From that morning on, I spent an hour every day in a clearing in the nearby woods. Stolath Zenash gave me an official pass for ‘remedial practice’ in the clearing. He had set up basic practice dummies and some targets. It was a good ruse…

The first time I managed to force out an intentional burst of electricity came after a week of trying. By the middle of the second week, I was able to start a small fire. I noticed that there was a strange red cast to areas around me. The electricity was drawn to spots that had a blueish cast in my vision. I knew, somehow, that the blue and red casts were not visible as actual color. They were just some way that my brain could tell me where the sparks would be drawn to.

By the beginning of the third week, Neah stepped out of hiding as I was about to start my practice in the middle of the clearing. “So. What is this all about?” she considered me with a wide-eyed look as her smile spread. “I was told you were doing remedial practice, but you took down three talented warriors on your own and killed one while seriously wounding another. You also did not get so much as a scratch.”

“My master is very good at what he does.” I deadpanned to her with a very direct look in her eyes.

“Far be it from me to doubt the word of my betrothed…” She did the wide-eyed innocence look again. “But I think that my silence about what I know happened to Haleth should earn me some trust. His family and the family of his two ‘helpers’ are out for blood. They would probably be even angrier if they knew a remedial student was responsible.”

I considered for a moment. “And what is this discretion about to cost me?”

“I just want to know that you are still considering making all four of us your wives. I also want you to swear to protect all four of us.” This last was delivered with an unrelenting stare. Her smile had melted away. “You may not know this, but we have a bit of an ‘image problem’. The staff and the students have heard stories about us and our brother.” She took a deep breath, “We really need your protection.”

“Who do you need protection from?”

“Our brother had a different mother than the four of us. She has sent people after us before. Now that we are old enough to be here, our father told us that he can’t shield us from her anymore.”

“And, how is a poor ‘remedial student’ to protect you from an angry noblewoman?” I asked. “Why didn’t you four go to one of the higher-ranked students for protection?”

“I know you have heard the whole ‘four hunters’ rumor. The stronger students have been warned off. Haleth even threatened to kill us for the reward if we bothered him.” As she said this, her three sisters stepped out from behind trees around the perimeter of the clearing.

“We also know about the electrical powers by the way,” Greah added when she came up close. “That is a talent that hasn’t been seen for a long time in our people. My research said it was something the Arkanumh could do. Now, almost nobody can. They are also supposed to carry swords like yours.”

Leah took over from her, “Sayleah has also been rather quiet since that night when Haleth got injured. The other surviving boy got expelled. That puts her down two good soldiers. Haleth came back from the tanks with a new arm a couple of days ago.” She delivered this information like a messenger eager for a reward for service.

“Very well. It seems like I not only can’t get rid of you four, but I may need to keep you around.” Looking around at all four girls, I continued, “Don’t make me regret promising to protect you all. I am still not in a hurry to marry, but you may start a rumor that we are in negotiations.” 

“Do we at least get to see you practice just this once?” asked Reah.

I answered her by discharging a bolt of electricity into a log that was sitting on one of the darker blue cast areas. The log splintered and threw burning bits around the area. It probably would not have been so dramatic if the log had not been as damp as it was. The water in the wood had expanded violently in pockets within the log.

Leah, closest to the blast, jumped in fear, nearly crashing into Reah. She was obviously shaken. Reah just smirked at me as she picked smoking splinters out of Leah’s ponytail and dusted them from her own shoulders.

The fake Greah was the first to speak. “That was dramatic. You could have warned us. However, that does answer our question about your skills. We also heard that you demonstrated that your sword is a real Hollow Sword. Those are pretty rare.”

“That was what I heard. It does seem a bit more effective than I had expected. I doubt my father knows.” I said.

Greah was, again, the one to step in, “Now that we have confirmed your value as a protector, I vow that we will apply our full capabilities to gather information about anything that will help you.”

“Does that include the information about how you swap identities with each other on a regular basis and nobody ever notices? It seems like a pointless game, designed for children.” I smirked at them as I delivered my question. They had no idea that I could momentarily open my ultraviolet vision and see subtle difference in the patterns where their skin reflected the invisible spectrum of light. They had no idea that each individual’s skin reflected UV light in different patterns.

Greah gasped, Reah smirked, Leah hid her face, and Neah stared blankly at me. I looked at Reah and said, “You are the real eldest sister. Are you actually named Greah?”

Reah responded as her smirk spread into a brilliant smile. “I don’t know how you figured it out, but I am Greah, the eldest. We started it when we were little. It made it easier to get information. Girls often tell secrets to one sister that they would never tell the others.”

“I see. So why pull it on me?”

The fake Greah responded, “Partially habit. Part of it was to see if you were as sharp witted as we suspected. Word has it that even those who consider you an easy target consider you mentally dangerous.”

My ego was boosted a bit by this exchange, just like she had obviously planned. Keeping my face as inexpressive as I could, I replied, “You will never know the depth of how dangerous I can be, unless you find out in a way that will not leave you happy.”

All four girls gasped. After a moment, the real Greah stepped forward. “I give our word that we will never betray you, as long as the marriage proposal is still on the table. If you abandon us, we will turn on you. Ask our brother how that worked for him.”

All four girls turned towards campus and walked slowly from the clearing.

Once they were gone, I launched into my routine. At the end of my practice, I took aim at a large, dark, blue area at the base of a large, dead tree. I held out the Hollow Sword and released a bolt of energy that would not have done more than scorch a spot on wood. The blast that followed almost knocked me off of my feet. The root system on the left side was vaporized and the tree toppled quickly to the forest floor with a crash.

The smile on my face was truly feral. I was thinking of the wonderful ways that this would be very handy.