It always amazed me how quick time could fly by. It had been seven years since I met lady Gabriel and she offered to teach me. It had been an entire eight years since I had arrived at Vatican city.
It wasn't until three months after that fateful day that she visited me again, bringing along with her a stack of books half as tall as me. She suggested some of the easier ones on both magic and touki for me to start with to build my fundamentals. She left the book sunder the care of Ms. Quarta, and I would bring them back to her and ask for another once I was done.
Ms. Quarta was surprised when I confided in her about my magic and touki but understood why I had kept it secret. She said if lady Gabriel trusted me to learn, then that was good enough for her.
The first few books were the hardest for me to learn. Instead of using magic, they focused on meditating.The books spoke of magic as an energy source with its own will. Once an individual can access their reserves, they draw on them and give it shape through their imagination. Meditation is intended to calm a person and bring them in tune with the energy inside and surrounding them. This helped with both magic and will, allowing me to call on them easier. It took months before I was any good at meditating, but I saw tremendous progress once I did.
My memory was the first improvement I noticed. I could recall my lessons easily, as if I had learned them the same day. I could remember entire scriptures as if the book I read them from was in front of me. My focus improved tremendously. I advanced in my classes quickly, leaving my peers behind.
Within a year I was moved into classes with the older trainees.
The books on touki showed me how inefficiently I was using it. Reinforcing my body went beyond just making me stronger and faster. I could reinforce my eyes to see clearly, and my ears to hear further. After a few months of practicing I could see individual blades of grass flowing in the breeze almost a mile away. I could hear conversations from a quarter mile away as if people were speaking right next to me. I made the mistake of first enhancing my hearing during class, and the sudden increase in sound gave me a splitting headache. The books said with time I could learn to filter out sounds I didn't want to listen to, but I would have to practice much more before I could reach that point.
Combat classes is where I noticed my next improvement. I could remember each of the forms I learned clearly, so now it became a matter of practicing until it became muscle memory. I would spend an hour each night going through the forms, and I noticed a pattern I hadn't seen before. Each form built on top of the previous one, like a next step. Once I figured that out I focused exclusively on each form until I could perform it flawlessly before moving on to the next one.
Within a year and a half I was moved into the combat classes with the oldest trainees. That caused some friction with them at first. Most of the older trainees weren't happy about sharing their classes with a child. It took me months to earn their respect. While I was advancing quickly, they still had years of training ahead of me. I was learning what they had already learned, so I couldn't defeat any of them in combat yet. That eventually changed. Within four years I became the top fighter, even if that was because three of the five older trainees graduated and became full-fledged exorcists.
Without noticing I drifted away from the other trainees. I no longer shared classes with Annie and Fred, and eventually we just stopped talking. Once I was gone they became friends with the other six young trainees. I was bitter about being replaced so easily, but I had only myself to blame. So I began to focus exclusively on training.
The next books on magic focused on elemental manipulation. I focused on ice manipulation first. I'm able to form dozens of extremely sharp spikes with ice and shoot them, but just being able to that would have been boring. With a few more weeks of training I was able to form a cone of ice that reached a few meters in front of me. While my ice isn't cold enough to freeze a person solid, it is cold enough to make movement difficult. I'm able to freeze a lake solid, although that would leave me drained for a few days until my energy returned, so it isn't a practical move. I can manipulate water to a lesser degree than ice, but I need an existing water source. I'm currently trying to either form my own water using energy or gather it from the surrounding air. Unfortunately, I'm not making much process in either ability.
Fire was the next element I focused on, and I developed the same abilities that I did with ice. Fire followed much of the same process as ice, although its shape was harder to maintain as fire moves rapidly, while ice is an unmoving solid that maintained its own shape. While I can't evaporate an entire lake, I am able I did develop a high resistance to fire, I was able to manipulate any existing flame, or absorb it to gain a small amount of energy. I'm currently trying to use my heat manipulation to speed up the movement of air particles in a specific location causing friction and heat and allowing me to form fire in any location. I've yet to reach the correct speed to cause fire, but I can form heat. With more training I should be able to do it. I also learned how to use ice and fire to adjust my body's temperature, making life comfortable, and theoretically never allowing me to get sick.
Wind was the third element I learned, and the one I've focused on the least. I manipulate it by extending my energy outwards as an aura and shape the existing wind through there. I was able to identify important types of gases, like oxygen and carbon dioxide. I mainly use wind to feed oxygen to my flames, making them stronger, or remove oxygen, effectively killing any flame. I can form blades of wind, which are invisible. However, while they can easily pierce through bones and hide, making hunting easy, and through trees if I put enough power into the blade, I can't pierce through either metal or stone.
Lighting was the last element I trained with, and it was the hardest to use, taking me weeks to form. It was frustrating and I wanted to give up multiple times, but I've always had a fascination for lightning and I was determined to learn. At first I could only use lightning when it was already formed; limiting the times I could use it. After a few months I was able to memorize how lighting felt and was able to produce it myself. It was more like electricity than actual lightning, but I was sure I could form it with time. This quickly became my favorite element, and I spent months learning new skills. I learned how to shoot separate lightning bolts, and how to shoot an ark that hit a larger area. When I used my lightning during a storm, I found out I was able to attract ambient lightning to power up my own attacks.
Occasionally I practiced my telekinesis. It was the power that came easiest to me, probably due to me using it since I was a year old. It was telekinesis I used as a child when I wanted to bring books and toys to me that were out of reach, and when summoning items. Telekinesis became more energy consuming the further the distance, but even at five years old I could summon items from across a whole village. I was comfortable manipulating items at about a half mile range and started to incorporate my ice manipulation with telekinesis. Instead of using metal pellets when hunting I used my ice spikes and manipulated them with telekinesis. I could track the distinctive feel of my magic to track an animal if they escaped if I hit them with my ice, not that they ever did. I was still very accurate and made sure to ambush animals when hunting.
It was two years after lady Gabriel dropped off the books that I saw her again. It seemed like a long time to me, but I knew she was busy. And I doubted two years seemed like a long time to someone who had been alive as long as she had.
She was very excited at the progress I had made in magic and touki and gave me tips on how to use my powers more efficiently. For the most part she let me develop my powers myself. She also trained me in combat. We sparred with wooden swords like I did against the other trainees. But she was on a level beyond even Ms. Quarta, who trained with us occasionally. While Ms. Quarta could defeat me with ease she was still human. I could see her move, even if I couldn't track her movements without enhancing my senses to their limit.
I couldn't even sense lady Gabriel move. Her sword would be in a spot one moment, and when I swung it would appear in the perfect location to block me. She never went of the offensive, content to just block and gauge my progress. In the middle of our spars she would provide me with small corrections, like moving my feet a certain way or manipulating my wrist differently when swinging. None of it was mentioned in our combat classes. But those small improvements made a world of difference.
After our spars she would sit down and talk to me. Most of our conversation centered on me and my classes, but occasionally she would answer some of my questions. She told me of her duties in heaven, which mostly consisting of visiting the lower levels and ensuring everything ran smoothly. She was also the delegate between Heaven and other pantheons.
That had been an enlightening conversation. She told me stories of the other pantheons and their gods. The debauchery of the Greeks, and pride and valor of the Norse. She said many of them had changed for the better since she was young, and had begun treating their followers with respect. It had been a shocker to discover more than one god existed, but she did tell me that the Christian religion was young compared to others. Many other pantheons were fairly old when Devils and Angels came into existence, where the oldest among them were only a few millennia old.
Followers of Christianity referred to their god as God as a sign of respect. He had his own name, but few ever used it. It was why Devils were harmed when they referred to him as God; that title had become his name as much as his true name was. But they could refer to gods in plural without harm, which made sense. She seemed sad and hesitant when talking about her father, so I quickly shifted the conversation in another direction whenever it was brought up.
After that she visited me more frequently, every six months or so. I quickly came to cherish those moments; how many others could claim that an Archangel visited and trained them often? I was lucky to have caught her attention.
One day after training Ms. Quarta approached me.
"I've decided that it's time for you to graduate," she told me. "You've learned the basics of everything we have to teach you. Keeping you as a trainee any longer would be a waste at this point. Are you prepared to graduate?"
"I am, Ms. Quarta."
"Good. We will leave tomorrow morning. Take the rest of the day to prepare. Gather food and equipment. Ian will be by later with your exorcist uniforms. Meet me at the entrance of the barracks at first light and we'll depart from there."
I nodded and rushed to do that. I stopped by the kitchens first to gather food. The cook, an old man who always had something kind to say, congratulated me once I told him I would be graduating and told me to be careful. I told him I would.
Then I went back to the barracks and told the other fourteen trainees. Most of them congratulated me, even Fred and Annie who I hadn't talked to in years at this point. Mr. Ian came by and dropped off my new uniform, a skintight black suit. I looked at him strangely, but he assured me that all exorcists wore this uniform when on a mission, which explained why I had never seen him or Ms. Quarta wear it. I set one outfit aside and packed the rest away along with my food and equipment in a pack.
I went to bed early that day without any extra training, eager for morning to come.
Griselda honestly thought it was still too soon for Liam to become an exorcist. He was still young and could learn even more. With a laugh she realized her own instructors probably thought the same when she graduated at fifteen. He was as ready as any other trainee.
Liam never ceased to amaze her though. He absorbed knowledge like a sponge, even if he had told her his helped him remember things easier. He had no true skill with a sword but was quick and strong enough to make up for it. His use of touki allowed him to keep up with older and more physically developed than him. She didn't know much about magic herself, but with what she had seen of other magicians in her travels told her Liam was likely a prodigy when it came to magic. His training with Archangel Gabriel had a lot to do with that she thought. The only other person she knew had been trained by an Angel had been Vasco Strada, and even he wasn't taught by an Archangel. She wondered if Liam was the second coming of the strongest human on earth. Strada was getting along in years.
When morning came I was already changed and ready when the other trainees woke up. They once again congratulated me and told me to be careful, and that they would join me in a few years. Then they headed off to training and I waited for Ms. Quarta.
She showed up soon after, her own pack on her back. She started walking and I followed.
"One of our exorcists in Britain hasn't reported in," she told me. "We are going there to investigate and recover his body in case the worse has happened. Stay alert and don't do anything stupid. This mission is a test, and your graduation depends on your performance."
I nodded and we walked the rest of the way in silence. We walked a few miles to an airfield, where we would fly to Britain. It was my first time on a plane, and I was fascinated as we took off. It was my first time flying, and with it came thoughts of what would happen if the plane broke. Griselda assured me very few accidents happened on planes, but very few wasn't none. I hadn't practiced teleportation yet. I should fix that soon. I meditated the rest of the flight, determined to be as focused as possible during this mission.
We landed in Edinburgh, where the exorcist, Tristan operated out of. We started reconnaissance, where Ms. Quarta said for this mission we were siblings in search of their brother. Not a lie technically. She also told me to call her Griselda from this point on, which would take some getting used to. But adapting is an exorcist's job.
We visited the various bars around town first. Griselda drew many looks from men, which wasn't surprising because she's one of the most beautiful women I've seen and the skintight suits we both wore left little of her curves to the imagination, but no one approached her. The confidence she carried herself with gave her an air that left her unapproachable. She would head to the bartender and ask about Tristan. Meanwhile I stayed outside of the bar, since I wasn't old enough yet to enter.
It took five bars before we heard about Tristan. Apparently he was a regular patron of this bar, a rather seedy place called the cloven hoof. The bartender told Griselda that Tristan would come by regularly and talk with the patrons there. As we left Griselda told me this was a common practice with exorcists. Regular humans who had a brush with the supernatural tended to drown themselves in alcohol to forget. Loose tongues and lowered inhibitions made it easier for an exorcist to gather information. I noted that down for the future.
Then we headed to Tristan's home. Griselda said all homes were paid for by the church since accommodations were usually temporary, which made it a little easier to track down an exorcist in case something happens. As we travelled through the city I was amazed by the technology around us, something both my town and our training installation lacked. Cars provided an ease of transportation that was essential due to the size of cities. Mobile phones allowed people to stay in contact with people across the world. And the internet is a wealth of information at everyone's fingertips, like the worlds most comprehensive library. Yet all those advancements came with their own drawbacks. I saw people walk by each other without any acknowledgment. Even neighbors seemed to be strangers. It was very different from a small village, where everyone knew each other. Not that I'm much of a social person myself. Still, technology provided many advantages that I planned on taking advantage of in the future. The music here was simply phenomenal. I was instantly drawn to the sounds of what Griselda told me was called hard rock and heavy metal. I have no clue what rocks and metal, heavy or not, had to do with music, but I liked it. Griselda told me of that there were many devices that could allow one to listen to their favorite music wherever someone wanted to go, and I resolved to get one soon.
We soon arrived at Tristan's home, a small unassuming apartment complex. We walked to his room where Griselda broke the lock. The apartment was neat and organized, looking like a normal place. We started rifling through the apartment, since Griselda said his notes would be hidden. We found them in a locked drawer, whose lock she once again broke. We found a diary that Griselda began reading.
She skipped to the end immediately, where she found notes of a community in the west end of Edinburgh that reported multiple missing persons cases in the last few weeks. All cases were the same; an entrance to the house seemed to have been broken through with great force, and the entire family had gone missing. The last entry was from two weeks ago. Some people had reported seeing a huge figure in the area. Griselda said Tristan must have gone to investigate and must have encountered trouble. We had a destination.
We took a cab to the west end of Edinburgh, to a small town called Lamplight. The attacked homes were recognizable by the police tape that sectioned them off. We started by entering the homes and investigating. Each home was the same; an entrance was demolished, like something with great strength broke the doors down. The inside didn't paint a hopeful picture. Huge holes littered the walls, and most houses had more than a few blood splatters. Other than that we didn't find many clues as to the identity of the creature, or where it was coming from.
Until we arrived at the last house. We found tufts of brown fur in the shattered remains of a door. After checking the inside of the house we headed to the backyard, where we found scrapes heading into the forest as if something was dragged along the ground.
"It seems like whatever has been attacking this town came from the forest," Griselda said. "Tristan would have found these tracks also, which means he headed into the forest. That means we need to as well. But we must be careful, whatever creature is doing this is dangerous, and we must take care not to be caught unawares by it."
I nodded and we followed the tracks towards the forest. They continued until we reached a river, where we lost sight of them. Griselda suggested splitting up here. I would continue straight while she would head to the ease before crossing the river. Hopefully we would catch the beast's trail soon. A magic circle came to life next to her, and she handed me a sword. Some sort of pocket dimension. Useful. I would have to learn that.
As Griselda left I looked up at the trees. Hopefully whatever this creature is doesn't climb. When I was young I would use touki to strengthen myself and climb trees to hunt. I had grown a lot since then. I used wind magic to propel myself upwards to the branches of the nearest tree, and then channeled it to leap from branch to branch. I heightened my senses to try and find a trace of the beast before it found me.
About a half mile from the river I found the same tracks as before. Another mile away they led to a cave, where I could hear a child crying. Bingo.
I dropped down from the trees and approached the cave. I could see no tracks, which meant that this creature was experienced enough in the forest to leave none. That, coupled with what we saw at the town, indicated at least a rudimentary level of intelligence. Once I entered the cave it didn't take long to see signs of habitation. Bones of every size littered the ground, and I could see a few human skulls among them. I came across a few animal bodies, mainly deer and boars, likely kept here to be eaten later. I could still hear the child crying, so I followed the sound until I came upon a chamber.
Dozens of bodies littered the floor here. Some were bones long picked clean, but a few were half eaten. At the back of the chamber, staring at me in fright, sat a little girl, maybe ten, with two clearly broken legs, two bodies at her side.
Shoulder length blue hair framed her face. Two fear-filled dark yellow eyes followed my movements as I approached her. Her legs struck out at awkward angles at the shins. She would not be walking anytime soon. I would have to carry her out of here.
"Hello," I said as I approached her. My name is Liam. I'm here to rescue you. What's your name?"
That got her attention, and the fear in her eyes lessened a little.
"Xenovia. There's a monster here," she said. "It killed everyone. You have to escape, that thing could be back at any moment!"
So the creature was away at the moment. Hopefully that would give me the chance to escape with the girl, and we could come back to kill it once she was safe.
"This monster, what did it look like?"
"It's big, bigger than an adult and looked like a monkey. It had claws and sharp teeth, and three eyes."
That sounded like a troll. It matched what Griselda and I found. While not fast, trolls had incredible strength, easily able to shatter a door. While not very smart creatures, trolls had enough cunning to ambush unwary travelers. They can regenerate wounds, which made killing a troll difficult. Decapitation would be the safest bet, and trolls were weak to fire. They could not regenerate the burns, so a battle of attrition with fire was another option.
"Has a man come by here," I asked her. "A stranger that would have been dressed like me?"
She nodded and pointed over to one of the bodies. I hadn't noticed him at first, preoccupied with Xenovia. He had no head and was missing an arm and leg. He wore the standard exorcist. Now I knew what happened to Tristan. We would have to come back for his body and give him a proper burial.
"We need to get out of here," I told Xenovia. "I'll carry you, but we have to hurry before the monster comes back, ok?"
She nodded, so I gingerly picked her up in a princess carry. Once she was situated I started walking out of the cave. I would have to move slowly; I couldn't run at full speed without further injuring her legs. We exited the cave and I started heading towards Edinburgh where Xenovia could receive medical treatment. The plan was to drop her off, meet up with Griselda and kill the creature.
But of course that went wrong. I heard a shuffling from the brush and turned to see an apelike monster walk out. It was big, taller than any person id met and twice as broad. Two arms hung low to the ground, round as tree trunks. One of its eyes was burnt shut and a straight burn wound started at its neck and ended at the hip. Tristan had injured the creature before he died, most likely with a light sword. As soon as the creature saw me with its prey in my arms it roared, a loud guttural sound that caused the nearby birds to fly away. Hopefully Griselda heard that, or saw the birds at least.
It lumbered over at us just like a large ape would, and before it could reach me I jumped up to the treetop. In response the creature swung at the tree and shattered it in one blow, and as it fell I jumped to another tree. I continued to jump from tree to tree until there was some distance between the tree and us.
"Stay here and try not to fall," I told Xenovia as I laid her down on the branch. "I'll distract the troll. My mentor is here, and once she arrives she'll kill the troll. We just need to survive until then, ok?"
She said something but I had already jumped down to the ground. The troll noticed me immediately and lumbered towards me again. This time I sent a stream of fire as soon as the creature was within range, and it screamed in agony. It stumbled back, swatting at the fire to extinguish it. While it was distracted I ran from the tree Xenovia was at, making as much noise as I could ensuring the troll would follow. Not one to disappoint, as soon as the flames were extinguished it roared again and gave chase.
I led the troll back to the cave. While fighting a monster in home territory wasn't very smart, the clearing at the cave would give me the most room to run around. Trolls are slow, so my greatest asset in this fight would be speed. I prepared icicles, and as soon as the troll stumbled into the clearing shot them at it. They impacted and made the troll stumble, but failed to penetrate deep into the flesh. It grunted and tore the icicles off, the wounds already healing, but I was already preparing my next attack.
I drew my sword and imbued the blade with fire. It began to glow a cherry red and I sprinted at the creature. It swung at me but I jumped above the blow, slicing at every inch of flesh I could reach. The wounds cauterized immediately not enabling it to regenerate the wounds, and the creature screamed in agony. I jumped some distance back as the creature recoiled and gathered my mana. I unleashed a torrent of flame again, but this time the creature seemed to expect it. It ran at me through the fire, and I was so surprised I failed to react to the blow that sped at me.
I now knew what people meant when they said you were hit with the force of a truck. I felt a few ribs shatter as soon as I was hit, and when I flew through the air and crashed into a tree I felt a few more shatter. I coughed blood and struggled to breath, desperately struggling to suck in air. I flooded my body with touki in a desperate bid to heal my ribs, but the troll grabbed me. Its giant hand closed around my body, lifted me up until I was dangling from its grip, and squeezed.
I felt my bones creak under the pressure and used touki to augment my strength. I tried to resist, but the troll was stronger than me. I felt my touki diminish quickly as I continued to struggle in the monsters grip. At this rate I would die.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the glint of my blade in the grass, where I dropped it when the troll hit me. A plan quickly formed in my mind. I flared my magic and the sword shivered, before rising into the air and turning to point tip first at the troll. With another flare of magic the sword flew forward and impaled the troll through the throat.
Its grip slackened and I took the chance to free myself from its grip. Pain flared from my ribs as I impacted the ground, but I endured it and looked at the troll. It stumbled back, hands scrambling at its throat in a desperate bid to remove the sword. As its hands closed around the edge I imbued the sword with fire again, and the troll gurgled in agony and removed its hand as the sword glowed cherry red once again. With a final flare of magic the blade swung in a three-hundred sixty-degree ark and decapitated the troll. Its head fell to the ground and rolled over to me while its body crashed to the ground.
I laid on the ground panting and feeling my touki begin to heal me as I laid there. I wouldn't make a full recovery immediately, but with some rest I would be back to full strength in no time.
Speaking of rest, I felt my eyes close as a wave of weariness hit me. As I drifted off to sleep I thought I saw a woman in a skintight suit standing over me.
I woke up more tired and in pain than I had ever felt, even more than when I was attacked by that vampire. As I looked around the room I was in I noticed the tell-tale signs of our infirmary. Someone, most likely Griselda, had brought me back to Vatican city.
I looked at the bed next to me and noticed Xenovia asleep. She was covered by a blanket but I could see that her legs were no longer at an awkward angle. Someone had healed her, so she must be here to rest.
I got up with a flash of pain from my ribs and headed outside, flooding my body with touki. Immediately the small aches and pains in my body lessened and I walked faster. My touki was draining at an alarming amount, working overtime to fix my injuries. I could only feel a few broken ribs, so it had fixed most of my injuries as I slept. I ran into Sister Sarah as I walked around, who immediately started to scold me for reckless behavior. I assured her I was fine to walk around and asked her where Griselda was. Her face twisted in a grimace, clearly not believing me, but told me she was giving her report of the mission and would not be back until later. I thanked her and headed to the chow hall, eager to eat.
I piled a plate full of meat, one of vegetables and the last a bowl of soup. I devoured each plate until I felt full to burst. I would digest it quickly; my metabolism always sped up when I used a large amount of touki.
I headed over to the training area to see the other trainees. They were in the middle of a class and immediately rushed over to ask me questions when they saw me.
"Get back to class before I make you all do pushups until you drop," Mr. Ian yelled. "You can ask him all the questions you want on your own time." There was a bit of grumbling at that, and I smiled as they all went back.
"And why are you here," Mr. Ian asked me. "You're no longer a trainee remember? You're a full-fledged exorcist now. So get out of here. Go enjoy your free time. You won't have much of it once you start receiving missions."
I blinked once I heard that. I'm an exorcist now. I grin broke out on my face when I realized that. Years of hard work had paid off. As I walked around the facility I realized I had no clue what to do with leisure time. So I did what I always did; I went to my bunk, picked up the last book Ms. Quarta had given me, and left to the forest to read.
This book touched upon a subject of touki referred to the 'mind's eye.' In the Hindu religion the frontal lobe was considered the mind's eye, and when infused with touki it allowed the user to 'see' the life force of others. I had refrained from ever infusing my brain with touki, unsure of what the results would be, but it made sense that it would be beneficial as well. Touki flowed through every aspect of a living being, including the brain. I closed my eyes, slowed my breathing, and meditated. Once I felt relaxed I gathered touki and slowly trickled it to my brain.
It felt like I had been blind my whole life and I could finally see. The world blazed to life around me. I could see the minuscule energy of individual blades of grass, the sizable energy that flowed through the trees around me. Further away, in the training area, I could see the life energy of the trainees and Mr. Ian. They each had their distinct colors and shade, and I could sense a measure of their emotions. This was fascinating. If I had this ability when hunting the troll it would have been a very different battle. I wouldn't have been caught by surprise at the very least.
I noticed one life force larger than any other walking out of the infirmary. It felt stern, kind and familiar. I realized this must be Griselda. I closed my book and walked to her direction. I expected a reprimand for fighting the troll on my own, but Griselda only had a smile on her face as she approached me.
"I'm glad you're doing well Liam," she told me. I wasn't sure how long it would take you to recover, but I shouldn't have been surprised it was only a day."
"You're not mad?"
"Oh? And what do I have to be mad about?" We walked towards a bench and sat next to each other.
"I engaged the troll on my own. I should have waited for backup, or ran away with Xenovia."
"True, there were other ways you could have dealt with the troll. But, in my opinion you did the right thing. You found someone injured and tried to escort them to safety. When the troll appeared you reacted quickly and made sure young Xenovia was safe. It would have been difficult for you to run with her legs broken like that, correct." I nodded. "Then you made the right decision. If you had run away with the girl the troll would have followed you, and if had reached civilization and the troll followed you someone may have seen it. One our jobs as exorcists is to keep knowledge of the supernatural secret."
"You lured the troll away from Xenovia and ambushed it. Your fight with the creature was far from excellent, but performed quite well. You used your strengths and the trolls weakness to your advantage. When it grabbed you, you reacted quickly and killed it. Even trained exorcists have fallen to trolls, as you saw with Tristan."
"Were you watching the whole thing?" She grimaced and looked sad.
"Yes. It was cruel, but this was a test of your skills you see. I had to determine how you would react to the fear of death. Our duties as exorcists will see us in dangerous situations, and we must stake our lives on the line. I would have intervened if I thought you were in danger of dying. I almost did when the troll grabbed you, but you killed it before I did. That was quick thinking by the way. I'm proud of you." I smiled at that.
"Don't get complacent," she told me. "You made more than a few rookie mistakes that you may not be able to afford in the future. Starting tomorrow I will be taking over your training myself. You will be following me in missions and continue your training."
"What about Xenovia," I asked. "I thought you would have taken her to a hospital. But I saw her in the infirmary."
"She is… a special case. She fell unconscious in the tree, and when I grabbed her I could feel a holy element from her. She has the potential to be a holy sword user, so I will be offering her the opportunity to train here."
That made sense. Very few people were born with the ability to wield holy swords, so the church would jump at the chance to add a user to their ranks. That her family was murdered would be an incentive for her to train. I understood the desire for revenge well.
"Rest for the rest of the day," Griselda told me. "We will be starting your training tomorrow."
I nodded and she walked away. As an exorcist I would have much more freedom from now on. Perhaps I would be able to find out where my village was.
The future looked bright.
An:
I feel great about the fight scene. I haven't written many, so please let me know what you all thought about it. The first dimension hop will be in a few chapters, and I will be concentrating on that for a few years before we reach canon.
Please leave a review.