Welp, time to get the ball rolling with Luna. Hope you enjoy this. I put a lot of focus on the swordplay in this one.

Chapter 14

Noble Spirit

I yawned as I walked into the training hall. The sun was still low, so the room was lit in a dull orange light shining through the window. The warmth felt soft, and almost made me want to fall back to sleep.

Thanks to training with Lord Grant, I had slowly been getting used to early mornings, mostly to avoid the water. Luna wasn't due for another few minutes, so I grabbed one of the training sword and began stretching to warm up. After finishing the stretches, I began doing some light swings to get my muscles warmed up.

It was at this point when the doubt hit me. I just didn't feel qualified to teach someone. Lord Grant was powerful, but he was always willing to push that to the side to allow me to catch up. And while I wasn't taught by her, Lilith was kind and gentle, the perfect mentor it would seem. I honestly didn't know if I could live up to their standards.

A loud creaking noise came from the entrance and I saw Luna walking in, yawning. She walked up to me and saluted. "Elite Disciple Light, I have come to commence training, as unnecessary as it is."

I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying anything. "Right then." I passed her a training sword. "Feel free to warm up before we start."

Luna looked at me like I had spoken a foreign language. "Warm…up?"

"Yeah, like stretching and practise swings. So you don't get cramps and stiff muscles tomorrow."

A look of disgust passed over her face. "Warming up is for children. A swordswoman should be able to be ready for battle whenever possible."

"And you're still a child. So you need to warm up."

I had obviously struck a nerve, as Luna shot me a glare before turning her back to me and started stretching.

I certainly have my work cut out for me. I twirled the training sword in my hand as I waited. She wasn't really trying to stretch, but honestly, I didn't want to make her more angry. I wanted to see the best she could be, and that was impossible if she was fighting out of frustration.

Soon, she turned back to me, sword at the ready. "Is that enough Elite Disciple?"

"If you think so." I sighed. "So basically now, come at me with everything you've got. I want to see what you can do, and then we can work from there."

"Sure, whatever you say." Luna muttered the last part, but I still could pick it up. She got into a stance. Her right foot in front, left just behind it and at a forty-five-degree angle. Her sword was held in front of her, pointed straight at me. Exactly like the Fencing Style I had seen in the book. "I'm guessing it's a stop short match?"

I shrugged. "Well I'll be going for stop short. But if you feel like you'll be holding yourself back, then hit me." I got into my stance ready.

A smile appeared on Luna's face. "That stance is so weird. You commoners never cease to amaze me."

"I can teach you it if you want."

"No, my style will easily break through yours." Luna's left foot shot back, her right knee bending. She launched herself at me, drawing her sword back. All the time, the tip was pointed right at me.

I instantly saw the opening and took it.

The tip of her sword was a few inches away, and I swung my sword upwards. Her blade was sent flying into the air, twirling several times before landing with a clunk on the polished floor. I wrapped my arm around Luna's waist to stop her from falling over.

She looked dumbfounded. "Wh-what the hell!? How!? Did you cheat? Give me a faulty blade?"

"Your grip was loose."

Luna backed away from me. "How dare you! My grip was perfectly fine."

"Then your blade should've stayed in your hands. I wasn't exactly putting a lot of power behind that strike." I shrugged. "If you want, we can go again. And we can swap swords if you think I somehow tampered with the swords."

Luna's eyes flashed with rage. "Fine!" She picked up the sword that lay on the ground and passed it to me, snatching my sword from my hands. We got into our stances again. She launched at me in the exact same manner, loose grip and all. And once again, I knocked her sword away, sending it spinning across the training hall.

"See? It's not because of the blades." I pointed out.

She looked dumbfounded. "How? What kind of Sacred Art are you using?"

I couldn't help but chuckle. I can't even use Sacred Arts. "It's nothing that I'm doing." I walked over to the fallen sword and gave it back to her. "Look, let me show you. Get back into your stance."

"Don't you dare touch me." Her anger was rising. "I will report you straight to Mr Galsworthy if you lay a finger on me."

"Then keep getting your sword knocked out of your hand. At the end of the day, it's only going to effect you."

This continued for an hour. And every time the sword was sent flying, I was hurled a bunch of accusations. It was getting rather annoying at that point, but I had finally figured it out by the end of the training session. Luna had only fought novices and people who purposefully lost to her. According to her, she hadn't lost to anyone since she was about 8 years old. All those years of winning had built up a sense that she couldn't be beaten by anyone. And that was now crumbling around her.

And she hated it.

Luna threw the training sword onto the ground in frustration. "I'll find out what you're doing, and then I'll beat you."

"Oh really?" I calmly put the training sword back in the rack. "Then how about a little bet?"

She was still fuming, but I seemed to have peaked her curiosity. "And what would that be?"

"Every time you win a duel, you can skip the rest of training to do whatever you want, and I buy you anything you want in Centoria, within reasonable pricing." I added that last part remembering that I could go broke if it's a noble I'm talking to.

"Every time?" Luna's anger seemed to melt away. "And what do you get if you win?"

"Nothing."

I had seen something similar to this be done while I was in Centoria for the year before joining the Academy. Someone was asking for money to play a game. If you won, you got your money back and a prize, and he got nothing. I was turning this into a one-sided wager, but it was incentive for Luna to improve.

And she took it. "Alright. I'll play your game then."

I lay down on the couch in the living quarters, letting out a loud sigh of relief. I could hear Elite Disciples returning to their dorms, which meant I wasn't going to be alone for long. My right arms was sore from all the upwards swings. "Guess I could've just put a small amount of power behind it and just knocked it away."

"What are you muttering about?" Kimiko closed the door behind her.

"Take a guess." I leaned my head back to look at her.

"I told-"

"-you so. Yeah, I know." I closed my eyes. "I'm tired…"

"Must be, because that's my sofa you're sat on." I suddenly felt the cushions under me tilt, and I rolled off the sofa, hitting the floor hard. I let out a low groan while Kimiko put the sofa back in place. I forced myself to move as I felt Kimiko resting her feet on my back. "So what is so bad about it?"

Flopping down on the other sofa, I pour out a glass of sweet berry juice before beginning to explain it. "Well, she's definitely got this sense of superiority. Like she expects everyone to be a pushover. Didn't really appreciate that I knocked her sword flying every time."

"Welcome to the world of the actual nobles." Kimiko sighed. "It's a shame more of them couldn't be like Lord Grant."

"Mhm…" I stared at the ceiling. "Hopefully I can get her to actually listen at some point."

"Good luck."

The next day didn't go any better.

Or the next.

Or the following week.

Every single time, Luna would pull out excuse after excuse, accusation after accusation. And to be honest, my patience was wearing very thin.

Luna picked her sword up off the ground. "If I was using my rapier, this would be over in a heartbeat."

"Well then why don't you?" I muttered under my breath. "Look, do you want me to help you or not? Some of the stuff that's allowing me to disarm you are very easy fixes."

"I'm perfectly fine the way I am." Luna glared at me.

I rolled my eyes. "You'll never win against any competent opponent with the way you are."

Luna forced a laugh out. "Please, I've beaten-"

"-beaten everyone you've ever duelled. Yeah, I know. You keep reminding me." I sighed. "Look, just listen for two seconds. If you went against a goblin right now, it would easily overpower you and, if you're lucky, it would kill you."

"You're saying that a mere goblin could best me." Her eyes flashed with rage again. "That's absurd."

"Well better people than you and me have been cut down by lone enemies because of the simple mistakes you're doing!" My temper had reached its limits. "If you're so invincible, then why don't you just go to the Eastern Gate and take on the whole of the Dark Territory!?"

"Wh…" She suddenly froze. "I can't do something like that."

"Well you're certainly acting like you could." My hand was gripping the training sword so tight that it was beginning to hurt my fingers.

Luna narrowed her eyes, before turning around and walking out of the training hall. The door slammed behind her, slowly opening back up with a loud creaking.

The following few seconds seemed to go on forever. There was still that anger lingering there, but my stomach began to cramp up with guilt. I shouldn't have just blown up at her like that. I finally loosened my grip on my sword, my palms sweaty. I returned the sword to the rack after wiping the handle with part of my jacket.

And of course, Kimiko was waiting outside with Becchi. They both looked up at me as I approached. "Let me guess, your fuse finally ran out." Kimiko raised an eyebrow.

"I guess." I sighed. "Cleaning is going to be awkward."

"Well I do a lot of it anyway." Becchi rolled his eyes. "The amount of times she's hidden something behind the bookcase or in the plant is stupid."

"Well thank you Becchi." The guilt grew in my stomach. "Hopefully I'll be able to sort it out by tomorrow before any backlash comes out of it."

I stayed in my room while Luna was cleaning the living quarters. I sat at my desk, tapping my pen against the table. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to say. It was taking her a lot longer to finish cleaning in there than usual, and the longer she was taking, the more that cramp in my stomach grew.

After about thirty minutes of waiting, the door clicked open. "I'm here to clean Elite Disciple Light." Luna muttered as she entered.

"Come in." I took a deep breath before turning around. I could see in her eyes that she had been crying. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She sighed as she looked around the room, confused. "It's already clean."

"Yeah, I did it."

"But Elite Disciples aren't supposed to clean their own room unless their page is sick."

I shrugged. "Well, after today, I thought it would be best if you didn't need to do it." Luna looked down at the ground. "Is it okay if we talked for a bit?" She nodded, walking over to my bed and sitting down on it. "Look, I'm sorry for getting-"

"Please, I want to talk first." Luna said with a firm voice. "And because you disrespected me earlier, I demand you let me talk first." She took a few deep breaths before continuing. "What am I doing wrong?"

"Huh?" My brow furrowed in confusion.

"Did you somehow go deaf?" Luna sighed in frustration. "What am I doing wrong?"

This was the last thing I expected to hear. "Well…um…first thing is your grip. It's too loose. It's how I'm constantly able to knock your sword out of your hand."

Luna grabbed a piece of paper from my desk and the pen, writing on it. "Grip…next?"

I frowned as I thought back to our clashes. "Second, you're always aiming for the centre mass, which is the easiest place for your opponent to defend. In a proper duel, it doesn't matter where you hit your opponent. If you cut their arm, that's one less limb they can use to attack you. Leg, they're unable to move as well."

Luna began scribbling down on the paper again. "Right…anything else?"

"Your stance is good, but the transition to your attacking stance is very lengthy compared to most other stances. Maybe we can work out a better stance for you while still using the Fencing Style."

Luna nodded. "Okay." She waited for anything else, but I had nothing at this time. She put the paper into a pocket inside her jacket. "Elite Disciple Light, I apologise for being so stubborn. I will try my best to work with you now."

"If you don't mind me asking, why the sudden change of heart?"

She began fidgeting with the pen. "It was when you said that a goblin could easily take me down. I always had the dream of being an elite swordswoman, cutting down hordes of goblins and orcs. But hearing you so angry, suggesting that I go and take on the entire Dark Territory after saying that I was going to be killed by a goblin…I don't know why, but it scared me."

"Well, I wouldn't want to train someone, only to find out they were killed in battle." I stood up and held my hand out towards her. "I'm not going to lie, it'll be a long and gruelling journey over the year, but hopefully by the end of it, you'll come out a swordswoman worthy of your dreams."

Luna took my hand. "Our bet is still on, right?"

"Of course."

She smiled, an actual genuine smile instead of the fake, innocent smile she had put on every time before. "I'll be looking forward to stabbing you with my sword Elite Disciple."

I smiled back. "Call me Light. It's weird to have the Elite Disciple before it."

"Okay then Light."

Luna was certainly an interesting character. I like a character that starts out insufferable, but then becomes better. She's still not all the way there yet, but she's at least willing to learn, which I think a lot of nobles wouldn't be willing to do. And also, Light getting frustrated is rare, and so it's a side you don't really see often. He's only really got angry at Diaz before, but even then, he was kind of tame. Heck, even this time was kind of tame.

Thank you for reading. I tried to delve into the small details this time. I've been trying to learn swordplay, and the lessons that Luna learns are ones anyone should know if they get into swordplay. So it was nice to pass on some things that I know. I'm still a novice though XD

And I do want to make some sort of apology. I've been adding asterisks every time there's a gap in time in my Word Document. I didn't realise that they went missing after saving the document, even when going back and editing them in. Part of it I do blame on this site's editor, but I should've realised a lot sooner. So for that, I'm sorry.

Reviews:

blackbutteryfly1313: Glad I've improved. That's what I'm trying to do always. I still think it was a little rushed, but I'm glad you enjoyed it regardless. And hopefully you enjoyed this small bit of development for Luna. As I said, she's not fully done, but she's certainly on her way there.

Anyway, I'm going to head back to writing. There's still at least a chapter or two with Luna, before I get to move on with the main plot. Hopefully you all will look forward to it.

As always, Stay Cool.