Chapter 13: Forced Camaraderie

Azemo hated waking up early but a loud banging on his door forced him to do the unthinkable and he arose from his bed. He opened the door and was surprised to see Benthar.

"It is not time to be awake." Azemo barely formed the words in a coherent manner.

"If you want to eat, Zaebos said that now is the only time you can."

If one thing rivaled Azemo's need for sleep it was his adoration of food. Zaebos knew this and was exploiting that fact and Azemo could not think of a counter in his early morning state. He got dressed and went and ate his usual meal before going to curse out Zaebos.

However before he could say a word Zaebos spoke. "Apparently your performances from yesterday means you need daily training as a group, now is the only time the two of us will train from this day forward."

"You get tired Azemo then." Normal Azemo would probably make a joke about the amount of words Zaebos had used but tired Azemo did not have much of a sense of humor.

Training continued without a hitch except for the constant grumbling of tired Azemo. After training was finished tired Azemo made his departure because it was the time of day when Azemo would normally wake up. It was as if a switch was flipped and Azemo's personality did a 180.

He hurriedly made his way to the room of doom to learn why his sleep needed to be interrupted.

Spiren was relaxing on a chair but as soon as Azemo entered the room he stood up and began speaking. "We were being monitored yesterday and our teamwork was not as it should have been. Since humanity has started beating demon kind we need to get better quickly."

Apparently the reason they had been summoned was because the demons had started losing the war against humanity. The summoned were supposed to be the force that would turn the tide but with the war drawing to a close they did not have the luxury of time.

"We will spend the next 6 days improving our teamwork and after that we will embark on a real mission." Even though Spiren seemed to be saying childish words he managed to take the joy out of them. "I will assign better roles so please tell me what you think your specialization is."

Slithe was the first to speak "I am a close quarters fighter and my magycka allows me to amplify damage through existing wounds."

Noct followed his brothers lead "I specialize in restraining enemies and my magycka allows me to heal by stealing blood from an opponent."

Augory looking disdainful said "I use magic, offensive and utility and my magycka is not important for you to know." Spiren stiffened at this affront to his authority but decided to let it slide.

Benthar was up next "I guess I am a tank because of my magycka but I can also deal damage."

Tryst only said "I am ranged and have poison thanks to my magycka."

Azemo didn't want to be the last to speak so he quickly said "I am a speed type with mid to close range my magycka allows me to teleport my weapons."

After a large yawn Sillis said "I deal damage that works best when I am by myself, my magycka helps me evade attacks."

Everyone seemed to be telling the others the bare minimum and Spiren did not tell anyone anything.

"Noct and Benthar will be our frontline, take Slithe and work on some formations and attacks."

"Augory and Tryst will be our backline go practice coordination and alternating attacks." Augory looked like he was about to say something nasty but Spiren cut him off.

"Sillis and Azemo find out how the two of you can work together you guys will be our scouts and distractions."

Augory obviously annoyed spoke up "And what will you be doing today."

Spiren honestly looked surprised that anyone would question him but finally said. "I will be watching you train and start to strategize. Now go." His tone left no room for questions.

The brothers quickly left and Benthar was almost left behind before he hurried after them. Augory and Tryst followed with Tryst keeping a healthy distance between the two of them. Sillis slowly left and Azemo was practically running circles around her as they headed towards the forest.

"How are we gonna train." Sillis said as soon as they reached a clearing, she looked like she was going keel over any second.

"Uh we need a way to communicate or something over long distances." Azemo loved movies in his past life so he tried to turn that knowledge into something practical. "After that we should spar or maybe practice stealth."

"What are we ninjas?" That was Sillis only response but Azemo took that as confirmation.

"Have any skills for communication?" Sillis proceeded to pull off one of her scales and handed it to Azemo.

"As long as you have that on you we can talk." Azemo heard Sillis' voice bouncing around the empty cavern that held his brain.

"Okay step one complete, want to spar or are you too tired Sleepy." Sillis pulled out her scythe and nearly cleaved Azemo in half.

"Geez, sensitive." Azemo chuckled and the fight was on.

Sillis was like a whirlwind, twirling her scythe around her in the perfect balance of attack and defense. Azemo launched a kick to try and break her guard but Sillis dodged and caught Azemo with the back end of her scythe.

Azemo transformed his fall into a handspring before activating his gauntlets. His hand also grabbed a rock before he leapt to his feet. He then tried the same trick he used on Zaebos and tossed the rock behind him before charging Sillis. Her scythe made it difficult for him to approach but he was waiting for the rock to reappear. Once it did instead of hitting Sillis it phased through her as her body seemed to melt into a dull white smoke. Azemo's surprise made him jump back and teleport the rock that was whizzing towards him back into his hand.

The rest of the fight was a battle of speed. Azemo lept around bouncing off of trees, throwing rocks but never quite finding his mark. Sillis on the other hand rarely moved, but when she did she moved at a startling speed, she instead used her magycka and scythe to dissuade or dodge Azemo's attacks. However Azemo was moving around too much for her to get a finishing blow in. Neither of them used any skills besides their magyckas and their tomes were left open next to each other on the ground.

Eventually Sillis called an end to the fight, both of them were capable of handling themselves if they got caught in danger."

"You are so cool." Azemo was all over Sillis trying to figure out her moves. Sillis tiredly pushed him away and the two of them agreed to train together tomorrow.

Azemo went by the others on the way back to his room. Augory and Tryst were nowhere to be seen while Benthar looked as if he was being tortured. Noct and Slithe were drilling him over and over because they wanted to be able to trust in his skills. Spiren was sitting cross legged writing in a book.

"Good work for today, no need to report in tomorrow." Without looking up Spiren spoke and his tone suggested that he had somehow watched Sillis and Azemo's duel.

Azemo silently gagged before hurrying to dinner. Azemo's bed was sure to follow.