It was night out when they exited the portal. Glowing crystals lightened the dark night, and the fat moon did its part.
Azaroth and the rest were directed to their hostel where Awakened healers were waiting for them.
Alex, Stallus, and Catena were all attended to by healers. Azaroth only shrugged when they asked if he needed treatment. He didn't.
They were given time to go up and wash before being served dinner.
"What do you think we will learn with our activated cores now? Are we now Hounds in training?" Alex shoved his bread into his mouth and chewed with his mouth open.
"I think so. I think we will only be taught how to manipulate the energy we put on our bodies. There's not much to do with this core, and that's why it's not counted as part of the Awakeners' advancement," Stallus said as she ate a piece of bread. Her hair was still wet, and her limp had been attended to.
"Did you see how I punched that little goblin? My punch snapped its neck! I can already feel myself getting stronger! Stronger than normal humans!" Alex said.
Azaroth paused on his way to put a cup to his mouth. What Alex said had caught his attention — "normal humans." Before the dark times, everyone wanted to be seen as a normal human, but now the stranger you were, the better. The more of a monster you were, the more respect you earned.
Azaroth drank his water. It had been a rough few weeks, and he was a little impressed with his progress. It would take time. He would have his revenge, but he would be a fool to rush.
Stallus rolled her eyes. "We are hardly stronger than normal humans. A grown, healthy human."
"We are twelve years old, not grown adults," Catena said. He had finished his dinner and was now playing with his cup.
"Yes! How many grown human adults will enter a crypt?" Alex slapped the table.
"Of course it is progress," Stallus said, narrowing her eyes and clenching her fist. "But it hardly matters. We are ants beside powerful Awakeners. I want it — that power to be the giant in the room."
Her eyes shone with burning passion.
Azaroth's ambitions were a cold, steady thing. A thing he was sure would happen; he just had to plan toward it. Stallus's was a burning hate.
She will burn out, Azaroth thought.
Alex shrugged, uncomfortable. Azaroth understood people like Alex — they liked to live blind.
"Why? Why do you want to be powerful?" Alex asked.
Stallus smiled and put down her hand. It wouldn't be smart to be labeled as rebellious. "Because the world demands it now. What about you? You seem to look forward to being a Hound."
Azaroth noticed the way Stallus redirected attention away from herself. Where had she come from? She was good with that saber, and her hair was unnatural — just like his. Why wasn't she killed with the rest of her outpost?
In Azaroth's case, he had been taken because he had "potential," and also because Commander Apex had killed other children.
"What! Don't you hear the stories? Hounds are the knives of the Inferno Legion. They are the warning before the fight! They keep the Eastern Doomhaven safe!" Alex waved his hand with each word.
Azaroth didn't believe him. He was probably rejected by other fighting forces of the Inferno Legion, and his only way to make a name for himself was through the dogs — the Hounds.
"And you, Catena? You don't seem like the type who loves power," Stallus said.
Catena shrugged. "Boredom. Everything is boring, even being captured. Maybe it will be different here. Nothing exciting has happened, though. Maybe I'll cause some excitement for myself — then again, I'm too lazy."
Stallus and Alex stared at him, shocked. This was the most the tall boy with the deep voice had spoken.
"What? Of course, I talk. I'm just too lazy to try most times," Catena shrugged again.
Alex shook his head. "And I thought I was the most unique here."
"You are not unique, Alex. Just loud," Stallus sighed.
Catena snorted and stood up. "I'm going to bed since training starts early tomorrow. Maybe something good will happen in the dream."
Dream. Azaroth frowned. Would that one eye visit his dream again? He had a lot to ask it. The eye had spoken the truth, and Azaroth wanted to know more.
"I'm going too. Want to be as fresh as can be!" Alex said.
Catena and Alex bid Stallus goodnight and climbed the stairs to their room.
Azaroth had finished his dinner and waited for Stallus to go up to her room. There was something he had to do.
Stallus didn't leave, and they both stared at each other in silence.
After some minutes, Stallus snorted and looked away. She stood up, but instead of climbing the stairs, she went to the training floor and picked up her weapon.
They didn't use wooden weapons to train; they used their sharp ones. Kael said nothing beats using your weapon for training.
Azaroth watched as she started her practice, even using her core to channel energy to her feet to make herself faster.
Her main offense was her piercing forms, but she hadn't tried what he had seen her do on the first day they met — when she pretended to sheath her saber, relaxed, then pierced with it. Her movement had been so fast then, a blur his eyes hadn't followed. She was faster than her normal speed, Azaroth was sure.
"Why don't you start your training since that's what you waited for?" Stallus said when she paused between her forms.
Azaroth leaned back in his chair, ignoring her question. "Why are you training?"
"Because it wasn't enough, and it won't be enough. I saw it in the crypt today. I am an ant." She went back to her training.
Azaroth studied her for a minute, then stood, took his sword off the rack, and settled into the first of his stances.