightly, “People die in war. It is a reality that cannot be ignored. It might not be fair, or right, but the strong rule and the weak die off. But we are not base creatures incapable of reason. To avoid needless bloodshed there are rules. People do not just come to Volun, they are invited - you being the exception. We have a special branch of the military that scout talents within the empire. This is done secretly, of course, as the two empires don't want their secrets to be known to their enemies. To the other nobles within the Yun Cheng Empire, Volun is just another border Marquis where they send their youth to train. To those in the know it is a haven for learning how to fight in miserable conditions, against dangerous enemies, so as to become stronger. In other words…we create the future leaders of the empire. Killing is allowed, because to make a mistake in war is to die. Their enemies will not spare them, and neither will ours. But the calibre of soldiers chosen to participate in raids are of the highest breed and bloodline. This further lessens the casualty rate." He took another sip of his tea and gave Gareth a sec to write some notes, then continued.

  "Another rule is that both empires must notify the other one month in advance of any strategic changes. If they warn of a new ballista technology, we must prepare anti-ballista technology. If they use a thousand soldiers, we are allowed to use a thousand. There are a few other rules that you do not need to worry about for now, but know that fairness is a priority. Surrendering is an option and, if caught, fighters are imprisoned in Saudari for the rest of the Night, but not treated cruelly. They and we both offer escapism classes.” Guanji took another long sip of tea.

  “But doesn't that just teach them all of our weaknesses?” Gareth asked because honestly, they were just asking to be betrayed.

  “Well, there is nothing that says we have to use all of our strategies," he said with a coy grin, "Over the centuries we have put contingencies in place should we be betrayed. We keep our true monsters, like you and I, in reserve.”

  “How does the rest of the world not find out about these wargames? I mean, a yearly attack of such proportions has to be noticed, no?”

  “It is, but that is where politicians play their part. Outwardly we are the perfect enemies: Light vs Dark, good vs bad, neighbours at war, and it is in our favour to keep that perception going. Because to the rest of the world this is a war-front and others might perceive the empire as vulnerable, when we are, in fact, not.” he finished with a devilish grin, highlighted by his ruby red slitted eyes.

  “It's bait.” Gareth said with dawning clarity.

  “And like fish drawn to worms they keep falling for it.” He chuckled darkly, “Of course trade also forms a part of it. The winners of the games are given a set-and-agreed-upon reward. In times of war they leave secret caches of supplies in the terminator to help us, and we do the same. We provide them with Light aligned beast parts and tree Leaves, and numerous other products are impossible to produce in the eternal Darkness of their home.”

  There was a brief moment of silence as they each processed everything that had just been said. Gareth and Guanji both took sips of their tea while Gareth made some notes and wrote down questions to meditate on.

  “Thank you for answering my question, master Guanji. I also thank you for your honesty. My own country was exploited by another, and it would have weighed heavily on me to know we are doing the same to someone else.”

  “Your doubt is warranted, and this is not a perfect system. Accidents, sabotage, and espionage cause mistakes to occur nevertheless. Sometimes their, or our, soldiers are too bloodthirsty and amends must be made, but it is a constantly shifting training ground in all matters. From actual combat, to wartime supply management, to making political alliances, to troop management and morale training, exposure therapy, etcetera etcetera. The benefits far outweigh the costs.”

  It dawned on Gareth then, “Me being trained in Volun is a massive privilege, isn't it?”

  Guanji smiled softly, his eyes filled with kindness, “...It is. But you have made the most of the education you have been given, and not squandered a training opportunity. We are proud of your performance so far. Keep working as hard as you have, and we will happily give you opportunities provided to few others.”

  “Speaking of...today is exactly one month since I last awakened. Am I allowed to take the next step?” he asked with a mischievous grin.

  “Hahahaha! Certainly. I can not exactly show you what might be possible one day, and not give you the opportunity to reach for it. Tomorrow morning I will take you to the temple of Mogeel.”

  “Thank you, master.” he said and bowed. They happily dug into the meal Guanji had made, a delicious beef curry with jasmine rice.

  “Oh, before I forget. Tomorrow you are meeting Lady Ellisandra's family.”

  “What!?”