The Final Stage of Training.
1786 Words
“Huff… Huff… Huff… I didn’t think it’d be this hard,” Kevin gasped, crouched atop a battered tree trunk, blood trickling from a gash in his brow. Bark cracked under his boots.
His eyes locked onto the last giant still standing among the smoking, ruined garden—its armor scorched and dented, machete dripping with sap and blood from fallen trees and beasts alike.
Kevin tightened his grip on his butterfly swords, cracked and chipped at the edges.
> “Here goes… huh?”
He froze. Heat flushed his face.
> “This is… Deity Chinue?!” he quavered.
Chinue stood regally on the giant’s massive shoulder, hair whipping in the wind. But her form was changing. A furious storm gathered, howling around them. Wind blasted the broken garden, toppling trees and sending shattered stone statues flying. Kevin had to brace, one arm shielding his eyes as debris cut across his face in tiny, bleeding lines.
> “What’s going on?!” he thought, teeth gritted.
The wind died with unnatural suddenness, dropping a carpet of crushed petals to the earth.
Chinue was revealed in golden armor that seemed to glow with its own sunlit fire. Her breastplate was etched with ancient runes that sparked in the dim light. A long golden spear rested easily in her hand, the shaft detailed with a tiger’s snarling head. At her side hung a sheathed sword, gleaming so brightly its reflection cut like a second sun.
> “This is the final stage. Silly,” she said with a smirk.
Kevin wiped blood from his lip, breathing raggedly.
> “You finally show your true form. How… fascinating.”
> “What about yours? Bring out your full armor. Silly.”
> “Nah. Not now.”
> “Suit yourself.”
The giant shifted beneath Chinue, muscles bulging. It roared—a horrifying, metallic sound—and swung its machete with explosive force.
The blade sliced the tree Kevin stood on clean in half, sending shards of splintered wood exploding like shrapnel.
Kevin leapt free just in time. The shockwave nearly threw him from the air, and he landed hard behind another tree, cracking the trunk with his armored back.
> “Deity Chinue, one question!” he shouted breathlessly, peeking out. “If I die here, does it affect my body in reality?”
Chinue rested her cheek on her gloved hand, voice cruelly amused.
> “Well. I can’t say.”
> “Seriously? I thought you had trainees here before me!”
> “Yeah, that’s true. They all passed. You might be the first to fail. If you die, you can tell me how it felt.”
Kevin’s eyes narrowed, a line of blood dripping down his temple.
> “Ha. I’m not planning on dying yet.”
He roared, charging from cover, blades raised.
The giant swung again with terrifying speed, but Kevin dodged, sparks bursting as the machete gouged a trench into the earth. He scrambled up its arm, boots finding purchase on dented plates slick with his own blood from earlier cuts.
Kevin sprinted along its shoulder, closing in on Chinue.
> “Take down the boss. Bring down the underlings,” he growled to himself.
But he froze mid-step.
> “Where’s the spear in her hands… or is it an illusion?”
Lightning-fast, the golden spear materialized in the air beside him and slammed into his ribs with thunderous force.
Kevin’s scream echoed through the broken garden as he was hurled off the giant like a ragdoll. He bounced across the ground, tearing a massive crater. Blood misted in the air where his armor dented from the impact.
The spear whipped back to Chinue’s hand with unnatural grace.
Kevin lay groaning in the dirt, butterfly swords crossed protectively over his face.
> “Thank… god… I blocked that. She’s trying to kill me for real,” he thought, coughing blood.
He staggered upright, panting, standing among broken roots and scattered feathers of dead birds crushed in the battle.
Chinue balanced her spear calmly on the giant’s shoulder, watching him.
> “This realm—the land you call a garden—isn’t just a world of vibrant flowers and cute animals,” she said coldly. “It absorbs every ounce of force you and I unleash while fighting. You might destroy it, but such demolition would obliterate even half of your fragile Earth.”
Kevin glanced around. The trees he’d smashed were already reforming, flowers blooming from dust, vines stitching the cracked earth and birds and animals killed when fighting the giants were brought back to life.
> “Wow. It’s true,” he muttered. “That means… I have to go full armor.”
He closed his eyes.
A green light flashed.
When it faded, Kevin stood clad head to toe in his own monstrous armor—metal plates fused with runes glowing bright green, blades mounted along his forearms.
With a roar, he charged.
Kevin’s twin swords clashed with Chinue’s spear, the force blasting trees to splinters and sending vines whipping in agony. Sparks showered the clearing.
Kevin grunted, shoving with all his might. He leapt over Chinue, boots slamming the giant’s face, cracking its chin like stone. The giant toppled to the ground, a tremor splitting the earth beneath it.
Still airborne, Kevin and Chinue traded blows, each swing creating sonic booms that rattled the ruined statues.
Kevin’s kick knocked Chinue’s spear from her grip.
He smirked.
> “Got you—”
But Chinue twisted, dodging his blades with unnatural speed.
The spear reappeared behind Kevin, slamming him downward.
He screamed as he cratered the earth again, armor denting, ribs screaming in pain.
Kevin groaned, pushing himself up with trembling arms.
Blood dripped onto the cracked dirt, sizzling in the still-charged air.
> “Huff… what a pain… A spear with a mind of its own,” he snarled, glaring up.
Chinue hovered above, spear floating beside her like a loyal hound.
Kevin’s eyes flicked to the giant lying stunned on the ground.
> “Good. Just stay put while I finish…”
He sidestepped as the spear lunged again, its tip burrowing meters into the ground and throwing up dirt and rocks. Kevin retreated, boots skidding, breath coming in ragged bursts.
Chinue lowered herself gracefully, the spear floating back behind her.
> “Any tips or weaknesses I could use to pass the final training?” he gasped, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his gauntlet.
Chinue’s smile was razor-sharp.
> “Really? That’s your question? There are many things you should have asked me before the fight—but you chose to ask how to beat me. Silly. We Deities don’t have weaknesses.”
Her sword hissed from its sheath on its own, floating beside the spear.
Kevin’s blood ran cold.
> “Her sword too?!” he whispered, heart pounding.
Both weapons hovered in a slow, circling dance around her, crackling with magical energy. The wind picked up violently, ripping branches from trees, slamming debris against Kevin’s armored body with a constant metallic clunking.
> “Can I win?” he wondered.
The wind became a roaring maelstrom, the air thick with dust and swirling leaves. Kevin couldn’t see her clearly anymore—just the blurry, gold-glowing weapons slicing the wind like executioner’s blades.
> “Is this training or a battlefield?!”
Suddenly both the golden spear and sword cut through the wind like scythes, streaking toward him with deathly precision.
Kevin roared and rolled aside, then sprinted full speed, armor clanking, crashing through trees as the weapons chased him relentlessly.
Chinue’s eyes narrowed.
> “Silly. You can’t run from my weapons.”
But Kevin’s armor cracked and fell apart in glowing shards—only to reveal nothing inside.
He exploded from the dirt behind her, bloodied but grinning madly.
Chinue’s eyes went wide.
> “When did he—? Oh…”
Kevin tackled her, locking her head under his arm.
> “Got you!!” he shouted, blood dripping from his busted lip onto her armor.
The wind died instantly.
Chinue exhaled and slowly raised her hand in surrender.
> “You didn’t see that coming, did you?” Kevin taunted, breath ragged.
Chinue chuckled, her armor vanishing in shimmering motes of light. Her weapons fell to the ground and crumbled to dust.
> “You won. Silly.”
She patted his arm as he let her go.
> “So you finally learned to control your armor—using it as a decoy while your real body stayed hidden. Distracting me with your wreckage while you closed in.”
Kevin grinned, wincing as he wiped blood from his face.
> “After seeing your weapons move without you holding them, I figured you controlled them with your mind. Took me a bit, but I caught on.”
> “Hmmm. It’s your gift.”
> “My gift?!”
> “Yes, Silly. You have the ability to see someone else’s gift once and make it your own.”
Kevin’s eyes widened.
> “Woah! Really?! No wonder I transformed when I saw Deity Asher in his true form—with that weird hat on his head.”
Chinue laughed softly, shaking her head.
> “Not only are you adaptable in any situation, but you can use others’ gifts as your own. That’s nice.”
Kevin smiled back, bloodied teeth showing.
> “Did I pass?”
She nodded.
> “Yes!!”
Kevin threw his arms up and cheered, blood spraying from a split knuckle. He danced in place, armor shards still smoldering on the ground.
He stopped, panting.
> “Now that I passed… what next?”
Chinue smirked.
> “That will be next time. Silly.”
> “Next time? What about now—I…”
But she snapped her fingers.
---
Meanwhile in the real world—
Kevin floated, limp and bloody, near the ceiling of his room, eyes flicking open with a start.
> “She couldn’t let me finish my words,” he grumbled, blinking at the ceiling that was uncomfortably close.
He hovered there, arms flailing.
> “The ceiling looks kind of… oh. I’m flying.”
He waved his arms frantically and thumped down onto his bed with a heavy whump.
Kevin lay there panting, sweat soaking his clothes.
His pupils shrank.
> “What… is this weird feeling I’m having… don’t tell me…”
He slowly turned his head toward the door.
His eyes went wide in horror.
Gillian and Jennifer stood there, frozen, staring at their big brother in total shock.
- Writer
