The Hidden Realm

Chapter 17 – SKIRMISH

ENKILLE provided him breakfast when he woke up in the morning. She proudly showed him the walk-in closet where his clothes were neatly hanged. All were winter clothing and several battle armors.

“Today, I suggest you wear special armor and a fighting suit because Fariyah will test your strength. Physically and mentally. Best of luck!” she said when he finished his meal.

“Battle armor? Is that necessary? I couldn’t fight the High Priestess with my strength alone. I thought I needed to learn magic first.”

“Is that a complaint? You have to endure everything. Magic doesn’t come easy, especially for the likes of you.”

“I’m not complaining. I am just stating a fact.” He gently shrugged.

She immediately left after giving him more advice for his first day of sparring with the priestess. Although he was agitated thinking about what could happen, Enkille reassured him that everything would turn out good if he did his best.

Eleand chose the appropriate clothing according to Enkille’s advice. He picked the black suit with silver linings. That combination became his new favorite for an unknown reason. He just really loved dark colors.

He went down with his golden bow. Better be prepared because he could not wield any other weapon.

Eleand found the priestess waiting at the Altar of Veira. Fariyah wore a white combat suit accented with blue and red. A sword clung to her waist.

 Enkille was right. His training would probably be hellish. He silently swallowed and toughened himself. The priestess was very intimidating, and he could not shrug off her strong presence.

“Good morning, Priestess!” He gently arched his head.

“As I told you yesterday, we will waste no time. Today, I will measure the capacity of your body, physically and mentally.”

“Please be considerate, but I will do my best.”

“Good,” she held his shoulder, “we’ll train somewhere safe.”

With just a snap of her fingers, they were instantly at the peak of one waterfall. He hurriedly regained his balance before he accidentally slipped.

“How good is your archery skill?” The priestess looked at his bow.

Eleand smiled as he recovered from the shock. “Fair enough.”

I am the best. He wanted to tell it with pride, but he remained silent.

“Let’s see. If you can hit me, I will teach you immediately to control the water element.”

Eleand suddenly felt excited upon hearing her words. He was relieved the first test would involve archery; this might be easy. He trusted his archery expertise. Besides, he wore Aserah’s amulet, giving him a faerie sight was an advantage.

“Okay, game!” He sounded enthusiastic.

Fariyah nodded. “Let’s begin.”

He silently swallowed when the priestess drew the sword from the hilt. His throat dried when Fariyah said the only rule.

“If you missed, you die.”

Damn! His eyes widened when the priestess disappeared, and she moved so fast that even his faerie eyes could not follow. Fariyah moved like a wind.

Shit. He underestimated the situation. This was not the way he imagined.

Eleand clasped his weapon. He needed to hit her. But the way she budged, it was impossible. This was a fight between a human versus a descendant of the goddess of winter. And probably his last moment of being alive. A shiver ran to his spine when he realized how he was at a disadvantage.

But he did not let himself feel discouraged. He was unbothered by the cold surroundings; he must not lose focus. He tightened his grip on his bow. He was the best in archery. Now was the time to prove it.

Eleand had mastered Fariyah’s movement, and when he finally witnessed the pattern, he shot the arrow. And to his dismay, he missed! She just shoved it off.

He released the arrows in sequence. But he was even more disappointed. All his attempts went to futility until he only got a few remaining shots. If he could not hit the priestess even once, he would meet his demise.

This is cheating! Eleand fired the arrow again. Still no luck.

Fariyah was an expert in the field of magic and combat. He could tell that she was a sword expert as she was effortlessly blocking the attacks that came her way.

When the priestess paused, he adjusted his aim and darted non-stop. But the situation was still the same. He could not hit her.

Fariyah went in his direction while dodging his attacks. And in just one blink of an eye, Eleand suddenly felt the stinging pain from his stomach.

Eleand froze in shock when his blood dripped from his abdomen and the burning pain behind his body. The priestess’s sword deeply plunged fast to his torso. His combat suit didn’t give him the protection he had expected.

“What a weakling,” she hardly shook her head with mockery in her eyes.

His eyes broadened, looking down to his body. This b***h was not lying about ending his life. She would kill him without a doubt!

“That was not fair,” he hardly closed his eyes and slowly sat on the frozen ground. His blood continued to spill. He was alarmed by what was going on. This was not a joke!

Eleand screamed when his head felt numb, like his entire brain covered in thick ice. This was another attack that he didn’t know where it came from. Fariyah seemed to enjoy torturing him.

“Please, don’t do this to me.” He wanted to smash his head on the ground.

“Stop! Please enough!” he pleaded again.

Fariyah was controlling his mind with her ice magic. The pain was excruciating. His head could explode anytime due to severe pain. Like his brain was frozen and broke into pieces along with his skull.

At that moment, he knew he would die. He felt his head was about to c***k physically. He felt too weak to utter a word, and slowly his consciousness was fading away.

But surprisingly, the pain suddenly vanished. He laid flat on the ground facing the cloudy sky.

“Enough for today. What a waste of time. You’re extremely weak. Your body could not withstand magic in your current state.” Fariyah said coldly and utterly displeased.

The priestess looked bored and expressed her disappointment. She did not even care if he was running out of blood and anytime his pulse might stop beating.

Then she was gone.

Fariyah was ruthless! He never imagined she could be this merciless for a mere human. It was his fault for underestimating the situation. He thought he was prepared, but considering what happened now, his magic training was more challenging than he expected. It would cost his life.

His heart was thudding loud while he gripped his hands to his wounds. The priestess was beyond savage. She never helped him despite almost killing him.

How could he go down the temple in this state? He was severely injured and dying!

Perhaps, this was the place where he would die. He gave his best. Only it was not enough.

“Enkille…” He fumbled.

 Everything went blurred, and his body finally surrendered.