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Chapter 31 - Nick
They switched to some light practice fights. Henry had a similar weapon, and he walked Nick through a few basic moves. They gradually progressed more and more, and Nick threw himself into it, finally feeling like he was doing something worthwhile.
Nick was panting lightly, and he had stripped off his jumper so he was just wearing a t-shirt despite the cool evening air. Meanwhile, Henry hadn’t even broken a sweat, and no matter what Nick did, Henry was ready for it.
“You’re surprisingly good at this,” Henry finally conceded.
“Thanks,” Nick said.
“No, I’m not complimenting you,” Henry said. “I mean, if you want to take it that way, go ahead, but I’m genuinely surprised.”
Nick frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You’re not the first person I’ve trained, Nick. I did this kind of thing for a lot of years before I retired. You don’t have any experience with weapons or combat. To be blunt, you should be bad at this.”
“But I’m not.”
“No, you’re not,” Henry said.
There was a slight frown creasing Henry’s brow.
“What?” Nick said. “You’re looking at me like a science experiment.”
“Maybe it’s the void.”
“I’m not following.”
“You’re picking up these skills unusually fast. In the stories about the voids, they’re always dangerous, especially in physical combat. Most of the survivors found a way to avoid facing them directly.”
“Like Samuel,” Nick said.
Henry tilted his head slightly. “Yes. Like Samuel.”
Nick shrugged, and Henry continued.
“I always assumed the voids trained harder because they needed physical touch to drain magic, so it made sense - they had to be able to get close. But now...”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe there’s more to it than that.”
“You think all voids are good at fighting?” Nick asked. “How could that be possible?”
“It’s just a theory,” Henry said. “Hear me out. Witches can do magic, but they can sense things about the world, too. Call it intuition. That’s why it’s so rare for them to go bad. They’re connected to nature, and everything living in it.”
Nick remembered what Cara said about sensing the vampires on him after he met Samuel for the first time. She said it felt like she could smell them on his clothes.
“Makes sense,” Nick said.
“And when they go bad, it rarely stops with something small. Turning your back on nature, especially when you have such a deep connection, it takes a toll on your soul.”
“I’m not a witch,” Nick said.
“Vampires drink human blood and gain the potential to be immortal, if they drink enough of it, but they’re also stronger and faster than normal people.”
“And the mind control thing,” he added.
