Chapter 44

"Form 1!" Cid barked; Tobias, with a chipped and weathered sword, drew up in an arcing form as Cid drew down, in an inverse of the very same movement.

"Form 2!" He ordered. Tobias shifted the blade in his hands and drew it to the side.

"Parry!" The slow motion dance continued, and Riley watched with interest.

Things had changed; they were still hard, but there was food, some level of understanding, and with it, a new motion to their days.

Another week had bled by since that fateful morning, and her body was feeling better and, if anything, stronger. They had been sleeping through the night and starting each day like this, running through the ten forms and defensive positions of Calarian swordsmanship.

"Wrong!" Cid cried before striking Tobias' shoulder with the pommel of his sword.

"Do you have to hit so hard?" He dropped his guard to rub at his shoulder, only for Cid to slam both hands into Tobias' chest, knocking him to the ground.

"Never drop your defense in front of an opponent. Pain is a punishment for stupidity; get smarter, and you might survive to hurt less!" He snapped, but for all his aggression, Riley could see the signs of care at the edges of his malice.

Tobias rolled back into a defensive position and then rose in a diagonal projection towards Cid, drawing up into form 1, sweeping from the bottom up in a leftward arc.

Cid caught the blade and parried, moving in a feint that Tobias caught. He leapt back before snapping his sword to a central defense, catching the deadlier blow.

"You learn fast. I like that. Now form up. Let's go through those positions again and tighter this time!" Cid barked.

Riley took a deep breath and, bored, began playing with her prompts, finally pulling at her map.

"We've been going in circles?" The path out of Ashenvale was clear, with the successive rings of defensive walls, but from what she could see against what she could not, they had been ranging in a wide loop just outside the final wall.

Riley looked towards Cid and Tobias. It seemed at that moment that Cid was teaching her things, too.

"Always check my prompts," it was easy to forget they were there, even with the notifications that popped in the upper right of her vision, especially when she was being run to death. Still, for the last few days, she had the easier part.

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Hares did not use swords. She didn't have the thumbs for it, which still kind of annoyed her, but that did leave her time for grazing and resting before the day's run.

She felt a bit guilty watching Tobias work when she had time to graze, rest, and reflect.

"So this isn't so bad, and I have my magic. It's actually pretty fair," She said to herself, not wanting to distract Tobias.

The heavy sounds of hilt meeting flesh passed over her ears once again.

"Mmmmm…" Tobias groaned, shoving down the pain, snapping back into a ready stance, shaking his head.

"You're getting smarter with every hit!" Cid encouraged.

Not wanting to watch, Riley reached out towards her prompts again.

You have been afflicted with the debuff "potion fatigue"

You have been afflicted with the debuff "exhausted," experience gains halved so long as this debuff persists.

Your stamina has increased. Progress to level 2-1 now at 95%.

Complete level ascension to continue progression!

Analyze is at 95% of 2-1

Chaos Bolt is at 5% of 2-1

Plant whisper is at 60% of 2-1

Healing Halo is at 70% of 2-1

Riley felt a strange surge of guilty pride at her plant whisperer level. It had gotten a workout the last three days when she found a particularly tasty patch of grass and clover to glean from.

She had farmed the hell out of that patch, her hunger seemingly never ending.

Scanning around the forest to the sound of clanging swords, a new realization dawned.

"This whole world is a kind of an all you can eat buffet," Her eyes went wide, and her tail twitched with gluttonous avarice.

Another clang distracted her, but to her surprise, this time, it was not Tobias but Cid on the ground.

Tobias looked smug.

"Good move, Cid replied, rolling to one side, striking Tobias' wrist away from him, then, while pushing his hand one way, slapping against the fingers wrapped around the blade, wrenching it so the pommel was facing Tobias' face.

Cid popped him in the chin. Tobias struggled back, only for the old instructor to hold the tip at his neck.

"Mercy and hesitation will get you killed. You haven't won till your opponent is dead, not disarmed, not incapacitated, but dead," Cid flipped the weapon over and held it out for Tobias to take.

"I understand," He nodded grimly as Cid drew up beside him and slapped his shoulder.

"You do? Then I look forward to seeing it in the future," he smiled, his eyes sparkling with mirthful menace.

"You want me to kill you?" Tobias balked.

"I want you to try. Now, have you ever ridden a cockatrice before?" Cid rubbed at his chin over his long scar.

"No, I suppose that's another thing to learn?" Tobias reasoned.

"That'll come. We need to move today; will you be comfortable holding on, you think. Can you do that and handle Riley?" Cid asked, treating Tobias almost like an equal.

"Probably, may I ask why, Sir?" Tobias wondered.

"We have a mission, and I need you fresh. It's time to apply some of what you learned," As if that settled matters, Cid began mounting things to his cockatrice, loading his saddle bags, and preparing to deploy. Finally, he took his black blade sword up from the ground and slotted it home within its scabbard at his waist.

"You think I'm ready?" Tobias asked, trotting over to grab his rucksack.

"Give it here," Cid held out his hand as Tobias passed it over. Cid hooked it to the saddle horn before shaking his head. "No, I don't think you're ready, but I am, and that's what training is for, to get you ready. Now, are we done having tea?"

Tobias chuckled in spite of himself. "Riley." He called as she hopped up beside him.