War God for Hire- Gladiator by David Burke (books under 200 pages .TXT) 📕

“Finally, what?” Kyle asked back.

He heard more of her rich, sultry laughter in his head. Kyle couldn’t help it. Her laughter sent a shiver down his spine in all the right ways.

“You said the other gods. Well actually, you thought it. I can’t always read your thoughts, even stuck in here, but sometimes they resonate more clearly, like that one did,” Hilde replied as she finished laughing.

“So, what of it?”

“That way of thinking implies that you are a god. So maybe, just maybe, you are starting to believe me. Not that I think you are ready yet, but you are moving forward. Even Krig would have been proud of the progress you displayed with your attack on the training dummies,” Hilde said.

Kyle wasn’t sure if she was genuinely praising him or was mocking him. It was one of those things about a woman. They always seem to be able to keep a guy on his toes, second guessing everything. “Why fight it? Either this is the longest, weirdest dream of my life, or something bizarre is happening. I can feel other… not memories, but skills lying dormant inside me. I know there is power inside of me, I just can’t seem to grasp it, at least not very often.”

As he climbed down the ladder into his cell, she said, “Maybe we should do something about that. You were utilizing essence today. Not to empower your strikes, but to pull them short. It was a creative use of your power, even if you were only doing it instinctively.

“So far, you have only been able to access your power through great emotional turmoil or on an instinctive basis. Since you created a window through the void, I have felt like you have both been more interested in your power and more scared of it. That is wise. It makes me respect you all that much more. Your power is frightening, and the void is downright terrifying.

“However, as you use your power instinctively, you are gaining essence at a faster rate. Most of it is just raw essence, but your body is already holding far more of it than any mortal I have ever met could hold. Just a bit more and you will be able to summon me.”

Kyle sat on the bed and changed the subject. “Do you think that Nyda will come back?”

“I doubt they will send her to you, given that you have demonstrated you no longer need tutoring. I know you have feelings for her, which alone proves to me that while you may be the reincarnation of Krig, you are not Krig. He never felt a tender feeling for anyone. Respect for those who tried their best, contempt for the weak who refused to improve, and pride for his followers who excelled. Those were the limits of his sentiments, as far as I could tell in my time with him.

“I don’t know yet if these emotions you have are going to be a good thing or a hindrance, but they are there either way. For now, though, the fact that Nyda isn’t coming tonight doesn’t have to be an entirely bad thing,” Hilde said.

For just a moment, he wondered if there was a bit of jealousy in her tone. But then he scoffed at himself. He had dated models, a singer, and a host of other pretty women, especially if you counted the casual hook ups. None of them compared to the glimpse he had of Hilde. Nyda was gorgeous in a delicate, must be protected sorta way. Hilde was just burning hot, literally.

Surely women like that weren’t jealous. Besides which, half the time she was annoyed with him and treated him like he was a bumbling fool incapable of completing the most basic of tasks. And she was… well, a freaking angel.

“Maybe, but I miss her company. It is nice to have someone to talk to, even if I feel like I’m saying the wrong thing half the time,” Kyle said.

“I’m not sure you could say the wrong thing with Nyda and, trust me, I know, ‘cause you are always sticking your foot in your mouth when talking to me. But do you really want to talk about women, or would you rather spend the time learning how to use essence?

“I know you have wanted to focus on gaining control of your new body and mastering physical combat. Well, you have made great strides in that direction, so maybe we could spend some time now focusing on your true source of power,” Hilde said.

Her words had him feeling like he had whiplash as he couldn’t decide exactly what her angle was. It didn’t help that he could only hear her voice and not actually look at her for non-verbal cues about what she meant. “Okay, we can focus on this. I will spend all night trying to satisfy you with my efforts to master essence.” The double entendre was juvenile but that didn’t make it any less funny to him.

There was a pause before Hilde answered and he wondered for a moment if he had offended her. He heard her mumble something like, “If only.” But when he asked her to repeat herself, she said, “Never mind. We need to get down to work on this. Just don’t make promises you aren’t willing to keep.”

After that, Kyle sat down on the floor, cross-legged. He didn’t know that the position was going to help at all, but it seemed like the type of thing some mystic would do on Earth, and try as he might, it was hard for him to view this differently.

Hilde guided him through some breathing exercises but stressed repeatedly that none of these things were actually necessary. It was simply a way for him to adapt to this. For the next four hours, she tried to get him to feel the energy around him.

They tried multiple techniques for envisioning the core of his being where essence was