Combat Training and Unsteady Feelings

The assassin's long lesson still filled my head, and I had to compose myself before standing up. Looking around the now empty room, it seemed like I was the last one to leave. I had just stepped outside of the room when I heard her voice again. "You really seem to believe in that theory of yours."

Leila was standing by the hallway, right beside the door. Staring closer, I realized she was gently caressing a hanging figure of the Order's emblem; the carved figure holding a shocking likeness to the creature in my dream.

"I suppose you have your own reasons for having such a belief," Leila continued, her dark skin creating an even more mysterious aura underneath the dim corridor lights. "But I do am curious about one thing... Prophecy boy?"

I gulped down deeply. My contract with Eva had included partitions where I shouldn't disclose any information about my true sex and about how I might be the prophesied person the head assassin has seen in her dreams. Whatever that meant, I perfectly agreed that it shouldn't be shared to others. Not that I knew my job would be made harder by an assassin's loose lips.

"I don't know what Sir Lancer meant," I said, shrugging nonchalantly. "He might have a penchant for making nicknames for annoying, little children."

"Pft!" Leila laughed. "Well, I know you might be younger than most of us, but you definitely aren't annoying. Your inputs and way of speech have more than enough proved that you are worthy of being under his tutelage."

"... Maybe," I muttered.

Then, once again, hissing filled the bubble around us. I quickly stared down at her bare arms, but saw no black reptile. I glanced over her thin and simple dress, wondering where the serpent might be hiding.

Shockingly, she suddenly backed away and covered her torso with her arms. "What are you staring at?"

There was a hint of blushing on her cheeks.

Inwardly, I scolded myself for my untoward action. I've forgotten the sensitive balance that must be maintained in a conversation held by a girl and a boy. Well, in this case, between a girl and a girl pretending to be a boy.

I immediately bowed deeply to apologize. "It was incredibly rude of me to be staring at a beautiful lady, but I had no ill intentions. I was only searching for your pet snake."

"Asmodeus?" she uttered, to which I took as a sign to stand straight again. She looked at me quizzically. "Are you afraid of serpents, Therion?"

"... Well, not exactly," I murmured, scratching at my curly, short hair. "But, I won't deny that their presence makes me uneasy."

"Oh, well, you shouldn't," she said, suddenly approaching me. "Asmodeus is a tame little basilisk. He won't hurt you."

She carefully reached a hand out right in front of her, and a moment later, the snake emerged from her straps and coiled around her arm before it faced me with its diamond eyes. "Go on. You can pet him."

'I'd rather not pet him,' I wanted to say, but I knew I would come across as rude. I sighed inwardly before holding out a slightly shaking hand... and touched it. The snake didn't react much, and only slithered its tongue at me. His utterly black scales were cold to the touch and were hard with muscle.

"Well? Where's your animal companion?" Leila asked after I had taken my hand back.

"... I left it." I looked away, hiding my annoyance for the untamable bird.

"You know our training involves the accompaniment and training of our companion animals, do you not?" Leila told me, yet didn't really look like she was scolding me seriously.

"I know, I know," I mumbled. "I'm just training it in my own way. It's just really spoiled, and a little more time in seclusion might do it some good."

"Well, to each his own, I suppose," Leila said. "Either way, I'm glad we have the same class for basic organizational history. Where are you heading now?"

"Combat training with Assassin..." I muttered, taking out my parchment to affirm the name that was forming at the tips of my tongue. "Ren... Quite a different sounding moniker, actually."

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I've heard if him from the other trainees. They say his power is only second to the Council of Six and of course, the head assassin."

"Really?" I asked. "But, then, I shouldn't have my hopes up. We just had Sir Lancer, one of the Council itself, and he may need a few lessons in values formation."

Leila laughed. "You're really brave, you know that?"

Well, it's not like I could simply say that I had the pride of royalty running through my veins.

I sighed. "Well, braveness won't do me much good if I can't back it up with wisdom and strength, and right now, I have none of those."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure of that," she uttered with a smile. "Well! I'm heading off to General Studies now. I'll make sure to send your regards to the rest of the trainees."

I laughed wearily as she strutted off, thinking about how I might have just made a formidable ally.

~~

"Keep your core steady!"

"That isn't right. Hit harder!"

"Bend lower, and maintain your balance."

I panted as I followed the assassin's instructions, trying to make my childish body move as I willed. It proved to be quite a challenge, however.

"Alright. Take a rest," the man with the lethal gaze announced, to which I took with gratefulness.

Assassin Ren wasn't bulky or huge as I had first imagined. He was of average height, an almost thin, yet well-muscled body, and eyes and hair of raven black. Much like Eva's, his eyes were thinly slit and edged up higher on the sides. He looked quite menacing.

But his swordplay was an even different story. Dangerous, truly, but also just as beautiful.

He had started our afternoon lessons with a showcase of sword art that looked more like a dance than anything else. He moved with the wind and aided his wickedly sharp blade with an open palm, hovering it dangerously on the edge, and thrusting the sword at the air with enough power to cause a slight breeze.

It was quite entrancing, but now that I'm training for it, I could never pass as dangerous nor beautiful.

I landed on my butt onto the bare, dusty ground. We were inside a magically enhanced room that made it look like we were aboveground, training right under the heat of the sun and surrounded by rocky fields and dust clouds. After training for hours, I could almost imagine I was really smoldering underneath the heat of the sun.

"Giving up already, kid?" Assassin Ren shouted from across the wide room.

I breathed in once more, before shouting back, "Not until my body gives up on me!"

"Then stand!" he replied. "You're nothing but a pile of weakness, lying down there."

I stood back up, my muscles screaming at me to stop, but I knew I couldn't. The first hour of our lessons had made me realize how skewed my combat training was. True, I have been training almost immediately after I had been brought back into the past, but I had mostly been training with the aid of notes. And without notes, I was simply a weak, little girl.

"Alright, watch me." The assassin slowly made a stance and quickly landed a series of punches and kicks at the magically moving combat dummy, which thankfully didn't altogether break into pieces as it hit the dust floor. I analyzed his form, observing how his weight would change from one step to another. He repeated the sequence again.

"Now, do it," he told me, backing away from the boyman* dummy, which was now starting to get up.

I closed my eyes and imagined how I would be able to do it. My brain worked just like it did when I had to answer difficult problems whose answers I still wasn't sure of. I would ask a series of questions, answer them temporarily, and search for the consequences.

I tried to do that in my combat training, too.

If I punch just like the way Assassin Ren did, would I be able to create the desired force? If I shift my foot like that, will I be able to keep my balance with my still weaker set of muscles? With my height, will I even be able to replicate his movements?

Frankly, I knew the answer was a simple and resounding, "No".

So, instead, I chose to do what I believed was best for me. Imagining a set of movements in my mind, I started to breathe deeply, and then slowly opened my eyes.

'Now!' my thoughts screamed, and I moved.

The boyman's movements weren't that fast, but I knew how hard it could punch from the experience I've painfully gathered in the last few hours. Assassin Ren would always finish it off with brute force, and I knew that was hopeless for me. But, I've also noticed something else. The boyman could land heavy punches, but he had very minimal leg power. In fact, his kicks barely hurt at all. So, I decided to utilize that realization.

I dashed forward, annoyed at how my simple, human body was moving much slower compared to my magically aided one. But, this was enough for now.

I did nothing for a while but dodge and escape. And then, finally seeing the opportunity I was waiting for, I grinned. The boyman had thrown its whole body into a straight punch. Barely able to dodge it on time, I bent down low, gathered strength into my lower body and swung a leg low onto the boyman's lower limbs.

Pain stung my lower leg, but I knew I had won. The boyman had lost its balance and had finally fallen down. The only way to defeat a magical dummy was to make its upper body touch the ground, so this match was clearly won by me.

I panted as I let myself fall onto the ground yet again, massaging my stinging leg. Wondering if the assassin had even seen my first feat of victory, I looked behind to see the man staring down at me with a slight smile.

"You pass," he said.

'Pass?' I thought. 'Wasn't this just a lesson?'

He flicked his head, gesturing for me to come to him, and so I ignored my crying muscles and headed towards him as fast as I could. "Yes, teacher?" I panted.

"... I was first shocked that Eva would assign me to a mere child, but I can see now why she has taken an interest in you," he said in his now soft voice, unlike the harsh tones he used in training. "From tomorrow on, we will be meeting in the early mornings, as well. Even though I approve of your quick thinking and reflexes, your body's condition is simply abysmal."

I laughed at that emptily.

"Nonetheless, I will do what I can to have you ready for your apprenticeship," he said, and the sincerity in his voice only made me feel bad. After all, I might just refuse the apprenticeship at the end of it all.

I sighed inwardly, but thanked him profusely before he finally dismissed me.

That night, I went to bed thinking about the lessons that were being taught to me, and how none of these may matter once the moment comes for me to finally leave them behind.

~~

* In case some of you may have forgotten:

Boyman = A magically enhanced object, usually in a human-like form, which can follow a set of instructions upon its creation. It was first introduced back when Elle and the Farseer duo had just met, and a boyman had acted as the driver of their carriage (Volume 1).