Seeing the other trainees train their hardest lit the fire inside Rain even brighter. No one knew how many of them would return, but still, they were giving it their all.

  ‘Let’s try something new…Something I can actually use to fight.’

  This was the main goal of the Reflection training, especially if you had a combat-focused ability. In this case, Rain was quite in luck. Fire in nature came with an incredible variety of uses. He could use that fire against the many different Shards he would inevitably come across, as well as a simple tool for survival. Already on this first day, he could imagine himself using his flames for heat, cooking, and other basic survival needs.

  However, he hadn’t quite figured out how to use it in combat. The most obvious option was to throw fire onto his opponents, and while that seemingly makes a lot of sense, he had to figure out how to keep his fire ignited outside of his touch.

  The mana threads were, after all, incredibly finicky to work with. Supply it with too much mana and the sorcery would dissipate in the air; too little, and the desired effect would be too weak. Not only would he need to control the mana extremely well, but he would also need to juggle it between fighting and perceiving his surroundings for enemies or even perhaps allies. With all of that in mind, he had a long way to go. For now, he was glad to have received positive feedback from Officer Trant, but even though he might have some talent regarding mana control, he still needed to practice.

  Extending his hand out, a larger flame formed in his hand. Rain’s thoughts were rattled on how he was supposed to throw it. Fire was, after all, not quite tangible. Looking around him, he saw the many other trainees practicing their skills. Some of which would also need to move their sorcery. The whistling dagger shooting through the air like a needle, or even Lance’s wraith, is controlled by mana. He opened his eyes in realization.

  ‘Mana is part of my body, like a ball of thread ready to be unwinded.’

  He closed his eyes and opened his senses to the mana around him. Like before, he could sense threads around him, the different feelings of them washing over him.

  Only that now, he looked within. Inside him, he found the source of his mana. A ball of thread, growing ever hotter the longer he focused on it. Upon opening his eyes, he saw a path.

  ‘Extend the thread. I can’t throw it like a ball. I have to combine the fire with myself, binding it to my core.’

  Using his entire mental strength, he focused on letting go of the fire. Sweat dripped from his brow as he could feel a small thread attaching itself to his flame, forming a connection.

  Taking a heavy breath, he moved his hand to the side, and to his surprise, the flame was hovering right in front of him. He could feel his connection failing, and so, to make the best out of it, he grasped the invisible thread holding it and, with a sideways flick of the wrist, used the last of his strength to shoot it forward into the empty space in front of him. The flame obeyed and shot out at a moderate speed, gleaming in the air. A fire built by a will to survive. At around five meters, the flame began to lose its power, fizzling into embers in the air, as Rain dropped to one knee, his strength now depleted.

  ‘I did it. Sort of.’

  Laughing to himself, he had never felt this way before. His mind could break at any moment, the physical headache spreading through his entire head, but, at the same time, the exhilarating feeling of achieving something this important had the upper hand in all of this.

  “So you figured it out. I was waiting to see if you could achieve it on your own. I’m happy you did.”

  Officer Trant stood above him, smiling, with one hand offering to help him up, the other holding a water bottle. Rain steadily took his hand and nearly got lifted in the air. Chugging half of the bottle at once, he was curious about the future:

  “Officer Trant? How difficult is it in the Mirror? Truly?”

  His smile faded, and a pondering look gleaned on his face.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “We humans tend to exaggerate certain difficult tasks, mainly to make us look better. The Mirror isn’t one of these things. It has been fifteen years since my Selection. I still vividly remember the feelings I had, the things I saw…even the things I had to do. For most, it will be the most difficult thing they will ever do in their life. I saw many talented Selected die. Wherever you land in the Mirror, there will always be a bigger fish.”

  Taking a step forward, he placed his hand on Rain’s shoulder.

  “You have talent, Rain. Use it to your advantage, but don’t be full of yourself. Your only goal is to survive, not kill every Shard, and if you have to fight…You'd better give it everything you have, be it Shard…Or other people. Because weakness is a sin in the Mirror.”

  With a small nod, Rain let these words run through his mind for the rest of the training session. Finishing up at around lunch time.

  “What are you so thoughtful about?”

  A voice cut through his mind. Rain was already mindlessly eating in the cafeteria, the buzzing sounds of thousands of groaning trainees after their first training session in the wind.

  He looked in front of him toward Naomi, who was apparently eating with them. In fact, Rain realized the entire group was eating together, with Elys next to him, face flat on the table, along with moans of tiredness leaving his mouth.

  “I…can’t…do this.”

  “Rain?”

  Now focused, he heard Naomi’s voice reaching him. Straightening up on his chair, he answered:

  “Yeah, sorry, I…was just going over the training, that’s all.”

  “Well, reflecting on it is always good, but breaks are equally important. There is plenty of time to train after lunch…Speaking of, now we swap, right? You guys have weapon training, and we start our Reflection training.”

  “Oh yeah. Was it good?”

  Supporting her chin on her hand, Naomi thought about it:

  “It was alright, I guess. The more experienced sparred or worked on their techniques, while Officer Stein instructed the others…Well, you can see how it went.”

  She pointed toward Elys, who still had not moved. Seeing him this quiet in an otherwise social setting was quite unusual, so the training really took everything in him.

  “Well…I’ll try my best not to die.”

  Naomi let out a light chuckle before giving him a big grin.

  “You’ll be fine.”

  ‘Look at that face. I’m gonna die.’

  Lunchtime ended, and the trio found themselves together again after seeing the others off, with Elys still struggling to walk and talk.

  Making their way to the much smaller training hall, the three of them barely talked, only occasionally breaking the silence with comments on their prior session or the food. Hastily, they arrived at their destination, where a dozen officers waited at the entrance of the building.

  “Are you the rest of group B3?”

  A tall female officer stood in front of them, nearly the same build as Lance. With striking blue eyes and long blond hair hanging in a braid in front of her chest.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Alright. I’m Officer Stein, and I’ll be the one in charge of making sure you don’t die.”

  Upon saying that, her eyes shortly locked onto Rain, who gulped in quiet despair.

  “Get changing, we start in five minutes.”

  Heading inside, Rain had mixed feelings about her. On the one hand, she clearly looked capable enough to teach him, but on the other hand…Since Lance and Yuol had both been privately trained for many years now. Her wrath would be unleashed only on him, reminding him in what state Elys was prior. He really did not want that, but if that was the only way, then he would gladly go through it.

  The changing room this time was quiet, without any outside interference, and so they hastily arrived at the much smaller training hall. Before, the main hall spread to hundreds of meters in length; this one, however, was around a hundred at most. With Officer Stein standing at the ready, Rain noticed the walls lined up with weapons, and at the corner near him, multiple spears.

  “Alright, listen up. I’ve read all of your files. You two already have experience, especially you, Lance. So there won’t be much for me to teach you, except some pointers, and a lot of practice. Yuol, I want you to keep practicing your technique. I’ll come by from time to time to help you out. Now, you. Rain.”

  Rain felt as if a god herself was about to smite him. A shiver ran down his spine.

  “You have no experience, so my focus will be on you. I’ll be clear. I won’t go easy on you, because sure as hell the Mirror won’t. I will break you and piece your bones back together myself if I have to, but you will do everything I tell you to. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, ma’am!”

  A slight shout instinctively came out of Rain as he looked to his side to see Lance and Yuol giving him a look of pity. He could swear a single tear ran down his face, while regret and pain flowed through his mind.

  ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have been Selected.’