Graze

In the end, Kassidy had been too speechless to reply. After thinking about it for a while, Ava realized she could just eat the apple after it was cut. Anyways, it wasn't like she was unfamiliar with dented or dirty food. As long as the apple wasn't outright rotten and vile, it should be fine.

The greater problem, then, was the fact that she only had one apple on her. Of course, Kassidy had said it would probably be enough, as he hadn't really expected her to succeed easily. The main objective was to get a sense of what he was saying so more complex training could be developed in the future if she showed talent in either category.

After all, perception and prediction were both complicated things. The perception was almost entirely an inbuilt talent, although it could be honed through life-and-death adventures. A good perception could save a solider from a sneak attack, an ambush, or even stray arrows. After all, no matter how talented a soldier was, they couldn't resist an army. Their best bet was to try to save their lives.

Prediction, on the other hand, could be trained, but at the end of the day also relied on talent and, in part, perception. Compared to perception, which was more about the subconscious observing details, prediction was more about observation and understanding. It might be hard to dodge an arrow that came out of nowhere, but the fact of the matter is that all arrows come from somewhere. It was just about when you noticed it. If you saw an archer notch an arrow in the distance and then fire it, the amount of time you had to react and dodge was much greater than if you saw the arrow after it was in flight.

Of course, Ava was still far to the point where she had to perceive others' intentions and actions. Right now, the objective is simple. When she threw an apple up, she was the one releasing force. Even an ordinary person could roughly guess where the apple would land if they watched its general trajectory. What Kassidy wanted was for Ava to guess solely based on the throw.

Thinking about the two schools, Ava hesitated for a moment before eventually choosing to practice prediction first. Between the two, Ava felt like her perception was better. After all, as someone who had lived a rather unfortunate life, it wasn't like she was born with a knife in her hand. The way she lived more often then not wasn't through fighting, but running. And when she knew to run had almost always been based off of instincts. As for prediction… Well, she was alright, she thought. She had seen too many people and could roughly guess what they were thinking or what they were intending to do normally, especially in acts of aggression, but that was an understanding that had been beaten into her, not something she had naturally picked up.

Shaking the random thoughts out of her head, Ava looked at the apple before closing her eyes and giving it a rather hefty throw in the air. Although she could throw it lighter, and it would probably spare more of the apple, she was heard to improve, not to prove herself.

After throwing it in the air, Ava frowned for a moment as she felt like she had thrown the apple a bit too far forward as opposed to just straight up. Imagining a trajectory in her head, Ava took a step forward and prepared to swing the sword when she heard a quiet thunk. Furrowing her brows, Ava went through with the sword strike anyways and then opened her eyes afterward to see the apple on the ground.

She had taken too long to imagine the path of the apple, and by the time she was prepared to swing, it had long since landed on the ground. Other than that, looking at her position and where she had swung the sword, she was still quite a bit off. Even if the apple rolled a bit after landing, it didn't seem likely she had swung in the right spot.

Picking up the apple with her free hand, Ava frowned a little and rubbed the soft spot and couldn't help but feel a little sour in her heart. What a pity. But after moping for a moment, a glint of resolve grew in Ava's eyes. In order to preserve the freshest fruit, she would have to learn perception quickly.

Moving back to the center of the field, Ava once again closed her eyes and threw the apple up, not bothering to aim straight up this time. After thinking about it for a moment, while it had been an accident when she had thrown the apple in a somewhat arced path, it seemed a bit more fruitful than simply throwing it up.

Quicker this time, Ava quickly imagined the path of the apple and took two steps forward and swung…

Opening her eyes, Ava once again was disappointed as the apple was practically in the opposite direction of where she had stepped. Shaking her head, she picked up the apple and walked back to the center again. Although her timing was better this time, she hadn't had a good grasp of the path and had veered too far to the right when it had ended up more towards the center.

Slightly biting her lip, Ava looked at the green apple, which was now half brown and couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Moving back to the center, Ava prepared to throw the apple but stopped. Holding the apple in the air, she slowly lowered her hand and took a few deep breaths. Being anxious wouldn't help. It would only make the following process harder. Besides, she was here to train her prediction, not her perception or her luck. If she kept going, even if she eventually cut the apple, who could say if it was just luck?

Taking a deep breath, Ava once again opened her eyes and looked around the small training area before making a judgment and closing her eyes again.

Throwing the apple up, Ava stood still for half a second before rushing out and swinging her sword.

A moment later, she heard a quiet thump.

Opening her eyes, Ava looked at the apple on the ground no more than a foot from where she had swung and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Going to pick up the apple, she couldn't help but be stunned as she realized the apple was missing a small slice off its rump. Turning to look at her sword, she slid her finger down the side and found a portion midway down the sword that was slightly wet. Although her prediction had been off, it had been close enough for her to just barely graze the apple. Looking around, Ava quickly found a piece of the peel not too far away.

Standing in a dark corner, Kassidy let out a small smile as he watched Ava roll the apple around in her hand. After observing for another moment, he turned around and disappeared.