The Room
#4 of Ever Changing
Apologies for my tardieness. I was having trouble figuring out what to do with this. Hope you enjoy ^.=.^
After he finishes speaking to the group he came over to where he told us to go and says "You three have already proven yourselves to have a knack for this. So we are going to go to a different training room along with Shandra."
"Sir I have a question" Nevera says.
"Yes, what is it" asks Shade.
"Where did you find Necro?"
"I'm sorry but that would be for Necro to tell, not me. Anyway we need to get to the new training room. This way" he says as he proceeded passed us and deeper into the room.
At the farthest point from the entrance is another door. This one is no different than all the other plain oak doors in the complex, but it seems odd. Like it has an aura, but whatever it is it put me on edge. The feeling makes my scales stand on end. I've set every one on edge I think to myself.
Shade is the first to remark about it saying "What's wrong Necro you seem uneasy?"
"I don't like that door. There's something, wrong about it" I reply.
"You're probably just sensing the ward around the door" he states as he opens the door. On the other side the room is empty save for four chairs all of them back to back, making a little square between them. "If you all will take a seat please, we can get started with this next bit of training." I sat in the farthest chair Aceel on my left, Shandra on my right, and Nevera right behind me.
"Now while you're in here time speeds up and illusions pop up on command for training purposes. Once started the enchantments will not stop for two days out side, equivalent to five years in here, so if any of you want out now is the time to go." We all stayed silent. "Good, now remember this only works if you remain diligent. At several points through out the period you will be asked to do missions. I recommend that you accept them as they are good experience and will help you later on. Lastly anything that happens in here will harm you. So any damage done is real. This is you're last chance to get out." Again we all remain silent. "See you in a couple of days."
When he stepped out of the room everything went black. After a couple of minutes the lights return but instead of being in a bare room we appear to be in a dining room with all of our chairs facing a table that now occupies the previously empty space.
"What should we should we do" Nevera asks.
"I would like to start out with some more exercise. The work out we went through didn't do much for me. I'll see what all is around here before that though" I say and stand up and walk through the door on the south wall, Shandra on my heels.
Through the door was a living room. The room was spartan to say the least. All it had was one white coach on the left below a stair case, two chairs on the immediate right and in the far off right corner, and a simple fire place in between the chairs.
In front of the stair case was a door that seemed to lead to the outside. I zero in on the door. I want to know what is on the outside. Stepping outside is a salve for my soul. Even though it is fake it seems as though it is real.
"Alright Shandra you go ahead and fly around and do some aerial maneuvers while I go through some stances that Shade taught us" I say.
She took my advice, though for a while she seemed really out of control. But then towards noon she was doing things that seemed impossible. While she did that I was eventually joined by both Aceel and Nevera. When noon did come around my companions were both sitting against the house breathing heavily and staring at me as I kept going.
"How can you keep going Necro" Aceel asks.
"My muscle density is greater than yours is, giving me greater strength and endurance."
"Well this doesn't seem to be helping you. So after we eat we will go through different stances, strikes and maneuvers" Nevera says. "Come on lets go."
"I will join you but need no sustenance" I say. The following silence prompted me to say
"Your staring is beginning to make me angry. Please stop doing it." They both immediately looked away. "Shandra" I yell "time for food."
She lands next to me, clicks her beak a little and says "Sounds good to me. I want mine raw if you don't mind."
"What kind of supplies do we have" I ask.
"There is a cold storage full of meat. Then there's a lot of dry foods and seasoning" Aceel responds.
"Sorry Shandra there isn't anything raw that isn't frozen" I tell her.
"Oh well. Just have them warm up four or five steaks for me."
"Shandra says she will have five steaks. Just warm them up" I translate for my companions.
"Well I'll have one well done thank-you" Aceel says.
"All right I'll get them ready, you guys rest" Nevera replies.
For the next half hour we all sat in a comfortable silence. When Nevera comes back out she is holding three plates of food. She then hands a plate to the other two girls.
After finishing lunch Aceel and I stand side by side so that she could show me the new maneuvers. Aceel covered many maneuvers from rolls to stabs and slashes. After nearly a six hours Aceel looked like she was about to collapse and I myself was actually tired and breathing heavily.
"It's getting late Aceel we should stop for now and continue in the morning" I state through heavy breaths.
"Sounds (huff) like a plan" she says before collapsing.
Before she can hit the ground I grab her and hold her for a minute making sure she is alright. After scanning her with the magic I realize that her body is just fatigued. So I run some of my own energy into her to help revitalize her.
When I finish she opens her eyes and asks "What happened?"
"You were fatigued so I used some magic to rejuvenate you, like my body now does naturally."
"That's why you don't need food" she inquires.
"Yes it is."
"Don't suppose you could do that for me?"
"It's possible but there may be affects that I can't foresee that could be harmful" I reply with a serious tone.
"Well I do believe that the benefits slightly out way the risks and perhaps you could give me your strength as well."
"Very well. Though I would rather do it in the morning when you are well rested" I say calm.
"Sounds good to me."
After that Aceel heads inside. I stay where I am and think about what might happen to Aceel when 'adjust' her tomorrow, for lack of a better term. At some point during my contemplations Shandra came up and curled around me to rest her head in my lap.
I gently stroked her head and asked "Why am I concerned about Aceel so much."
"Maybe it's that she's accepted you" Shandra said.
"Maybe, no one's ever been nice to me before Shade found me. Gah what are these feelings. They're infuriating" I hiss clenching my claws drawing a small trickle of blood that quickly end with a bit of magic
"You need to calm down Cro" Shandra says soothingly.
"I... wait what did you call me" I ask befuddled.
"Cro a nickname that came to me. You don't mind do you" she asked nervously.
"Not at all Sha I rather like it. It's endearing" I reply. She just gives me a crooked grin. She slowly drifts off to sleep as pet her head staring up at the stars.
*Next morning*
Nevera walked out of the house her fur seemed lightly tousled. Seeing me sitting there petting Sha she asked "Did you get any sleep last night?"
"Hehe.. for as long as I can remember I haven't require sleep" I inform her.
"That sounds like a cursed blessing" she replied.
"It used to be" I say looking down at Shandra.
"You should do that more often" she says.
"Do what?"
"Smile" she stated matter-of-factly. It was then that I noticed I was smiling down at Sha as she slept. "So what are we gonna do today?"
"First I'm going to alter Aceel so that she can have some of my abilities" was my immediate reply.
"Alter? So your going to give her your endurance or something?"
"Yes that is one of the abilities I'm going to give her" I respond. "Would you like them too" I add as an after thought. She looks contemplative for a while but eventually agreed so that she wouldn't slow us down.
"Very well. Give me your hand" I say reaching my hand out for hers. She hesitantly places her hand in mine. When I have her hand in my grasp I close my eyes and concentrate on her.
As the magic moves into her body I feel her tense up. As the magic expands more information about her body fills my head. It takes me a while to figure out how to change her without harming her. After giving her my bone structure I add the muscle density. I then adjust her eyes and ears making them more sensetive. Finally I give her body the ability to absorb natural energy.
As I retract the magic from her I ask "How do you feel?"
"I feel...normal except for everything seems louder brighter and has a better focus. It's almost like you didn't do anything" she says.
"Hm, I felt the same way. You should summon one those Illusions Shade talked about so you can get used to the enhancements."
"Sounds like a good idea" she says flexing her hand trying feel a difference.
She walked a ways away from us and waited for the illusion. After a minute a black clad figure appeared a few feet from her. Both immediately took up a fighting stance.
The figure attacked first with a simple rush and attempted to punch Nevera when it came close. Nevera ducked and punched it in the stomach making it fly to the edge of the clearing. As the apparition landed it disappeared leaving Nevera stunned.
"It would seem you don't know your own strength any more" I chuckled.
"It would appear that way" she replied quietly still stunned.
"You should keep training so you can control it. It would be a shame to harm some one unintentionally" I mention.
"Right" she agreed.
As the next phantom appeared Aceel walked out of the house and I ask "How are you feeling?"
"Fantastic. I haven't felt this good in a long time" she murmured the last bit.
"That's good. Do you feel up to accepting the change" I inquire.
"Yes I do."
"Good. If you'll give me your hand I say" and so the event repeated its self right up to when she summons the Illusion.
I look down at Sha and ask "How long have you been awake?"
"Since Nevera came out of the house. You're friendlier than when I first met you. That feels like forever ago" she says.
"It was only two days ago. But you're right it does feel longer."