"Lysithea are you alright?" Hilda asked Lysithea who had her body slumped on the desk next to her.
Lysithea groaned. Everything, and she meant everything, hurt. There were bruises across her arms, legs, and even waist. All places where she had failed to block Felix's blade or had been struck by her own blade bouncing back onto her. Her arms were also sore from swinging around the fairly heavy training weapon for hours on end. So sore that she could barely muster up the will to grit through the pain and grab a quill to write with if needed. Taking notes on the Professor's coming lecture was going to be painful.
"That bad huh."
Lysithea nodded as she buried her face in her arms. There was only so much healing that Lindhart and Marianne could do. The soreness of her muscles and the sharp pain she felt anytime she shifted her weight on her many bruises were but a reminder of all the things Felix had put her through.
He was a merciless taskmaster when it came to matters of the blade and he pushed her to work her body to its very limit. Even as she was struggling to hold up her blade, he was constantly battering her with sword strikes of his own.
And if that wasn't enough, during one of their breaks he had actually caught her gorging out on cake. She had to bribe him the slice she hadn't even finished before running away. She hoped it would've been enough to buy his silence, it was a good cake and she really couldn't stand the embarrassment of him telling everyone in the academy of what he had just seen.
"Maybe you should get the Professor to let you take a break. I could find something to help you relax."
She must've looked as terrible as she felt if Hilda of all people was volunteering to help. The only person Lysithea had ever seen her help was Marianne and that was for a very good reason.
"I'm fine, I just need to… lie down… on this table… forever." Possibly until the end of time. Whichever came first really.
Byleth stepped into the classroom and took a look at Lysithea. "I see the lessons have paid off."
Lysithea looked at Byleth. "Professor I have several complaints about the student chosen to be my partner."
"Do you think my decision to pair you with Felix was wrong?"
"You did that!?"
He nodded. "I requested it of him."
"Why!?" Why did the Professor have to chose Felix of all people?
"Because you work best under pressure. I do something similar with your magic training."
The difference with that though was that she enjoyed magic studies and didn't have to worry about getting hit by a huge wooden stick while doing them. "Professor I would seriously wish you would consider pairing me with someone else."
"Petra then?"
Lysithea immediately shot up from her seat and regretted it. "No!" In some ways Petra was even worse. She was nice enough but very peculiar and issues with communication along with her ruthless tactics on the battlefield were things that Lysithea would rather not have to deal with. She had heard the rumors of the Black Eagle huntress calling Bernadetta a rabbit and chasing her around as such. The last thing the mage needed was to have a notoriously skilled hunter chase her down like prey on the practice field.
"Catherine then."
"Catherine?"
"Yes. She expressed a willingness to teach you during one of our spars."
Between Felix and Petra, Catherine might be a good alternative if there wasn't an issue with her Crests. Lysithea had no desire to use her Crest of Charon to wield Thunderbrand again. It was also clear that Catherine would want to observe the Crest herself.
"If it's because you don't like to use Thunderbrand then I'll request that she leave it behind," Byleth then suggested.
Even without Thunderbrand her crest would still activate with sufficient use of a blade, but it was better than having to perpetually use it while holding a Heroes Relic. It was also certainly better than getting mercilessly beat down by Felix again.
"That is acceptable."
"Good now onto other business." The Professor reached under his desk and pulled out a large box labeled Lost Items. He had grown a reputation of retrieving the lost items of the faculty and students, even Lysithea had to use his services once so far. "I believe this is yours Marianne." The Professor took out a book title How to Be Tidy.
Marianne for her part looked surprised, like she didn't expect the Professor to go out of his way for her when he pretty much did it everyone in the school. "Oh… Thank you Professor," she replied glumly before slowly getting up and retrieving her belongings from him.
"If you need help cleaning you could ask Hilda for help," the Professor suggested.
"Professor!" Hilda stood up. "Look I'm not against helping Marianne but there have to be other people more suited for this rather than a delicate maiden like me."
"But who better than a delicate maiden to help clean the room of another delicate maiden," the Professor argued.
"Well… uh," for once Hilda was stumped.
"Have fun you two, now let's begin class."
The Professor had been surprisingly cheeky with his words recently. It was an interesting change suggesting some sort of influence, but Lysithea couldn't quite figure who it would be that taught him to speak that way. Whoever it was certainly had quite the mouth.
The clash of steel filled the air as Lysithea swung at Catherine with her blade. She swung as hard as she could with each of her strikes, hoping to break through the Knight of Seiros's seemingly impenetrable defenses. It was only after she was pushed back by a single shove of Catherin's hilt that she finally stopped.
"Watch your footwork. The way you move your feet is just as important as your arms," Catherine informed her.
Lysithea nodded slightly as she tried to get her breath back. Compared to Felix's training, Catherine's was less painful but still just as physically and mentally intense.
It had certainly been a surprise when Lysithea had been handed a steel weapon once she had stepped in the training grounds. Despite the edge of the blade being dulled it would still do some damage if it hit, but Catherine insisted that she get used the to the weight of an actual weapon.
After a quick warmup was Lysithea's first exercise, to land just one blow on the knight with the dull edge of the blade. Catherine wouldn't even attack her, allowing her to go on a full offensive. After an hour of doing this though it was clear that she wasn't going to be landing a blow anytime soon.
Lysithea pivoted on her right foot, shifted her waist, and thrust her blade with all her might as she had seen her Professor do before. Her imitation of his form was inferior though and she ended sliding off that same foot as she failed to compensate for the momentum of the weapon. She would've hit the ground hard had Catherine not lunged forward and caught her in her arms.
"Maybe you should get a bit more practice before you try out that technique," Catherine cautioned her with a grin on her face.
"I thought I could do it like the Professor," Lysithea admitted as she stood back up.
"Honestly I don't think copying your Professor is a good idea for you. Not only are your body types different but his style is… unorthodox. It works for him, but not really anyone else."
Lysithea could see what Catherine meant. The Professor never had the formal training that the Knights or Students at the monastery would. Instead he had developed his own style through his lifetime of fighting as a mercenary. It was simple yet fierce, a style that focused on putting pressure on the enemy and cracking their defenses or baiting them to make a mistake. There were some parts about the way he fought that she could use through observation but imitating the style in its entirety would be a mistake.
"I've memorized the basic sword techniques, though they hardly seem to be much use for me," Lysithea informed her.
"Before you start using any techniques you should get your basic footwork and stances down. Those are what's important, get those down and you'll be able to hold your own with a sword." Catherine made a halfhearted swing at Lysithea who blocked it. "Honestly I don't really use those techniques myself. I just use what works."
"Then," Lysithea took a step back and blocked a weak blow to her chest, "what manuals should I be reading from?"
"None really. Studying can only get you so far. Your body has to learn from personal experience." Catherine took a step back and swung her blade overhead with a single hand. Lysithea would block it though she struggled as the knight continued to push her sword down "You're much smaller and weaker than most people. You shouldn't be trying to match my strength."
"Then what should I do then?" Lysithea asked as she used both of her arms to stop the blade from making contact with her head.
"Deflect, rather than block. Redirect your opponent's strength and momentum elsewhere." Catherine demonstrated this pushing her sword at a lower angle, which caused her blade to slide off of Lysithea's and go harmlessly to the side. "Until you build up some muscle, you're going to have to rely on that only. It'll be bad if you try to completely stop their strike."
"I understood," Lysithea replied as she pushed the next thrust downwards in an attempt to send it toward the ground. Or at least tried, the blade ended up hitting her knee and forced her to kneel down as she dealt with the pain. That was going to leave a bruise.
"It'll take you some time to get it properly, and not everyone is going to attack you the same way like I do," Catherine held out her hand. "You'll have to adjust to your opponent accordingly."
Lysithea took the hand, thanked Catherine, and used that lull to launch a sudden attack while her guard was down. Just before the blade made contact it was suddenly stopped and Lysithea felt a tight pressure against her wrist.
"Going for a surprise attack?" Catherine asked as she held Lysithea's arm in place.
"The Professor suggested I do that."
"Good advice." Catherine released Lysithea's wrist and took up a defensive stance once more. "You're still a long way off from catching me off guard though."
Lysithea took a deep breath before swinging her blade at Catherine once more.