Training Day (1)

Sure enough, today is just as busy as I thought. It's already halfway through the month of Pearl. Shinobu and I get ready with the help of Inari, and we head to the guild. Jezabel is wide awake with a particularly malicious grin on her face.

"Good morning." Her broad voice shakes the chill beginning to set in my bones.

"Is it?" I ask.

"Not for you."

"That's kinda what I figured. I'll put some weights on." I turn to the pile of attachable weights, but Jezabel interrupts me.

"Actually, I have a different plan for today."

"That's terrifying," I say as a shiver runs down my spine.

"Since we've got a new guest today, I was thinking we should mix things up."

"Can't we just do the weights thing?"

"Travis is planning on taking everyone into the forest today, which is a good opportunity to test your abilities."

"I don't like where this is going."

"Four on one. Your team versus me." The already cold air freezes over. Jezabel's expression peaks, and it's like looking into the eyes of a demon. My palms are soaked. I can see the fear on both Josh's and Sakura's faces.

"Do we have a choice?" Jezabel shatters the last strand of hope as she rejects my question.

"Absolutely not."

"Well, it was nice knowing all of you. I'm sure this is all my fault." I concede. Even Josh's normally stoic face is trembling. I doubt he's forgotten the last time we had a physical altercation with the Guild Master. Sakura turns to me with tears in her eyes.

"I know you didn't mean anything by it. These were the best months of my life, and I got to spend them with Josh. Thank you."

"Thanks, that means a lot. I'll try and block her way while you all escape."

"You know that won't help. We all came here together, so we'll all leave together too." Sakura grabs some wooden training daggers off the ground while Josh and I each get a sword and spear, respectively.

"What's going on?" Shinobu seems to have realized something's off.

"I wish you'd stayed in bed." I hand her a wooden training sword and turn to our instructor.

"If you're all done saying goodbye, let's get this started. I'm busy."

"Are you all ready?" I ask in an attempt to rile our siprits.

"Y-yes."

"I'm ready if Josh is."

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Then let's do this. Ahhh!"

""AHHhh!""

"""Uhhhhh…""" The battle didn't last for more than a few minutes. Jezabel countered every attack we threw at her. The four of us are left moaning on the ground.

"Is that it?" Jezabel didn't even work up a sweat during our fight.

"Uhh…" I croak from my position face down on the ground. It feels like every bone in my body is broken.

"I bet you thought you were tough when you took down that Dracoterra."

"Maybe a little." I know that fight was an affectation, but it's hard not to feel yourself after taking down a monster of that caliber.

"You know, I talked to Inari about that. Apparently, something called the Guardian of the Forest was hunting that particular monster. It had already lost a fight by the time you ran into it."

"That makes sense. It seemed panicked."

"Based on her description, I would be too. It's a giant snake, somewhere around one hundred feet long with three heads."

"And it's stronger than Inari," I add.

"Yes, which is terrifying in its own right. Also, Monster's Bane disrupts the flow of mana in the Monster Core. Any monster that uses magic while affected is basically committing suicide. It's more accurate to say that it killed itself rather than being defeated by you three."

"Just for the record, we were going to run if things got hairy."

"Whatever."

"Uhhhh…" I pull my face out of the dirt and see Shinobu moaning as she rolls over onto her back.

[Good, it looks like she regained consciousness.]

Shinobu put up a hell of a fight, all considering. One of her attacks even managed to strike Jezabel in the back, but it didn't even slow the Guild Master down. What's more amazing was how she blocked most of Shinobu's magic attacks with her bare hands. It was like fighting a demon.

"Grrr." Some distance away, I see Sakura staggering to her feet. Her right arm is dangling at a weird angle. If I had to guess, I'd say it was dislocated; although the way it's twisted below the joint makes me think it's broken as well. Sakura definitely took the most damage during the fight, so it's unbelievable to see her standing right now. Blood is streaming from the corner of her mouth, and her leather armor is all but rags at this point.

"Sakura." I can't move, but I try to get her attention. I know how she feels. Not being strong enough to protect those you care about leads to a very specific sense of self-loathing. All that rage is building up in her tiny body, threatening to tear it apart.

"Shut up!" She's gnashing her teeth so hard I'm worried she'll crack a tooth. Her glowing red eyes dart back and forth between Jezabel and Josh, hanging limply over the pile of weights. He was sent flying there when Jezabel struck him in the chest as the fight was wrapping up. To make matters worse, he was standing in front of Sakura to protect her. It would have been a sweet scene to watch if it wasn't so tragic. I use what little strength I have left to roll over and look at the burning flower girl.

"Sakura, I know you're upset, but you need to check on Josh and make sure he's okay. Getting more injured won't help anyone." I can tell she's torn between attacking Jezabel and helping Josh as she's frozen in place. Sensing her indecision, Jezabel approaches.

"Oh, come on, I know you want another crack at me. Think about how good it would feel to punch me in the face. Give me your best shot." That malicious smile has never once left her face. As if she's leading lambs to the slaughter, she casually walks toward Sakura with her arms spread out.