19 Crea's training regime - Rinne and Nerion

"You want me to remain outside my lady?" Asked a green haired elf in leather armor. He was standing in front of the room in which were two strange silver elves and the goddess. For some reason, the room's wooden shutters were closed. Albeit some light still got inside, it wasn't enough to allow for a better look at the guests. Not to mention that the goddess was blocking his line of view.

Life in The Shelter was far removed from the glory of the past, but that elf wasn't suicidal enough to tell her to move.

"Yes, and watch the door closely." Replied the golden goddess and without sparing him a second glance closed the door.

'A guard duty? That's rare.' Thought the elf. Then he adjusted the composite bow on his back and moved to lean on the wall opposite to the place he was told to watch. He noticed that a few curious elves were trying to peek from behind the corridor's corner, but none of them had the guts to come any closer. Which was a good thing since it spared him the trouble of chasing them away.

After a few minutes, just as the elf was wondering about the identity of those two peculiar guests, he felt the dreadful sensation announcing the renewal of the mind link. He instantly raised his vigilance to its limits.

'Nerion, how does it look from your side? Did you notice anything strange?' Sent Crea in a slightly thrilled tone.

He stopped himself from stupidly angering the goddess by answering her question with one of his own and scanned the surroundings instead. 'No my lady. There's nothing strange happening nearby, only a few elves-'

'You idiot! I told you to watch the door. Is anything happening to it?'

A small bead of cold sweat ran down Nerion's back. He moved his entire attention to the wooden door and began examining it from up close. 'No my lady. I don't see anything strange. But if I was allowed to know what to look for…'

'Come inside.' She ordered.

Without delay, Nerion grabbed the door's handle and pushed gently.

"Huh?"

He put more force into it, but the door refused to budge, which was strange since it had no lock. The only explanation he could think of was that it was barricaded from the other side, but why would the goddess do something like that? And he didn't hear any sounds of furniture being moved.

'And? What are you waiting for?'

'My lady, I can't open the door. Even if I push with all my strength, there's no reaction.'

'Alright, you're dismissed. Finish what you came here for, and go back to waiting in Armory.'

Another small shudder ran down his spine. This one announced the end of the non-verbal communication, and Nerion sighed with relief. It wasn't easy to avoid sending some stupid thoughts after receiving a nonsensical order, and for a moment he had been convinced that the goddess was looking for an excuse to include him among other 'volunteers'. Luckily, that didn't seem to be the case.

Still, he found it a pity that despite this unpleasant experience he wasn't able to win the bet.

*****

As soon as Nerion opened the door to a small underground training room, three tense stares focused on him. But only one remained after he signaled that the goddess wasn't coming, and it changed into a definitely more relaxed one.

"So? What did you learn?" Asked a cute elven girl sitting on a small wooden barrel. She matched Nerion's youthful vibe and looked no older than seventeen herself. Just like his, her long green hair was also neatly gathered in a side ponytail. She wore a plain brown linen shirt and pants. On her knees was a leather armor, vastly different from the one worn by Nerion. Hers was modified to allow its wearer to carry a significant amount of knives. It seemed that she was in the middle of trying to figure out if it was possible to attach even more.

"... not much." Answered Nerion reluctantly and took a look at the single archery track inside the small training hall. A tall, short-haired silver elf was using it. He was practicing continuously from the time they were ordered to gather here this morning, but the shooting shield at the track's end had yet to be hit even once.

Though it wasn't due to the archer's lack of skill. The silver elf simply paid it no attention. He focused only on nine wooden dummies that he placed in various formations. Currently, he was setting them in a three by three square, with about half a meter of distance between each dummy.

Generally, common elves were better archers than silver ones, and Nerion took pride in his shooting skills. He believed that being able to snipe an enemy from a long range was all that mattered when using a bow, but today this belief was slightly shaken. The archery practiced by this silver elf was entirely different from the one he knew. It put a heavy emphasis on speed, mobility and... close combat. Moreover, that unorthodox style didn't include the usage of a quiver. Instead, the archer held six arrows in his bow hand and three in the draw hand. At first, Nerion found this concept stupid and laughable, but now he wasn't so sure about it anymore.

"Neri, don't ignore me!" Raised her voice the cute elf. "I'm sure you at least took a good look at those two girls. What about their archetypes? Cute one like ours?"

"Rin, I beg you, don't call me cute or I will cut my hair." There was a tone of despair in Nerion's voice.

"Don't do something so stupid boy, gender crisis will pass with time." Interjected the last person in the room, an elf with a small scar running across his nose who was leaning against a long weapon rack. Just like Rinne and Nerion, he also belonged to the common subrace. However, his brown skin was a few tones darker than theirs.

"You've got no right to say that Elmar. You're only eighteen years older, but that scar gives you a hefty manliness boost! I want a one like that as well!"

"Forget about the scar and try to recall our bet. I'm also curious about that new silver pair, the rumors are hard to believe. But if you don't want to talk, that's fine. Just remember to pass me half of your next week's rations." Replied the older elf in a full of confidence voice as if he had already won. It made Nerion want to prove him wrong.

"Not so fast Elmar. In fact, I took a good look at them."

"Oh?" The scarred elf put away the sword he was oiling. "Great, but you're not the only one who did that. A lot of elves saw the goddess personally escort them into the rubbish hall. Did you learn anything new? Even their names are sufficient."

Elmar was trying to make eye contact with Nerion, but the latter busied himself with a small barrel. He brought it closer to Rinne, sat down, and started watching as the girl nimbly introduced yet another modification to her armor.

"Well… The younger one looks to be about sixty, for sure no more than seventy. And she's a rare mix of the adorable and alluring archetypes. She could easily score the first place in both of them, even back in the old days. But something's wrong with her."

"There's always something wrong with those ashen lunatics." Stated Rinne in a casual, yet slightly despondent tone. Then she put away the leather armor, robbing Nerion of his excuse, and gently rested her head on his shoulder. In response, he started playing with the tip of her ponytail.

"The details of her appearance are all wrong." Corrected Nerion and began enumerating some of the rumors he heard during his visit to the city hall. "The glitter of her fairy scales is toned down. The features of her face are sharper than they should be. She has an uncommon type of ears. The shade of her silver hair is very rare. Even her skin is a bit paler than it should be possible."

"Come on Nero. One or two of those features are fine, but all of them at once? You want to tell me that she's a precursor of a new archetype or something?" Said Elmar, still waiting for the other to meet his gaze.

"She also has a luxurious belt made from either wyrm or naga scales. And was proudly showing it off, almost as if she was some kind of a noble."

"Do you seriously expect me to believe that our goddess would treat some pompous noble with even the tiniest shred of respect?"

"Impossible!" Exclaimed Rinne and put more power into pushing Nerion's shoulder with her head. To compensate for the small difference in their sizes, she also tried to knock out the barrel from under him with her leg. The heartwarming duo that could be taken for a young couple looked now no different from a pair of playfully bickering siblings.

"... fine. I wasn't able to come close to them." Confessed Nerion and started knocking with his knuckles on Rinne's forehead - from time to time he 'accidentally' brushed his fingers against her fairy scales. This changed the nature of their play into a test of endurance. Was she going to push him off the barrel first? Or would she give up, no longer able to tolerate the knocking?

"Then I won the bet. And you know what? I've heard that Ruri's hunting squad will be back in a day or two. Looks that I won't have to eat mole pig meat for some time now." Happily announced Elmar and resumed the maintenance of weapons from the rack.

"Really? A pity…"

When Nerion was coming to terms with losing half of his fresh venison rations, Rinne saw a chance to achieve her own victory. She decided to end their contest with a single push and retreated slightly to add some momentum into her full power attack. The elf she was playing with was waiting precisely for that moment.

As soon as Rinne sprang into action, no longer able to stop her body slam, Nerion simply stood up.

"?!"

Without anything to block her path, Rinne flew over the small barrel and dived face first in the direction of the stone floor. But just as she was desperately trying to save herself from the pain, a single hand grabbed the back of her shirt and put a stop to the incoming collision.

"A-ha-haha… I lost." She murmured and prepared herself for the inevitable.

Nerion gently lowered her on the floor. Then, he sat down on her back and made sure to wiggle his butt adequately while trying to find the comfiest spot.

"Ugh… the disgrace. And you're heavy. And the floor is cold. And hard. And I don't like it at all. Not even one bit. And-"

"Shut it loser, start strengthening yourself."

"Then stop wiggling! I can't concentrate when you rub your rear all over my back!"

"Watching your antics never gets old." Said Elmar and shook his head. "By the way, Nero, did you hear any new rumors about the more interesting one?"

"I did, but they're even more unbelievable."

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud* ...

A series of dull impacts came from the side and halted their conversation. Exactly nine of them under fours seconds, each signaled one arrow being put into one dummy's head.

All three common elves were convinced that if the silver archer didn't bother with running through the middle of training dummies while shooting, then he should be able to achieve even better results. The style of combat he was practicing was better suited for a different weapon, such as Rinne's throwing knives. The elven girl thought that she should be able to do the same and that her weapon of choice was way more versatile and reliable. However, she kept this to herself, unwilling to start a discussion with a slave.

Three minutes later, the short-haired archer was ready for another round of practice.

He moved ten steps away from his targets before sprinting towards them. Six arrows and a short bow were in his bow hand, three in the draw hand. The first arrow was released only when he was about three steps away from the first row of dummies - by the time he covered half of this distance his draw hand was already empty. Next, he swiftly tossed three more arrows from one hand to the other and, without lowering his speed, made yet another hole in the heads of the second-row dummies. However, his positioning was wrong when it came to the third row. He found himself right between two dummies, without a clear trajectory to shoot the last one.

When everyone thought that he would simply run two or three steps more and shot it from behind, the archer jumped and released the last arrow from above. The ninth dummy was hit, and the entire show ended just as fast as it had started.

During the next few minutes, the silver elf pondered over this result, carefully collected the arrows and prepared everything to start anew. All the while his blank expression remained unchanged.

Nerion had to admit that this showy archery style required a lot of skill, great timing, and probably a good control at enhancing one's dexterity with life energy. The fact that the archer broke only a dozen or so of arrows from the time he began practicing was also praiseworthy. Nerion probably wouldn't be able to repeat the feat he just saw. At least not in such a short time, not while running at full speed, and not with such precision. However, since he could eliminate nine targets before they even saw him, there was no need for any of that. Though he was intrigued by the technique of holding arrows in both hands. It seemed to speed up the shooting process a lot.

"Ignore that slave and tell me those rumors already." Elmar was the first one to lose interest in the show he already saw a lot of times today.

"Neri, my breasts… you're making them flatter than ever. Move your ass a bit lower, or I will be extra cruel next time I win." Complained Rinne, and her playmate obediently shifted his weight. "Thanks. Now give us those tasty rumors." After propping herself with arms, she didn't seem too bothered by her current position anymore.

"A pity. You could have waited before strengthening yourself some more Rin, I prefer my chair soft and squishy. Anyway, in comparison to the younger one, the older girl already hit her optimal look and it's hard to tell her actual age. But that's not important. Right now, the ones who saw her are split into two camps. The majority says that she's the very first elven girl with a truly well-toned body and handsome face, but there are also voices claiming that she's actually a guy who in exchange for those enviable masculine traits was cursed by the forefather with perfectly shaped womanly ears and seductive fairy scales."

"Wait… what? How can they mistake her for a guy when she clearly has long ears and fairy scales?" Asked Elmar and pointed at Rinne.

"Why are you staring at me guys? Weren't we talking about that strange silver elf… stop it... mine are far from perfect." Upon having her feminine features scanned by two intense stares, a cute blush appeared on the elven girl's cheeks.

"Anyway, one thing is certain. She had short hair and didn't respond to anyone who tried talking with her. In other words-"

Before Nerion was able to finish his sentence, all four elves inside the small training hall felt a sudden shudder. They were forcibly connected to Crea's telepathic network. In response, they immediately stopped their chatting and prepared to receive a new order. However, it never came. Instead, they heard three sets of quickly approaching footsteps.

Nerion helped Rinne to get up, and they began to clean the area. While he silently moved the barrels back to their place, she finished putting on the armor and collecting her knives. Then they gathered various small trinkets scattered on the floor and moved to stand next to Elmar who had already corrected his posture and was no longer lazily leaning against the weapon rack. Albeit a step away from the rest, the silver archer also stood in line with them.

Two seconds later the door to the small training hall opened, and three elves walked in. Despite their attempts to rein in the curiosity, both Nerion and Rinne glanced at the silver elves who were brought here by the goddess.

'... she's really a slave.' Sent Rinne by mistake while staring at the short-haired silver elf whose face was swollen as if she had been repeatedly punched.

'Did you just call my brother a SLAVE?'

This message, sent in a tone that oozed with hostility and poorly hidden anger, drained the blood from the faces of the common elves. Especially Rinne's. She was visibly trembling and desperately tried not to think about anything, scared that more of her thoughts would leak outside.

A small silver girl moved slowly to stand in front of their line. They instantly recognized her as the younger one from the rumored pair. But by no means she could be called adorable, the way she looked at them with her blood-colored eyes sent shivers down Nerion's spine.

'Crea, I want a duel with the one who called my brother a slave. Grand Kingdom rules.' She sent while smiling ominously at Rinne.

'I already told you that old customs and titles mean nothing in this place. Still, I'm willing to make an exception, permission granted.' The goddess maintained a warm smile, but there was a crack in it that appeared when her precious talented creation had been insulted.

Witnessing the friendly manner in which the goddess responded to someone who acted like an old noble was the moment when Elmar took Rinne's punishment for granted. He decided not to intervene no matter how severe it was. On the contrary, Nerion was about to prostrate himself and beg for forgiveness.

'Why do you all ignore the truly important thing?! That girl called me a 'she'! She took me for a girl! Damn it!' The handsome silver elf quickly scanned the four standing in line and sent: 'You.' He pointed at Nerion. 'If someone should be mistaken for a girl it's you. Aren't you ashamed that you're actually cuter than the real girl standing right next to you?'

Both Crea and Erica caught a little to hide their giggles. Even the corners of the silver archer's mouth twitched upwards for a split of a second. And Elmar was secretly praising his scar, relieved that he wasn't dragged into this.

However, the two common elves involved in this situation were far from laughing.

One was terrified by the perspective of the incoming duel that for sure was only a pretext to make her suffer. After all, that small silver girl was way too young to have any actual combat experience, yet she made the impression of someone used to inflicting violence and issuing orders. Probably gained from torturing slaves.

The other had his dignity trampled in front of the most powerful being in The Shelter and lacked the courage to say anything in his defense. In addition, his friend was about to be punished in front of his eyes... if not worse since they were going to use the Grand Kingdom dueling rules, and that meant two things:

Strengthening with life force was forbidden, it was a show of pure skill and the efforts of one's training.

Duels ended only when both contestants agreed to it, or if one of them died.