My entire body felt as if it were buzzing as I waited for night to fall. I was so impatient. I barely even felt the pain of my injuries—all I wanted to do was train, to relive the highs of the training room and test out the new capabilities of my body.

  I spent the time laying in bed trying to activate a simple light spell that Cael had known… still no luck. I was hoping I’d be able to use my magic immediately upon awakening, but it seemed that even if I was growing more physically attuned to this new body, the process of transmigrating was still disrupting my ability to physically harness mana.

  I’d break through that barrier soon. I knew I would. After that, the sky was the limit.

  When night finally came, and I was able to duck out of the hospital wing, I felt ecstatic. Half-conscious initiates watched me leave, and one even spoke a couple words to me, but I wasn’t paying attention. I’d usually have waited until later, until I was sure most of the injured were asleep before I snuck out, but I didn’t care so much tonight. I was alive, and I felt incredible.

  I didn’t hurry so much to my destination this time. I took in the beauty of the guild, the high pagodas with their white-tiled roofs and the sprawling walls that separated the outer guild from the inner walls. I knew Cael had always craved to see the innermost reaches of a place like this, and for a moment, I understood his wish.

  I’d always felt so terrified in a place like this, so spurred to action that I couldn’t stop and acknowledge the simple beauty of the place. Before going to meet with Amara, I decided to take a detour, walking up stairs two at a time, running eventually, scaling endless steps until my lungs began to burn, then entering a spiral building that led me directly to the top of the outer walls.

  I took in the scenery from atop the mountain. It was dark enough that I couldn’t make out much, but lanternlight from a village further down the mountain, the sounds and smells of a nearby stream, combined with memories from Cael’s travel to this place painted a vivid enough picture in my mind.

  I knew the valley beyond was vast. In the furthest stretches of my vision, I could see even more distant lights, reds and yellows and vibrant pinks, running in a current along my vision and enticing my eyes to follow until they became strained. They were the lights of the province’s capital, Maybridge, which I now knew was run by the Martel family.

  I wondered if I might be able to visit one day.

  Turning, I considered descending back down the stairs, then leaned over the wall in a moment of daring. There was about a forty foot drop down to the stone walkways below, but if I jumped a few feet across, there was a sloped roof only ten feet down.

  I jumped. Once I landed, my heart pumping, I jumped to another. And then another.

  After a time, it wasn’t about descending. I felt like I was playing a video game. My agility was astounding to me, like that of one of those parkour maniacs I’d seen in videos, and I happily utilised it as I leapt from building to building, making my way to my usual training ground in far more style than I was accustomed to.

  Yeah, this definitely beat limping my way around. I felt confident. I felt strong.

  So it was that when I finally arrived, instead of walking through the broken-down wall as I usually did, I dropped down from the ceiling.

  Amara reacted less than I’d have liked. Her face read more as ‘what are you doing’ than any exclamations of amazement or awe.

  “Were you attempting to startle me?” she finally asked.

  “Nope, just a little flair!” I answered, giving her a short bow. “Impressive, right?”

  “Yes, I’m blown away by your entrance.” She spoke in a flat monotone. “Couldn’t you tell?”

  I felt like my good mood was veering me a little too far towards irritating, so I tried to calm it down. I donned a serious expression and took my usual place in the room, grabbing a wooden jian and holding it at my side.

  “You ready?”

  “I still worry this is too soon,” Amara started.

  “It’s not,” I replied, going into my first set of sword drills to prove my point. “Look.”

  She looked ready to protest some more, but her lips froze as she took in my new form.

  At first it was terrible, and I looked as if I was about to fall over, but after about ten seconds of sorting between the routine in my head and the feeling of flowing mana in my body, then mixing all of that with Cael’s memories…

  “You’ve never moved this well,” Amara admitted, her head tilted, lip bitten as she watched me drift from one stance to another, one form to the next. “You truly feel that you’ve recovered?”

  “More than recovered,” I swung my sword as I spoke. “I feel strong.”

  We moved from drills to sparring eventually. The difference between the old me and the new was astounding. I could keep up with Amara’s sword movements way easier, could catch her on a feint or strike at her the moment she was unguarded. Immediately, I could feel the superior swordplay of Cael’s teachings starting to enmesh itself into my mind, becoming concrete in a way I’d never really been able to grasp at before.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  When I’d pressed my wooden sword to the nape of Amara’s neck a third time, we concluded sparring and moved on to physical training. My body was still holding out, a testament to my increased endurance, and I was more than eager to see just how far I could push myself now.

  Forty press ups was the goal… I managed eighty and could’ve gone further without trouble. During my previous recovery, I was only hitting forty on the last day, and barely, before I’d collapse in a heap of sweat.

  My body was running hot right now, my muscles were aching, but I felt a pleasant hum within my core that seemed to soothe the pains even as they appeared, that allowed me to continue on without discomfort.

  “Wanna help me make this challenging?” I asked Amara, causing her to blink.

  “And how do I do that?”

  “Stand on my back,” I suggested, assuming the press up position again and beginning a new set.

  “Your back that was recently torn open by a monster? That had stitches pulled out of it only three days ago?”

  I took her point. Fine. I started doing claps between my push ups instead. First ten, then fifty, then a hundred.

  When I’d reached 120 and was still going for more, Amara grabbed my shoulder and stopped me. I paused as I clambered back to my feet, looking to her with a moderate pant.

  “I’m fine, I promise,” I said for what felt like the fiftieth time. “I know this seems like a sudden change, but—”

  “It’s not that,” she spoke in a hushed tone, pulling me to the side and leaning against the wall.

  “Then what?”

  “People watching us. I saw at least two of them outside.”

  Before I could try to answer her, a robed man walked through the broken-down wall. He was flanked by two more, all of them wearing rich jade robes with a golden symbol embroidered on their chests.

  I didn’t recognise the markings. Cael didn’t either.

  They weren’t from the guild. How did they get past the enchantments? Did someone invite therm inside?

  The leader of the three, a young, short man with a scarred chin, maybe Cael’s age, pointed at the pair of us, sneering as he did so.

  “You’re Cael Soulgrave, right?”

  “No,” I lied. Well, technically it was only half a lie.

  “Don’t bullshit me,” the scarred man laughed. “Your foreign outfit gives you away.”

  Not good. I didn’t have any idea who these guys were or what they wanted. Also, I still felt out of breath.

  “Am I supposed to know who you are?”

  “Not really,” the man shrugged, picking at his ear with his pinkie as he walked forwards. It was a confident strut, pelvis extended, the kind that made him look domineering and completely unguarded.

  Which, of course, he wasn’t. One of the two men behind him was twice my size.

  He spat brown tobacco leaf onto the floor. “We were just passing by and happened to see you two training. Looked fun.”

  I fought to keep my breath steady. Fighting a boar was one thing, human confrontation was way different. I’d had very little of it in my previous life, and now, unsure of how to even guage the opponent in front of me, it was scary.

  “Why don’t you show us some more? Do some star jumps. Or-or jumping squats. Show us how a Soulgrave trains, we’re curious.”

  “What exactly is this about?” Amara asked, stepping forwards. She had a hand on the wooden jian on her hip and a fiery expression on her face. “Is there a reason you’re bothering us?”

  The scarred man kissed his teeth as he shifted to regard her. “Hey, no one’s talking to you. Beat it.”

  “I’d rather stay,” she warned, standing right in front of me, not giving an inch.

  “Fine.” The man cracked his neck, walked a couple steps closer, then pulled his sword a few inches from its sheath. “Tell you what, why don’t you kiss your little girlfriend for us?” He pointed back to the big guy. “Dorian here’s a sick bastard, he’d enjoy watching.”

  “I would,” the brute breathed, a horrible smirk on his lips.

  That was it. I pulled my jian out in an instant, and the other three immediately followed suit. It’d been a reflex, but the moment I realised that I had three steel swords staring straight at me, and that in turn I was weilding a weapon made out of fucking wood, I started feeling a little out of my depth.

  That was understatement. Extremely out of my goddamn depth.

  “Don’t fuck with me,” I seethed, knowing this was likely doomed if it came to blows. “My family is—”

  “Oh, my family!” the bastard mocked me, then started cackling. “The amount of times I’ve heard that. Think if I put my sword through you right now your family’s gonna spawn in front of me and claim vengeance?”

  “I think you’d be hunted for the rest of your days,” I shot back. “All of you.”

  “By who?” The man smirked, revealing a row of cracked teeth. “You know my name?” He pointed with his sword. “You, girl. What about you?”

  Amara’s face was locked in a scowl. She too had drawn her wooden jian.

  “My family’s a lot closer by. Probably in screaming distance.”

  “I could cut your throat before a sound left your lips,” he shot back. “But I heard there’s a good deal lined up for you, so let’s not ruin that.”

  “What do you want,” I insisted, stepping between him and Amara. “Stop playing games with us and tell me.”

  “Shut up.” The man scratched his face, then raised his sword arm, placing it behind his back. “Do a star jump for me, I’m bored.”

  I probably should’ve humiliated myself for him. I probably should’ve done what he said and hoped that blindly following his orders got me out of this in one piece.

  Instead I punched him, the wooden jian’s handle wrapped around my fist.