Chapter 8: Preparations and Journey Beginnings
Chise's Nightmare
Chise found herself walking through blackness again like she had in her pervious nightmare. Chise feared what would happen in this dream. After a what felt like hours, Chise heard a very familiar laugh coming from the darkness.
"No. Not you." Chise said as she looked around trying to find the Spell-Breaker.
"(Chuckle) Oh yes, it's me again, Hatori." The Spell-Breaker said as he emerged from the darkness.
"We will stop you! You will pay for all the lives you have taken!" Chise said.
"(Chuckle) I'm sure you will, Hatori. Listen here, even if you do one day kill me, it won't matter. You know why? Because if I don't kill you, then the effects of you being a Sleigh Beggy will in a couple years." The Spell-Breaker said.
"That won't happen. Elias will make sure of it." Chise said.
"Ha! And what will happen to you if I kill him? Your bone daddy won't be there to cure you!" The Spell-Breaker said.
"What did you just call him? Whatever, I won't let you kill anyone else!" Chise said.
"Very nice, you know this is getting rather tiring, why don't you take a SEAT!" The Spell-Breaker said as he suddenly shoved Chise down.
Chise felt herself land on a chair that seemingly came out of nowhere. The Spell-Breaker quickly slapped her 4 times across the face before he tied Chise's hands to the chair with ropes.
"NO! (Grunt) Let me go!" Chise yelled as she struggled to get out of the binds.
"(Chuckle) Not on your life, Sleigh Beggy." The Spell-Breaker said as he pulled out one of his knives.
"You can't kill me." Chise said as she smiled confidently.
"You're right, I can't kill you in the dream world. But I can hurt you and torment you. However, I am on a tight schedule, so I'll leave you to your inner demons. But don't worry, I'll kill you soon" The Spell-Breaker said as he began to walk back to the darkness.
"Your threats don't scare me." Chise said.
"You can act tough, but I know how you think! I know how you feel! ow if you'll excuse me, I have business to discuss with Cartaphilus. See you around, Sleigh Beggy." The Spell-Breaker said as he vanished.
For the next few minutes, Chise sat in complete silence. She of course, tried to get out of the chair, but the rope was very strong. After a few more attempts, Chise stopped as she heard someone approaching her from the back.
"Pfft. I thought you had business to attend to Spell-Breaker." Chise said.
"Chise, is that you?" A familiar voice asked.
Chise perked up as she instantly recognized who the voice belonged to.
"L-Lindel!? Lindel is that you?" Chise asked.
"Oh, Chise! It is you!" Lindel cried as he ran in front of Chise and released her from the ropes.
"Lindel! You're alive! Thank goodness! We were so worried about you! T-Tell me, is Merituuli alive too? W-Where are you guys!? Tell me so we can find-(GAH!)" Chise yelled as Lindel suddenly punched her hard in the face.
"SILENCE!" Lindel yelled.
"O-Ow, Lindel, why did you do that? (GAH!) OW!" Chise cried as Lindel grabbed her shoulder and started punching her repeatedly.
Lindel was very ruthless as he hit Chise over and over. Lindel eventually grabbed ahold of Chise and slammed her to the ground. Lindel then stomped his foot down on Chise stomach, keeping her own.
"Lindel, what's gotten in to you?" Chise asked.
"Nothing, my robin. I am simply giving you what you deserve. This is pay back for what you did to us." Lindel said as his eyes suddenly glowed a bright yellow color.
"Us?" Chise asked.
"Yes, us. Everyone! She is here, let's show her our appreciation." Lindel called to the darkness.
Chise looked over to where Lindel was speaking and she saw a bunch of glowing yellow eyes. Then from the darkness, some of her modern friends appeared.
"Simon? Angelica? Althea? Merituuli? Ariel?" Chise asked as she saw her friends.
Chise immediately noticed that the only people that were appearing were the people that had either been killed or have gone missing recently.
"Guys, I'm so sorry about what happened to you! We will find a way to save all of you, I promise!" Chise said as she tried to reason with them.
"You think we're dead? HA! Silly girl, we've never felt more alive!" Simon said.
"Wait, so, you're not dead? But I saw-." Chise started.
"We opened our arms and hearts to you, Chise!" Lindel said.
"And how do you return our kindness?" Angelica asked.
"You filled our lives with worry and fear and suffering!" Lindel said.
"N-No! That's not true!" Chise cried.
"It's true and you know it, Sleigh Beggy! You got me killed!" Ariel yelled.
"Your mommy should have killed you!" Althea said as she spit at Chise's face.
"No, stop! Please!" Chise begged as the verbal abuse began.
"You're a worthless child!" Merituuli yelled as he smacked Chise's face.
"Our lives would have been better if you had killed yourself!" Lindel said.
"You belong in hell with your mother!" Simon yelled.
"You're a weak and pathetic bitch!" Angelica said as she slapped Chise.
"Maybe I'll feed you to my dragons! I bet they'll enjoy you more than the creatures that haunted your childhood!" Lindel said as he smiled wickedly.
"You don't belong anywhere!" Althea yelled.
"Ainsworth should have stayed away from you!" Simon said.
"No, no, no, NOO!" Chise screamed as she then managed to punch Lindel in the crotch with her Dragon Hand.
Once Lindel was off of her, Chise quickly got up and stood her ground against these nightmare versions of her friends.
"This is only a dream! In real life, none of you would ever say these things!" Chise yelled.
"(chuckle) How do you know that, Chise?" Lindel asked.
"Maybe that is how we secretly feel about you?" Angelica said.
"NO! I don't believe that!" Chise yelled as she felt a tear roll down her face.
"Oh, no tears please, it is a waste of good suffering, child." Simon said.
"Enough!" Chise yelled as she was about to use her powers to attack them, but before Chise could attack, someone grabbed both her arms from the back and broke both of them.
Chise cried out as she fell to the floor in pain. She turned around and to her horror, saw 4 more faces that she dreaded to see in this nightmare. Chise saw Stella, Joseph, Silky, and Ruth, all glaring at her with those bright yellow eyes.
"N-No! NO! Not you all too!" Chise cried.
How could this be? They weren't dead or missing, so why were they in Chise's nightmare?
"Hi, Chise, how have you been?" Stella asked.
"S-Stella!? NO! Don't tell me the Spell-Breaker got you too!" Chise cried.
"(Giggle) Oh, Chise, nothing bad would have happened, if you had cared more for others than just yourself!" Stella yelled.
"I said I was sorry! And you just left me to die!" Joseph yelled.
"That's not what happened, and you know it, Joseph!" Chise yelled.
"I left Isabella for you, Chise! And how do you repay me? Oh, I know, you kill me! You're a selfish brat!" Ruth yelled.
"I would never do that, Ruth!" Chise cried.
"I can't believe I opened my doors for you! You are an ungrateful child! You should have died a long time ago!" Silky said.
"No, you would never say that, Silky!" Chise said.
"SILENCE!" A voice yelled.
Chise looked behind her and saw Elias walking up to her. She was horrified to see that he too had the yellow eyes.
"I should never have bought you! I wasted so much on you! First you make your family suffer, and then you make US suffer! This is where I say, goodbye, Chise." Elias said as he and everyone else began to walk away.
"Elias! NO!" Chise cried as she tried to follow. "Please, don't leave me." Chise begged as she began to cry.
Elias turned his head slowly and then walked back to Chise and kneeled down in front of her.
"Don't cry, my precious bride." Elias said as he wiped away her tears. "I will not leave you, I have a better idea." Elias said.
"(Sniff) What's that?" Chise asked.
"I will enjoy... feasting on your bones! RAGH!" Elias roared as he opened his mouth wider than ever and bit Chise's head right off. Elias then began to feast on Chise's flesh.
Chise's Nightmare End
"NO!" Chise screamed as she woke up.
Chise was sweating like crazy and she could feel herself shaking in fright. She looked to her side for Elias, but saw that he wasn't there. Right as she was about to scream for Elias, she felt someone hug her from behind. It was Elias, and he was very worried about Chise.
"Chise! It its okay, you are safe!" Elias said as he held her.
"E-Elias, p-please don't abandon me." Chise begged as she cried.
Elias loosened his grip so he could turn Chise around to face him and he held her close.
"Chise, I would never abandon you. I would rather die, than leave you alone." Elias said.
"(sniff) I-I saw them. A-All of them." Chise said.
"Saw who?" Elias asked.
"All of the people we have lost." Chise said.
"Oh, I see." Elias said.
"They had yellow eyes and they were cruel and evil. They said horrible things. They said I caused them suffering. They attacked me." Chise said.
"It is okay, it is over." Elias said.
"But, then I saw... Stella, Silky, Joseph, Ruth, and you." Chise said.
"Oh?" Elias said.
"You all had the yellow eyes too and you were saying the same things the other said." Chise said.
"Did we attack you as well?" Elias asked.
"Ruth broke my arms, but you did something… awful." Chise said as she shuddered.
"What did I do?" Elias asked.
"I-I, I'm too scared to say, you'll get mad." Chise said as she tried to turn away from Elias.
"Chise, you cannot offend me. Please tell me what I did. It's is okay." Elias said as he rubbed her face.
"O-Okay... first you attempted to abandon me, but I called out to you and you came back. You wiped away my tears and you told me you had a better idea of what to do with me." Chise said.
"What did I do then?" Elias asked.
"Y-You, y-you killed me and then you ate me." Chise said as she shuddered in terror.
Elias said nothing as Chise buried herself in his chest crying. Elias was shocked to hear this, but that didn't matter. What did matter was the well-being of his wife.
"Chise, look at me." Elias said as he lifted Chise's head up to look at him. "You have no reason to be afraid now. Rest assured, I have no desire to kill you, and I most definitely have no desire to eat you. If I had that intention for you, I would have done it the day I bought you." Elias said.
"Th-Thanks." Chise said.
"As for the dream, I do not know what to make of it. At first I assumed you were just being haunted the by the feeling of loss due to losing a lot of our friends. But when you mentioned me, Ruth, Silky, Joseph, and Stella, I was unsure what was happening. Was there a certain theme going on in this nightmare you had?" Elias asked.
"(Nods) All of you alluded to the fact that I in some way or another brought suffering into your lives." Chise said.
"Hmm, well I can assure you, you have not done that to any of us. That might have been the Spell-Breaker's words burrowing into your mind. Speaking of which, was the Spell-Breaker present in this dream?" Elias asked.
"He was, but he didn't really do much other than taunt me." Chise said.
"I see. Well, do not fret, you are safe with me. We all are happy to have you in our lives, Chise. I assure you, none of us mean to harm you." Elias said.
"Thank you, Elias. I can always count on your emotional support." Chise said.
"I will always be here to help you, my little puppy." Elias said.
For the next few moments, Elias and Chise just held each other, before Chise broke the silence.
"Um, Elias?" Chise said Elias let go of her, allowing her to sit back.
"Yes?" Elias said.
"How long have you been awake?" Chise asked.
"An hour." Elias said.
"What? An hour? Why so long? And what time is it?" Chise asked.
"It is 2 in the morning." Elias said.
"Oh, w-wait, how long were you standing at my side of the bed for?" Chise asked.
"Ten minutes." Elias said.
"S-So, you've been watching me sleep for 10 minutes?" Chise asked.
"Um... no. Well, yes. You see I noticed you were moving around a bit so I stood over you to make sure you didn't do anything ridiculous while you slept." Elias said in his flat face.
"I mean, okay, but why didn't you wake me up?" Chise asked.
"I thought it was rude." Elias said. Chise was about to say something, but Elias quickly spoke up, knowing what she was going to say. "If I knew you were having a nightmare, I would have woken you up. I promise." Elias said.
"Dummy." Chise said as she playfully punched Elias in the chest.
"I will not fail you again." Elias said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I guess, we should get ready for the trip." Chise said.
"Good idea, I shall await you downstairs." Elias said.
Chise nodded as she got up and stretched and headed to her room.
Chise knocked on the door to see if Ruth was awake. There was no reply so she knocked again and called out to Ruth.
"(Knock, knock) Ruth, Ruth are you awake?" Chise called.
"(Yawn) Yeah, I'm awake. Your screaming worked like an alarm clock." Ruth said from inside the room.
"It's not my fault, I had a nightmare." Chise protested.
"I'm not mad, Chise. I'm just explaining myself." Ruth said as he opened the door in his human form and the shifted back to his dog form. "Room's all yours, I'll be downstairs." Ruth said as he stretched and began to walk downstairs.
"Thanks, I'll be down in a bit." Chise said as she walked into the room and shut the door.
Elias had changed into his normal everyday attire and headed downstairs. Elias made his way to the living room, where Joseph, Ruth, and Silky were sitting.
"Good morning, Elias." Joseph said as he gave a small wave to Elias.
Elias simply nodded as he took his robe, put it on, and sat in his chair waiting for Chise.
"Is Chise okay? Silky and I heard her scream?" Joseph asked.
"She is okay, she just had a bad dream." Elias said.
"Oh, okay, at least she isn't hurt or anything. To be honest, I'm surprised Chise even HAD a nightmare. I mean you slept right next to her." Joseph said.
"Ha! Elias is pretty scary so I don't blame her." Ruth said.
"This is no laughing matter, dog. For your information, we were all a part of Chise's nightmare." Elias said.
"What are you talking about?" Ruth asked.
"In her dream, we all were evil, we attacked her and verbally abused her. Then I ate her." Elias said.
"Oh, shoot. I had no idea." Ruth said.
"Don't worry, that won't ever happen." Joseph said.
"Let us hope so." Elias said.
A few minutes later, Chise came down the stairs and joined the others in the living room.
"Good morning, Joseph." Chise said.
"Good morning, sorry about your nightmare." Joseph said.
"It's okay, thanks. So, how long have you and Silky been awake?" Chise asked.
"We have been awake for 30 minutes." Silky said.
"I see. So, Silky, Elias said you had something prepared for us?" Chise asked.
"Yes, I will retrieve the items." Silky said as she got up and left the room.
"Oh gosh, I wonder what Silky has got made for us." Ruth said.
"Don't worry Ruth, I doubt Silky's getting you a dog collar." Chise said.
"Ha, ha, very funny." Ruth said.
"Do you know what she is getting, Elias?" Chise asked.
"All she told me was that she was going to be providing some of us with defense material or something like that." Elias replied.
"I wonder what that means." Chise said to herself.
A few moments later, Silky returned with her bag from last night. Silky took out her brass knuckles and handed them to Ruth.
"Um, Silky, I appreciate the gesture but as a dog, I can't wear brass knuckles." Ruth said.
"Then use your human form." Silky said as she then handed Ruth a Forehead Protector.
"(Scoffs) Are you trying to make me look like Naruto?" Ruth asked.
"I do not know who you are talking about." Silky said.
Ruth morphed into his human form and put the brass knuckles on. Ruth was about to put the Forehead Protector on until he noticed the design on the metal piece.
"Silky, mind explaining to me why there is a pink heart with a smiley face on my Forehead Protector?" Ruth asked.
"(Shrugs) Looks cute." Silky said as she then walked over to Joseph.
"Ugh, I'm going to look like a weirdo." Ruth said as he put the Forehead Protector on.
Silky reached into her bag and pulled out a belt with a sword's sheath and handed it to Joseph.
"You sure you trust me with the sword?" Joseph asked.
"Even if I didn't, we have no choice. Now put these on." Silky said as she also handed Joseph a pair of armored gloves and a bandanna.
"Okay, wait, where is the sword?" Joseph asked.
"You will get it soon." Silky said as she walked over to Chise.
"Aren't you going to have any of this stuff?" Chise asked.
"I am a skilled fighter, I am fine. No need to worry about me, Chise." Silky said as she smiled at Chise and handed her one armored glove and a Forehead Protector.
Unlike Ruth's Forehead Protector, there was no silly design, for Chise, she had a red robin design on her Forehead Protector.
"So, you goof up on my head band thingy but for Chise, you make it accurate?" Ruth asked.
"I like her more." Silky said.
"I figured." Ruth said.
"So, Silky, I'm not being ungrateful or anything, but I was wondering, is this all you have? Like no knee pads or chest armor or anything?" Joseph asked.
"Unfortunately, that is all I have." Silky said as she gave an apologetic bow.
"It's okay, Silky. We are thankful." Chise said as she put her hand on Silky's shoulder.
"Your gratitude is very appreciated." Silky said.
"What about Elias, doesn't he need some too?" Chise asked.
"I do not need those things, I am a tough one, I can take the hits." Elias said.
"Are you sure?" Chise asked.
"I am sure. Besides, even if I wanted one of those materials, they would not fit, even if I was in my human form." Elias said.
"That is true, I suppose." Chise replied.
"Outside, it is time for training." Silky said as she made her way to the front door, with the others following.
"So, what kind of training are we talking about?" Ruth asked.
"Sparring." Silky replied.
"Sparring!?" Ruth, Joseph, and Chise cried.
"Yes, here is your sword." Silky said as she handed Joseph his sword. "Joseph, you and I will spar." Silky said as she went to her bag and pulled out her 2 Kamas.
"WHAT!?" Joseph cried.
"You heard me. You will spar with me. Be a man and get over here already." Silky said.
"Uh, uh, o-okay." Joseph said as he walked over to Silky.
"Ruth, you will spar Chise once she and Elias are done." Silky said.
"W-Wait, I'm going to fight Elias?" Chise asked.
"Do not be afraid, Chise. I will not kill you. It is safe." Elias said.
"O-Okay, I guess." Chise said.
"Ruth, you train with me as well." Silky said as she waved him over.
"Nah, I'm fine. I have experience. After all, I had to fend off some people and fae from the church while I was there." Ruth replied as he morphed into his dog form and sat down.
"Fine. We train for 3 hours, then we set off." Silky said.
"Alright, Chise, take out your wand." Elias said.
"Okay." Chise said as she made her wand appear in her hand with her magic.
Elias did the same thing as he held his wand in his hand.
"Very well, now let us begin." Elias said.
"W-Wait! I thought you said that our magic wouldn't work where we are going." Chise said.
"That is true. Allow me to explain. Yes, in the mountains and in the Forest of Thorns, our magic and wands will be unusable. However, anybody that is skilled with weaponry will know that in dire situations, you can turn anything into a weapon." Elias explained.
"Oh, I get it. But will our wands be strong enough?" Chise asked.
"Your wand is made out of special wood. It should be very durable. You have nothing to worry about. First, place your wand on the floor beside you. Now shall we begin?" Elias asked.
"O-Okay, but what do I do?" Chise asked as she placed her wand down.
"Simple, for your first training lesson, I will test you evasiveness." Elias said.
"How will you do that?" Chise asked.
"Like THIS!" Elias said as he quickly raised his wand in the air and slammed it down towards Chise.
"Woah!" Chise yelled as she quickly sidestepped out of the way. "What was that!?" Chise cried.
"Good job, you've passed the surprise attack evasion." Elias said calmly.
"Elias! Why!?" Chise cried as she was panting.
"What is the matter? I was simply testing your evasiveness." Elias said with his flat face.
"Well, yeah, but... never mind. What's next?" Chise asked as she calmed herself down.
"Next step; Repetitive Evasiveness. I want you to repeatedly dodge my attacks 15 times. Are you ready?" Elias asked.
"Sure, I guess I am." Chise said as she prepared herself.
Elias then started repeatedly swing his wand down at Chise while he walked toward her. Chise successfully dodged Elias's attacks with no trouble while making sure to keep her distance as Elias kept moving closer and closer.
"Very good. Now, this is the final step of your Evasiveness lesson; Stamina Evasiveness." Elias said.
"Stamina Evasiveness?" Chise repeated.
"Correct. In this step, I will test out how long you can dodge my attacks before you run out of breath." Elias said.
"This seems rather dangerous." Chise pointed out.
"You make good observations, my apprentice. To make it safer, when you feel as though you have no more energy to dodge my attacks, simply tell me and I will cease attacking. This will allow me to see how long you can avoid enemy blows. Are you ready?" Elias asked.
"(Takes deep breath) Try and hit me." Chise said as she gave a confident grin to Elias.
"(Chuckle) As you wish!" Elias said as he started swiftly swinging his wand at Chise again.
This time, Elias was swinging much harder and much faster at Chise. Chise understood that while they were married now, she was still Elias's apprentice. Therefore, she still had to make sure she paid attention to Elias's lessons and took it seriously. Chise had to admit, this was the first time she had ever done such physical training and it was rather enjoyable. Chise was quickly pulled back into focusing on the seriousness of the training when she was almost hit by Elias's wand. Elias made sure to change up his methods of striking as he would also swing his wand sideways, giving Chise the cue to duck and weave. This went on for about 5 minutes before Chise began to lose stamina. A few moments later she called out for Elias to stop. Elias of course stopped immediately, allowing Chise to catch her breath.
"Well done, you went on for longer than I predicted. I guess being young gives you more energy and stamina." Elias said.
"I don't know. It could also be the Dragon's Curse." Chise suggested.
"Who knows? Whatever the case, I am proud of you." Elias said.
"Thanks, what's my next lesson?" Chise asked.
"Now, now, not so fast my puppy. Take a few minutes to rest." Elias said.
"Okay." Chise replied as she sat down on the ground and took time to regain herself.
After about 5 minutes, Chise stood up and was ready to continue her training.
"Alright, what's next?" Chise asked.
"For your next lesson, we will be testing your Defensive Blocking. You will need your wand for this." Elias said.
"Got it, so I'm guessing you take blows at me while I block them with my wand?" Chise asked as she picked up her wand.
"That is correct." Elias said.
"Just to be sure, your positive my wand is string enough to block your attacks?" Chise asked.
"I have full confidence. Hya!" Elias said as he quickly swung his wand down.
Chise quickly held our her wand out and blocked the surprise attack.
"You won't ever get the jump on me, Elias." Chise said playfully.
"I will one day, I assure you." Elias said.
"I'm sure you will." Chise said.
"(Chuckle) Now, back to the training. We will do the same procedure in the same order, except this time you will be blocking my attacks rather than evading them. Are you ready for the repetitive blocking?" Elias asked.
"Sure am." Chise said as she held up her wand.
Elias nodded as he then repeatedly swung at Chise. Chise managed to block all 15 of Elias's attacks.
"Hmph, I expected nothing more. Well done." Elias said.
"What can I say? I guess I'm pretty good." Chise said confidently.
"Yes, yes you are. There is no need to practice stamina with defensive blocking. We will move on to your next lesson which is; Offensive Blocking. In this lesson, you will be countering my attacks when you block them. You will also be able to hit me." Elias explained.
"I'm not so sure if I have the strength to counter your attacks." Chise said.
"The Dragon's Curse should help with that. Do not worry about controlling your strength. We will take this lesson slowly so you can counter properly." Elias said.
"Got it, I'm ready." Chise said as she held up her wand.
"Now, I'm going to strike and you are going to block my attack. However once you block my attack, wait for further instruction. Do you understand?" Elias asked.
Chise nodded as she confidently held her wand in a blocking position.
"Very well. Let us begin then." Elias said as he raised his wand and swung at Chise, who blocked it with her wand. "Very good. Now, you have the option of either using this opportunity to counter attack or simply push your opponent back. We will start with pushing back. I will slowly apply a small amount of pressure and your job is to push me away from you with your wand." Elias instructed.
Feeling Elias begin to push down, Chise managed to shove Elias away from her. Chise relaxed for a moment and held her wand in one hand to her side. Elias saw this as a teaching moment and swung back down at Chise, who dodged the attack.
"Woah, Elias! D-Did I do something wrong?" Chise asked, wondering if that was a form of punishment for error.
"Yes, you let your guard down. We might be training, but you must stay focused. Remember, out there, our enemies will not be as forgiving as I am." Elias said.
"I understand. I'm sorry, Elias." Chise said as she gave an apologetic bow.
"No apology needed. It was a good learning experience. We learn from our mistakes, it is nothing to be ashamed of." Elias said as he patted Chise on the head.
"So, what's next?" Chise asked.
"We will do the same thing, but this time, I will not take it slowly and I will be a bit tougher. Are you ready?" Elias asked.
"Ready." Chise replied.
Elias swung his wand down at Chise quickly, who of course blocked it. Elias applied more pressure than last time, making sure to test his apprentice's strength. Chise was able to muster up the strength to shove Elias off of her. This time, she stayed in a blocking position.
"Very good. Next, you will counter my attacks. While you will still push me back, this time, once I am open, you will land a strike on me with your wand. Does that make sense?" Elias asked.
"Yes, and I am ready. But are you sure you want me to hit you?" Chise asked.
"I am positive. Now this time, I would like YOU to decide when I am open for you to attack me." Elias said as he swung at Chise.
Once Chise blocked the attack, she pushed Elias's wand back. Chise waited for just the right moment and once she saw she had an opening she took her shot and twisted her wand and managed to hit Elias in the chest.
"Very good. However know this, you have permission to hit me harder than that. Try to hit me harder than you did during the Stella incident." Elias said.
"You really had to bring that up again?" Chise asked.
"Well, to be fair, I cannot think of any other time that you have physically struck me." Elias said with his flat face.
"You know what, neither can I. I hope we can keep it that way." Chise said.
"As do I." Elias said. "Now, next up, the repetitive countering. I'm sure you know how this will work." Elias said.
"I do." Chise said.
Elias nodded as he started to repeatedly swing his wand at Chise. Although she struggled a bit at first, she was able to get the hang of it and managed to counter all of Elias's attacks. Chise made sure to whack Elias hard with her wand on the final counter. Chise smacked Elias hard in the face with her wand. However, Chise hit Elias so hard that she knocked 4 of his teeth out.
"(Gasp) Oh my, I'm so sorry Elias, I didn't mean to do that! I'm so sorry!" Chise cried.
"(Laughs) There is no need to apologize Chise, I am very proud of you. You have such amazing power." Elias said.
"Oh, okay, Thanks Elias. I am glad I make you proud." Chise said.
"Besides, this isn't the first time I've had my teeth knocked out." Elias said as he used his magic to make his teeth grow back instantly. "Good as new, am I still as handsome as ever?" Elias asked.
"(Giggle) Absolutely. I never knew I would think a man with a wolf skull would be handsome." Chise said.
"Hmm, I am unsure whether to feel complimented or offended by that statement." Elias said.
"It was a compliment, don't worry." Chise said.
"Wonderful, now for your final lesson; Offense." Elias said.
"So, now you block while I strike?" Chise asked.
"Not quite, first we shall wait for Silky to finish her training with Joseph. She is much more experienced with this type of offense training." Elias said.
"(Laughs) I wouldn't say they are training, it looks more like Silky is totally kicking Joseph's ass." Chise said as they watched Silky 'training' Joseph.
Joseph was indeed getting wrecked. He had never expected Silky to be so skilled with weapons. Joseph was doing his best to block Silky's Kamas with his sword, but she was fast and furious with her Kamas. Joseph was only able to hold her off for a few more moments before Silky knocked the sword out of his hands and sent it flying to the ground. Silky then placed her two Kamas at the sides of Joseph's neck, forcing him to surrender.
"Checkmate, Joseph." Silky said.
"(Sigh) Damn it. Can we move on to something else? I've lost more than like 40 times already. I don't even know what your training me for at this point." Joseph said.
"I am training your stamina and defense. I am impressed that you have been able to continue this session." Silky said as she moved her Kamas away from Joseph's neck.
"Yeah, I think you're just showing off." Joseph said as he went to pick up his sword.
"Go rest, I will train with Chise. Once you have rested up, come join me and Chise and we will all train together." Silky said.
Silky went to her bag and put her Kamas away and picked up her Bo Staff. Silky then walked over to Chise and Elias.
"The way you use your wand as a physical weapon is the same way I use my Bo Staff. Come with me, I will train you." Silky said.
"You coming, Elias?" Chise asked.
"Not for this lesson, I will go train with Ruth. You are in good hands." Elias said.
"Okay, good luck and try not to hurt Ruth too badly." Chise said.
"(Chuckle) I'll do my best." Elias said as they went their separate ways.
"Ruth," Elias called as he approached the dog, who was licking his fur. "Get up, it is time for you to practice with me." Elias said.
"Elias, I don't need any training. I can fend for myself." Ruth replied.
"I don't have time for this, Ruth. At least show me what you can do." Elias said.
"What? You want me to actually hit you?" Ruth asked.
"Yes, I can take hits from a dog." Elias said.
"Fine, here comes your beatdown." Ruth said as he morphed into his human form.
Ruth proceeded to repeatedly punch in the stomach. Elias could feel that Ruth was holding back so he grabbed Ruth's wrists.
"Ruth, we may be good friends, but I don't want you going easy on me. Try again." Elias said.
"Okay, you asked for it." Ruth said.
Ruth began to punch Elias much harder. Elias could definitely feel these punches. Elias decided to encourage Ruth to hit harder.
"Not tough enough, hit harder Ruth!" Elias said.
Ruth responded by kicking Elias hard in the crotch.
"OW! DAMN IT! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?" Elias cried.
"Well, you told me to hit harder." Ruth replied.
"Yes, but you did not need to hit me in the crotch you damn dog!" Elias said.
"Don't worry Elias, I'm sure you'll still be able to have kids." Ruth said.
"That is NOT related to this at all!" Elias said.
"Whatever, want to try again?" Ruth asked.
"You know what? You're fine, you hit hard anyway. I'm trusting you when you say that you can fend for yourself." Elias said.
"Hmm, I think you just don't want to be in more pain than you are in right now. But don't worry, I can defend myself." Ruth said.
"Eh, you know what scratch that. We will spar. Just avoid my lower half please." Elias said.
"You sure your up for this?" Ruth asked.
"Yes, let's go all out." Elias said.
Ruth and Elias began to fight each other. Elias mainly blocked and countered most of Ruth's attacks, but Ruth was able to land some strong hits on Elias. Even managing to jump and hit Elias in the face a couple of times. As Elias tried to land a hit on Ruth, Ruth quickly morphed into a dog and ran between Elias's legs and jumped on his back, morphing back to his human form. . Elias tried to throw Ruth off his back but Ruth got a good grip onto Elias's horns. Ruth wrapped one arm around Elias's neck and started punching the back of his head. Elias tried to grab Ruth but Ruth was rather quick. Elias did eventually manage to grab Ruth's foot and tossed him towards a tree. As Ruth went flying, he morphed into his dog form to allow himself to have the boost to launch back at Elias. Elias sidestepped out of the way before Ruth could bite him. Elias managed to grab ahold of Ruth's very long tail and flung him into some bushes. This time, Ruth was unable to save his fall. Elias ran over to Ruth and picked him up by the back of his neck and was about to punch him in the stomach, when Ruth morphed into his human form and kicked Elias in the gut. Elias dropped Ruth in pain and Ruth began to punch Elias multiple times in the stomach. Once Elias saw an opening he punched Ruth. Ruth wasn't the kind of person to necessarily dodge attacks as he was basically just trying to block Elias's punches. After Elias managed to tire Ruth out enough to where he could no longer properly block attacks, he moved Ruth's hands away from his face and put Ruth in a head-lock, allowing Elias to successfully win their sparring match.
"You fought well. But you lack a true experience of fighting." Elias said as he held Ruth in a gentle head-lock.
"Yeah, yeah, can you let me go now?" Ruth asked.
"Of course." Elias replied as he just dropped Ruth on the floor. "You really need to shorten your tail, it's a hazard." Elias said.
"Shorten my tail? Elias, that's the equivalent of asking a deaf person to listen to music." Ruth said.
"Anyhow, I am impressed with the way you used your morphing abilities to gain an advantage on me during our match." Elias said.
"Well, thanks. It does work out pretty good." Ruth said.
"I hope you use that ability well when we fight against whatever enemies we may fight in the mountains." Elias said.
"You can count on that. Want to go again?" Ruth asked.
"You should take a short break, I just finished defeating you." Elias said.
"Sure, but you don't have to brag." Ruth said.
"I am not bragging, I am simply stating the facts." Elias said as they sat down next to each other.
The for the next 2 hours, the group trained hard for physical combat. Chise and Joseph had somewhat gained a good amount of knowledge in how to properly use their weapons. Ruth got more training in fighting as well sparring with Elias. Ruth also made sure to train Chise and Ruth in combat without the use of any weapons.
"Alright! That is enough everyone!" Elias called out to the others.
"B-But I thought we were going to train for about 3 hours?" Joseph said.
"We have trained enough. However, I want to see one final thing. Chise, come to me." Elias said as Chise walked over to Elias. "Remove the glamour from your arm." Elias said.
"Elias?" Chise asked.
"I would like to test something." Elias said.
Chise complied as he removed the glamour and allowed her arm to revert back to it's dragon form.
"Ruth, come over here as well." Elias said as Ruth approached him. "The last thing I want to see, I would like you two to test your strength against each other." Elias said.
"Sweet! I get to fight Chise!" Ruth said.
"You sound a bit too excited." Chise said.
"You both are pretty equal in skill and strength." Elias said.
"It does sound fun to go all out." Chise said.
"Heh, you're telling me. Sparring Elias was sweet. I'd love to see you test out the skills I have taught you." Ruth said.
"I'm happy to show you what I've learned. Just, no shifting back into a dog for this round, okay?" Chise asked.
"Sure thing. Don't go easy on me okay?" Ruth asked.
"Got it." Chise said.
"Are you ready?" Elias asked.
"Hey, hold on, if we're going to be sparring like this, then I'm sorry, but we need to have a certain song playing for us. Go get your record player and also get the record of that, 'Eye of the Tiger' song we heard once, Elias." Ruth said.
"Umm... okay?" Elias said as he went inside the house to get his record player and Ruth's requested song.
Once Elias came back, he put the song in and let it play.
"There, that's better. So, you ready to get KO'd, Lil Sis?" Ruth asked as he got in his fighting stance.
"Only if you're ready to lose badly, Big Bro." Chise said as she smiled.
"Begin!" Elias said as he backed away from them, giving them plenty of room.
As the song played, Ruth made the first move and went to hit Chise in the face, but Chise blocked it with her Dragon Hand and pushed Ruth back a bit. Ruth stumbled back due to the strength of the push. Chise took this opportunity to backhand Ruth across his face with her Dragon Hand. Ruth somehow managed to recover quickly from that attack and grabbed Chise's Dragon Hand. He leaned closer to her to stop her from using her free hand to hit him, and he started to punch Chise in the stomach. After a few good punches to the gut, Chise stumbled back once Ruth let go of her. Ruth ran up to her to try to land more punches to her gut, but Chise dodged and punched Ruth in the back. Ruth smiled and turned around quickly and pulled off a successful jump punch on the top of Chise's head. Chise fell to the ground on her back and Ruth bent down to keep her down. Chise quickly rolled out of the way, got up, and slapped Ruth 4 times across the face with her Dragon Hand. Chise went to punch Ruth in the face, but Ruth covered his face with his arms and blocked. Chise knew that Ruth wasn't too much of a dodger, so she made a quick strategy to surprise Ruth. Chise began to repeatedly punch Ruth's arms with her Dragon Hand. Once she saw that Ruth was completely focused on blocking his face from her punches, she surprised him by landing a punch to the side of his head using her right hand. Once Ruth shook off the initial shock of the attack, he tried to karate chop Chise, but Chise grabbed his hand and accidentally threw Ruth into a tree with her new strength. Chise was about to say something, but Ruth got up and came running to her. Once he was close enough, Ruth went down and pulled off a slide kick on Chise, knocking her to the ground. Chise was quick to get back up on her feet. Ruth went for a beat down, but Chise held up her hands and blocked all of Ruth's punches. Once she had an opening, Chise went to punch Ruth in the face with her right hand, but Ruth blocked it. Chise knew Ruth would block it so she used this opportunity to punch Ruth in the face with her Dragon Hand. Ruth then tried to punch Chise with both of his fists at the same time, but Chise caught him by the wrists. Ruth struggled to break free from Chise's grip, while Chise held on tightly. Ruth tried to kick Chise, but she saw this coming and quickly headbutted Ruth to stun him. Once Ruth was good and stunned, Chise managed to lift him off of his feet as she started to swing him around. After swinging Ruth around for a few more moments, Chise dropped him to the ground. Once Ruth hit the floor, Chise tried to slam her Dragon Hand down on Ruth, but Ruth managed to use Chise's rolling dodge tactic to avoid the punch. Ruth then pushed Chise with his elbow, and then he pushed Chise the ground and held her there, holding his fist up, ready to strike her.
"I win." Ruth said as he held Chise down, while the song also ended simultaneously.
"(Chuckle) Wrong." Chise said as she then managed to nail Ruth in the crotch with her leg.
Ruth groaned in pain as he fell to Chise's side. Chise got above Ruth ad placed her arm gently on his neck and held her Dragon Hand up ready to punch Ruth. She also made sure to sit on Ruth's legs so he couldn't kick her.
"I win, Ruth." Chise said as she smiled confidently.
"Damn." Ruth said as he was completely trapped and unable to attack or move.
"Well done, Chise. I am impressed with your newly developed skills." Elias said.
"Thanks, Elias. I had a good trainer." Chise said as she got up and helped Ruth get back up.
"(Groan) I should have said no nut attacks." Ruth said as he groaned in pain.
"Well, you said you did it to Elias, so I figured I'd use it too." Chise said.
"Still, I am also impressed. You are amazing. I know we will kick ass!" Ruth said as he patted Chise on the back.
"You got that right." Chise said.
"Now, let us rest for about 15 minutes. Once time is up, we will set off." Elias said as he picked up his record player and headed inside, soon followed by the others.
Silky had made sure to give everyone plenty of water after their training. Silky then sat down with the rest of the group in the living room.
"So, Elias, have you been to this forest before?" Joseph asked.
"Only a couple times. I do not have much recollection of what it is like, but what I do remember is that our magic and powers will not work there." Elias said.
"Are there any like enemies there we have to worry about?" Joseph asked.
"Hmm, aside from forest creatures, there should not be any other threats. But we still must be prepared for anything." Elias said.
"So, Elias, what kind of things do we need to get to create the Nebula Formula?" Chise asked.
"I believe we are in need of certain roots and herbs and other things that only are found in the Forest of Thorns." Elias said.
"Okay, wait we don't need any... organs or anything like that, do we?" Chise asked.
"(Chuckle) Do not worry. I am positive all we need are certain plants, maybe some bones, but that is it." Elias said.
"Okay, good." Chise said.
"There is no need to bring anything aside from our weapons and a bag to carry the ingredients we need." Elias said.
"Who's going to carry the ingredients?" Ruth asked.
"Well, since you asked, you will have the honors." Elias said.
"Ugh, damn it all." Ruth said as he facepalmed himself while the others laughed.
10 minutes later...
"Well, looks like time is up, is everyone ready?" Chise asked.
"Ready." The others responded.
"Then, let's get going, we have no time to dilly dally." Chise said as they made their way to the front yard.
Everyone stood close together as Elias pulled out his wand.
"Hold on." Elias said as he teleported them away to the foot of the mountains.
And that was chapter 8! What did you all think? I hope you are all enjoying the story so far. Thanks for the support! See you all next time!