A few days later :
Inside the basement that'd just recently been cleared of most of the torture machines with the exception of the one that controlled the secret passage, Nerissa was yet again watching Reima and Ciri spar. The young didn't used to have any interest in combat, seeing no sense in fighting when politicking often lead to better result. Of course her mind set had changed slightly from the recent attack on her family, this in addition with watching some truly beautiful and masterful moves from her new friends had sparked her interest.
While Reima was parrying yet another of Ciri's blows he could spot out of the corner of his eye Nerissa mimicking movements of various techniques. This was quite amusing and reminded him of himself during his early days training as a Witcher, he grabs the blade out of the downward slash from Ciri while channelling Armament Haki, stopping her strike's momentum completely.
Reima "Let's take a break." he says, comparatively looking better than a sweaty bruised Ciri. She nods and falls to the floor breathing heavily as Reima makes his way over to Nerissa.
Reima "Yo, what's up?" he says cheerfully.
Nerissa's expressionless face pops a smirk "The sky." she says with mirth.
Reima "Oh, ha,ha. Very funny, and to think I was going to include you in our training... Must've been thinking of someone else" he says sarcastically while dramatically shrugging.
Her eyes widen at his words, she doesn't say anything but just stands there in a contemplative trance.
Reima "Nerissa? Would you like to be trained by me, no. Us, I intend on getting Ciri to train you as well."
Slowly nodding, the vampiress looks up at him expectantly, Reima looks at Ciri and says "Ciri! You'll be running Nerissa through some basic stances." he says as he hands a wooden sword to Nerissa... Yes, she's a vampire but he'd rather not see have her being bloodied while training, he dreads to think what Talicia's reaction would be if she found out.
Ciri looks up from the floor and complains, "What? I thought you were training me?"
Reima "Do you not remember what Vesemir used to say?", he clears his voice, "Teaching is also a form of learning" he says in a bad Vesemir impression. It gets a small chuckles out of Ciri who reluctantly nods afterwards.
Reima glances at a wary Nerissa and pats her on the back, pushing her forwards towards the sweaty Ciri... Luckily she's not wearing white today, yesterday was embarrassing for both of them.
The young vampire walks up to Ciri and waits for instructions, the ashen haired girl looks at Reima briefly before turning her gaze on the vampire and starting to run her through the basic Wolf School stances.
He sits back and watching them, keeping an eye on any mistakes Ciri may make. Fortunately she seems pretty good, Nerissa as well. Her speed and strength already make her a formidable opponent, if she learned proper techniques than she may become a valuable asset in the future. The only thing that would make the young vampire stronger would be the use of magic, unfortunately t hat's not possible with her races constitution, if it were he reckons they would've taken over the globe already.
An hour or two passes when Reima finally calls an end to the practise, he congratulates Nerissa on a good session and sends her up to Talicia to wash up and get some clean clothing. Once she's gone he turns and looks at Ciri who seems to have caught her breath from the instruction, "You did very well Ciri, how did you feel about it?"
Ciri cracks her neck "It was, interesting? I'd much rather get some real practise in though." she says and crosses her arms.
Reima grins, "It's good you said that, as I'm not done with you yet. Get into stance!" he shouts while retrieving a steel sword from his Folded Space.
She huffs at him but does as he asks, "I promise, I'll beat you one day." she says causing Reima to go blank for a moment.
He suddenly starts laughing while dodging her stabbing lunge, he pirouettes past another stab while sweeping her legs out from under her. "I tell you what Ciri, I'll give you one wish should you beat me... It can be anything you want or have ever dreamed of." he says smirking at her prone position on the floor.
She growls thinking that he's mocking her and casts Igni at him, he acts as if it distracts him momentarily due to his immunity to fire and waits for her followup... "There!" He mentally shouts while bending backwards to avoid the slash in a movement mimicking Neo.
The two continue to spar for a couple more hours, afterwards he gives Ciri an hour to train her Occlumency before pulling her aside again and training their Charms and Transfiguration. Reima could visibly see her improving, this wasn't only due to how talented she is but also as a result of her Elder Blood's adaptivity. This has allowed her to drastically increase her speed, strength and reflexes almost to the extend of a low level Witcher. Impressive, no doubt and will be a huge surprise for Geralt when they meet again. Another thing Reima notes is how far Ciri's magical studies are going, his original plan of getting her to 7th year level doesn't seem like a possible goal, he'd been guessing her progress on his own level... This was incorrect as he has many thing enhancing his learning that Ciri does not. Her Charms and Transfiguration will probably be 7th year level or higher by the time Hogwarts start but he can't say the same for other subjects, this isn't all bad however as it goes well with their story of not completing her magical education.
I wonder how strong Nerissa is going to become? Any guesses?
As always, if I missed anything please let me know.