***
After Xaryus and Zadius' core information was revealed they were immediately accepted into the Red Lions. Information on their spite was not stored within Gaia's database as per the general's request; even though it directly goes against protocol.
They were then escorted to their living quarters where they split ways with Velmo.
"Are you returning to Rosa?" The general stood at one of many doors that lined the Hold's stone hallways.
Velmo nodded as he turned away, giving a soft glance to Zadius before continuing down the hall.
Turning her attention to the door she stood next to and opening it.
"This will be your room. I assumed that you would want to share so I chose a suitable one."
Behind the door was a spacious room much larger than the shack they had once resided in. It had smooth stone walls, two separate beds at each corner of the room, each accompanied by a bedside table and a wardrobe.
Xaryus placed his hands on the bed and felt its soft welcome, quickly finding himself laying down in its warm embrace.
"I didn't know beds could be this soft." he said in a satisfied tone, a child-like smile filling his face.
A smile that had not found purchase for many years.
Zadius watched his younger brother and simply smiled, as if a father was happily looking on at his son.
"So you can smile." The commander said playfully.
"When I want to, General Leveness." Zadius replied.
Leveness let out a short laugh before she continued to speak, "Well, training begins at the start of the next year. My advice, enjoy this comfort while you still can." She ended before returning to her duties.
***
Xaryus and Zadius had spent their time just as General Leveness instructed.
Their days consisted of exploring the large ruins long repurposed as a base of operations, eating in the mess hall, making small conversation with other awakened and watching various knights of the Red Lions spar amongst themselves.
From time to time they spoke with Amber, a beautiful, fair-skinned woman with blond hair and blue eyes.
General Leveness had initially introduced her to Xaryus and Zadius as the 'Mind of the Red Lions'.
She had a very pleasant attitude and provided them with nice conversations whenever they spoke; which was very rare because she was always busy managing the logistical operations within the hold.
And just like that, before they knew it, the time passed in the blink of an eye and the new year was quickly approaching.
One day, Amber had approached the brothers as they wandered the familiar halls of the repurposed castle.
"Can I speak to you two for a moment?" She asked.
They did not respond and simply followed her obediently. She guided them towards an area of the hold that Xaryus was well acquainted with.
After a few moments they arrived at the library that sat beneath the hold.
It was a large underground room with curved archways running through it. There were countless bookshelves along the length of the room, sitting just below a massive balcony that stretched across a majority of the room and acted as a second floor.
To the right of the Library's entrance was a flight of stairs leading up towards the balcony that covered the first floor.
Next to the stairs was a well made wooden desk occupied by a handsome young man reading a hard covered book. His eyes were a deep black similar to that of his hair.
He wore black clothes that covered most of his body and his hands and neck were wrapped in bandages.
The man had a strange yet graceful air to him.
Although Xaryus had visited the library many times, this was the first he had seen the strange man.
"Good afternoon, K." Amber acknowledged the man as she walked past him and towards the stairs.
K simply nodded in response as she walked by, keeping his attention in his book.
Xaryus walked past, giving K a gentle nod of acknowledgement before ascending the stairs, but Zadius on the other hand paid more attention to the black haired man.
As Zadius walked by, he couldn't help but wonder if the man was awakened or not. And if he was, he wondered how powerful he was.
Extending his animus towards K, Zadius awaited feedback from his animus reaching out towards the seated man.
The moment Zadius' senses reached K, his eyes gently darted towards Zadius, startling him.
Zadius felt as if his animus vanished the moment it got close to K. He couldn't sense any animus coming from him, but he was now sure that K was awakened.
Slightly uncomfortable, he quickened his steps to catch up to Amber and Xaryus.
K's eyes followed Zadius up the stairs before he released a deep sigh and returned to his book.
***
The second floor was much nicer than the first floor, although a bit smaller.
Amber led the brothers to some seating arrangements not too far from the top of the stairs. Taking a seat in tandem with Xaryus and Zadius she began to speak.
"For the next two weeks, I have been tasked with filling any gaps in knowledge you may have before your training begins." She said, glancing between Xaryus and Zadius. "Now, explain everything the Smiling Blade has taught you so far."
Xaryus and Zadius then proceeded to explain the teachings Valon had drilled into their minds and bodies for all those years.
At times, Amber was disturbed at the extent of their knowledge in intense fields such as combat and the art of torture but she was prepared for such a revelation.
Not surprisingly, she found that they had ample knowledge of combat skills, tactics, basic information of societal structures across Obis and an in-depth catalogue of information on how to kill an enemy.
"It isn't surprising that they possess knowledge like that of an assassin." Amber thought.
Taking note of their current knowledge base, she began that day's session by explaining the hierarchy within the Red Lions and the two other knight orders in Rosa; the Red Cross and the Crimson Shield.
The rankings within the knight orders were standard among knight orders on Obis and Inux; recruit, squire, knight, senior knight, 2nd commander, 1st commander, vice captain and captain.
The captain of the Red Lions was Leveness and the acting vice captain was Amber, who was only holding onto the position until a suitable knight was found.
After discussing the hierarchy within knight orders, Amber moved on to spite. She had noticed that they lacked an intricate understanding of animus and spite outside of applications for combat.
"Did the Smiling Blade purposefully limit their understanding of animus and spite to offset their already fast growth speed?" Amber thought, theorizing about Valon's teaching techniques.
Not delving too deep into thought, she began to further explain the principles of animus and spite.
Animus as they already knew was an energy that all living beings possessed and source of power that awakened and aether beasts used to perform 'miracles' for a lack of better words. Spite is the culmination of all an awakener's abilities that is manifested as their core.
Then, she began to go deeper into the concepts.
She explained that an awakener's core is constantly undergoing a type of evolution as animus is stored and transformed into Kel. But a core's growth wasn't limited to maturing by processing animus.
"Most awakeners call it enlightenment… When your understanding of your abilities, your attunement to and or understanding of law deepens, you can undergo enlightenment. Some cultures believe it to be a blessing from God and others think it is a form of ascension, shedding away mortal chains." Amber explained.
She continued, informing them of the profound changes that a core undergoes during enlightenment that differs from simply maturing naturally or through elixirs.
The quality of animus and Kel produced from one's core greatly increases and their understanding and applications of their abilities become much more complicated.
"For example, I have only undergone a single enlightenment in my life due to me deepening my understanding of my abilities. The applications of your spite are both limitless and limited. An abilities application is primarily limited by its users' understanding and a standard method of gaining said understanding has never been found. It can be better described as an intimate feeling on how one's ability should be utilized. However, during enlightenment, it's almost as if that feeling becomes more palpable and a new range of applications come into reach." Amber continued as she outstretched her hand and whispered.
Just above her palm, a small sphere of water slowly began to appear.
"Before enlightenment, this ability simply allowed me to create small amounts of drinkable water. However…"
First, the sphere of water began to grow larger.
"...After enlightenment, I was able to adjust its size…"
Then, the sphere slowly morphed into a cone
"...its shape…"
Then the water slowly began to bubble.
"...its temperature…"
Then the cone slowly began to spin before the speed subtly became violent. A faint hum coming from the now spinning shard of boiling water.
"... And with all these applications, I am able to change a simple ability used to create water into a decent attack ability. At the cost of some extra animus of course." She ended, raising her other hand.
From it, she summoned a small cup and allowed her ability to fall apart and into the cup.
"That is the level of power and control over your spite you must strive to achieve." Amber concluded.
Xaryus and Zadius simply looked on at her demonstration in awe.
Chapter. 34 - Sharpened Swords
"No, place your foot at a forty five degree angle, not fifty. Again!" Leveness' stern words echoed throughout an enclosed chamber.
Xaryus and Zadius' Training began on the first day of the year. To their surprise, Captain Leveness had taken it upon herself to deliver their training.
During morning periods, they underwent combat practice, refining the skills already embedded in them.
After lunch, they studied theories surrounding spite and law. Many of which they briefly came across in their studies with Amber.
"Your combat prowess is formidable, you should be able to hold your own against awakeners an entire rank higher than you." Leveness praised Xaryus and Zadius with open arms.
"But we aren't guaranteed to win." Xaryus complained, groaning as he picked himself up from the ground.
A simple sword was tightly grasped in his hands and his eyes glowed with a bright yellow light; his body fueled by [Solaris].
Zadius stood beside him, daggers in hand and his body soaked in animus.
They stood alongside Leveness in her private training room beneath the Hold. It was a large room lined with a special material - void stone - to resist Leveness' powerful surges of animus.
At its centre was a simple raised platform, surrounded by several racks of weapons.
"That is true, but if you only fight battles you are sure of winning, you will never accomplish anything. To achieve greatness without risk is a fallacy of the weak hearted." Leveness responded, "Now, let us continue. Attack together." She ended.
Simultaneously, the brothers dashed towards Leveness and released a well coordinated flurry of slashes, but it was not enough.
As if dancing, Leveness avoided all their attacks effortlessly, her amber green eyes observing all their movements.
"She isn't even enhancing herself with animus!" Zadius frowned as he swung his daggers towards Leveness' chin.
Without difficulty, she dodged Zadius' attack, "They're already getting better." She thought to herself.
"Decent attempt. Now, go on the defensive."
Not giving Xaryus or Zadius ample time to think, her relaxed posture vanished and her centre of gravity lowered. Although a minor change in demeanour, she looked as if she was cloaked in killing intent.
If she had exuded any of her animus and used Reiki, she could have incapacitated Xaryus and Zadius in a single moment.
As she stepped forward, Xaryus instinctively took a step back.
"Stand strong, Xaryus. Don't falter." Zadius instructed, barely keeping his composure amongst the thick killing intent.
Clutching his sword, Xaryus gritted his teeth and stepped behind his brother.
"Good. Fear clouds the mind and in turn your vision. And what happens when you cannot see what is before you?" Leveness questioned as she brought her fist down onto Xaryus.
Barely holding her fist back with his sword, Xaryus dropped to his knees and answered desperately, "They… die."
"Correct." Leveness briefly praised Xaryus before thrusting her knee into his stomach, lifting his body off the ground and launching him across the platform.
Shifting her attention from Xaryus to her second opponent, Leveness turned her head around to see Zadius mid-air, his daggers held tightly across his chest as he descended.
With a swift turn, she brought her heel to Zadius' chest, stopping his momentum. The blow echoed through his body as he sloppily fell to the ground.
***
As the months flew by, Leveness began to focus more closely on the use of animus and spite.
"Although your physical capabilities are nothing short of excellent, your understanding of animus is subpar in comparison. Each time you enhance yourselves with animus, you do so inefficiently. Don't simply send animus from your core to the desired body part and return it when done. To be as efficient as possible, circulate the animus around your body using blood vessels as a medium."
"Doing so would make the effects of enhancement much more noticeable. But it would also require more concentration, no?" Xaryus asked.
"Yes, it would bolster the effects of your enhancement, all while preventing the unnecessary loss of animus. Now, your next task is to comfortably circulate animus through your body under stressful scenarios." Leveness ended with a sly smirk.
***
The sly smirk she had worn on her face had long faded a few days after. She expected the training process to be short, but she expected them to grasp the technique in a week's time.
Personally, it had taken her two weeks to perfect it.
"Two days, it only took them two days!?"
"Their ability to grasp and apply concepts is amazing."
***
And just like that two years quickly passed by.
Xaryus and Zadius slaved away, training day in and day out. Each one feeling like a hazed copy of the other, but they persevered.
The intense training consumed their minds, with each new month being harsher than the last. But as they continued forward they found new strength.
That was when they achieved their first enlightenment, Xaryus had collapsed during training and Zadius followed suit a week later.
Whilst Xaryus was recovering and basking in his new found abilities, Zadius was still under the effects of his enlightenment.
He was in the medical ward, laid soundly on a white sheeted bed.
"Keep growing, for my sake." Leveness uttered under her breath, her hand placed atop Zadius' chest.