Chapter 2

Two years later

Bethany thrust forward, aiming squarely for Abundy's chest. Anybody's sword met the tip of Bethany's lance, batting it away as he went in for a strike. Bethany jumped back before the blunted blade could slash her arm. The pair took the opportunity to recover, both breathing hard from the duel.

The two blondes began their training on that day two years ago with wooden training weapons, Bethany hardly able to thrust with Dimitri's heavy silver lance. Their days had since been split in three. Mornings were spent exercising, afternoons on combat training, and evenings spent recovering for the next day's training and taking care of the menial chores around the cabin. Wake up. Eat. Exercise. Eat. Train. Eat. Sleep. Abundy worked Bethany hard, but she took it all without complaint. The only days she had off was every other Sunday, when Abundy went into town to get food and whatever other supplies they needed, or other special occasions.

Bethany still did training on those days, but left with time to herself, she did the things her intense training didn't give the woman time to do. She fashioned a more practical eyepatch than scraps from Dimitri's shirt, though she still used the cloth to wrap it around her head. Bethany processed what happened that day in the dungeon. Fishy, Areku, and Tambo all standing back and letting the two fight. The more Bethany thought about the situation, putting herself in the three's shoes, she didn't blame them. Killing one of their friends, after all the dead they'd seen that day. Bethany wished they'd help her kill PH, but she didn't blame them. After about one month, the phantom feeling of her eye still remaining had gone as well.

The free days weren't all a blessing, however. The first night of sleep was the only peaceful one she'd had the two years she spent training. The hard training she went through kept the visions at bay during the day, but there was no such luck on her free days. Bethany would turn and see Dimitri's broken body before her, or even worse, her own, scarred from PH's light magic. The scene of Dimitri's death, or of her battle with PH would play whenever she got lost in her thoughts for too long. Screams of when she lost her eye, or Dimitri crying out as he died, would haunt her. It was at its worst in the early months, but they began to fade with time.

Abundy recovered first, his blade flashing out to strike her side. Bethany caught the sword on the shaft of her lance, spinning and getting a glancing blow on Abundy with the butt of the spear. Her trainer took it in stride, going in for another strike on Bethany's side. The spearwoman's block was off, deflecting the blade away from her ribs, but Abundy's moments carried it into a blow on her shoulder.

It had taken six months for Abundy to deem Bethany ready to move on from hitting training dummies with a training spear to hitting him with a training spear. Or trying, at the very least. In those early days, Abundy seemed to move faster than Bethany could even track, though that might have been due to her single eye. Bethany thought she had been ready to move on before then, but one night when the nightmares had been bad, she spied Abundy pouring over books on lance instruction. He must have been learning how to teach her during that time.

It had been six months after that, one year after that fateful day in the Dungeon, when Abundy deemed her ready to move onto sparring with blunted iron weapons. Initially, Bethany was set back by the iron's weight compared to her training lance, but Abundy's exercise regiment had done its work and Bethany was soon fighting with the spear as if she'd been training with it the past year.

When Bethany felt confident in her skills with the iron lance, she descended back down into the Dungeon. Neither Anundy or Bethany had been back down in the Dungeon since the first day, the former almost always in town on the days Bethany had free and the latter unable to protect herself from anything still lurking in there. That wasn't an issue anymore, however. Bethany retrieved the bodies of all who'd fallen in the Dungeon and brought them to the surface, digging overdue graves for them all. The visions and voices both subsided after this, and when they did return, Bethany found herself able to deal with them much better than before.

Bethany winced slightly at the pain in her shoulder. Both fighters had their fair share of bruises, but neither had scored a decisive blow. Bethany surged forward first this time, rapidly striking for Abundy's legs. She didn't think she could hit them, the swordsman still faster than Bethany, but if she could throw Abundy off balance, it just might give her an opening. Abundy's feet danced around Bethany's lance, but all he only had to trip one once.

It had only taken two months from Bethany to graduate from iron to steel, then another two from steel to silver. It was then that Abundy stopped holding back. After their first battle, Bethany's skin was more purple than white from all her bruises. She was nothing if not determined, however. The bruises served as a physical marker of Bethany's progress. The better she did, the fewer bruises she had. The fewer bruises she had, the closer she was to being ready. Abundy never said anything, but there was a wordless agreement between the two. If Bethany could beat Abundy in a sparring match, both going all out, then their two years of training would finally come to an end.

'There!' Bethany thought as she smacked the side of her lance into Abundy's leg. The blow hardly did any damage, but it threw Abundy off enough that his next step gave Bethany the opening she needed. Bethany brought her lance up, aiming for Abundy's chest. The swordsman jumped backwards, but his dodge was off, laying Abundy's flat out on his ass. Quickly, Bethany brought the end of her blunted training spear to Abundy's chest. Abundy brought his own sword up to attempt to strike Bethany, but the shorter weapon didn't cover the distance between them.

Abundy, seeing he was finally beaten after these two years, dropped his sword. The blonde man lay back on the ground, breathing hard. He let out a weak chuckle. "Ha…I must be getting slow in my old age for something like that to work on me." Bethany pulled her lance back, reaching a hand out towards her teacher. Abundy took her hand and Bethany pulled him to his feet.

"Shut it Abundy," Bethany said, "You're not that old."

Abundy smiled wryly. "That's true." He looked up at the sun. It was late in the afternoon, but there were still a good few hours of daylight left. "We'll head out in the morning. Good timing too, since Karl's crypto gains are beginning to run out."

"Really?" Bethany said incredulously, "I don't think we spent that much money. Then again, it has been two years."

"Weeeeeeell," Abundy said sheepishly, "A few days after we got out of the Dungeon, I thought I'd try my hand at some crypto investments. After all, if Karl can do it, how hard can it be? So I bought the dip...and then it dipped more...and more. I decided to cut my losses and sell. Then it gained...and gained...and gained. So I bought some more, and-"

"It dipped?" Bethany predicted.

"Yup." Abundy sighed. "That's when I realized I wasn't cut out for crypto. By then, I'd already lost a good chunk of Karl's crypto gains."

"How much do we have left?" Bethany asked.

"I did the math," Abundy said, "And it's about $2000." Bethany paled. How were they supposed to find PH on $2000? Who knows where he could have gotten in the two years they spent training. "Don't worry," Abundy assured, seeing Bethany's reaction, "That should be enough money to get us to Copenhagen."

The next morning

Bethany took one last look at the old cabin. It was the place she called home for the past two years of her life. The blonde would miss it, but Bethany was ready to find PH. This was the beginning of a journey two years in the making. Her eyes wandered to the stones that served as markers for all those who died in the Dungeon. Dsnoon, Faolin, Seth Seth, Mercedes, Panzergraf, Steve. She thought of them as she passed their graves, stopping before the final one. Dimitri. Bethany rested her hand on the cool stone. 'It's time to make this right. Time for what the last two years have prepared me for. Time to avenge you, Dimitri. I'll see you later.' Bethany lifted her hand from the stone, almost hearing a faint voice call for her, but she didn't turn back.

"Ready to go?" Abundy asked, standing on the path that led into town. From town, they'd get a bus to the nearest airport, and from there, a flight to Copenhagen.

Bethany hoisted the bag on her back, twirling the silver lance in her hand once for good luck.

"I'm ready."