**_(Author’s Note: This is one of the longest stories I’ve ever written, but I promise it’s worth it. Thanks for reading! <3)

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“Again!”

Nikolai held his head in exhaustion. He had been at it for literal hours. Shadow warping himself so he can be “invisible”. But the closest he’d gotten was a dark cloud surrounding him that sparked with white hot electricity. Definitely not what he was going for.

“I need a break.” He panted to his mentor, Aldric.

Aldric, a man whose indifference to Nikolai was as palpable as it was suffocating.

Nikolai never had a choice in his training. He even tried once runnning away. A stupid idea of course. The minute he was caught, the punishment came swiftly—broken ribs,bruises, the familiar agony of failure.

“A break?” Aldric asked quietly.

_Oh hell… _Nikolai thought and braced himself.

Sure enough, a swift backhand raced across his cheak, sending him sprawling to the floor and almost impaling himself on his own knife.

Aldric walked forwards and grabbed a fistful of Nickolai’s black hair and pulled him up.

“Are you weak?!” Aldric asked. “Do you not have what it takes to be an Elite? In 14 days time you will be in that trial and you will die. All becuase you needed… a _break_.”

Nikolai stayed quiet. He knew better than to speak. When Aldric goes on a rampage it’s better to stay silent than tempt the beast.

Aldric shoved Nikolai back to the floor and kicked him in the side, “Do it again I said!”

Nikolai fought back tears of pain and clutched his side. He staggered up and hid his face under his bangs. It would only get worse if Aldric saw him showing any weakness.

He summoned another shadow cloud and clutched it to himself tightly. He focused all his energy, desperate for anything to go right.

But atlas, the cloud flickered once, twice, and then fizzled away.

Nikolai slowly looked up to see a fuming Aldric clamping down on his sword at his side.

“Draw your weapon, boy.” He spat.

With shaking hands, Nikolai drew his knife, the familiarity making him a bit more steady in his feet.

“Aldric, I’m sorry. But I’m exhausted. Maybe I can try again in a few minutes.” Nikolai mumbled.

But there was a hard resolve in Aldric’s cold gaze, “Fighting stance.” He called.

Before Nikolai was even completely ready, Aldric lunged forward with his sword, nearly splitting him in two. Nikolai rolled backwards and swept his leg out, but Aldric jumped over it with ease and continued his assault.

For what felt like hours Nikolai played defense, but just barely. With every second he tired. Limbs slowly turning into weights of sand. His shadow warping ability becoming less and less portent as he used it.

Eventually, Aldric disarmed him and held his sword close to Nikolai’s neck. The cold bite of Aldric’s blade was the last thing Nikolai needed.

His entire body was on the verge of giving out, his legs wobbling beneath him as exhaustion sank deeper into his bones. His shadow warping, the one skill he can rely on, faltered once again, a weak flickering cloud that dissolved into nothing.

The sword pressed harder, beads of blood starting to show, and for the briefest moment, Nikolai wondered if this is how it ended.

Not in the trial, but here in this pit of endless suffering. A failure, taken by the sheer weight of the training he had to endure for 15 years.

Aldric’s breaths came in sharp controlled gasps as he stood over Nikolai.

“You won’t take a break until I say you can.” Aldric growled, his voice low and filled with the same unyielding cruelty that had never softened.

“You think you’re weak now? You think you deserve rest? In two weeks, you’ll be in that trial. You’ll be fighting for your life. And if you can’t even handle a lesson, how do you think you’re going to survive out there?”

Nikolai bit his lip, swallowing the bitterness rising in his throat. His body screamed in protest, but he didn’t dare speak, didn’t dare show any weakness.

He knew Aldric wouldnt tolerate it.

Not now, not ever.

“I’m not here to pamper you, boy. I’m here to _break_ you, to make sure your strong enough to survive.” Aldric glared at him with something colder than anger in his eyes, “You don’t deserve rest—_not yet.”_

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Nikolai didn’t respond once again. He didn’t have the strength to do it.

Aldric reached down and grabbed him by the collar, lifting him off the ground with a causal force.

“Now listen to me carefully. Go to the healer inside. Get yourself patched up, and when you’re healed enough, you will come back out here. We will continue this lesson. Understood?”

“Yes Aldric.” Nikolai rasped.

He shoved Nikolai away, the force knocking him back to the ground, “Get up!” Aldric barked, his voice devoided of any compassion. “And remember this: you’re not a _child. _If you want to survive, you’ll stop whining and get back to work. When I say jump, you better ask how high.”

Nikolai forced himself to stand, clutching his side where the pain was sharpest.

He didn’t trust his voice, so he just nodded again.

Aldric’s eyes followed him, as cold as ever. “Two more weeks Nikolai. Then the trial. And if you think you’ll find mercy there, you’ll be as dead as the others who’ve come before you.

Nikolai didn’t respond. There was nothing to be said. He turned and headed towards the healer’s quarters, every step aching. But he kept moving.

Becuase in two weeks he’d be free.

And then—he’d have the power he was so hungry for.