Ethan’s experience in the princess’s study was a good lesson, and really reinforced something he’d been taking for granted. His Familiars had grown faster than any Hunter had right to expect, thanks to the tribulations they’d shared in the Deep Cell, and his Mind, Body, and Spirit had grown with them. But he was seeing the huge gap between having power, and wielding it effectively.

  Truthfully he hadn’t taken the time to specifically adapt to his new capabilities, and now that his Familiars were reaching Dusk rank–an order of magnitude higher than Dawn–he needed to refocus his training. With less than a month remaining before the duel, he and Tomo dove headlong into polishing and progressing his abilities.

  For physical training, he returned to his runs across the city. He had to work harder to push his body to the limit, and quickly found that mental limitations had been holding him back. He realized he didn’t get tired as quickly as he thought he should, and he discovered that he could push himself far past what his mind told him was possible.

  He also found that the limits of his strength had been hidden by his choice of weapon. There was only so hard you could stab or slice with lightweight short swords, and he ended up spending a few Dusk coins to purchase a wider selection of weapons. He was startled to see how easily he could wield oversized swords, and two handed axes. While he didn’t expect those weapons to ever be his focus, the training helped him get a better understanding of what his body was really capable of.

  “Understanding how other weapons are used will make you far more adept in combat,” Tomo told him, as Ethan spun a halberd in Valanor’s backyard. “When you face an enemy, you want to know how they will attack, not react to it in the moment.”

  “That makes sense,” Ethan agreed. “Although I’ll barely have time for the basics before the duel.”

  “You are already thinking beyond the duel, which is the right choice. Prepare as much as you can for what you know is to come, but the long-lived must also build a foundation meant to last decades. Centuries even.”

  Ethan continued practicing as he responded, part of his efforts to make multitasking a normal part of his behavior. “That’s an intimidating prospect. I’ll barely have gotten used to Dawn before I’m looking down the barrel at Dusk.”

  “That is an uncommon, but not unheard of challenge,” Tomo said, then drew a single katana and moved forward to spar slowly with Ethan. “Dawn rank is understandably the easiest stage to master, as your powers are pushing the limits of your body, but not surpassing them.”

  “So how do the other ranks work then?” he asked, while retreating across the yard. “When I reach First Dusk will I suddenly go beyond human limits?”

  “In a sense, but it’s not wise. Imagine right now you had the strength to lift something a hundred times your weight above your head, what would happen?”

  Ethan swung the halberd like a staff, struggling to coordinate the heavier end. “Right now? It would crush me. My bones wouldn’t be able to take it–I assumed Dusk rank would fix that somehow; I’ve seen Valanor do some crazy stuff.”

  Tomo easily parried, but didn’t bother with serious counterattacks as he spoke. “Dusk rank and beyond will give you the potential to ‘fix that’ yourself. Each new tier of power represents a new threshold for your Mind, Body, and Spirit to be augmented by magic. Each of us–your Familiars–are connected to a part of you, and you evolve to be more like us, in a way.”

  Ethan backed off suddenly. “How so? All three of you have tails…”

  Tomo released his grumbly laugh. “Demons and monsters are manifestations of magic. Our bodies are formed from the power of the Astral, which makes them perfect vessels for it. You begin in the physical realm, and your vessel must learn to emulate ours.”

  “We’re getting a bit high-level, what does this actually look like? If I hit Dusk rank tomorrow, what would I do?”

  “Dusk rank brings many changes, and opportunities, but we will focus on one for the purpose of this discussion. You mentioned your bones would be too brittle, magic can solve that. When you commune with Revan–your Body-bound Familiar–in Dusk rank, part of that process will involve channeling magic into yourself, reinforcing your body.”

  Ethan resumed the attack. “So I’ll still be human? There’s just magic running through me to augment the human parts…like a magical cyborg?”

  “It grows more complicated beyond Dusk, but that is essentially correct.”

  Ethan gave the demon an odd look as they continued sparring. “You didn’t ask what a cyborg is,” he accused.

  “You refer to the Techwork soldiers, augmented by implants of a technical and magical nature. I have seen such beings with my master, and assumed you read of them.”

  Ethan’s eyes widened. “I did not. Just another reminder of how much of this world I still know nothing about.”

  ***

  The other major hurdle Ethan needed to get over was Astral combat, as taught to him by the prince. He still met with Calevaro as much as possible, with their training being even more focused and intense now that they were united in purpose. Unfortunately the skill was difficult to master, and meant to be layered on top of fundamentals Ethan was only just discovering.

  In terms of his Spirit, he was learning to crawl, walk, and run, all at once. Yet the skill effectively required him to ride a bicycle.

  To try to speed up the process, Tomo had Ethan walk around the city every day with his vision firmly in the Astral. This was helping him acclimate to his more advanced, Dusk rank senses, while also building an intuitive understanding of the nature of that realm. As he strolled through the streets, and occasionally stopped in at the Hunter’s guild, he began to make sense of much of what he’d only been on the receiving end of before now.

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  He could sense people’s feelings, and intentions, through their Spirit. Tomo assured him this was actually possible without physically looking into the Astral as his proficiency grew, but for now it was fascinating to witness.

  There were two layers to the process, one shallow, and one deep. The former was shockingly simple, and something he could have made use of before Tomo evolved, had he the time and inclination. He’d seen people’s spirits in the Astral before, but hadn’t spent much time watching them, let alone watching specifically how they acted and reacted to normal situations.

  In the physical world, everyone got used to controlling their own reactions to some extent. Mad, sad, attraction, there were always reasons to hide these things, or at least limit how much you showed with your face and body language. Spirits, however, turned out to have absolutely terrible poker faces.

  As Ethan walked through the market square, he saw it all. A couple was speaking a little heatedly, yet in the Astral the woman was screaming and flailing, while the man looked as guilty as a scolded toddler. When a particularly attractive person went buy, some people’s Spirits would actually wander after them, completely enthralled.

  Most interesting was lying, and hidden intentions. Several times Ethan has seen powerful Bonded look at him suspiciously, and understood the authenticity of his words and intentions were being evaluated. Now that he was watching for it, he saw it everywhere.

  Merchants peddling their wares would make claims as to the value of their products, while customers haggled by trying to diminish their need, or the quality of the goods. In the Astral, their spirits looked guilty, nervous and paranoid. They looked around rapidly, as if scared of being found out, they wouldn’t make eye contact, and some even shook.

  This was all the shallow layer though, and the easiest to control. Some of the more experienced liars had spirits that looked as calm as they did, and the Bonded were even harder to read. That was where the deeper level came in.

  When Ethan focused his Astral attention on a specific target, it was almost like looking through a telescope. The person’s Spirit seemed to loom in his vision, and he found himself able to look deeper. What he saw defied description, being a mix of colors and images that all blurred together, yet somehow seemed to tell a story. It was like a language that only Spirits could read, leaving him with impressions of what they were feeling, and who they were.

  It was very early days for using these skills, and felt a bit like visiting another culture that had startlingly different mannerisms. His scientific mind considered that might actually be the case, and he wondered if he’d have an easier time of it surrounded by other people from Earth. Still, he kept practicing.

  Ethan was also finally making more progress poking a tree. While Tomo assured him it was possible to send out his Spirit to perform independent actions in Dawn rank, it was nevertheless vastly simpler at Dusk. By his third day of training in Valanor’s backyard with his enhanced power, he managed to convince his Spirit to separate from him, and stand up.

  In the end there wasn’t really a trick to it, merely an incredible amount of focus. Ethan needed to truly believe he was going to take the action with all his being, but prevent his body from taking that action with equal conviction. At first it felt a bit like pushing against your left hand with your right, but slowly he gained a sense of separation, an understanding that his body and the Spiritual version of himself were separate.

  That understanding propelled his training forward. It was too easy to see Spirits and convince yourself you’re seeing a different reality, but as Tomo kept reminding him, what people saw in the Astral was only a reflection. It was a physical being’s mind and body trying to make sense of something far removed from their nature.

  What really helped was when Tomo compared Ethan to a dog barking at himself in the mirror. It was simultaneously the rudest and most useful lesson the demon had given.

  After a week, Ethan could control his Spirit with far more skill and detachment. Touching the tree ended up being a tiny increment past what he’d already done, and soon he was pushing himself much further. He made his Spiritual reflection perform all sorts of normal actions. Sitting, standing, walking and jumping, eventually even going through combat forms.

  Interestingly, the more he did so, the more he felt the Spirit, in the same way he had first discovered his soul in the Deep Cell. More than that, each day the vague and blurry human-shaped figure became a more accurate and detailed image of Ethan himself. It was this that led to the greatest discovery, with just under two weeks left before the duel.

  Tomo had moved him on to a new type of training, given his increased skill. He now walked with his Spirit around town, as if it were a companion. The goal was to take an action that had required continuous concentration, and slowly transform it into something more natural, and intuitive.

  When Ethan visited the market, his Spirit would examine a different stall. When Ethan stopped to speak with someone, his Spirit would mimic the action. He tried to keep his Astral reflection always engaged slightly differently from himself, as that was ultimately the key to control. His Astral self wanted to mimic after all, and only by forcing different behavior was he getting closer to mastery.

  It was quite by accident that he made his discovery, as he purchased some groceries on an otherwise unremarkable day. He had come to know a lot of the shopkeepers during the time in the city, and his reputation had been significantly bolstered by his work in stopping the undead. This meant that Mr. Ledger, the grocer, had taken to shaking his hand after every purchase–Ethan had already turned down the free food the man offered.

  But today something unexpected happened. As he reached forward and took the man’s hand, Ethan’s Spirit did the same. This happened occasionally, especially when Ethan wasn’t paying particular attention to his Astral self. But when he saw the glowing hand reach out, he dropped his food in shock, forcing his two selves back together as his mind went wild.

  Ethan quickly reassured Mr. Ledger, then all but ran back to Valanor’s, knowing he needed a place of calm reflection for any hope at recreating what he’d just witnessed. When he reached the quiet home–Valanor still off on his mystery quest–Ethan went straight to his training area in the back, dumping the food without thought.

  He hastily sat down, and spent several minutes failing to do what was almost second nature by now, before his Spirit finally separated, and moved away from him. With an equal mix of fear and hope, he made his own glowing form turn to face him, and then gingerly reached out, their right hands meeting.

  The Spirit’s scars burned brightly. Ethan had gotten used to his, and barely thought of them anymore–he almost didn’t register the pain his own brought at this point. But in the Astral, they were alive and furious, spouting energy in every direction. But with his training and Dusk rank sense, Ethan could now understand what he saw better than before, and even look past them.

  Lost in the fog of power leaking from the scars, a mixture of colors and sensations, was the faintest outline of symbols and lines. Rather than being against his skin, they almost seemed to hover over his Spirit’s ‘flesh’, but there was no mistaking what it was. It looked odd, distorted and twisted, but it was a bow and arrow.

  It was his healing rune.