The Summoner's Mark (First Draft) (Book One)

Training for War

"Why did the first class today have to be the one that Sten controls? Its like some sick twist of the fates..." Sin snarled as he glared at the man that was already berating them for their pathetic attempt at combat. Understanding that he would make himself a bigger target for Sten than he already was if he kept his mind preoccupied with something other than what Sten was trying to teach them; Sin forced himself to focus on the man that was pacing back in forth before them.

This seemed to be the best course of action considering that Sten's eyes zeroed in on Sin mere moments before the man started in on the class once more. "You, pathetic bunch of trainees have failed to impress me, and I doubt that you ever will though since its my duty to train you the best that I can; then it looks like the best training that I can give you will be to pair you against one another to see which areas that you need to work on." Sten growled and as he stared at Sin, a smirk appeared upon his lips.

Even before Sten had spoken the next words, Sin knew that the smirk upon the man's face would mean nothing good was going to occur for him though he refused to allow the cruel man to ruin his education for him.

"Half-breed! You will be one of the first to have the privilege to duel amongst your classmates..." Sten snarled as he motioned towards Sin. Though Sin wasn't sure what the motion meant at first, he assumed that this meant that Sten wished him to exit the formation that he had forced them into, Sin did just that and as he did so; he grasped ahold of the wooden sword that they were practicing with. As Sin was doing this, Sten started speaking once more. "...Enmoria Tondros. You will be the mutt's opponent for this duel, and I hope that you prove to be a much stronger fighter than what you showed in the arena match." Sten's rough voice fluttered out.

Although Sin had heard the name of the individual that was meant to duel him; he thought nothing of it as he was taken aback by one of the most derogatory names for beings like him. "Just ignore him! He is just trying to get under your skin!" Sin commanded of himself as he continued walking towards the area in which the duel would be taking place. Even though Sin had ordered himself to ignore the comments that Sten had made, he could still feel the wetness of unwelcome tears slide down his cheeks.

Not wanting anyone to know that he had allowed the comments to harm him, Sin quickly wiped his hand across his cheeks in attempt to swipe the tears away. Once he felt that he had done enough to keep the whispers at bay, Sin turned to face the opponent that he heard come up behind him.

This allowed him to see that his opponent was none other than the female elf that had been with him in the arena during the combat-oriented test that was designed to thin the herd of initiates that were fighting to claim a spot within the Academy. "I didn't even notice that she had passed the second test." Sin concluded as he examined the female before him in hopes of determining her magical nature which allowed him to spot the white cuff that was still attached to her wrist. "She must be study White Magic then unless my understanding of the cuff coloring are incorrect."

However, this wasn't the only thing that Sin noticed from his examination of Enmoria. From the slight shaking that he saw upon the hand that was holding the wooden sword; he knew that the same fear that she experienced the first time that they faced each other was once again trying to claim her. Seeing that this might allow him to easily defeat Enmoria in this duel, Sin allowed a hint of aggression to seep out around him which had the desired effect that he had intended since the shaking in Enmoria's hand only grew worse.

Due to Sten's voice echoing around them, Sin couldn't play on the emotions that were seeping out of Enmoria any further. "You both may begin!"

This was all that Sin needed to hear before he charged at his opponent. Within seconds, Sin was upon the female that stood before him and once Enmoria was within distance of him; Sin was swinging his wooden blade at her. Since this was a training bout and that he wasn't really trying to harm the elf; Sin didn't put as much force behind his strike as he could have though this did little to ease the fear that had came to life within Enmoria's eyes.