Chapter 7
The three newly appointed 'instructors' were pleased with the teenager's zeal. Tifa continued, "Right, my training sessions will be conducted in the gymnasium; Vincent's will be in the shooting range and Cloud's in the courtyard." She asked, "Any questions?"
Bernice took a moment to digest the information. Finally, she asked, "Um, yea. Where are all the places you listed?"
"Go see Shelke later, she'll upload WRO's map unto your phone." Tifa said. "Anyway, anything else?"
The teenager realized yet another problem. She asked, "What day is it?"
"It's Thursday. Training starts today." Tifa peeped at the clock in her phone. It was ten thirty in the morning. "Well, since we're already more than halfway though my lesson, why don't you take the morning off to go see Shelke. Remember to meet with Cloud later though."
Bernice nodded and turned to Cloud. "See you there."
Cloud nodded back. "Don't forget to bring your gun-blade."
Tifa said, "Well, if there's nothing else…" she looked and Cloud, Vincent and Reeve. They all shook their heads. The commissioner said to Bernice, "You may go now."
Bernice said her thanks and made her way to Shelke's laboratory.
"I'm glad that you're here." Shelke said as she looked up from her computer. "Give me your phone."
Bernice fished out her phone and handed it to Shelke. Shelke plugged in the phone into her computer. Soon, Bernice was being tutored by Shelke on how to read the map. By noon that day, Bernice knew the headquarters like the back of her hand. "And just like all the others', I installed an intruder alarm too."
"Thanks a lot, Shelke. It looks like I still have around two hours before I have to meet Cloud for my first session."
Shelke smiled. "No problem." Shelke noticed the weapon that hung loosely beside Bernice. "A gun-blade, an interesting choice of weapon."
Bernice looked sown on her gun-blade. She took it out of the holster Vincent gave her and studied her weapon. "Hmm… maybe… but I still know nothing about how it is used."
Shelke cocked her head. "Well, that's not a problem at all. We could look it up if you like."
"Really? That'd be awesome, Shelke." Shelke smiled at this.
Together, they found tons of information concerning the gun-blade. Also, she found out its many uses. Advantages and disadvantages were listed down before her. It was truly an amazing weapon—the gun being its primary function. They even found pictures which showed how the weapon is held.
When the clock struck one forty-five, Bernice bid Shelke goodbye. According to the map that was uploaded into her phone, the courtyard was quite a distance from Shelke's lab.
She headed towards the elevators and hit the ground floor button. Instead of heading out the main glass doors, she went towards the back of the building.
Behind the large building, there was a large garden. Shrubs of all colours lined the courtyard. Cherry blossom trees could also be seen.
Bernice spotted Cloud in a large clearing in the middle of the garden. He had his back towards Bernice. She walked towards him.
Just as she arrived in touching distance of Cloud, a phone on a bench in front of Cloud rang.
"You're very punctual." Cloud noted as he walked over to switch off the alarm.
Bernice shrugged. On the stone bench near the edge of the clearing lay the biggest sword Bernice had ever seen. After silencing the phone, Cloud picked up his sword. He's going to train me with that thing?
Cloud rotated his sword with one hand, as if he was looking for something. He seemed to find what he was looking for. He reached up with his left hand and pulled a portion of the sword out. He broke his sword?
Cloud set the remains of his sword back on the bench and Bernice saw that there was a slot. Cool, a six- in-one sword!
Cloud tossed his sword from his left hand to his sword arm. "So, shall we get started?"
Bernice responded by pulling out her weapon from its holster. Recalling one of the pictures she had seen that morning, she held the gun-blade in her right hand, with its tip lowered. Her grip was gentle yet firm. Also, she relaxed her shoulders and spread her feet further apart.
Watching her actions, Cloud nodded approvingly. She came prepared. Cloud continued, "Nice, let's start with the fundamentals. From now on, your gun-blade is going to be your closest companion. It is your means of survival. Now, tell me what the most important part in owning a weapon is."
"Care and maintenance", replied Bernice. "Thank you, Shelke…" Bernice thought to herself.
"Excellent!" Cloud smiled. Silently, he told himself, "I'm starting to enjoy this already…" Cloud spent the next hour showing Bernice the proper ways to clean, polish and sharpen her blade. "Always remember to clean the blade before sliding it back into your holster. Polish and examine it periodically." Cloud reminded.
After that, he began teaching her some basic attacking and parrying techniques. Throughout the lesson, Bernice thoroughly enjoyed herself. Her mind soaked up everything Cloud taught her like a sponge. She swooned at the thought of finally being able to learn martial arts.
However, as she had never been one to exercise before, she tired easily. As she swung her gun-blade at Cloud again, the spiky haired blonde noticed his student faltering. He deflected the blow and lowered the tip of him sword. "You'll need to push your body past its limits in order to gain strength and stamina." He told her.
Bernice nodded and wiped the sweat from her brow. "I hereby swear never to complain about my hardships to anyone!" Bernice forced herself to think as she took in a deep breath. Then, ignoring her already protesting muscles, she held up the tip of her blade, thereby signaling that she was ready to continue.
As the sun started to set, Bernice braced herself for another blow by Cloud. As their blades Cloud's blade struck hers, her muscles finally gave in. She staggered backwards, dropped her gun-blade and sank to her knees. She exhaled slowly, letting the breath carry some of her pain away. Cloud offered his hand. She took it and heaved herself to her feet. She picked up her gun-blade and wiped the dirt off with a part of her coat. "Guess I musta' slipped." She said as she resumed the defensive posture Cloud had taught her.
Cloud shook his head. "That's enough for today. You've done well in your first lesson. Keep it up and you'll have mastered sword-fighting in no time." He paused to gaze at the sunset. "It's getting late. Let's go wash up for dinner."
After wiping it clean, Bernice slid her gun-blade back into her holster and waited as her instructor gathered his things. Although she was sore all over, she had never felt happier.
After dinner, Bernice went with Shelke to her laboratory. From a drawer, Shelke took out a pair of black gloves and a matching pair of shoes. "These will help you to build strength in your hands and feet. The materials these are made from are unique. They have the ability to sense your metabolism and weight and have variable weight. I have programmed the shoes to be three times your body-weight and the gloves to be your exact body-weight. As you get use to their weight, their weight will increase. Soon, you'll be as strong as Tifa is. She was probably the only person here to have trained the old-fashioned way until you came. The rest of us have been exposed to mako either one way or the other."
Bernice kept her objections to herself and thanked Shelke for her new training aids. She tried them on and found them to be as light as ordinary gloves and shoes. Almost immediately after being activated, she felt their weight increase gradually. Soon, she found herself unable to lift her hands. Also, it was only after several tries that she was able to move her feet. These things were heavy! She shook the thought away. After bidding Shelke goodnight, she started her slow trek towards her room.
After what seemed like an eternity of walking, stumbling, getting up and walking some more, she reached her room. She set an alarm for 5:30 am on her phone before taking a shower and getting into bed. How am I supposed to train in these? I wonder how Tifa did it…Before long, Bernice fell into a deep slumber.