Chapter 12- Lesson
Author's note: Hello everyone, thank you for putting up with me for the sudden unexpected break. As for the reason of the hiatus, summer is over. As many of you can guess, summer is over and so class's are starting back up again. I am no exception. Part of the break was for a little break from writing and enjoying what was left of summer. The other part was to make time for shopping. The last day two days were in me getting use to class and my schedule.
With classes resuming, I don't know when I'll be able to upload a chapter. I won't make any promises of one chapter in so amount of days. I learn that I shouldn't make promises that I can't keep. Sometime people take for granted how challenging it is to write a chapter. Coming up with how the chapter will go, the correct wording and sentences, editing and proofreading as well. Of course that is not to say there aren't people who can do that. I'm merely telling you, the readers, that chapters might be more sparse as I have to balance out work, studying and entertaining you all. Ok, that is about everything that I have to say for now. I managed to finish up another chapter, expect it within a couple of days. you have my word on that.
Also recently, the comment section of each chapter have been barren for a while. Truth be told it kinds of saddens me as they are how I judge to see if the readers are actually enjoying it or not. Comments allow me to know the readers opinion on the chapter and such. Now that's not to say that I'm begging for comments, it's merely something that I noticed.
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“You are weak.” Alviss simply couldn’t comprehend what had just happen. One second he retaliated the next he was disarmed. He simply stood there with a dumbfounded expression. His body moved on his own, dropping down to his knees, his arm gripping the dirt. “Damn it, DAMN it, DAMN IT!”
Alviss cursed at the top of his lung, punching the ground over and over again. Blowing dust and dirt around until a small crack on the ground was visible. Tears begin to swell in his eyes. Soon it turned into a small whimper. “Are you finished?”
To Alviss surprised Juno was still there, staring at him. Alviss tried to toughen up, standing back up while wiping away his tears. “Go ahead and laugh. A person my age, crying over something like this.”
Juno simply stared at Alviss. “You’re right about one thing? You are a child but it is understandable.” said Juno who let out a sigh and pointed towards the building. She began walking towards it while Alviss followed suit.
“You’re not as weak as you think you are but neither are you as strong as you think you are.” Juno tried to hammer that thought down to Alviss as they walked to the building. Alviss simply stayed silent and listened to her. “It’s like I said before, you kids use and learn Skills rather than actually training your body and swordsmanship.”
After calming himself down, what she said rang true. In every fight he encountered, he always used skills, the battle with Captain Scarlett was the same. “But don’t let that discourage you. You do have some talent, all you need is practice and training.” She stopped at the back door and turned to face Alviss. “If you want to get stronger, then I’ll be willingly to help. But it’s up to you if you will actually get stronger or not.”
Alviss hadn’t expected Juno to respond to Alviss in that manner. Soon a new fiery determination arose within him. “Yes ma’am!” Alviss thanked her and left for the hospital. By the time he got there, it was already late in the evening. He walked in, heading for Ayus’s room.
“Umm, Alviss, is that you?” A voice caught his attention as he turned around to see the nurse that treated Ayus. She walked up to him as he greeted her. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m just here to check up on Ayus and well...to stay with her.”
“I see. But you know we can’t have no patients sleep or take up space in the hospital. If you want I can point towards a cheap inn…”
“It’s isn’t about the money, I just want to be with Ayus. To make sure she’s alright.” The nurse was about to interject but slowly reconsidered. After a couple of seconds of silence, she responded. “Well considering your previous situation, I can at least understand it. I’ll bring you a blanket.” Alviss thanked her and headed towards Ayus’s room.
Stopping at the door, he held a small glimmer of hope that Ayus might be awake. He was finally grounded to reality when she was still unconscious. He suppresses a sigh and took her side. To pass the time, he opened Lily’s grimoire and began to read and study up. After a couple of hours of reading, he finally decided to sleep.
He used the blanket that the nurse provided and part of the bed to sleep. Slowly he fell into a deep slumber, only to be awaken hours later. He slowly looked around and headed out the hospital. The sun was dawning, Alviss concluded that it early morning. He slowly made his way over to the Barracks.
“Alviss?” a voice called out, Alviss turned to see Juno making her way over. “Hello, Ms. Harper, good morning.”
“Good morning indeed. Why are you heading towards the Barracks so early?” Alviss was a bit confused by Juno’s statement. ‘Right, to them this is really early. Guess my habits of early morning training is still here from back when I was Anna.’ Alviss jokingly spoke to himself.
“Well, I used to have a habit of getting up really early for training. Old habits died hard.” It took a moment before Juno dropped the matter and the two continued on. As Alviss was the first one there, they started their training a bit early.
First Alviss ran a couple of laps around the training ground. To most it would seems rather difficult as the training ground was large. But thanks to his old mentality and body, he easily accomplish the exercise. By the time he finished the other trainees arrived. Somewhat puzzled by Alviss sudden appearance but the situation was resolved by Juno.
Within minutes he was practicing with the other trainees. We began with some simple swinging practice. I was handed a practice sword and followed along with them. It was just like those old karate movies where they would swing while screaming ‘Hyaah’ after each swing. They continued on for about an hour before stopping to take a short break.
After the break it was sparring time. Everyone would look for a partner to spar against. They would fight against one another with the practice sword. The trainees started to pair up easily, by the end of it Alviss was by himself. He felt a bit embarrassed as he was just standing there.
“Alviss, over here.” He looked around and found that Juno was calling him over. He walked over to see that she had a practiced sword ready. “Huhh, don’t you think it’s a bit unfair to go against you?”
“Hmph Don’t try and talk your way out of this. You’re better than most of the girls here. Fighting them won’t help you at all. Now, ready your sword.” Alviss let out a sigh and took his stance. Just like last time Juno attacked the moment he was ready. This time he had expected it.
He took the hit head on and managed to forced her back. She staggered a bit allowing him to close in. He swung horizontally but she blocked it with a downward slash. He was readying up for another attack but Juno was faster. He brought up his sword to block but it was knocked out of his hand.
“Again.” Juno pointed towards Alviss fallen sword as to start a new round. He quickly retrieved it and they readied themselves once more. This time it was Alviss who attacked. Juno played defensively while blocking and parrying his attacks. Just like before Juno quickly blocked his attack no matter how quickly he striked.
‘It’s just like before. She is quick, even quicker without her shield.’ During that moment of thought, Juno retaliated, knocking him down. “My win, again.” She backed off while Alviss got back up and they began fighting once more.
Within forty five minutes they finally decided to rest. Alviss collapsed on his butt, taking heavy breaths. During their multiple fights, Alviss had yet to win a single one. Juno offered him a canteen of water which he took eagerly.
“That’s enough training for now. It’s break time, be back here on the usual time. Dismissed!” After giving them their orders, she turned her attention back to Alviss. “Well I must say, you’re doing a little bit better than yesterday but that’s only because this is a practice match. Your form is sloppy, if you can fix that then you might be ready for more training.”
“Gee, thanks.” He spoke in a joking and honest manner. Alviss quickly finished up and headed back towards town. “Hey, Alviss. Hey.”
Alviss was on his way out but stopped to see the group of girls from yesterday. They numbered five trainees. Alviss said hello and walked together with them. “Sucks that you’re training with the instructor.”
“Yeah.” Alviss let out a small chuckle as they continued to converse. “So, what kind of person is she?” he threw that question to the wind to start up a conversation.”
“Well at first she may seem like a harda*s but she’s really compassionate.”
“I’ve heard that she served in the royal guards before coming here. She’s extremely powerful and skilled.”
Alviss listened to what they thought of her. Alviss opinion of her started to change the more he listened.
“By the way, what were you doing back there yesterday? Seeing as how you’re here today, what exactly are you doing here?”
Alviss didn’t expect the question so he tried his hardest to come up with a reasonable excuse. “Well...I wanted to get stronger and train. She decided to help me so here I am.” Alviss didn’t want to lie to them, so he spoke a more simplified truth.
It seems that it was the right decision as they got more buddy-buddy with him. They began to talk and rant on about random conversations.Soon the conversation turned into more introductory between them and Alviss. They stopped by a tea shop that also sold pastries. Alviss was treating them as they were so kind to help him.
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They all talked about themselves where they were from and their future. Alviss listen in intensity to pay his respect. He slowly started to relax and casually enjoyed himself. Eating out and talking with friends, it reminded him of his old life.
“Say, why do you want to get strong anyway?” suddenly a question from one of the girls drew all their attention to me. “Umm, well I just want to get stronger.”
“Well we already know that bit, but no one want to get strong for no reason. Usually it’s to impress someone or some other goal.”
All the girls started to nod in agreement, forcing Alviss to be truthful once more. “I...I want to be strong so I can protect those closest to me. I’m always getting into trouble and people are hurt because of me.”
The cheery mood dumbed down a bit as Alviss was serious as well. “Well it certainly makes sense when you think like that. Just keep on trying.”
Alviss couldn’t help but smile and be happy by their complements. “Thanks. Though it doesn’t look all that good when Juno was kicking me around..”
“Hmm, want to hear how to beat her?” Alviss was startled but remain vigilant. “Beat her? There’s no way I could beat her as I am. I’m too sloopy.”
“Well if you want to be beat her, than listen to this.” She brought him in close and began to whisper in his ear.
…………………..
Juno stayed back at the barracks as there was a kitchen in there was well. After all the trainees had left, she started to take her break. fixing up lunch. After eating she started to relax on the porch. While sitting she eventually succumb to slumber. The cold breeze and clouds made the heat bearable as she slept.
Noise of the trainees woke her up after an hour long sleep. Juno slowly stretched her body and headed back to the trainings yard. Slowly the trainees started to stream in. The last group was Alviss’s group. Once all of them arrived, they began to train again. This time is close quarters combat along with learning Skills.
Alviss exceeded during this part, now being able to train with the other trainees. During the sparring matches, Alviss defeated all of his opponents in quick succession. When it came to the Skills training, Alviss showed off his vast array of Skills against reinforce dummies. Most gawked at Alviss’s skills. Soon he started to give them tips to help them better adjust.
The day passed by as Alviss put more effort in helping the trainees. It was mid evening when lessons were over. Juno was about to head back inside the Barracks when Alviss stopped her.
“Alviss, what do you need?”
“I would like another practice match please.” Juno was surprised for a moment at Alviss’s sudden request. “That’s good in all but you’re not ready. Maybe when you ge..”
“I know that I can’t fully beat you as it is, but I want to know if I can at least stand a chance against you.” Juno was about to simply dismissed it but something caught her attention, Alviss’s resolute look.”
She remained silent for a moment before letting out a small sigh. “All right, but one match only. Got it.”
“Got it.”
Juno headed towards the shed house that housed their equipment. She grabbed two practice swords for herself and Alviss. Some of the trainees decided to stay and watch the match. They sat along the fences and on the ground.
Juno grabbed the equipment and handed it to Alviss. The girls were chatting with one another, taking bets on whoever would win. Juno simply listened in as most were saying that she would be the winner. She chose to ignore it and got ready.
The two of them stood a bit apart and took their stance. Juno assigned one of the trainees as a referee. “Are the both of you ready?”
“I’m ready.”
“So am I.”
She looked between Juno and Alviss before starting the fight. Juno readied herself as Alviss took the initiative and charged in full force. She was pushed back but before she could retaliate Alviss backed off. Juno readied herself for another attack but instead Alviss backed off some more.
‘Huh? Why isn’t she pushing?’ questioned Juno in her mind at Alviss’s action. Normally he would have rushed in but this time he didn’t. While Juno was still wondering Alviss sprang into action. He ran towards her, just as she readied up for an attack Alviss side stepped and ran around her. She couldn’t help but look confusedly at him as he ran around her again.
‘What are you planning?’ whispered Juno as to keep her surprise at a minimum. For the first minute or so all he did was run around her. Juno tried to keep up with Alviss movement but she started to lag behind. Soon Alviss charged in for an attack from behind. Juno heard the motion and quickly readied herself.
The attack was powerful but there was a lot of extra force behind it through the momentum. Juno quickly got ready to retaliated but once more Alviss next action surprised. Instead of continuing to attack, Alviss side stepped, dodging her attack and going back to her previous action of running around her.
Juno was puzzled by her rather unorthodox action, giving him time to attack again, catching her off guard. Once more she blocked the attack and tried to strike back but once more Alviss performed the same action yet again. He continued on with his method for a while, each time striking more frequent then the last.
Within a couple of minutes Juno was starting to pant a bit. Alviss went in for another strike. She blocked it again but this time she was ready. Getting ready to attack where Alviss would retreat to but once more she was surprised by his action. Now Alviss followed up his attack while she was busy for an attack. She managed to block it but was knocked back and dropped down to her knees.
‘That attack, she should be tired as well. So why…” Juno stopped her train of thought she noticed some sweat dripping, hitting her hand. It took a moment before she finally realized it. Juno couldn’t help but laugh at the realization of it.
“Clever bastard.” spoke Juno in a low voice that was half scorn and half praise. Alviss was panting as well but he also cracked a smile. “Figured it out already huh?”
****Flashback****
“So here’s how you beat her, you tire her out.” Alviss was sitting with the other girls and they were discussing how to beat Juno. He was a bit confused at her answer. “Tire her out?”
“She’s strong and fast but she is still around forty eight years old. Her old bones are not what they used to be.” Alviss was still a bit skeptical but continued to listen to what they still had to offer. “I’m sure you noticed it but she always tries to end the fight as quickly as possible. All of us got our butts handed to us quite quickly.”
He started to rationalize it and more he thought about it, the more it was making sense. “She has two flaws. Number one, she isn’t all that quick. At most she’ll charge in and attack but never fights aggressively. Number two, her attacks are quite weak. Most of the time, who ever she fights is tired out first. All you need to do is think of an strategy that uses these flaws.”
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‘Looks like she figured it out’ thought Alviss as he tried to keep his composure as to think up another plan. After racking his brain he concluded that he had no back up plan. He couldn’t help but click his tongue at his recklessness. ‘Well I could try ‘that’ but the question is, can I do it correctly?’
Alviss weighed the pros and cons of his next action but Juno had already figured out his strategy. This time she charged as Alviss defended. The roles were reversed now, Alviss was defending as she attacked recklessly. Both of them were tired but Alviss was losing more strength. ‘Looks like I have no choice then.’
He mustered as much forced as he could and pushed her back. Using his remaining strength he charged in for one final attack. He one handed his sword and came in for a high downward slash. Juno readied herself and was about to counter it but once more Alviss had one last surprise.
Before the swords connected Alviss let it go, making it fall down. He backed off as to not be hit by Juno. In the split second he charged in, grabbing his sword just as it was about to hit the ground. Following the momentum he went in for an upward slash.
“|Parrying Block|” In a millisecond Juno changed her motion and brought the sword back down. Blocking and deflecting his attack, he lost his grip and the sword fell to the ground. Alviss couldn’t really believed what had just transpired. Even the watchers were stunned before breaking out in a cheer for both Juno and Alviss.
Alviss let out a sigh and grabbed his sword before turning towards Juno. “It looks like it’s your win, again.” Alviss tried to not sound disappointed and put up a front. “No, it’s your win.” His eye widen at the sudden announcement of his victory.
“What do you mean? I lost.”
“That may be true but allow me to ask you this question. Have you ever seen me use a skill before.” Juno’s sudden question puzzled him before answering no.
“I don’t use skills because I’ve never really had to. During my life as a trainer here, only a few people have backed me into a corner where I accidentally used a skill. That’s an achievement in and for itself.” Juno showed with a warm smile that she was being sincere and extended her hand. Alviss couldn’t help but smile as well and accepted the handshake.
The trainees that helped Alviss ran over and embraced him. They started to congratulate him on being able to accomplish such a feat against Juno. They all chatted a bit before Juno shooed them off. They dragged Alviss back to the city and spent the night celebrating.
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Congratulation you finished the chapter. Want a hug?
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