Master Swert continued.
"We have a hunt later, and you should know what you fight."
Curiosity made me ask another question.
"What kind of beast is it?"
His hand waved down.
"A Lesser Beast. Nothing you cannot handle if you listen. You will see soon enough."
A boy on the left raised a hand.
"Master. How are beasts ranked?"
Swert didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he pulled the sword out and drew three long lines in the sand.
Shish.
He wrote letters in each column.
B
M
T
When he finished, he stood loose, sword in hand.
"Three groups. Beasts, Monsters, and Titans."
He tapped the 'B' with the sword.
"First, Beasts. They are grouped into four ranks."
He wrote four letters into the column and tapped each as he spoke.
"Lesser, Greater, Elder, and Apex."
He paused before continuing.
"You will meet many of them—some friendly, some dangerous. Beasts are born with active cores. They grow faster than we do, but die sooner. Some are born with affinities, others not. You will hunt them. You will guard against them. That is the work of a warrior."
The sword angled toward the M.
"Monsters. They are rarer, but you will meet them if you walk this path long enough. Four ranks again."
He wrote four more letters.
"Fiend, Horror, Tyrant, and Calamity."
The blade lifted, catching the pale light.
"Monsters are beasts that have been corrupted."
He twirled the sword once, smooth and elegant.
"Mana gathers in places. Fire in volcanoes. Water in seas. Wind along cliffs. But rarer affinities also appear. Life and death. They surface and fade as they wish."
His eyes swept across us.
"And death mana in the wild is called Miasma. When it appears, it poisons the land and changes the beasts that breathe it. They become stronger, crueler, living only for destruction. They break what they find, or turn it into one of them."
I raised my hand before asking.
"If miasma spreads from death, then how do we kill them? Won't it poison the ground further?"
The sword tip leveled at me.
"Good question. When a monster dies, its core releases what it hoarded. Miasma spreads. That is why you never fight a monster without someone who can purify. Without it, the ground will give birth to another Monster after the next prey comes too close."
A ripple of unease passed through the group.
Someone swallowed audibly.
Gulp.
My thoughts tugged toward old tales Father had retold in his flat voice.
'Monsters… so they weren't just bedtime stories.'
Tap.
Master tapped the last column, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Titans. Beasts so old and full of power that they stand apart from the others. They live in secrecy. Forests where daylight never reaches. Mountains above the clouds. The black water of the deep sea. They do not age like beasts."
He wrote again.
A
"There exists only one clear distinction between Titans and their ranks. Those of whom we know and those we don't. We call most of them just Titans. They are old and strong beasts. But—"
Thud.
He drove his sword into the sand beside the letter.
"—the ones we don't know anything about. These are called Ancient Titans."
He took a breath before continuing.
"Some say they had lived since the Forgotten Times. Others say they protect us in silence. Then there are the ones who claim that they will bring destruction upon this world when the time comes. Truth is.... We don't know. We know nothing about them besides that they exist, and it's better if we never find out."
He let the words hang before continuing.
"You should hope to never meet one. I would not care to meet one either."
That admission pulled sharp breaths from the younger kids.
A girl whispered.
"Not even Master could win against them."
A boy snapped back.
"Of course not, idiot! What should Master do against an Ancient Titan?"
Master Swert pulled his sword free, brushing the blade clean.
"Not just Ancient. I can only win against a few of the weaker regular Titans."
Another wave of silence descended at his plain remark.
The girl's voice trembled.
"But what stops them from eating us all?"
Swert let out a hearty laugh.
"They are beings so powerful some call them divine. They do not meddle in the affairs of mortals like us."
He paused deliberately.
"They have their domains. They do not cross the lines they've drawn unless something drags them out. Stay where you should, and they will never find you."
Then his mouth curved, warming the cold morning a fraction.
"And if one does, our Champions will put it back in its place."
The tension vanished immediately, replaced by cheers.
"Right! The Champions."
"They'll beat them."
"Even titans can't win against our Champions."
Laughter rippled through the half circle.
I let out a slow breath, my thoughts raced.
'Champions… I've read of them. If Master says they can fight titans, and he can't, then how strong are they...?'
But my thoughts didn't stay there.
They circled back to something else.
'Monsters. Titans. Corruption.'
The question pressed at me since he'd spoken of Titans.
I couldn't hold back.
My hand lifted, my voice hesitant but clear.
"Master… if miasma can corrupt beasts, what would happen if a Titan were...corrupted?"
The laughter died.
Silence fell.
Eyes shifted toward me.
Master held my gaze as well.
He was silent at first, fingers tapping once against his sword hilt, his expression unreadable.
Then his voice carried across the yard, low and steady.
"It is said that over their long lives, Titans build a natural resistance against corruption. In thousands of years, there are no records of a Titan ever falling to it."
He paused, his eyes narrowing as if weighing the thought.
"But…if it happened. If a Titan were ever consumed by miasma, then one of the strongest and most dangerous creatures in this world would be born. And nothing would be able to stop it."
The air thickened, and my throat tightened.
Around me, the others shifted uneasily in the sand.
With sudden force, Swert raised his blade and drove it into the sand.
Thud.
The sound cut the silence like a warning.
"Enough. That's it for today. You have time for individual work until lunch. After that, we begin in earnest. Those with drills, do them. Those who need correction find Sam. Lucien, rest. You are still worn from your journey."
We answered in unison.
"Yes, Master."
He pulled the sword out and sheathed it as he turned toward the door and walked back inside.
Thud.
The door closed behind him.
The half circle broke apart. Teens drifted toward the building or to the racks along the wall where practice weapons waited.
I rose with them but lingered on the sand a moment longer, lost in thought, then turned for the door.
I stepped back inside the building and made my way to my room, closing the door behind me.
Click.
I leaned my head against the wood and drew a long breath before crossing to the bed.
The mattress gave in under my weight, and I let myself fall back, lying down.
I lifted one hand, fingers reaching for empty air.
'Beasts. Monsters. Titans. Champions.'
The world held far fiercer beings than I had known.
But that didn't matter right now.
Only one thing mattered.
My hand tightened into a fist.
Two stars.
'That's all I need… but how far is that from where I stand now?'
My chest tightened. I let out a breath and spoke his name into the empty room.
"Adonis."
My fist clenched harder.
"Survive until I find you."