Chapter Eleven Part One: Battle Priest!

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The glare off her armor was blinding him yet again. He threw his weight into the swing he was sure he would hit, but the crouching steel-plated girl rolled out of the way dramatically, flashing the flat blade of her sword into his eyes before whacking him on the side with it. Disoriented, Ray lost his balance and hopped around a few times, while Saign eyed him coolly, waiting for him to continue the match.

There was just no end to it. Ray believed this was more about endurance than anything. In the last couple of fights, Saign the superior fighter had knocked him flat in a few minutes.

Plip

Ray blinked and looked down. Blood was dripping down his knee. Choking back a curse, he collapsed down, gripping his injury away from view.

Saign held back, unsure whether he was feinting or not. Ray continued huddling in a ball. Saign didn't know it, but Ray had been using his healing powers during training, just a little at a time. He gathered the remnants of his powers now, making sure Saign couldn't see what he was doing.

Without warning, he launched himself at her. Teleporting right up to her, which surprised Ray as much as Saign, he attacked her sword arm with a heavy swing of his mace. He didn't think he could hurt her. In the madness of the battle, he forgot that Saign was only human. Saign's eyes widened in shock, mirroring Ray's, who regretted this move in an instant.

Before he could draw his mace back, or even touch her with his weapon, Saign bashed his head with her skull, the hard helmet on her head doing damage. Ray was nearly thrown back leaving the cool blue warrior unharmed.

The warrior swung her giant blade in a wide arc in attempt to force Ray back even further. Instead, Ray took it as an attack and raised his mace in defense. Saign's sword caught the ball of the weapon, and tore it out of his grip. It clattered out of reach, neither noticing that the mace had been split.

The pair, pumped up with adrenaline, glared each other down; teacher against pupil, but the battle of wills wasn't evenly matched. Once again, Saign won the fight. Exhausted, the magician couldn't take standing any longer. Ignoring the teacher's disapproval, Ray slumped to the ground. The sun was driving him nuts. He was too tired to think logically. It seemed that training his body was honing the power of his mind as well.

Teacher's lessons consisted mostly of vigorous training exercises.

Perhaps there was good purpose in purely physical training. Ray told Saign when she caught up with them, that he wanted to forget his training as a magician and instead train as a warrior. Saign had appeared extremely taken back, stunned even, but had eventually agreed to train him. Ray was frustrated seeing how much farther he had to go. Even Saign, who looked tall and slim from a distance, was like powered steel. The last time he had grabbed Teacher's arm when she hadn't been wearing a full set of armor (she always wore some armor however), Ray had been astonished to feel velvet-covered rock rather than an arm.

Back at the mansion, Ray had been sad to see how flimsy his own weapon handling was compared to a trained warrior, however weak. Ray worked hard, and he did see much improvement, but Saign grew more frustrated as the training exercises did nothing but better Ray's warrior-like capabilities.

"There are two things on my mind!" Saign announced suddenly. "One is that you don't have the warrior instinct. But-" she said, seeing Ray's dismay. "You have a magician's instinct, and that makes up for it all." Ray shook his head.

"What does that mean? I thought I was doing better. Getting along without using magic seemed easier." Saign sat down before the crestfallen Ray, wisely facing away from the sun as usual.

"It is getting easier, but you're still Ray of the Shining Ray-" she started to say, but Ray waved her off disgustedly.

"I'm sick of it. I want to forget all about that," he interrupted. She let the gap in the conversation widen a little.

She continued sternly, "Can you use your Shining Ray?" Ray hesitated from saying no because he realized that wasn't truthful. He had used it once before when he met Marissa.

"I…haven't tried," he said. He started to get up, but Saign held him back.

"Have you ever seen the Goddess of the Shining Ray unsheathe her sword?" she demanded.

Frowning, Ray replied, "Of course I have. How else would she attack? Strike them with her wings?"

"Aha…" Saign drifted off, releasing Ray. "You've developed your Shining Ray well beyond belief." Ray snorted.

"That's what everyone says. Hence the nickname," he said shortly.

"If only you could develop your warrior skills that well, yes?" Saign smirked. Ray stood up angrily, thinking Saign was playing around. This time Saign didn't stop him. He swooped up his mace from the ground, just realizing it was broken.

"I can't believe this!" he yelled, shocked wide eyes at Saign. She shrugged, motioning to the nearby town, Perion. He marched off, almost snarling, leaving Saign behind in the dust.

'It's a simple mace,' Saign thought, not knowing that next to Ray's faithful staff, the mace had been his favorite weapon during the years he'd trained as a magician.

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Back at Perion, Marissa was looking around the weapon shops. She had been meaning to arm herself lately, but had been reluctant to seek help from Ray and Saign. They were always busy training together anyway. She battled against the spark of jealousy that ignited, and in the end, she avoided them together.

Feeling lonely, she wandered away from the weapon shops to the gentler homes here and there. She was passing by a fence when she heard oinking at her side. The furry creature pressed its nose against her arm.

"Aren't you too cute?" she cooed, petting the extraordinarily large hog. A gate slammed as someone came running outside to her aid.

"Be careful, he might bite!" the stranger warned. "Oh!" She stopped, watching Marissa pet the hog. "Mog isn't very tame. I like to say he's almost as antisocial as my son, Harold," she laughed. "Maybe Mog just likes cute girls like you. Why don't you come in?" Marissa straightened up immediately.

"Oh no. I don't want to bother you. I was just taking a break from shopping," she said jerking a thumb back to the weapon stalls. The woman only smiled.

"All the more reason to come in. You see, I'm one of the blacksmiths of this town."

A moment later, Marissa was fed snacks and cakes, being poured cup after cup of iced tea. She hadn't been so pampered since she had broken her leg years back.

"You need to eat more. My son has a very healthy appetite you see, so I always have plenty of food at home," she said. Then sighing, "Not that he comes home often."

Marissa was thinking of what to say, when she heard Mog squealing madly outside. The nice woman ran outside in alarm, and unsure of what to do, Marissa followed. It was a more delightful scene than she had feared. Ray stood outside with the nice woman wrapping him in a bear hug, and Mog squealing with delight at his return.

"Mom, you forget how strong you are," he gasped, massaging his arm when she let go. Marissa ran inside when she saw the pair heading in their direction.

She could hear Ray's mother saying, "Now Ray, I think you should spend some time with Mog first. You know how he gets when you leave him for one of your journeys."

"I know, Mom. But this time I'll take him with me." Ray stayed outside anyway. Through the window, Marissa saw Mog running toward Ray and burying its head in his arms. Ray's mother came into the dining room where Marissa stood spying on Ray.

"I have a question," she said, startling Marissa. "You don't happen to be a warrior do you?" she asked lightly, in what Marissa guessed was supposed to be a whimsical tone.

"No, I'm not," she answered nervously. "Is there something you want to say?" she asked when Ray's mother didn't reply. She shook her head in a way that reminded Marissa of Ray.

"It's no one's business I suppose."

"I'm his friend by the way. I'm so used to thinking of him as Ray, that I forget his real name is Harold," Marissa couldn't help but say. Ray's mother brightened up instantly.

"I had no idea," she said softly, her mood lifting up. She suddenly threw open the kitchen window and called outside, "Harold, you have a friend visiting." Marissa saw that Ray jerked visibly at the news and half-ran inside to see who it was.

He reddened slightly when he saw that it was Marissa.

"Marissa! What are you doing here?"

"Harold!" Ray's mother shrieked. "You're covered with dirt! Go wash up now!" Blushing madly, Ray ran to wherever the washroom was.

Marissa couldn't help giggle at Ray's expense.

"This is far more pleasant than last time," Ray's mother smiled.

"What happened last time?" Marissa asked before she could stop herself. She berated herself silently. She didn't want Ray's mother to think she was nosy. But it seemed that Ray's mother had wanted to tell her.

"My Harold brought a group of his warrior friends. You see, they weren't really his friends but a bunch of brutes. Ray had always wanted to be a warrior, and I urged him so. But Ray was too magical for his own good, and he went and became a magician anyway," Ray's mother said, shaking her head so much like Ray.

Marissa wasn't sure where she was going with this, but she listened interestedly.

"I'm not sure why he brought them. Maybe it was to stop me from nagging him. Maybe he wanted to believe in it himself. They caused such a mess in the house, and all Harold said was, 'You see how they're like? It's a good thing I became a magician.' My Harold wouldn't have acted like that if he became a warrior." She sipped her iced tea quietly.

"I should know. I was once a warrior myself," said Ray's mother.

"And you're a blacksmith now," said Marissa surprised. Ray's mother only nodded, continuing to brood silently.

"Well… Ray isn't like that anymore," Marissa blurted out. "He was kind to me. He offered to help me when I was in trouble." The older woman's eyebrow rose.

"He's saved my life a couple of times. He's even taken me out for dinner," she lied. Ray's mother brightened up at once.

"So you guys are together?"

"Uh-Well, um."

"What's wrong with saying no," called Ray as he walked toward them. "Anyway I came to ask you if you could fix this for me." He clanked down broken halves of an orb on the table.

"Harold, this is beyond repair. You'll have to get a new one. You know where to look."

"I was afraid of that."

"And you can help Marissa here pick out a weapon. She was shopping for one, but I figure she might as well get one directly from the manufacturer," she said, unaware of Marissa's embarrassment. Ray was similarly unaware.

"What kind of weapon are you looking for?" asked Ray.

"I was hoping I could arm myself…" she said hesitantly. As Marissa feared, Ray looked a little put off.

"You could have asked for help."

"I know. I will, next time," she agreed. "I was just a little embarrassed… With me not having any experience."

"I feel pretty foolish myself, accepting Saign's training." Marissa's eyebrows rose.

"That's the first time I heard you call her by her name." Ray gave her a small smile, dulled with sadness.

"Well, she's human like the rest of us," he said, looking Marissa in the eye. His expression didn't change, but his eyes seemed to smile at her.

"Don't be embarrassed to do what you want to do, OK?" A little hesitantly, Marissa nodded.

"That's right. We made a promise."

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