Chapter 22

"I'm sorry I am late," I stand up from the bench I was sitting on, hearing her voice. "I hope you weren't waiting long for me."

"Not at all," I smile. "It is only a few minutes passed the time we agreed to meet."

Today is the promised day. The day I agreed to teach the game's heroine Ellis Lockridge how to fight and use body strengthing magic. I really hope this doesn't turn around to bite me in the ass, but I shake away those fears a few moments later. After everything that has happened, there is no way I can see Ellis using what I will teach her on me.

We are in the school training grounds after Sara gave us permission to use this place. Since we are training, both of us wear light, easy-to-move clothes. I wear plain shorts and a T-shirt while the heroine wears a short skirt. I should probably not teach her any moves involving kicking today. It might be wise for me to ask her to wear shorts next time, so she doesn't accidentally give me any fan service scenes.

"I made us both lunch," Ellis smiles, putting a woven wicker basket down.

"Thank you," I force a smile. In the game, Ellis was a terrible cook. I hope things have changed to improve her performance in the kitchen.

"So, what are you going to teach me first?" Ellis looks at me. "A Hawken Nerve Pinch or maybe the Touch of Death?"

"Neither,"

I don't know how to do those moves, and I think they were just put into the game to make some of the assassin's dialogue more interesting. I have never met anyone who could do those things. Still, if I were to not pull my punch and infuse it with my magic, I probably could do my own version of the Touch of Death. I'm not saying I would do that, only that I could if I wanted to.

"Just some basic self-defence moves for now," I tell her. "And then after we eat lunch, we can move on to the basics of body strengthing magic."

"Okey," Ellis replies happily. "I look forward to learning from you."

We start out simple. I teach Ellis how to block strikes and throw a punch. As expected of a heroine, she had some natural talent for fighting. She is good at reading my movement and anticipating attacks. Ellis could become a great fighter if she didn't have so many problems. Her main problem, though, is her concentration. Ellis seems to have a problem whenever I get too close, which usually ends with me just stopping short of landing a hit on her. If she has a problem with people getting close to her, she might be better off switching from the unarmed combat group to either the spear or bow groups. But she refused to when I brought the idea up.

After a breath break, I started teaching her some basic moves to get out of holds and disarm opponents. I took self-defence classes in my old life, so it wasn't hard to pass on my knowledge. Once again, Ellis shows she has a natural talent for fighting and picking up things fast, but she still has a problem focusing. But then I can't complain after losing focus myself after a gust of wind gave me a peek at her striped panties under her skirt.

Still, by the time lunch came around, Ellis had reached the point where she could at least defend herself from some untrained attack. But she has a long way to go if she wants to be able to fight in an actual battle. On the upside, her cooking skills are leagues above what they were in the game. The moment we sat down and Ellis showed me the lunch she prepared, I knew she could possibly be better than my family's chief back home by the smell alone.

I was expecting her to make some simple sandwiches and prayed Ellis didn't make any mistakes like adding hot source instead of mayo or something along those lines. Instead, she made rolls Ellis claimed to have made herself filled with ingredients I didn't expect her to know how to use. At first, I questioned whether or not she really made them, but I couldn't ask her myself. Not when she looked so happy seeing me eat one. They tasted good too. So good that again I was surprised she made them, but when I noticed the small bandage on one of Elli's fingers, I realised she might have actually made them.

"I'm glad you like them," Ellis says with a bright smile as we eat. "The kitchen had so many ingredients I normally would never have the chance to use, but the cooks were kind enough to give me pointers."

"Well, they taste good," I nod before taking another bite. "You have the skills to become a great chief after we graduate."

"But I only want to cook for…." Ellis trails off, and I can barely hear her.

"What?" I ask, looking her way only to see her staring at me.

"Oh nothing," Ellis blushes, looking down. "I was just talking to myself."

As soon as we finished our meal, we moved on to body strengthing magic. It is easy to use once you get the hang of it but hard to take the first step. For example, after several years of practice, I can use body strengthening magic without any thought, but Ellis is struggling. I do my best to teach her by telling Ellis the steps from the books I read and what I usually do, but she still struggles.

"Just breath," I tell her. "Focus on your body and the flow of magic within."

"I'm trying," It is clear she is from the sweat on her brow and her shortness of breath that she is.

"You will get it," I assure her. "It will just click. I can't explain it, but once you do it once, you will be able to do this at will."

"Was it like this for you at first?"

"Yes," I lie. It must have been because of my boosted power because I could do this without any trouble. Oh, I have an idea. "Give me your hand. I have an idea." Hesitantly she holds out her hand, smiling softly when I take it. Her hand is so much softer than my own. "I will pour some of my magical power into your hand. Focus and feel it flow through your body."

Ellis nods her head, and I begin. Carefully I give Ellis my magic. Slowly, I pour small amounts of magic into her hand, feel it flow into her body, and join with hers. Wait, is she more powerful than me? I can feel her magic, but something is wrong. It's powerful, making my own feel weak in comparison, but something is sealing it away. I don't remember anything like this in the game. Ellis was a powerful magic user who never had a problem like this. What could have changed and caused this?

"Oh, I feel it!" Ellis jumps, looking excited. "It feels so warm and comforting having you pour it inside me." I really wish she hadn't phrased it like that. "I have never felt anything like this before?"

Maybe she doesn't know. Looking at her, I am still confused as to why her magic is blocked, but one thing I am sure of is that Ellis was the one to block it. She must be doing it subconsciously. I can feel her magic and the magic sealing away her power belongs to Ellis. Maybe something happened in the past. Something so horrible, Ellis subconsciously sealed away her magic so it wouldn't happen again. I have seen what I am capable of doing. If Ellis really is more powerful, she could do so much more damage if she wanted to.

"Okay, now try to move the magic around," I instruct, shaking my head. This isn't the time to ask her about what had happened. "Yes, like that," Ellis managed to pick up on it quickly. I can feel her gently pushing the magic back into my hand. "I'm going to let go down," I tell her cutting off my supply of magic. "Try using your own magic this time."

"Okay," I really wish she didn't look so disappointed when I let go of her hand.

<0>

Ellis's POV

That was close. I let out a sigh of relief as I let go of her hand. It felt so good to hold hands with her, like a dream come true, but I nearly let my guard down. Her hands just felt so warm and reassuring I couldn't help but relax. They are so much more rougher and longer than my own. I hope she didn't notice when she poured her magic into me.

Would she hate me if she were to find out? I can't help but glance at her as that fear takes hold. She definitely will hate me. How can she not know I sealed her fate? The truth is that I am so much more powerful than this. It would have been easy for me to complete this training before, but I had to make a great sacrifice. I capped my power and altered the world's fate in a forbidden ritual, but I will do it again in a heartbeat, even if she hates me. I did it for her, to change Angelina Lamonia's fate and give her a chance to live. If I hadn't, the games system would have forced her to walk a dark path as it tried to force me to walk the light on.

"Hey, you need to focus,"

"Oh…" I jump, hearing her voice. "I'm sorry."

I am going to keep her safe. Even if it costs me everything.

<0>

Angelina's POV

Today was more fun than I thought it was. Ellis is steadily improving and should be able to control the flow of magic through her body pretty soon. Plus, her cooking skills were so good she could have fooled me into thinking a chief made those rolls. I wish she could make them for me every day, but I was afraid to ask. If I did, I was worried I might accidentally go down the villainess route, and people would think I was making her my servant. But right now, I am drinking tea with Noah, discussing a troubling development. I had thought I had dealt with this problem long ago.

"What do you think he wants?" Noah asks, his hands shaking. I may have healed his physical scars, but the emotional ones that man left behind may never fad. "Do you think he is mad at me?"

"Probably only me," I shrug. I have done too many things to even begin to list that will put me on his bad side. "Don't worry if he tries anything. I will throw him off the edge of the school." It was only a joke. But maybe it won't be if he pushes his luck. "He won't be able to do anything apart from yell at us anyway."

"But grandfather is a powerful person,"

"So am I," I smile, taking his hand. "Both physically and politically. If he tries anything, I will make sure he gets what's coming to him."

"I hope so," Noah shivers. "I don't want to relieve what he did to me."

You know what? Maybe I will throw him off the edge of the school after all. He will most likely bring his pegasus knights with him, so he shouldn't die. Still, he did manage to catch me off guard for once. He usually would write weeks in advance before showing up. Still, today we got a letter saying he is coming for a visit tomorrow. I don't know what for. There is a list of items too long to pick through, but tomorrow will be another battle between us.