Chapter 8:

Lexi was trying to teach me as much as she could, and I was very grateful to her. Luckily, the rest of the class wasn't really paying attention to me, considering Xavier had to break up at least four fights that I saw, and even had to drag someone out of the room, literally kicking and screaming by the back of their uniform. "Well, I think it's safe to say that everyone is officially terrified of him," Lexi whispered as we both stopped to watch Xavier break up yet another fight. Although this time, all he had to do was glare at the one who started it from clear across the room, and they instantly dropped it. "And, you're definitely right, I'm starting to think that the look he gave you when we walked in was downright warm and fuzzy." I just giggled at that as I threw another punch and kick combo at the invisible target in front of me. "Hey, that one was actually good!"

"Good, isn't even close to good enough. A stiff breeze could knock you over." A low tone chided from directly behind me, and every single hair on my body stood on end. When did he move right behind me? And how hadn't I noticed? I slowly turned towards Xavier, glaring up at him as I found my resolve and damn well held onto it like my life depended on it. I knew he saw where I started, so why did he have to be such an ass when I had already made some very obvious improvements?

"Thank you for pointing out yet another one of my flaws. Now, are you just going to stand there and comment on it, or are you actually going to help me fix it?" I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest, continuing to glare up at the infuriating man. Lexi's jaw dropped open as she backed up a couple steps, looking at me like I had just straight-up asked him to kill me, but fuck it. I was done taking shit from people, and that included him. At least I knew he wouldn't kill me for it. He had said it himself, it would be inconvenient for him if I died, not to mention that he did actually put me through training last night, so I knew he was at least somewhat invested in my well-being.

I had to blink a few times, trying to clear my vision to make sure I actually saw what I had, but unless this was some fucked up dream, and he had already knocked my ass out for mouthing off to him, he grinned at me. It was just a simple tip of his lips as he raised one eyebrow at me, looking me over like he had never seen me before. "Alright, then give me your best shot, Ari."

That shocked me almost just as much as him grinning at me. The way his low tone caressed over my name had my body reacting in ways that it had no right reacting like with this man, and it took me a long moment to actually get my shit together enough to follow through with his order.

I threw a punch at him, just like Lexi had taught me, but he simply grabbed my fist. "Twist at your hips rather than your shoulder so you're throwing your whole weight behind the blow and never twist your wrist like that." He said, glancing down at my hand where it had connected with his. "You'll break your hand that way." Then, with barely any force, he pushed me a few stumbling steps backwards away from him. "Balance equally between your feet. If you put more weight on one foot than the other, it makes it far too easy to throw you off balance like that. Don't aim for the face unless you have to, especially when they're larger than you. You're only leaving yourself open for heavy counterattacks. You'd be better off aiming for the kidneys, liver, or solar plexus shots," he told me, pointing out the three spots before waving me forward once more. I quickly adjusted my stance like how he told me and threw another punch, this time aiming for a kidney shot. He blocked it, quickly sweeping my arm to the side, but he was right. That time I felt far more balanced and could actually control the hit.

"Better, now throw your combo again." I followed his lead and threw my punch again before following it with a kick. He grabbed my ankle, holding it midair between us while simultaneously somehow balancing me, so I didn't fall directly onto my ass. "Too high. You're too small to try for high, heavy attacks like that. Your best bet is to aim for the ankles or the knees. Throw them off balance by making them block, take their legs out, then follow it with a swift jab or an ending move, rather than trying to throw moves that you don't have the weight to back up. Stop overthinking it and focus on quick, effective attacks where you can get in and out as quickly and efficiently as possible. You're small. Stop thinking it's an insult and start using it to your advantage." With that, he dropped my foot without causing me to fall and walked away once more. I looked over at Lexi, who stared at me like she had just witnessed a miracle.

"Well, I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that," Lexi whispered as we both watched him as he walked back towards another pair of students who were getting a little too hands-on.

"Honestly, me neither," I whispered back, but thought back through everything he had just shown me. He could have been a serious ass about that and just thrown me on the mats both times there, but he didn't. Both times he had grabbed me, his grip was almost gentle. I looked over to where Nova was sitting on the edge of the mat and raised an eyebrow at her.

'I told you, Bane only chooses worthy riders. While they tend to be rather prickly to say the least, they're never actually bad people. Xavier may be unsavory most of the time, but he's still actually putting time into genuinely helping you.' Fair enough, I guess.

I ended up spending the last few minutes of the class practicing just like how he had instructed me before it was over, and we left for lunch. After lunch was our Magic class, and I was honestly a little excited as we walked in. Lexi and I found seats somewhere around the middle of the class, and as the bell rang, a tall, lanky woman walked in. She took her spot at the podium, looking over the class. Her long platinum blonde hair was pulled back into a clean ponytail, showing off all of her sharp features as her crimson eyes took in the class, and I instantly recognized her as a Vampirian. "Alright, class, you've all gotten the first day spiel in just about every other class now. I'm not about that here. We have far too much to cover not to start immediately. You may call me Professor Arnica, and we're going to get right into today's lesson. Now, someone tell me where a Celestial's magic comes from." No one answered for a moment as she looked over the class. "Don't be shy now, just say it."

"From our familiars," one of the girls in the front answered.

"Correct, but how?" the professor asked, and someone else spoke up.

"Through the bond they form with us."

"Yes, the bond between familiar and human allows the magic that your familiar chooses to flow between the bond. It's a special connection that only works because the veil between Celestia and the familial realm is thin, allowing the familiar's soul to pass through and bind with the Celestials'. Now what about the Fae? Where do they draw their power from?"

"We draw from our elements." A male Fae that was just a few seats over answered, and the professor nodded.

"Exactly, so if your element isn't strong where you are, you become far weaker. It's the easiest way to cut you off from your power. It's also why the Alliance is unable to accept certain varieties of Fae. Obviously, the Vampirian draw from the blood they consume, but what is the downside to that?"

"We can only utilize the amount of power the source had when it was drawn from. A weaker source weakens our natural abilities, whereas a stronger source can strengthen them."

"Good, now those are the three easy kingdoms. What about the Beastials? Does anyone know where they draw power from?"

"Their alternate forms?" Someone asked from behind us.

"Close, but you're missing the real point there. The Beastial's alternate forms are their power. They don't draw from any source. The beast and person are the same being. They are the single beings that are power in itself. That is what makes them such a difficult opponent, and why this war has gone on for so long. There is no way to weaken them other than physically, and that's far easier said than done when you're facing a full-sized dragon or hound that still thinks like a human." The whole class went dead silent as we all just watched the professor. "That is why learning about magic is the key to all battle strategies. If you go into things thinking they're just mindless beasts, then you're going to die. Our magic is the balancing factor for this whole war." She went on for a while longer as the class just listened, talking about how we've learned to overcome the Beastial Kingdom's warriors, and how we'll continue to overcome them.