HavenGuarde

Chapter 54 - Changing

Chapter 54

Changing

- And they could not recognise his face, for he had grown into a man -

Days turned into months and months into years. Thonavar took his training seriously and grew in determination and of resilience of mind. But his body changed rapidly and he found himself developing strength in his arms, legs and abdominal areas where already rippling muscle fibres were starting to form. His dark hair with white streaks grew out long. He was allowed to grow out his hair now that he had finished at least three years of training.  

As for his training, Thonavar had completed all the obstacle courses and their full range of difficulty. Furthermore, he had passed all the advanced level courses, much to the admiration of the instructors who watched him but said nothing. Thonavar knew the instructors were impressed for he had caught frequent looks of astonishment and nods of approval when he ran past the finish lines of each course, and when he had continuously set new records in time in his host. The advanced level courses were optional and not required for being admitted to classification but existed only for individuals to test the limits of their abilities.

On one occasion, Thonavar was faced with a tall wall of smoothened stone, about the length of four fully grown men, that was seemingly impossible to ascend or climb given its slippery exterior. In the middle of the wall was a small hole, shallow and barely the size of a fist. But it seemed impossible to even reach the small hole which was located considerably high up the wall itself. Yet, the task required one to ascend to the top of the wall. Thonavar, on his first try, had looked up at the wall of stone that stretched up into the sky and studied it while the other members of his host struggled in vain to mount the wall. 

After about twenty minutes of studying and walking around the structure of the wall, Thonavar moved toward the stone wall. The onlooking host parted to allow him space and to watch. Still looking at the wall, Thonavar moved back about twenty meters. Bent on a knee, Thonavar closed his eyes, feeling the energy build up within him. He concentrated and blocked out all other thoughts, whispers and murmurs of others around him. 

From a distance, two black-robed instructors with arms clapsed, watched intently. Thonavar let the energy flow all around his body before suddenly forcing it to surge with force. He immediately broke into a sprint and moved with tremendous speed toward the wall. He had memorised the place where the small hole in the stone wall was located. Locking his gaze to its location, Thonavar reached the wall and what came next was a moment of magic.

Seemingly defying the laws of physics, Thonavar's feet made contact with the surface of the wall. One foot landed upon the wall, and another, and another, and then another. Thonavar had run about six steps up the wall when he felt the pull of gravity, threatening to pulling him back toward the earth. One more half-step, he thought. That is all I need. As his foot barely made contact with the wall, Thonavar thrust his arms out and made contact with the smooth wall above his head. He found the hole just as he was beginning to slide downward and planted the index and middle fingers of each hand into it. He pressed downward with his fingers and found his body surging upwards instead of downwards. An audible gasp resounded from the boys watching below.

Feeling his body rising upwards, Thonavar then used his right foot to find the hole which he did, and he pushed up again. This time, he felt his body moving upward faster than before and he raised his arms parallel to the wall as he surged upward. Sunlight greeted his face as his head came over the top of the wall and he immediately caught the edge of the wall and pulled himself up. Then balancing on the edge for a brief moment, Thonavar closed his eyes, enjoying the thrilling sense of victory.