I didn't take his hand.

Couldn't.

My jaw locked. My pulse thudded in my throat. The open wound on his palm waited between us, patient and unyielding. The blood fell to the sand in soft drips, counting every moment I was stuck in this corner I'd found myself in.

Intisak's expression never changed. Calm. Expectant. Certain.

That certainty grated. It crawled under my skin like a splinter I couldn't dig out.

What do I do?

I looked back up to the man, meeting his silver eyes as my second mind grinded away at my options.

*Either I bite the bullet and seal off my powers to maintain this lie, and then pray to Lysha'el I survive the Caverns without my regeneration, all in exchange for possible long-term safety, but only assuming this secret can continue to be kept for the entire duration of my stay here...

Or...I reveal the truth, here and now...and still pray to Lysha'el that Intisak understands my reasoning and moves on without event...

No matter which I choose...the result...is up to luck.

I wasn't a gambler. And even if I had been, I still wouldn't have liked my odds.

The Chieftain noticed my reluctance. "Why do you hesitate?"

"I...I'm..."

I sighed. Shoulders dropping alongside my gaze. "My gift...is not that temporary boost in strength that you saw in our bout. It is something else entirely."

Silence. He didn't say anything. I didn't dare look up. So I continued my explanation.

"Before you pretend to be insulted---understand this: I had no reason to trust you. None. I am an outsider. And even without knowledge of my gift, you wanted me to be your weapon. I had no choice. If word of my real ability spread, every clan, every kingdom, every power-hungry bastard from here to the horizon would try to kill me, dissect me, or chain me."

I swallowed. "I lied because I had to. I lied to survive. And I won't apologize for that."

Silence followed my words once more. My heartbeat echoed in my ears. My breath ran hot through my nose. But this time, my downcast gaze caught the shadow of Intisak finally withdrawing his bloody hand.

"I already knew that much, boy."

My teeth clicked together. "…What?"

"This morning, in the courtyard...I tested you in more ways than one. First, was the perceived purpose of that battle in your eyes---finding the extent of your Physical capabilities and Mastery. Second, the potency of your synchronized nerves, since that is quite variable in every person, and a well-built nervous system implies a powerful Ascension, and more importantly, greater potential. And Third...was the truth of your gift."

I didn't say anything, but my gaze shot up to meet his. He looked...satisfied.

"You see, Axel...I have a fairly...keen...sense of hearing. Peoples' heartbeats turn just a little erratic when they lie. Its baked into our physiology. So I gave you the opportunity to weasel out of ever revealing the truth by coming to a few convenient conclusions out loud...and then left you with a straightforward choice between 'yes' or 'no'. "

"I posed the question about your gift...then I listened to your heart. And you lied. Not poorly, just...to the wrong person."

My hands slowly unfurled at my sides.

"You set this up," I muttered.

"Yes."

"To corner me."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To show you you aren't as smart as you think you are, boy. And to show you...that I hold no bad intentions. My terms won't change. My request to you, and the pact we made in my study won't change either. Nothing changes. Nothing but the trust between us. This was the only way to clear your doubts, harsh though it may have been."

My fists clenched as frustration bubbled up. I was outplayed utterly and completely. But I now saw his reasoning, and just as I had hoped...he had seen mine.

"You came to these lands in search of strength," he said, voice low. "And I told you...I would give you that. But I cannot mold a weapon I cannot trust. And you cannot follow a master you fear will betray you. A pact between us, made under false terms, is no pact at all."

"This is why I forced your hand. Because you would never volunteer the truth. Not until pushed to the brink."

I looked out to the sands once again, unsure what to say, much less how to say it.

Intisak's intelligence had already been astounding to behold back when I'd first interrupted the Trial, defusing multiple parties and cornering me all with a single statement.

And now, he'd gone and done it again. And I hadn't even realized he'd been working up to this conversation all this while. It was frightening, if I was being honest. How was I supposed to deal with someone like this? He wasn't just stronger physically. He led an entire clan. Thousands of Dhrokar under his command. And as if his personal strength and military prowess weren't impressive enough, his intelligence could dwarf all of that. It was no wonder he was Chieftain, really.

I stood there in thought, for a while longer, still unsure how to proceed, but, the words came out eventually. "So what happens now?"

Intisak nodded.

"Now, we get to the crux of why we came here specifically. There are no...uninvited parties...in this realm. What is spoken of here, will never reach the ears of any but you and I. So now, we set up the base. The foundation of what I already know will be a fruitful exchange, even if the Elders don't believe it to be the case."

"I reveal everything on my end. And you reveal everything on yours."

My axe came off its harness. "Then I'll do you the courtesy of starting, Chieftain."

Is it luck that I find people like him to guide me? Or is it more than that, Lysha'el?

The thought drifted away as I raised my left hand in display.

Then with the axe in my right, I chopped off the limb without so much as a twitch on my face.

The Chieftain's eyes widened as he watched me, blood spraying all over the black dunes.

I then picked up the dismembered arm, and pressed it back into the stump, bone, muscle and skin knitting back all on its own, the bisection healing itself in moments.

When it was done, silence hung in the air as I clenched and unclenched the fist of my left hand, showing him it was perfectly functional.

"This, is my gift. It is a form of Regeneration. But even this Regeneration...is only a part of it."

The Chieftain's gaze locked onto mine.

"The Words call my gift 'Adaptive Regeneration'. And its rank...is something I have told no one because...I do not know what rank it is. The Words do not specify. Point is, my gift doesn't just return my body to what it was before sustaining injury. It heals me in a way that makes me more equipped to handle the same type of damage in the future."

He muttered under his breath, "Adaptation..." then his gaze flicked to the healed-up arm once more.

"Limits?" he asked simply.

"None that I've found. And I've jumped off of cliffs back when I first woke up as a Mortal."

Intisak's fingers stroked his chin as he fell into thought, "You said it makes you 'more equipped to handle the same type of damage'...do you mean to say you've acquired---"

"---Resistance Skills. Yes."

"...And that's how you were able to rank up so quickly...Your Resistances don't need comprehension of Laws to evolve, only more damage, as necessitated by your gift..."

"Precisely."

"And the strength boost..? Was that...channeling?"

I nodded.

Intisak said nothing for a few moments. His hands shook in place, one folded across his chest, the other still steepled below his chin. "This..." he muttered under his breath, "If what you say is the truth...then...no. No, I have to see it for myself..."

His silver eyes shot back up to me now, calm, resolute. "I will tell you of everything that awaits you in the Archives. I will tell you of everything I hope to gain from our exchange. And of everything the Elders fear. Any and all of your questions...I will answer. But first, you must show me."

"Show me the true extent of this gift. Show me your growth. Show me your Resistances. Show me everything it can do, and I will mold you into a force Telaria isn't prepared for."

I swallowed, seeing the resolve burning in his Silver eyes.

"I give you the same task, boy. Bring me the core of a Crisis-Class Blacksand Scorpion, without channeling Mana. But your regeneration...use it however you please. You have one day."

And then, he was simply gone, the black dune he stood upon dusting up into a small dark cloud. My eyes searched the vicinity, searching for traces of the man, but there was nothing, as if it was the dust that had consumed him.

A force Telaria isn't prepared for...

I smiled, realizing I'd made the right decision.

I can work with that.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.