Chapter 123 - You're on

Sparks flashed in front of my eyes. Left, right, then above and finally…I fell onto my back, exhausted from the constant waves of force that my arms were subjected to. 

Blow after blow her dagger collided with my blades with attacks I only barely managed to block. That was hard enough without her constant kicks and punches to my ribs and stomach.

My armour never felt as pointless as it did fighting against her. Even the word 'fight' seemed pointless when in front of her, it was more of a one-sided massacre.

That was her training method, she would continue to lay into me with intense, high-speed attacks and I had to get past them in any possible way I could. 

The evening sky turned black as everyone in Istoria but us had gone to sleep.

My aching bones moved with sluggish strides whereas her attacks never wavered. I wondered where she got her infinite supply of stamina from. All seemed lost, my efforts for the evening in vain when suddenly it happened.

My blade collided with hers as it did so many times before and once her second blade came up for another strike, I stepped back and avoided it. My other hand moved in for a strike towards her chest but her arm moved faster. 

I poured everything I had behind that attack and at the last moment, my arm dropped and gave way for my true attack.

My hips rotated with a sharp twist and set up my body for the powerful blow that followed. My leg struck and she blocked it with her forearm, the only thing available to her at the time. Her eyes opened wider, ever so slightly.

I felt like celebrating, I was overcome with joy and my foot hadn't even reached the ground yet. It seemed trivial, managing to land a kick even though she guarded it effortlessly, but it was the fact that I landed anything at all. I felt ecstatic, my roaring muscles and stiff shoulders sang songs of praise as I relaxed my wrists.

A moment later her arm came down and smacked me square in the face. I fell back on my butt for what felt like the hundredth time that night and she lowered her weapons.

"Let's call it a night. I was waiting for you to hit me but it seems like that's the closest thing we'll get to a victory for now."

"Guaaahhh!!" I collapsed back on the ground and spread out my arms and legs like a starfish. Panting with heavy breaths I tried to fill my lungs with oxygen, afraid that they would be deprived of it soon after.

Vye looked down on me with a grin, her fingers rested on the side of her face as she pondered something.

"I picked it up after our first meeting but…you always go straight for the skills, don't you?"

I sat up as I sensed it was time for her feedback on the night. She had been beating me senseless the entire night and yet finally, it seemed like there was good advice coming my way. Not that I liked what she had to say…

"I'm not sure how to explain it but…my body sort of moves on its own when I'm fighting." 

"That's not necessarily a bad thing it could be a great asset if you train it well enough. For now, you need to break your habit and start thinking a bit more."

"Train it?" I repeated gingerly. I was afraid to ask but I sensed it was going to be something even more hellish than what I had just experienced.

Vye confirmed my suspicions as the corners of her mouth curled upwards into a lustful smirk.

"That's right, we're going to fix all those nasty habits of yours and drill in some proper muscle memory."

Thus began my training from hell every night from that day on. I told Vye about my rank-up ceremony and she reassured me she could get me ready for it in 5 days. I was doubtful at first but…I quickly came to realise that she meant business.

The training only got worse the following nights, so much so that I barely kept up. Each time I got the hang of her attacks, she changed them up completely and sent me back to the floor in defeat.

Vye was quick to point out my flaws between all our fights, the biggest and most obvious according to her was my tendency to go straight for my skills. I had become overly reliant on them, that much I began to see for myself. 

Every time I wanted to use my skill, Vye found a new and even worse way to inflict pain on me. 

That habit fell in less than a day.

The next day she explained how she managed to overwhelm me so easily. According to her, the best ability any adventurer can learn is anticipation. She anticipated all my attacks and managed to bring me down with that alone. According to her, it wasn't that hard to see through my attacks…

I learnt to anticipate after 3 days.

The night before my Rank-Up ceremony Vye took me somewhere new, a change of scenery from our usual meetups along the outskirts of the city. She took me to the edge of the Slums, near the South-East side among the many underdeveloped buildings and half-finished structures. They cramped the already dreary section of the city with plain colours and dangerously open construction projects.

It looked as though many attempts were made to spruce up the worst part of Istoria and yet all of them fell flat. All of them were abandoned before they could even reach the halfway point of the building process.

Grey buildings and open towers with missing walls and ceilings surrounded us. At first glance, it didn't look anything like a part of Istoria. Sure some parts of the city were a little worse off, mostly the ones I was used to but even so, it was nothing compared to the slums.

The area Vye took me to was a little more abandoned than the rest of the slum area, not even the poor and unruly inhabitants of the district visited it. It was probably too dangerous with all of the unfinished structures and dangling support beams in the air.

We had used the rooftops like our personal springboards as we hopped from them like steps over the streets. We clashed over the gaps between buildings with no regard for the fatal fall beneath us.

Vye struck first and released a barrage of cuts and slashes. I spun my body in return and met her blades with mine, counteracting the force of her blows. We were both pushed back and my boots hit the edge of the building behind me. 

Vye rested on the building opposite mine with the same technique, we looked like similar figures bouncing off of the same mirror.

In a burst of speed, we lunged towards one another and our blades collided in what looked like a display of fireworks. Sparks flew left, right and centre as we collided with one another over and over again, above the rooftops.

Her blade came at me from the side and curled inwards to my neck, my eyes widened as I thought of pulling away but suddenly my body screamed something else at me. I listened to my instincts and leaned in. I brought myself closer to her and raised my arm into an uppercut with the Chakram blade held firmly in my grip. 

She was fast, her blade was going to strike first. No. I was faster, I grew faster over the last few nights. I believed in my speed and carried the attack through with certainty. I anticipated her movements and was struck with all I had.

My blade neared the bottom of her chin while hers still had a couple of inches to go before it could reach me. Her mouth curled into a smile at the last moment and suddenly my blade struck her, it pierced her throat but there was no resistance. I had hit empty air…

Her body disappeared like steam, I had struck a mirage and stood there stunned at what had just happened.

Suddenly I felt her presence again over my shoulder and Vye dropped her foot down into my back. I was sent crashing into the ground below without warning. Flying down between the two buildings, I smashed into the already broken ground and littered it further with cracks.

Was that…a skill…no maybe magic? 

My eyes jolted up at the hooded figure above me, glowing under the hazy texture of her ability. Her eyes glistened under the moon's rays. She wore a pleased expression, her mouth opened slightly and a childish grin overtook her.

"What's the matter? I never said Skills were off the table for this one!"

I wasn't even mad. Perhaps I had spent too much time around her that week but from what Vye had just told me alone, I was filled with an unrivalled amount of excitement. My body rose from the cracked cement and I bent down slightly, still dazed from the impact.

Her lips curled to form the words I had wanted to hear more than anything.

"Show me what you've got, kid."

My eyes never strayed from hers, it refused to. Her childish expression, I was sure that it had infected me already because I felt my cheeks burning as the corners of my mouth rose in opposite directions.

"You're on."