Authoress's note: I've been really inspired for this story lately. And I finally get going towards the second area. XD This is part two of a double-update.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Legend of Legaia. The only thing I have claim to is Shera.
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Chapter 9: Growth
Vahn sighed as he looked over the Mist-filled valley, his back to the campfire that they had set up before night had fully fallen. It was just before dawn, when Shera normally had watch. He still didn't understand why she usually insisted on it, other than that it gave her plenty of time to stretch properly. Some mornings he would swear that she'd taken the time to train rather than watch, but he always reminded himself that she knew what was going on in the dark much better than he did.
A slight groan behind Vahn made him jump and reach for his sword, but he relaxed as soon as he saw it was just Gala sitting up. The ex-monk blinked at him, and then started to put away his blanket.
"It's unusually quiet..." Vahn twitched at Gala's sudden comment, and looked up at the brunette as he stretched, standing next to the blunette. "And you're on edge. Why?" Vahn frowned, thinking a bit before he answered.
"I'm not used to it being so quiet. This is when the night monsters are heading off to their nests and the day monsters aren't yet moving much. The lack of sound unnerves me." Gala patted Vahn's shoulder and turned to tend to the fire.
"It's always like this this early in the morning. Some monsters are smarter than others, though, so this is also the most dangerous time of night." Vahn frowned at the warning, and listened as hard as he could, just in case there were some of those smarter monsters about.
Vahn walked around the perimeter of their camp again, turning to look as Noa finally woke up. Gala had started to warm up some of their trail rations to make them just a little more palatable. Vahn ate it mechanically, staring into the fire as Meta glowed, a sure sign that he was speaking. Neither Terra nor Ozma would tell the others what Meta was telling Vahn.
After a while, Vahn sighed and stood to kick dirt over the fire, effectively extinguishing it. Noa jumped to her feet and stretched, yawning, before looking around to make sure that she hadn't forgotten anything, and then trotted off in the direction Terra pointed her in.
The sun was filtering in through the Mist from directly overhead by the time Vahn and the others saw the faint form of a building in front of them. Noa ran ahead despite the yells for her to be more careful, darting beyond the stone wall before the others.
"Vahn! Gala! Look at all the Mist! It's coming from over there!" As the two young men ran to catch up with the young girl, they found her standing several yards from an odd cylindrical chimney, pointing up towards the top. Gala looked up, and then around, seeing more of the strange chimneys.
"It's a smokestack. Thick Mist is pouring out of it." He jumped as Ozma glowed bright blue, and looked down at the Ra-Seru on his fist.
"[That is where the Mist that engulfed Drake Kingdom comes from!]" Now Terra started to glow blue, and the others turned to look as their Ra-Seru echoed the wind mistress's words to them.
"[Now listen, Noa. This castle as caverns deep underground. Deep inside them is a Mist Generator! That's where the Mist is coming from!]" This information of a clearer target seemed to make the redhead happy, and she bounced on the balls of her feet.
"I'll destroy the Mist Generator! I want to get rid of all the Mist!" Vahn and Gala both chuckled a little at her energy, though they were wary still of their surroundings. It wouldn't do for them to be killed here, so close to their target.
"[You're a good girl. That's right, Noa. We have to destroy the Mist Generator!]" Gala frowned for a moment as he realized the echo of Terra's words almost sounded desperate. Vahn simply looked to Meta as he started to glow. Unlike earlier, Terra and Ozma carried his words to the others.
"[Once we reach the Mist Generator, we can stop the Mist with our Ra-Seru powers. But this is a vital castle to the enemy, and will be heavily defended. Proceed with caution!]" All three of them nodded at that news. They didn't truly need to be told to be careful. Each of them was on edge, waiting for the Seru to swarm out of the door that lay before them.
Together, they turned and approached that door, which slid open to them as they came near, and they disappeared into the thick Mist that spilled forth.
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Shera panted as she jumped back from an attack, sweat soaking the cloth that was tied over her eyebrows. She quickly had to hold up both of her tonfas to block a barrage of attacks, wincing as the shock of the attacks radiated up her arms. She twisted her hips and kicked at her opponent, only to have her shin connect with the hard wood of her opponent's weapon. She winced only briefly, and spun her left tonfa to strike, blocking with her right tonfa again.
"Enough." Shera stepped back a bit, lowering her arms and loosening her grip so that her tonfas hung loosely from her grip. She panted as she looked to the old man that had been teaching her, the monk that she'd been fighting doing the same. "Shera, you keep hesitating. You don't strike at the vital points." Shera made a half-bow to her teacher as he turned to the other monk. "And you don't take the fight seriously. Your opponent is stronger than you give her credit for. All of your strikes are solely where she can block them. If you are to survive the world outside of the monastery, you must strike as if to kill." Shera tilted her head to either side, her spine letting loose a satisfying series of pops.
Both the monk and their teacher winced a little as Shera turned her torso and leaned backwards to coax more pops from her spine, but neither said anything as she bounced on the balls of her feet, obviously feeling that she had loosened her muscles more.
"Ready for some more, I see. Stances, both of you." Shera slid into her stance easily, her tonfas resting with the lengths along her forearms. Her opponent fell into a similar stance, but bounced a bit, moving his arms with his tonfas.
Shera took a deep breath as she calmed herself, feeling the energy of the monk she was fighting. Her hands clenched on her tonfas and then relax, and she smirked for a moment as she felt the monk prepare for an attack. She lifted her right arm as he swung, the loud clack of wood on wood sounding.
Before the monk could recover, she had moved to kick his legs out from under him, lashing out with her left tonfa to block his wild attempt at an attack. As he landed, she knelt next to him, her right tonfa swinging to extend her reach, coming to a rest lightly on his throat.
The monk looked up at her with wide eyes, stunned at her sudden show of skill. Both fighters jumped as they heard someone clapping, and they turned to look at Kin, Shera letting her opponent up.
"Well, at least one of my students took my advice to heart. You ceased to hesitate, Shera." The young woman smiled and swung her tonfas to her sides before bowing in the manner she'd been taught. "Though even I couldn't see when your opponent was about to strike." Shera lifted a hand to brush her thumb over her nose.
"I read his energy. It's fairly easy to predict, but it takes a good deal of concentration. I don't think I'll be able to manage that while traveling. I'd wear myself out." Kin nodded, understanding why she'd said that. She was letting him know why she hadn't been trying to use it.
"Anyway, I believe it is time for the midday meal." Both of Kin's students bowed to him, obviously relieved that they were dismissed, and went out the door, Shera pausing to grab her new boots.
The women still in the women's bedroom fussed over Shera as soon as she slipped in, gasping over the bruises that she already had developing on her arms and legs. They knew that she had been training, but they didn't know that she would be trained like the monks were.
Shera was pointed towards a basin to clean herself up quickly, and she changed into her clothes, folding the clothes that had been leant to her by the monks to train in and setting them off to the side. Once that was done, she walked next door to the kitchen, and smiled at Maya as she saw her mother busy cooking.
A plate of food was set in front of Shera, and the hungry woman quickly dug in, being careful not to get any of it on her clothing. She turned down a second helping and simply sat off to the side of the kitchen, watching her mother work. She was the head of the kitchen, but she was gradually letting another woman take that place, likely getting her used to being in charge.
Kin soon came into the kitchen as well, preferring the fairly quiet hustle and bustle to the main dining room. He smiled as he saw that Shera had already eaten and was just resting there, and went to sit next to her.
The brunette winced as a bruise was prodded, and looked at her teacher out of the corner of her eye. He was looking mildly amused that she didn't yelp, and applied himself back to his food.
"Master Zopu said that he thought it would be fitting for you to give a demonstration of fighting with the final meal of the day. I suggested to him that it would be best for you to rest for a day, first. You've already learned all that I have to teach about the tonfas. You're certainly a very fast learner."
Shera blinked at that, not having expected that answer. She knew that she learned fast, but she hadn't thought that he'd be impressed by it. She was honestly expecting Vahn and the others to come back with her still learning from Kin.
"You seem to be a natural at the tonfas, which is something I've never encountered before. Most take years to learn the sweeping blows that seem to come naturally to you. I suppose all I should have to teach you now are the tactics one uses with tonfas, against those with other weapons." Shera looked interested at that. Few monsters actually carried weapons, but many had natural weapons that humans had mimicked.
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Vahn panted as he finished off the hand-like Seru that Meta called Zenoir, and rubbed his bare forearm over his forehead. The underground caverns were a maze. They had encountered several dead ends already, and even Noa was running out of energy. Vahn couldn't help but wish that Shera was there to help them, even though he knew that she would be in even more danger than the rest of them.
"That's the last of that batch." Gala sounded winded, shoving his club into his belt. Noa was sitting against the wall, holding her left hand to a cut on her right arm. "I think it wouldn't be amiss if we found a place to rest for the night." Vahn nodded to that, and looked around. They had made their way down to the second basement quite some time ago; out of the seemingly bottomless cavern into the closed walls of the maze.
"There's a door over here. Let's check in there and see if it's defensible." Gala nodded to Vahn's observation and helped Noa to her feet, and walked up to the door.
Inside that room was a chest similar to the ones found where the Genesis Trees were worshiped, and a statue of Rem. Vahn frowned a bit at that, and looked around as he entered, but nothing seemed to appear to attack them.
"A little too convenient, if you ask me." Gala seemed to be thinking the same thing as Vahn. "Doesn't seem to be a trap on the surface, though, so perhaps they're taunting us." Noa darted to the chest and opened it without checking if there were any traps, which made both of the men tense with concern.
"There's stuff in here, too!" The redhead dipped her hand in and came up with some preserved healing items in a glass jar. "What weird leaves! They look just like they were picked!" Gala walked over to crouch next to the chest, leaving Vahn to watch the door.
"There's a sword in here as well as some of those enchanted jewels." Gala picked up one of the stones and frowned thoughtfully. "...It's warm. How is it warm?" Noa peered at the one that Gala held, and then grabbed a green stone from the bottom of the chest, squealing slightly.
"It's got wind inside of it! Vahn, Gala, look!" Gala turned his attention to the stone, looking bored for a moment, and then peered closer at it, a perplexed look crossing his face.
"There does seem to be a small whirlwind inside of it. It's a Tempest Jewel. Those are more rare than the Deep Sea jewel that Shera has." The ex-monk looked back to the jewel he held in his hand, squinting at it. "And this, along with feeling warmer than any stone should, looks as though it is an ember." That got Vahn's attention, and despite himself, he glanced away from the door.
Noa started to move all of the objects in the box into the satchel that one of the monks had given her, pausing when she found a book at the bottom of the box. She looked at it, and frowned at Gala as he plucked it from her hands.
"You were holding it upside down, anyway." Noa huffed at him and curled up against the side of the now-empty chest, her arms wrapped around the sheathed short sword that had been inside of it. She was soon asleep, even as Gala read the book by the soft blue light that Ozma gave off.
After what felt like most of the night, Gala dropped off to sleep, the book resting on his chestplate just under his chin, and Vahn gently shook Noa awake. The redhead was up instantly, only to be calmed as Vahn gestured that everything was alright.
Noa woke Gala after some time for his turn to watch, and then went back to sleep, the sound of the ex-monk's soft footsteps on the cold metal floor somehow easing her mind. The monk was still pacing slightly when she woke up again, and blinked at Vahn as he was snoring against the other wall. She stifled a snicker and moved over to wake him, giggling a little at his disoriented look.
"Quiet all through the night, huh?" Noa and Gala nodded, and Vahn frowned. "I wonder if something scared them away from this room. We should be more alert from here on out." Gala understood what Vahn meant and nodded, but Noa still looked a bit confused. Vahn didn't seem to be in the mood to explain to her, either.
Gala led the way, his eyes moving constantly as they walked, and Vahn took up the rear, and was the first line of their defense a few times as some Vera swooped down from the ceiling. After the third time, Ozma finally absorbed the powers of one.
Finally, the narrow hall opened up into a room, and all three of them looked around warily. Gala's attention snapped up to the rafters above them as a familiar voice taunted them. Vahn and Noa moved to either side of Gala, their attention on the man above them.
"Ha, ha, ha! Here comes the army of idiots to save the day!" Gala's expression darkened as he saw his one-time best friend. "Oh? You seem to be missing one. No matter. Should you three fall, I'll track her down and end her misery." Vahn growled slightly in the back of his throat at that, suddenly very protective of his childhood friend. Songi merely laughed. "What courage! Perhaps idiots do not fear death! Oh, what comedy!"
The redhead flipped from the rafter he was standing on to land lightly on his feet in front of the trio. Gala stepped in front of Vahn and Noa as they both slid into fighting stances, obviously fed up with Songi's attitude.
"Vahn! Noa! Step aside. Leave Songi to me." Vahn had to do a double-take to make sure that it really was Gala who was speaking, the monk sounded so furious. Noa's eyes actually widened, and she took a step back. The male redhead laughed at this, smirking arrogantly.
"Gala! How forgetful you are! It is I who defeated you once before! Have you forgotten how much stronger than you I am?" Songi gestured as though he were lamenting his old friend's sanity. "You must be suicidal to fight someone as skilled as I am in the fighting arts. Oh, how pitiful! Your extreme stupidity brings tears to my eyes!" The redhead shook his head and then slid into a fighting stance, a smug smirk on his face. "Well, come on! I'll finish you quickly, so you'll feel no pain."
Gala glared at him, and slid into his own fighting stance, taking a deep breath as he prepared to fight the man that had turned his back on the teachings they had been raised to follow. There was no turning back. He had once thought that Songi could be saved, but there was nothing worth saving in the sneering face before him.
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Shera sighed as she stretched, her back popping a couple of times. She was in the training room that Kin had shown her to the day before, which was hardly ever used, according to him. Her legs and arms were covered in bruises, and she was stiff from the day before, but she didn't have much to do in the monastery aside from train. Unlike the monks, she didn't have to attend prayer. And unlike the women that Maya commanded, she didn't have chores to complete.
The door opening caught Shera's attention, and she sighed as she sat up, turning her head to look. She blinked as she saw Maya instead of Kin, whom she had been expecting. The green-haired woman simply sat against the wall to watch Shera stretch, and the brunette shrugged to herself before stretching out her legs.
Once she was stretched out, she started to go through the routine that Tetsu had taught her that didn't require exchanging blows with anyone. She eventually forgot that she had an audience, putting all her attention into striking at an unseen opponent.
She paused as she finished her routine, blinking as she heard two people clapping. She turned to look, and lifted an eyebrow at Kin and Maya. Kin looked very amused, and Maya simply looked impressed.
"Any doubt that you weren't trained by Tetsu just disappeared. He created that pattern years ago. You go through it as easily as he did, last I saw him." Shera rubbed the back of her head. The routine was a little challenging, as it used every part of the body.
"I've gotten used to doing that every morning. It helps to get me limber to fight throughout the day." Kin nodded, understanding. Shera smirked a little. "As far as I can tell, the others don't stretch quite as much. Then again, they have Ra-Seru, and I don't." Her voice sounded a little bitter at the end, and the brunette frowned. She didn't like being left behind.
"And yet you are able to keep up with them. I have heard the monks speak more respectfully of you than of any of the others." Shera blinked at him, a bit startled. She still wasn't used to people admiring her. In Rim Elm, all of the elders scowled at her, and the rest of the adults more or less ignored her as they all went about their business unless she was helping them with something. The younger ones were more likely to listen to the elders than the adults, so they tended to avoid her as well.
"And knowing the elders of Rim Elm, they liked you none at all." Maya had a slightly pitying look on her face. "They didn't like me much, either. Oh, I don't doubt that they said nice things about me once the Mist came, but they hated the idea that I came to the Monastery every day to work." Shera chuckled at the irony that the Village elders had said such good things of her mother once she was away from them.
"And to think, they told me so many times to act more like you..." Maya laughed at that, which made Shera grin to see her amused. Kin noticed that both of the women relaxed, feeding off of the amusement of the other.
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Gala panted as he glared at Songi, his body aching, but refusing to bend. His rival wasn't uninjured either. Vahn and Noa, standing at the entrance to the hall, were standing stiffly, their hands on their weapons as they watched the two ex-monks fight. Both of the men had been aiming to maim, if not kill.
Songi stood straight after a moment, lifting a hand to rub away the trail of blood that slipped from the corner of his mouth. He sneered at Gala, and spat blood to the side.
"I don't believe it! That Seru has made you much stronger than before! I am pleased! After all, a weak rival is so boring." The man backflipped away from the others, still sneering at them. "We both use Seru – That makes us comrades. So let's call our little meeting today a draw." Much to the surprise of Vahn and the rest, Songi jumped straight up, landing on the rafters that he had dropped from. "As a fellow Seru-user, I'll tell you something you should know. The lord of this castle, Zeto, is waiting for you all by the Mist Generator. Gala, be very, very careful, if you value your life." Songi turned around to look down at them, his face hidden in the shadows. "Don't lose to someone like Zeto. Farewell!" Songi then turned and ran along the rafter. Gala stared after him for several seconds, a frown on his face.
"Just what is he up to, anyway...?" Gala's soft question went unnoticed by Noa, as she was bouncing up and down in anger. Vahn, however, noticed, and glanced at the ex-monk. The brunette shook his head before bowing it. "My apologies for taking so long..." Noa bounced in place again.
"I don't like that Songi! I hate him! Next time he comes, I'll fight him, too!" Gala turned to look at her, a small smile on his face in appreciation, though it made his lip crack again.
"Yes, I suspect the day will soon come when we shall all have to fight him...All four of us." Vahn glanced down, looking a little guilty. Gala knew that it was because of the fact that they had had to leave Shera behind. She was faster than Gala, more aware than Vahn, and had much more training than Noa did. She was an excellent balance, and one that they likely would need soon. Unfortunately, she wasn't with them. "Now. Let's hurry. The Mist Generator awaits."
Vahn and Noa nodded, and then trotted to catch up to Gala. Noa trotted ahead, taking point, and Vahn stayed behind him, guarding their back and making sure that the most tired of the three of them wasn't taken by surprise.
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Shera brushed her fingers off on a napkin as she swallowed the last of her food, and glanced around the kitchen. No one had really noticed when she'd started to take her meals in the kitchen. Some of the monks around her age might have noticed if their teachers hadn't made sure that they were too busy to follow her around.
Shera yawned a little and slipped her dishes into the sink before slipping out of the kitchen. She padded quietly into the women's bedroom, and found the tub that was still filled with hot water. Maya had scolded Shera for wanting to bathe before eating, so Shera had eaten quickly.
The brunette sighed happily as the water eased the small aches in her muscles, and she tilted her head back, staring at the ceiling. She felt a little guilty, enjoying a hot bath while her friends were likely fighting for their lives. She sighed again, and sank in the water until just her nose was above the water.
She enjoyed spending time with Maya, but she really was wishing she could be with Vahn and Noa. She didn't completely trust Gala to keep the two of them out of trouble. Vahn still had problems with hesitating, and Noa didn't have enough training to make up for Vahn's confidence issues.
The door to the women's bedroom opening caught Shera's attention, and she turned her head. Maya poked her head around the screen, and then chuckled. Shera smiled a little at her, not moving from her bath.
"I was wondering if you'd come back here. I didn't see you in the kitchen, and I saw you there just a few minutes before." Shera smiled sheepishly, sitting up a little bit.
"I was really wanting this bath, so I ate quick. I'd rather like to be relaxed and flexible for later." Maya's smile faded a bit. Shera smiled a little at her and stretched, keeping her arms under the water. Her shoulders popped a little, and she sighed. "Fighting is what I do, Mother...All the women in Rim Elm admitted that I had a distinct lack of skill in what the elders insisted women were supposed to do. Mei has all of those skills, not me. Mine lie in fighting. I'm passibly good at building, or so Father told me..." Shera lifted a hand out of the water to rub her nose, as her eyes watched the ripples in her bathwater.
"I know, dear...I just worry that you'll get hurt badly someday." Shera looked up to flash a smile at Maya. The older woman couldn't help but smile back at her.
"That's why I have to get better. So I can keep from getting hurt." Maya sighed, and nodded. Her daughter had a point. The more skill she had, the less likely she was to come up against someone stronger than her.
"Here, turn around. I'll wash your hair." Shera smiled, and did as Maya asked, tucking her legs against her chest as her long brown hair dragged into the water.
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Noa gasped as the trio entered the cavernous room that held the Mist Generator. There were two parts of it, each taller than a house, spinning around the central shaft. The Mist seeped from between the spinning sections and the shaft. Vahn and Gala paused to gape at the machine as well. Neither had ever seen anything so large.
"[The Mist Generator is a machine that creates Mist and a product of humans' evil desires.]" None of them really paid any attention to what Terra said. They were so overawed by the machine before them.
"Can we really destroy something that big?" Gala snapped out of his awestricken state to look down at his Ra-Seru, addressing the question to him.
"[With our faith, Ra-Seru and humans can destroy this machine together!]" Gala lifted an eyebrow at the energetic response, and then looked to Vahn as Meta glowed.
"[This machine does not belong on earth. Let's go.]" The fire Ra-Seru sounded almost...somber. Gala couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong. By the look on Vahn's face, he was wondering the same thing.
The three of them charged forwards, and skidded to a stop as light shone in front of them. Noa fell on her back, she'd stopped so suddenly, and Gala automatically fell into a fighting position, edging forwards to protect the young girl. As soon as she was back on her feet, she mimicked him, and smiled a bit before glaring at the figure that was rising out of a portal in front of the Mist Generator.
The figure was that of a broad-shouldered man, wearing fancy robes that drifted from his shoulders straight down. He had some strange-looking armor that was his Seru covering his shoulders, hands, and his head. The only part of his skin that was visible was his mouth, which was broad, thin-lipped, and pale.
"This Mist is salvation. The Mist is eternal. The Mist is perfect harmony." Vahn growled a little as he recognized the voice, his hands reaching for his short swords. He was now wearing one on either hip. He was clumsy wielding both, but he felt a bit better using a sword as a makeshift shield than Meta.
The man sounded like he wasn't in control of himself, as though there was something simply using his voice, and he himself wasn't even there. "You should have accepted the Mist obediently. Instead, you resist so foolishly. I, Zeto, will now put an end to your futile resistance!" Noa stepped forwards, anger clear on her face.
"I know you. You're the one who bothered me at Mt. Rikuroa!" She pointed her tonfa at the man, who slowly turned his armored head to regard her. "You did those horrible things to Terra the wolf! I...I..." Noa was shaking in her rage, and slammed her tonfa on the railing next to her, bending it a little, though the strike must have jarred her hand terribly. "I'll make you pay!" She dashed forward, and Vahn and Gala followed quickly, to make sure that she wasn't getting into too much trouble.
Zeto glowed, and they stopped. The Seru on him started to grow, and took another shape, completely engulfing the man it was bound to. Vahn growled a little as he recognized the shape as being similar to the crabs that were on the shore near Rim Elm. They would have to find chinks in the Seru's armor to damage it.
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Shera took a deep breath as she settled into a ready stance, calmly studying the monk in front of her. After Gala and Songi had left, he'd taken over drilling the remaining monks, and he always had a scowl on his face when he looked at her. He was bigger than Gala, and as fast, though from what Shera had seen, he didn't have the skill of the smaller monk.
Zopu stepped between them, and looked between them. Shera looked past him, at the monk, but turned her head to acknowledge him. The monk turned his eyes to the elder automatically.
"I want this to be a fair fight between the two of you. No crippling strikes." Shera and the monk both nodded, but she could swear that she saw a frown at Zopu's orders.
The old monk stepped back, and the younger one turned his eyes back to the woman he was about to fight. Shera flexed her hands and then settled them into half-curled fists. She never fought with her hands clenched tight. The monk, on the other hand, held his hands stiffly. Even his joints were stiff.
"Begin!" Shera stayed where she was as Zopu shouted, though the monk charged at her. She instantly relaxed, one of her arms moving to deflect the punch the monk threw at her gut, turning as she did so. She redirected the monk's energy so that he landed flat on his back, and twined her arm around his to lock his arm in a painful position as she held her hand like a knife blade and set it against his throat.
Silence reigned in the room for a moment before the monks started to cheer for her. The one beneath her glared up at her, and she lifted an eyebrow at him as Zopu tried to get the audience to calm down.
"You made the mistake of coming straight at me. I never take a direct blow. I use it against my opponent. Perhaps you should try to learn it. It would startle people." The monk looked at her oddly for the advice, the glare disappearing as he realized she wasn't gloating.
She let him go and offered him a hand up, though she set her legs so that he couldn't pull her down. The monk smiled a bit at her, and accepted her help up.
"Another go? I can see now that I underestimated you." Shera grinned at the offer, and nodded. Zopu finally got the crowd to go quiet, and made sure that neither combatant was injured before announcing to the crowd that Shera had agreed to give the monk another try.
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End Notes: I sorta like having Shera off on her own. It makes it a bit easier to handle her personality and show how she's been growing. The next chapter wraps up the Mist Generator, so I'm getting closer to the second part of the game!
Read and review!