Don't Crack, Crumble

The morning brought more training. And with it, more tension. 

Noble's hopes that Counsel might calm down and be more reasonable in the morning were crushed before breakfast had even begun.

After another argument, the pair had given up talking.

Because the dress selection was scheduled for the afternoon, Noble and Counsel had opted to go and spar instead of visiting the library. It had nothing to do with the fact that battling was easier than working cooperatively just now.

It was just neither of them was in the mood to read.

Hitting each other with weapons was preferable to scarring each other with words. The latter always managed to cut deeper.

So here they were in the underground arena doing their best to get their point across with the point of their blunted sword.

'At least Counsel seems to be holding back less today...' 

In his frustration, Counsel was going nearly all out. He was also eerily quiet, which was somehow more unnerving than his show of strength. 

Dodging a downward strike, Noble managed to get in a hit against the man's stomach with her blunted weapon. 

The practice weapons had been a compromise to force Counsel to actually fight. And the man had risen to the challenge. 

'He still isn't giving it his all.' Noble mused. 

Even in his anger, the man held back some of his power. 

That wasn't to say things were easy. For the first time since fighting Emira, Noble could feel bruises forming under her armor. Part of her considered stopping before she looked completely black and blue while trying on dresses. 

'Oh well, I'll heal before the ceremony and it will be fine.' 

For once, Noble felt like she was actually getting a challenge. Even though she felt a little guilty about making Counsel upset, the woman was very glad that she was finally getting a real workout. 

Sweat formed on her brow and dripped down inside her helmet. 'I usually have more stamina than this. I'm getting lazy…'

According to Noble, laziness was one of the biggest problems among Awakened. She could not let herself become complacent.

The Symncus, on the other hand, had made laziness into an art form.

From the corner of the room, Kosi watched with a mix of fascination and concern. He could tell this was not a regular spar, but his constantly shifting ears told that he was unable to discern if this was normal human behavior. 

Even after all these years, people were a mystery to him.

"Ah!" Noble cried out when the man finally caught her across the helmet. 

She had been wanting to try a different kind of fluid movement, but the experiment had failed. 

'That is why you try things out in practice before you do them in battle...' 

Shaking off the ringing sound in her ears, Noble raised her dummy sword again. "What else have you got?" She smirked. 

'Get it all out. I can handle it.' 

Noble had heard that when men are angry, they just need one good punch to get over it. She hoped that a few good hits with a blunted weapon would yield the same result. 

Gritting his teeth, Counsel slashed his sword at either side, Noble blocked them both and kicked him in the chest, forcing him backward. 

His eyes narrowed. 

Feeling Counsel's emotions spike, Noble braced herself for the onslaught. 

The man burst forth in an explosion of motion, his body blurring in the uncertain light of the training arena. 

His opponent was ready. Noble held her defensive position, making what would be catastrophic hits for a mundane human look like a child hitting his parent with a foam sword. 

The longer the match went on, the more erratic the man's feelings became.

"You aren't even trying!" Counsel growled in frustration. 

"Now you know how I've been feeling!" Noble gave him no compassion.

One corner of her mouth lifted upwards. "You want me to try?" 

She uttered the word for light and brightening, then put her full weight against her next hit while the man lifted his hand to shield his eyes.

Actually, Noble used more than her full weight. Shutting her eyes, she activated her Aspect as well, picking up and throwing the man back like a rag doll.

Noble watched the man fly through the air with her special vision. He hit the wall with a grunt just as the light faded. 

"That...ugh...that was a decent hit." Counsel groaned as he took off his helmet and rubbed the back of his head.

Noble offered her hand to help him up. "Thank you. Once in a while, I am glad I can impress you." 

"You are always impressive, just...too trusting." Counsel accepted the hand and pulled himself to standing. Behind him, a crack in the wall was left where his head had been. 

"I didn't realize it would be that bad." Noble looked at the wall with a wince. 

She had gotten so invested in the match that she had forgotten the damage she could do.

"Don't feel bad. Whatever magic this room has will kick in and repair the damage just like always." Counsel rolled his shoulders, feeling for any broken bones. 

"I suppose." Noble pulled her eyes away from the crack and scanned the rest of the wall.

Below the fire wreathing the room, rings used for target practice hung in intervals.

All that was, except for the adjoining wall next to where the crack was made. There, two were missing, only the indent of the presence left behind. 

Out of idle curiosity, Noble ran her fingers along one of the indent's edges while she waited for the other wall to heal. 

The circles were perfectly shaped by a meticulous craftsman. It was made that much more impressive by the fact that likely no one would ever see just how much care was put into making the shape just right.

'Well, I noticed…'

A soft sound signaled the wall was beginning its rhythmic humming of self-repair.

The process reminded her a lot of the battlefields in the Dreamscape. They also could take damage and return to their original state.

Was there the same sort of magic behind it, or was the similarity merely a coincidence?

Noble would probably never know.

When the wall returned to its pristine state, Noble brushed off her gauntlets with a sigh.

"Shall we go for another round?" 

For a moment, it seemed like Counsel would reject her offer. His practice sword remained on the ground as he eyed her carefully. But then a mischievous gleam came to his eye.

"Another round? As you wish."

Counsel muttered the Name of the wind and the air whipped into a torrent. 

Unable to get any purchase on the ground, Noble reached out in vain. Unlike last time, she could not grab onto the handles on the wall because they were missing. 

Seeing Noble in distress, Kosi fought against the hurricane and jumped to her aid.

It was a mistake. The Symncus wrapped his body around the woman to help her, creating a flying kite of human and beast.

The pair sailed across the arena and crashed into the far wall.

But when they hit it, they did not cause a small fissure like Counsel had a moment before.

Instead of cracking the wall…

…they went through it.