155 Light at the End of the Tunnel

Doevm woke with a start as water splashed onto his face. He groaned as he reached under his face plate and wiped his eyes, which were blinded by many blurry light sources. He sat up, finding that he was still on the tenth floor of the Black Market. His vision sharpened, and the blurry lights turned into the few light crystals still in the ceiling. Around him were three of the Apprentices, a man he had never seen before with the symbol of a book on his breastplate, Alexander, and Oliver.

Another light caught Doevm's attention, the source of which was a healing magic circle over his fading scrapes and bruises. "Thanks," Doevm said as his headache vanished.

"Your welcome," Oliver said. "Is there any more pain? Do you think you will be able to keep conscious?"

"Yeah," Doevm coughed a couple times. "More or less. What are you doing here?"

Oliver's eyebrows creased and he cocked his head to the side. He looked at Doevm as if looking at a stranger, unable to guess his identity through his face plate. "The usual, I guess. Battle happens, I patch the wounded up. It's part of my new job as a healer of the knights' academy, although apparently," Oliver sent a quick glare over at the man with General Marble's symbol on his chest plate. "I can be used for anything if General Marble, his Majors, Apprentices, or Captains command it. May I attend to the rest of the injured now?" He put emphasis on the last words, making sure to pronounce them with his annoyance.

"Permission granted," Doevm said before, who he assumed to be the Captain, could open his mouth.

"Soldier," the Captain scowled at Doevm. "You may have done some good in this battle, but only those at Captain rank or above who serve under my superior, General Marble himself, can order our healer around. Don't forget your rank. My men and I might have been late to the battlefield, but military policy still applies."

"I am a Captain," Doevm said as Oliver helped him get to his feet. "I have worked my way up to this rank through the year-long war under the late Captain Marcus, who served under your General. Since you took so long in getting here, I technically hold temporary command over you, which includes Oliver. Now, would you like to compare sizes or be a good little filthy human and…"

He stopped and took a couple of breaths. 'Anger can't be used here, so let it go.' He went into his internal library, finding that he had unconsciously grabbed "Lich's Malice". 'I guess I need to be more careful if I'm going to use rage so I don't get lost in it.' He pulled his mind back and into the present, where the Captain had almost physically recoiled.

The Captain looked at Oliver as if to confirm what had just happened. "Do you recognize this person? Is he serious?"

"I'm not sure," Oliver hesitated. "Captain, can you lift your face plate so I can confirm your identity?"

"I guess I have no choice," he said as he grabbed his helmet. He lifted the sweaty helmet off his head, hoping that many wouldn't look his way. Alexander raised an eyebrow.

The Captain burst out laughing: "You can't expect me to believe a child like you survived the War Monk's betrayal. I bet you just watched from the bushes while pissing your pants." He looked to Alexander, who wore a stoic expression, then coughed. After, he got uncomfortably close to Doevm and sneered: "You just attempted to impersonate a Captain and can be imprisoned or executed for your offence. Stop joking around. What is your rank?"

"No," Oliver stepped between them. "He killed Ashtehar. His name is Doevm, a Captain. I can swear that every word he has said was true."

"I can't believe," the Captain looked to Alexander, who shrugged. "I don't believe…Oh my goddess." He grabbed the side of his head and pointed his finger at Doevm. "You're the man who took down Ashtehar? You survived the betrayal. No no no, this has to be some sort of joke. That War Monk took down entire squadrons alone. H-he"

"Whether you believe it or not, Captain," Alexander said as he grabbed Doevm by the shoulder. "You have better things to do. Stop wasting the healer's time." He led Doevm away from the rest of the group, towards the tunnel the skeletal arm had made. Only until they were out of earshot did he speak: "Now Doevm, why do you seem to have such a knack for trouble? First, I find you in the Underground, about to be killed by a creature, then I find you down here, then I find out you were at the betrayal. I know you want to be a knight but this was just reckless. Is this how you got into trouble all of those other times?"

"This way is a dead end remember," Doevm said as they ascended the unstable tunnel to the surface.

"Don't try to change the subject," Alexander said. "From what the Apprentices told me; you were instrumental in taking down the Resistance's three Majors. How did you beat them?" Even in the darkness of the tunnel, Alexander's experienced eyes pierced through Doevm, trying to see into his psyche. While he seemingly had an innocent hand on Doevm's shoulder, his finger stretched down close enough to feel Doevm's heartbeat. Any lie and he would know in literally a heartbeat.

"I honestly don't know," Doevm said. "After my match back at the commoner tournament and your words about how disgusting my fighting style was, I tried to look for the flaws in it. I found nothing wrong but my emotional state. So, I wiped away my distracting emotions like wiping grime off of books until only an anger remained. Above all, I couldn't get rid of that one emotion."

"That's an odd metaphor," Alexander chuckled. "But to be honest, I think I already know what happened. I can tell just by looking at the way you walk that you've changed. During the battle, when I activated my bloodlust, you barely reacted, even if you had experienced it before."

"I did?" Doevm thought aloud as he went through his memories. "That's right, I was able to keep thinking even though the men around me were falling over. Although, I don't understand how a change in mentality could be that significant. They're just thoughts, feelings. They don't change how much strength I have or increase my energy."

"This might sound odd, but if you know what I'm talking about, you'll get it." Doevm perked up his ears. "Tell me, have you been hearing something when you fight? It's not exactly a voice, but more of a jolt reaction. You almost act before you even realize you've made the thought. If I had to describe the voice, it would be…"

"Determined," Doevm said. "Like you're hearing an order to go forward, to win. How did you…" He shook his head. "Yes, I've heard something like that." Memories of the fight kept flashing by, moments where he acted without thinking. 'Funny,' he thought. 'I didn't even think about the voice since I was so engrossed in the fight. I could have sworn I've heard it somewhere else as well, back during the war.'

"I thought this had happened," Alexander stroked his chin. "You'll learn this in the knights' academy, but when you fight, everything is a weapon. The air, your fists, the area, your clothes, hell even your thoughts. Knights like me, when they concentrate so much, enhance their senses. Then, when you get in the rhythm of battle, you just "speak". I call it the heart of a warrior. It happens when one's mind is almost completely focused on battle that your instincts emerge."

"But it is just a state of mind." Doevm scoffed. "That can't be it. There has to be an explanation or a reason. Adrenaline maybe?"

"I don't know," Alexander sighed. "It's just something. You can't do anything crazy with it. You just focus. It's like entering a flow of a river. When you jump in, you get cold and tighten up. But when you get swimming alongside the current, you'll find that you can do things you normally couldn't…Oh," Alexander stopped. "I was supposed to be interrogating you. Sorry, I get caught up in those sorts of things."

'Some General you are.'

"The next thing I had to ask you about," Alexander resumed the walk up the dark tunnel. "What did the Resistance leader say to you before I broke his sword."

"I had one year."

"Until what?" Alexander asked, but Doevm only shrugged. "I pegged him as an arrogant bastard the second he opened his mouth but telling us the date he's going to attack is a bit far. He's…" He mumbled something unintelligible. "Well then, we have one year to train you before that deadline approaches."

"Does that mean you're taking me in as an Apprentice?" Doevm asked, a smile blooming on his face. "What changed your mind?" They stopped, having come to the end of the tunnel, where the ceiling had collapsed. Alexander reached over and flicked Doevm on the forehead.

"You changed my mind. Before, I could see a cold determination in your actions, but by fighting like that, you suppressed your instincts. You could fight, but you could never be like a true knight. Now, however, that has changed, you have changed." He covered his fist in a layer of golden life essence and stepped towards the pile of rubble. "Step back."

"Wait," Doevm said as he backed away. "If you do that the tunnel will-" The rest of his words were lost under the sound of the thud of Alexander's fist against the dirt. He braced himself and shut his eyes, but after a few moments, nothing happened. He peeked through his fingers, finding that the dirt had been blown away yet, the tunnel was still standing.

Alexander smirked: "Being a knight isn't all about strength. If you only have power, even a person with a lower level of life essence can take you down. On the alternate side of things, if you have the proper training, you can do things that some humans would think impossible, just like the heart of the warrior made you stronger."

They both stepped past the rubble. The further they walked, the more the darkness left them, replaced by the light from above. "That's how I became this way," Alexander said. "The greatest knight in the kingdom wasn't born from all of this newfangled life essence imitation of magic. I made my way to the top through skill and skill alone. No one can tell me that any other way is better because there is no one who is better than me, not while I have a sword in my hands."

When they got to the surface, they were met with a crowd of both guards and curious onlookers. Doevm looked at Alexander again, realizing he had a little similarity with Jameson.