Combative

-January 28th, 2446-

--Sky's Perspective--

Days were wildly flying by. My people were being appropriately trained for the upcoming war and today I was touring the field with Tavian to see how they were doing. I sat by the front on a bench, watching fighters walk into the large field and some walked out drenched with sweat. Everybody was really giving it their all.

I greeted some of my own friends that walked in and by the time Lia walked into the field, Tavian followed right behind. "Glad to see you waited so patiently for me!" Tavian told me.

"Sure thing. So, we're grading their styles and ability, right?" I asked. Tavian nodded and walked into the field. "Let's do this then." I finished.

First up was Lia. Lia and Cody fought with the same style, but I thought Lia was faster. Lia was looking a lot better than before. She wasn't scrawny and you couldn't see any of her bones anymore. She looked pretty similar to Dani, besides the height difference. Their weight looked to be on par with each other.

I wasn't sure who Lia was fighting, but I had seen them around the base before. Well, no matter. Before I knew it, the two started fighting.

The girl had a polearm of some sort and Lia knew exactly how to counter it. Lia never blocked attacks, only deflected them and closed the distance. Lia's agility was insanely flexible. Lia could dodge an attack with a handspring and roll along the floor to keep her momentum, continuing to close distance whenever it was created.

Lia slashed back and forth with grit I've only seen out of Ullr and never faltered on any hits. She didn't get cocky, she wasn't short-tempered, she was the combination of all four boys I trained the other day but better beyond belief. I was extremely impressed with her.

The fight ended with Lia grappling her opponent with her legs and slamming him to the floor, holding the dagger to his throat. "Alright, Lia! He gets the point, let the man breathe." Tavian told her. She stood still for a second before fully getting up.

"You'll be good on the frontlines, both of you," I told them both. The man she fought, even if he looked discouraged, was happy with my judgment. Tavian smiled at me.

"Looks like somebody is getting the hang of it. Selfish leaders don't have any place here." Tavian told me as we walked to the next fighters. This time, it was Dani. Dani held a thin rapier in her hand, looking nimble enough to snap if she shook it. She held the nimble blade by her hip and looked her opponent in the eyes before charging in.

Dani's blade skidded across the other girl's sword. Dani went so fast that sparks emitted from the collision and the opposite girl faltered for a moment, before grabbing Dani's wrist and flipping her entire body over.

Dani retaliated by uniquely moving her body so she landed on her feet, pulling against the girl and putting her blade against the girl's throat. The fight was over a lot faster than with Lia. "Wow! That was a super good counter to Dani! And an even better reaction by Dani! We definitely need you two in the front." Tavian commented, but Dani didn't look happy with herself. I was confused, but we had to move on.

Next was Carl. Carl used an axe, which was weird, but I understood why, it was his first weapon, so he has the most practice with it.

Carl began his fight with his axe and shield by immediately holding his ground against an attack. Thanks to an attachment made by Tavian and Xavier, Carl's missing hand was integrated into a built-in shield. He was gifted with that opportunity because of Xavier's discovery, and Tavian helped bring the materials from our old beach to make it for him. Because the shield was now Carl's new hand, he wouldn't ever lose grip of it.

By blocking the attack coming at him, Carl then swung widely from the right and caused the girl he was fighting to back off for a moment. I could tell she was analyzing what to do, but so could Carl. Carl ran in full force at the girl and swung downwards onto her blade. She countered it quite well, deflecting it, and coming at Carl's open neck. Carl threw his shield up and diffused her attack as the last move, sending her to the floor where her weapon flew out of her hands.

"Nice moves! Ashley, we'll just have to put you against people who can't use shields. Or, if he feels nice enough, Carl can teach you his tricks to get past them." Tavian commented. Carl offered to help and Ashley seemed happy to learn. We moved on to the next people.

Mandi, Charlie, and Alex all tied their matches with their opponents. Those who weren't suited for fighting, such as Mary, Ray, and Drake, all focused on making rations and packing backpacks for the fighters to keep them supplied enough for sustainability. Those who couldn't fight were still doing their even part, except Ellie.

Ellie sat in large trees for the majority of this week, and she would continue to do that until we went to war on February 11th. She's scouting, to make sure we would be able to stay safe from ambushes, while Tavian handled everything in here.

The training was going well, and we still had plenty of time to learn new skills, including me. I was worried about my left arm, as I haven't found a way to force it to grow back without diving into Corruption. I'm worried about myself, System Corruption Three is a frightening blow to my mental state, as I lose most of my composure. I haven't even found a way to slide out of the Corruption, besides meeting Tavian. Every other time I passed out from fatigue. I worry that if I try to regenerate it with that method, I would lose myself and tarnish everything we've worked so hard to train for.

I ignored that feeling. I was learning the life of only having one arm, and I was fine with it, but battling would be a challenge without my right arm.

Tavian and I watched more fights, grading their tactics, offering ideas and tricks to get past certain things, and ended the session pleased beyond belief.

"We're working together for something so beautiful. I'm not sure who Orion replaced me with, but our people are now on par with Orion's soldiers. I've taught them everything, you've taught them what you could... we just need to refine those skills. Let me ask you again, Sky. Who are we protecting in this war?" Tavian asked, turning to me.

"Our people. Not my family, not your family, our people. Our family." I told him. Tavian nodded and patted me on the back.

"You're shaping up to be a fine leader! One that will surpass me! Someday, long after I've died of old age." Tavian told me. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Now that we've taken care of that. There's a mission we need to plan out. We need to retrieve some things from Ellie's old home, but we can't spread ourselves too thin. I need you, Carl, and Dani to go retrieve those things from her." Tavian told me. I nodded.

"Whenever you want me to. Let me know." I said to Tavian.