Speech = ``…..´´
Thoughts = [… ...]
ºº
``Sloppy..´´
``Slow…´´
``Laughable…´´
Where some of the words that could be heard between each cold, sharp filtered breath and the thunderous echoes of steel colliding rapidly with one another in a violent dance that two individuals shared under the light of the nascent sun, filling out and disturbing the solemn emptiness that was so proper of the ruined village they were standing on.
One large and bulky in midnight clad, its form almost draining the air and clarity around him like a void in reality. The other small and slim, golden hair glowing with an ethereal hue under the daylight.
The girl moved to the right, then sidestepped to the opposite side almost by reflex, face creasing with sweat as she avoided the potent gust of air coming out from a shock wave from the air in-front of her was literally punch into her direction.
But that was not what worried her in the slightest as she rose her blade, her fingers masterfully changing their grip of her sword into a reverse grip before they swung sideways, clashing loudly and violently against her opponents weapon. Sparks spilling out from their metallic forms as if they were trying to emulate a starry night in broad daylight when the two collided.
Muscles tensing and aching in silent protest as the motion of the blow and the kinetic force they dragged where dumped into those small arms, but it was not them who failed the girl...as the ground her feet had sunk in gave in, making her loose her footing and before another blink could be taken, she was already sent flying...
But if one thought she would land on the roughly on the ground, or be swatted on the side of a wall like a mosquito they would be for a rude surprise as she landed over the surface of a house, twisting her body in mid fly and using the brief change in gravity and the small form of her body to throw herself back into the fray like a bullet, destroying the building in the process as if it was made of wet paper.
Her body wrapped around in both crimson and violet streams of power, both reflecting her past and her future like a beautiful maelstrom of destruction. Turning her frail body into a miniature star that the world had given birth in the most humbles of places.
A deed that spoke of masterfully repetition and constant practice...as-well as the enough mental fortitude to pull through in such short spam of time. One born through the acrid and bitter taste of pain and failure in her own flesh.
He could see her eyes, he could sense the way her blade started to cut through the air before it even started to do so, searing and cutting through particles like a hot knife through butter. The image of her smile already in his mind before she even reached him while her mind remained steady and tranquil like a pool of water, not allowing any kind of emotions, gleeful or not to disturb the balance she had built…
And all of it, all of that effort for a mere deception. To hide away the other five following strikes that were about to STRUCK him from every direction.
Using her own power-boost as she plunged towards him, soaring through the air like a comet to draw his attention away, hiding the threads of energy she had redirected to the sides in an attempt to hammer down everything she got.
The air shuddered in anticipation of what would happen next.
She had become a sword that could not break. A blade that could not miss.
A faint smile warped around his lips, obscured from her sight by the thick layers of ancient steel and her own glowing form as he witnessed the product of her hard labour and boldness approach in slow motion with the only purpose to lance him through.
He did not do this often, but he could not help but marble a little at her competence. She was good…
His free hand clenched tightly, talons digging into the black fabric covering it
But not good enough..!
``Predictable...´´
His hand burst into dark blue flames. Taking a single step forward before he systematically punched away each and every one of them away. Creating a dense mist in the process when the flames of ice came nearly into contact with the molten slag beams of energy.
One that she used to cut through the distance between them. Hoping perhaps to use it as her cover from his prying eyes, that she could turn her secret attack into her distraction as she was about to land her own empowered attack head on..
Not slowing down
Not backing down…
Not doubting for a moment...
Bold, he would give her that. But it would be for naught...
Not because he had moved away for he remained as immovable as before, not even taking a single step through the whole fight. Not because he had blasted her off the skies with a brush of his hand, but rather her sword had merely struck at the nothingness between them.
Sparks of molten energy flying and spilling onto the ground as her blade clashed and tried to push back whatever had stop her dead on her tracks. At a first glance nothing, but between each spurt of energy only an observant warrior could have realized that there was a glimmer of light where there was not supposed to be anything. An ethereal outline that betrayed what he was actually holding between his clawed digits...
Something that could have been mistaken by him clenching his fist. But there was something on his grip, just not visible to mortal eyes…
A blade made of air…, pure and raw air that had been drawn out and encased in a field of magic.
Sharper than steel and orichalcum, weightless like a leaf and above all things, undetectable for it could not be seen or heard. A simple tool he had merely conjured to test her, to push her and made her realize that she had been wrong to refuse heeding his counsel.
For some reason she had believed it to be a treasure lost of her kingdom. One that was legendary in its own right if half of what she said was true...
Telling her that he had merely draw it out with a finger had left her...catatonic albeit briefly for some reason.
But enough of simple platitude.., he had work to do...
Twisting his hand, and with a swiftness that borderline raped reality he shattered her attack like a twig, blasting away her magic like a whirling putting down a small bonfire, her body stiffening, eyes widening with shock before she even realized what had happened.
A revelation made all the more shocking when she was pushed back when a fist dug its way into her guts, spit and specks of blood slipping out from her lips, fangs growing as her face became creased with pain as she was robbed of all the air in her lungs.
This time landing roughly into the ground. A yelp of pain slipping from her soft lips as she did, but it was not long before she was out and about, brushing aside the blood with the back of her hand and retrieving her blade from the ground.
Her steps weak at first, with one hand holding her body...before she rose her head with dignity and charged at him once more.
If she believed that the world was built on the principles that good bested evil, that what was well started, could end the same way then he would not have mercy on her.
Life was not a fairytale…, it was a nightmare that one had barely any control over. And that was before any gods decided to stuck their noses were they did not belong.
So he took this thankless task to educate her…, the sooner she did the faster she could find a way to spend her existence away from conflict, and away from him...
But she did not backed down.
She did not cave in to the pressure.
She did not beg for it to stop, she did not try to appeal to his humanity, she dared not ask for mercy to him or whatever foul, heathen gods she worshipped...
In fact, she embraced this situation...
She was doubling down, dodging, sidestepping, thrusting and swinging with more force and speed than each time before. Her eyes glimmering with zeal, her body and mind locked in place in throwing herself to the task with such steel like simple-minded focus that would have been considered commendable.
Worth of praise even...
If it wasn't vexing him ever so slightly..
He pushed aside a barrage of thrusts, swinging vertically and horizontally almost at the same time in the span of a second, the girl choosing to barely dodge the first and blocking the second with enough speed that could have been mistaken by clairvoyance if it wasn't her own body fighting for its self preservation...
Not that he had any intention to cause such harm..
Still, it wasn't fair.., it was not fair in the slightest especially with all the effort she was putting up if only to stand her ground for another more second. Especially given who her opponent was...
But he did not care, neither the world did...
Or perhaps that was another lie, he did not know, there were too many to count by now. There was still a question that lingered in his mind, whispering silently at the back of his head something that he was
Another house was blown away when a literal wall of air came crushing down its feeble walls like a battering ram.
How things had come to this…?
By all accounts, this was not what he had planned to happen. He had no intention to partake in these...interactions with the recently awaken she-elf, let alone waste so much time in watching over her. But with the way things had turned he should have known that this scenario was not that strange.
If there was a way to describe her then was stubborn…
If there was two, was stubborn brat.
The irony was not lost to him...
Pent up with righteous fury, the unending need to apologize and try to express how grateful she was to him and the brief, yet warm smiles she showed him were jarring enough.
All things considered, he really would have preferred dealing with the other three than the latter. Or if she had shown any sign of anger, fear or resentment..his eyes burning brightly as they peered down into her soul in search of the cracks that should be there.
But her mind and body remained denying him that, not because she could defend herself from his sight, but rather the lack of it...
Time and time again only having words of gratitude to express.
And now, given that the girls blood was running hotter than fire and her mind was still troubled by both her presumed death, the "curse" she had bore and her new attempt to grab onto him like a squid for dear life...he had been forced between two choices.
Ignore her or deal with her...
He decided to choose the lesser of those evils. Though if he had been given the real choice between that and the other option..he would not have chosen at all. So with that in mind he had decided to use the oldest trick in the book, the simplest yet most effective way to keep her focused yet at ease from such annoyances.
Fighting…
It wasn't that he wanted to train her, not when he had made sure to make the point that he would not have her fight his war. But it was what made the best sense to him..in a sick, twisted sort of way.
In paper and by experience the use of violence was the soundest and best idea he had come across to reach to an understanding,
In a fight there were no need for words as they were swept away with the swing of their steel, yet there was something that seemed to spark a hidden language between two souls when their blades clashed, like an exchange of ideas, of beliefs…
It almost sounded as if he was talking about a therapy session rather than wanton destruction, but the results could not be overstated...
It was working..
The muscles tensed and relaxed as they became accustomed to the dance, her heart throbbing loudly inside her chest, yet never before it had echoed with such a steady rhythm. Her feet shifting and sliding back and forth as if she was tiptoeing over a thin current of water...
By all accounts it was the more intimate thing he could share with her in an effort to soothe her aching heart of what she had been robbed. And whether he liked or not, whether she tried to act as if she was not…She was still a child and he would treat her as such.
Beating a girl into submission time and time again...did not sound like a good way to heal such wounds or treating a child who had barely reached its teens. In fact, for some reason it felt wrong the more he pondered about it..
Ridiculous, wasn't it?
``You are holding your blade to stiffly..´´
He warned as they clashed again, her wrist twitching and her body flinching painfully as they tried to hold down his onslaught. Her eyes however glimmered with realization and nodded internally, trying to remediate her folly...
Only for her blade to fly away from her hands and be grabbed by his other arm when he slammed his blade horizontally like a club in the blink of an eye. Both blades now holding just right next to the girls sweat, glistening neck the same way a scissor would be when waiting to cut through a thin thread of silk...
His lips turned to scowl...
``Now too lightly..´´
Her breathing was weak, her blood still pumped loudly inside her veins...her glare taking a faint look of disappointment before it vanished and regained its resolute and grateful expression.
``My apologies Master Reaper…, I will try to improve. I wont make that mistake again…´´
He could not help but frown at the girl, he loathed the subservient tone he had with him. Like a servant speaking to its Lord. He had not asked her to do that, yet it had come off naturally. Each and every attempt to dissuade her from doing so had been met with failure...
He didn't know if it was his own magic that resided inside her that made her consider him as such, or if she was genuine about it…, but he had learned to save his breath. There were things you could not convince a child to understand.
He decided to focus his attention away from those passionate and kind filled eyes towards the blade she held tightly in her sword arm. Fingers flexing and tapping the handle as they prepared themselves to find the better grip for the next round of combat. A fact mirrored slightly by the way her body started to lower into a stance of its own.
She really was stubborn…
A normal person would have given up after the twenty-eight attempt.., let alone one hundred and seventy five consecutive loses. Add that to the fact she was a child and you got a strange situation indeed.
It was true that she would not have managed to last so long in her own, that it was the very power he had infused her with as a result of bringing her back to life that was fuelling her to reach such new heights. That very strength that empowered her swings, the speed of her feet, the nimble touch of her fingers and the quick thinking of her mind as she tried to become fluent like the wind instead of the stiff board she had appeared to be the first twenty times…
Case in point, her body should have been riddled with bruises and cuts, yet nothing of the sort could be spotted on her frail form. Her body was not also able to generate more energy to fight, it was also able to heal such minor nuisances in a short amount of time..
And yet, she had lost, each and every one of their battles. Not even lasting a full minute between each clash of blades. Not that he had expect her to. Funny enough, that did not spoke of her failure, much to the contrary in fact, for he had noticed something truly interesting…
He had noticed how her blade angled itself a little better each time, how her movements became slowly, but steadily more fluent and less time and motion wasteful. Cutting corners when there was no need for them and creating bridges when she had felt hollow. Her feet working in tandem with her eyes, like a unit instead of separate entities burdening each other...
And all of this in just a day…
What would she be able to do in a hundred years? A thousand..? That power would grow alongside her, and with it...the things she could do.
She was a fast learner…, and that was good.
At least, it made him know that she would not be an easy prey for the people who mistreated her. This time she had the tools to fight back.
A wonderful parting gift on his part...
Because even if it did not seem much to the uninitiated…., it was a bigger deal than it actually appeared to be. She had managed to work from mediocre failure to a somehow tolerable failure if compared to him, but if she were to fight against a resident of this world however, the scales would be heavily on her favour…
He lowered his blades, pulling them away from her before he offered the tool he had crafted for her.
``You have improved your technique…, congratulations are in order´´
And just with that her face lit up like a bloody candle, her lips that were still stiff from trying to regain her breathing warped upwards in a broad smile, her eyes becoming warmer as they accepted her blade back, caressing his hand for a moment before retrieving the tool.
He was sure she was trying once again to be show how grateful she was, but it felt strange..given the fact that her fangs had grown again and her face was once again marred with red lines.
Was this gonna be a recurrent situation..?
``Thank you.., to hear your praise..there are no words to describe what I feel´´
``Don't thank me, you were the one that pushed yourself to earn it. You should be proud...´´
``Still, I know that there is a long path ahead of me. I have to work harder if I we want to free the world from the cults clutches. I cant wait to stand shoulder to shoulder with you...´´
She really was still keen on that…, eh?
``Your dedication is commendable…, but don't built sandcastles in the air for your own sake...´´
She many not realize it yet, but even though to have high hopes and expectations of things were not bad. To allow them to control your view of things would only cause her harm..
``What do you mean.., master?´´
``Something that you will understand in time.., you are still too young´´
Her eyes flickered with a scarlet hue, crossing her arms below chest while she started to...pout? He would not have much time to ponder as she released the air from her cheeks and smiled at him once more.
``I see, I have yet to learn a lot more from you. I will do my utmost to follow where your path may lead. Shall we resume our training..?´´
With a sigh he groaned at the failure of her punishment…
Who told him to made deal with the girl that they would not stop until she gave up or she managed to land a true hit on him..?
``No.., we end this for now. You had enough for the moment, we must look forward to something else..´´
He said, no longer finding comfort in his plan. Trying to find a way to change the final outcome. Pushing away that voice that suggested to manipulate her mind.
Confusion dawned in her eyes, cocking her head to the side. One hand pushing to the side a stray lock of gold from covering her eyes.
``But I haven't give up..´´
``I know..´´
Those eyes narrowed in contemplation, trying to understand something that was not there before a realization dawned in her features. Her grip over her sword growing tighter as she started to look around.
``Did something happen? Is the cult approaching..!?´´
``No.., we are alone as we can be..´´
He replied plainly, that seemed to put her at ease for the moment. Dropping her combat stance and the sideways glances she had towards the avenues that led where they had been training.
But without a clear answer doubt started to crawl its way back.
``Why then? Did I do something wrong? Did I displease you? If there is anything I can do to-´´
He put a stop to her panicked rambling as he placed a hand over her shoulder. He felt her heart slow down and grew calmer..
``You didn't...´´
She looked at him, those ocean blue ponds staring at him with confusion and renew hope. But before she could ask a new barrage of questions fate did seem to grant him a gift when a rather fleshy sound echoed from her.
He almost laughed when he saw the way her cheeks started to heat up of embarrassment when her body cried out for nourishment..
She had been so focused on proving him her worthiness that she had forgotten to eat anything at all. Not that he had reminded her of it.
He had no need for it any-more...
``It would do poorly to push yourself to your limits while also mistreating your own health…, you must feed or as you mortals say...one cannot go to war with an empty stomach´´
``I.., you are right. With everything going on it just flew my mind´´
``I know…´´
`` I was so focused with the battle and trying to improve my sword technique that everything became a blur´´
``I know..´´
She chuckled a little, wiping away a tear before she rose her head. Her eyes meeting his...
``So…?´´
``So..?´´
He parroted the question.
``What will we be having of course..?´´
She asked as if it was the most natural thing in the world, her voice almost becoming singsong in the process though perhaps her heritage had something to do with.
``What we will be-..´´
His thoughts halted for a moment as he stared at her, almost as if wondering if he had heard her correctly. For there was no way she could have just asked of him what he believed she had. But she was..
She really was…
With he way she held her hands tightly in a prayer like form, the way her eyes glared at him with curiosity or the way her lips curled with a tinge of hunger.
She was waiting for him to..to-!
[Oh you have to be kidding me!]