Pallet actually showed up much sooner than I expected. We hadn’t even been here for an hour!

“So you failed to retrieve your robes.” He said as soon as he saw me.

“Yeah, well, most saintesses fail their first time, so it’s not that strange.”

“True, but it is still disappointing. I was hoping for a good fight.”

“Well, if you are fine with us, we are still willing to fight you.” I offered.

“Why would you do that? You won’t be able to win.”

“We know.” It’s rude to point that out though. “But it’s one of our goals to defeat you, even if we end up losing dozens of times in the process!” I declared, getting some surprised shouts from the people around us.

“Hmm, interesting. I accept. Let’s see how you’ve grown since last time.” He smiled.

“Oh, there’s something you need to know first,” I say, motioning for him to lean over. I then whispered. “If we end up using our super buff, be aware that any spells I cast, including healing spells, completely dispel the buff, and I need to enter patient’s analysis to use it, so please be careful. I won’t really be able to help should something happen.” I informed him. Hmm, that gives me an idea. “Oh! If you decide that we need to stop, you can just cast a healing spell on her.”

“What an odd buff, to dispel whenever anyone casts a spell on her.”

“Ah, no, that only happens when I do it, as my spells tend to calm my berzerk mana. I want you to cast a spell because that’s something I can notice even in patient’s analysis, so I can then quickly stop my buff.”

“Ah, I understand.”

“So, yeah, don’t push too far, or else I’ll have to tattle on you to the Cardinal. And, since that would be your second offense, I’m sure your punishment wouldn’t be fun.” I smiled.

“Ah, yes. I’ll be careful.” He flinched. Take that.

“And one final thing, I sadly can not just send Melly on a berzerk rampage against you like last time, as that requires me to draw power from my mana to activate, for now at least. So the buff will be far more limited in usefulness.”

“Oh, that is disappointing. Still, I’m looking forward to your growth, especially as you have set me as a goal.” He smiled sinisterly.

“Of course! We will destroy you, no matter how long it takes.” I promised while smiling back, making him flinch.

“Has anyone told you that you can be terrifying?”

“Yeah, especially after my mana was enhanced.”

“Makes sense, your mana is quite ferocious.”

“Are you guys ready?” Melly asked as the crowd started to get restless.

“I am, what about you?”

“I am always ready. Cast your buffs first, you won’t last a second without them.”

“Let’s go, Melly!” I cheered as I gave her all of my ‘normal’ buffs. Now, let’s see how much we have improved from our monster ascension!

“Right!” She shouted as she charged forward with a downward slash. Pallet, probably wanting to push us to just use my super buff, hit her blade slightly, causing it to miss him, before immediately following with a slash at her stomach.

Phew, it’s a good thing we are using dull practice swords, otherwise that probably would have ended our fight there. Still, I didn’t expect Melly to be hit so soon. At least I had already started a spell in preparation anyway. And, thanks to the dragon core, my heals have become noticeably stronger. And Melly, trusting in my healing, didn’t retreat.

Melly stopped her redirected slash and shifted to a horizontal slash towards Pallet’s ‘exposed’ side. Pallet surprisingly needed a slight jump to actually dodge it, as he showed a slight expression of surprise, not that it even slowed his next attack, a diagonal slash that a buffed Melly was barely able to block. Wow, Pallet is a monster. He’s not even using any buffs!

As their blades collided, instead of backing off and trying a different attack, Pallet used a well-placed kick to ruin Melly’s balance, disrupting her block, and letting Pallet’s attack get through, hitting her in the arm. Phew, if Melly hadn’t adjusted her stumble then, it would have been her face that was hit. But, her ability to react has revealed a potential weakness of Pallet.

“He has a similar growth to you, so your diverse buffs will give you an advantage in other areas!” I advised as I healed her.

“Correct, but.” He said as he stabbed at Melly, getting a glancing hit while dodging Melly’s counter slash. “Do you really think that will change anything?” He smirked as he once again redirected Melly’s attack while following up with his own.

Well, maybe? It’s up to Melly to decide that. All I can do is delay our defeat by healing every wound that she receives. Haa, it’s moments like this, where no matter how much I do, how much I try, nothing will change, that really crush me as a healer.

There’s just… nothing I can do but believe and hope (and heal) as Melly desperately did everything she could to just. not. lose. as her situation continuously worsens.

She tried slashing from strange angles, just to be countered even more esoterically.

She tried fighting defensively, but that only gave Palled free rein to attack however he pleased.

She tried countering his blows, but even her best attempts could never find the slightest of openings.

She tried attacking in strange and unconventional (even idiotic) ways, just for Pallet to counter even more esoterically. Somehow…

She even tried to trade blows, using reckless attacks that should have forced Pallet to either retreat or get hit. As usual, it didn’t work out.

In the end, with every attack, came a new injury. Every clash, a new wound. Every mistake was punished. Every assault was dealt with. Nothing was working and Melly was losing. As Pallet countered every. single. thing Melly attempted with cavalier ease, I truly realized just how outclassed we were.

And it was all made even worse by Pallet’s dull, almost bored face and his constant chatter, mocking Melly’s every mistake while taunting her to keep on fighting

Honestly, if it wasn’t for everyone’s cheers, I would have forgotten just how impressive Melly’s performance actually was. Yeah, every time their swords clashed, Melly got one step closer to losing, but that was all.

Yeah, Melly is going to lose, no doubt about that.

But she hasn't lost yet,

“Come on, Melly,” I mutter. Just, one, hit! You’ve gotten so close a few times already…

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Sadly, no matter how much I hoped for an upset, even an extremely minor one, the pattern stayed the same. And despite how much of a fight Melly was putting up, eventually, she was going to lose. And now, that time has come.

After one last deflection, Pallet held his blade to Melly’s throat. “I win.” He declared. As Melly started to feel down, the crowd congratulated her for how well she fought.

Pallet then interrupted, “Are we going to continue, or are you done?” Haa. While that probably wasn’t a taunt, it sure felt like one.

“What do you think, Melly?” I asked. No matter what, I will never force Melly to use my weird buffs.

“Well, I doubt it would change anything, but we might as well try.” She agreed.

“Good. Ever since the Saintess told me that your usable buff differs from what I experienced, I’ve wanted to see its true face.” Pallet approved. He then stood there patiently, apparently letting us have the first move.

Well, no reason to delay then. So, after taking one last look to mark Pallet’s location, I entered patient’s analysis… replaced Melly’s buffs… and charged.

…And then frantically forced my way out of patient’s analysis to see what happened.

I, sadly but understandably, missed. Pallet actually had to dodge though, so I count that as a win as I reenter patient’s analysis to guide Melly’s next attack.

I once again had to exit my view, analyze the situation, just to reenter it to attack.

This cycle repeated, continuously, as I can’t see anything while in patient’s analysis (or do anything outside of it), forcing me to constantly leave it, check what was happening, and return to it, just to leave again for every. single. attack. I had to repeat this nauseating process over and over and over and OVER! For who knows how long, it felt like hours but it very well could have been mere seconds, I continued my fruitless endeavor, only stopping once Melly, of all things, couldn’t continue anymore; despite my continuous healing.

And, eugh, I really feel like throwing up now that we’re done fighting.

And you want to know the worst part about all of this? We didn’t even hit him once! All the pure, overwhelming power I could ask for, and it was just as effective as the flailings of a child…

“So that was your secret weapon. I can see how that would help you fight a monster. Sadly, your ability to use it against human opponents is quite… lacking.” Pallet commented.

I answered after regaining some equilibrium (Thank the Gods healing works on migraines). “That’s right. The problem is that I am the one in control, and I am not nearly as capable in combat as Melly. In addition, I have to be in patient’s analysis to actually control the spell, causing my already limited skill to be even further hindered.” I sighed. “And rapidly entering and exiting it sucks.”

“Is there no way to change that?” He asks with a surprising amount of pity.

“Not that I can see, I need to be able to detect my mana to manipulate it, after all. And, without me controlling the buff, the best Melly can do is stand around like a statue, resisting the buff trying to mimic a seizure.”

“I see. Well, I’ve heard about your capabilities at doing the impossible, so I’m looking forward to you fixing that issue.” Haa, me and you both. “So, shall we go again?”

What? “You want to spar again?” Melly asked.

“Correct.”

“Why?”

“Simple, while your growth and determination are quite impressive, at the rate you are improving it will take several years for you to even scratch me. As such, I felt that I should accelerate that process.” He explained. “So, let’s keep on sparring. Don’t worry, with the Saintess helping you, it won’t be hard to beat my lessons into you.” He smiled.

“Uh, Melly?” That doesn’t sound right.

“Thank you for your offer, I will do my best!” She agreed.

“Are you sure? It doesn’t sound like this will be pleasant.” I hesitated.

“And when have I ever let that stop me? I want to get stronger, Eli. Please, can you help me?” She bowed. Hey, bowing is my thing!

“Haa, fine. Just try not to hurt yourself too much. And! I won’t always be able to assist you, so make sure you keep your training reasonable.” I relented. How can I not help her after everything she’s done for me?

“Great! Now, let’s begin.” Pallet said excitedly. Haa, this is going to suck, isn’t it.

“Please go easy on her, she won’t stop on her own.”

“Good, I had all but given up on properly teaching as everyone kept giving up before they could start getting results. This may prove worthwhile even if you abandon your grudge against me.” He laughed. Haa, I’ve just made things worse. “Now, let’s start.” Pallet said as he pulled a metal rod out of his bag.

Huh, what’s that for?

As I wondered, Pallet soon bashed Melly’s leg and said. “Your stance is too thin.”

Oh, that’s why. Unlike with a sword, that won’t do quite as much damage. But man, does it look like it hurts. As I go to heal Melly, Pallet stops me.

“Don’t use any pain relief in your spell.”

“What!? Why?”

“I’ve found that pain is the best teacher for overcoming mistakes. Besides, if she can’t deal with a little pain, she’ll never become a proper vanguard.”

“Haa, I understand,” I responded as I removed the minor pain relief parts of my spells. Man, how do we just keep finding new ways to torment ourselves…

______

So, we spent the next few hours training with Pallet. And yes, it was horrible, but Melly isn’t one to ever give up, especially when it involves getting stronger.

Sadly, during her training, I suddenly thought, well at least it wasn’t me this time.

When I did though, I just, I felt really… bad. It’s not the sort of thing I would normally feel. I just, why did I think that!? I’m sorry, Melly, I, I won’t do it again! I promise.

I, I wasn’t serious. I just, I just… I’ve been through a lot lately. I’m just a bit stressed. I didn’t actually mean it!

…

Haa, I really am stressed. Here I am, apologizing to myself, for something I didn’t actually do. I really need to relax a bit.

Oh yeah! Hansen said that the mud slugs had a surprise for me! I was busy over the last few weeks, so I haven’t even had the chance to learn what it is yet. I should do that soon, especially now that I shouldn’t have to worry about the dragon anymore.

Okay! I’m going to ask Hansen about that after dinner.

Anyway, Pallet surprisingly ended our training after only a few hours. It wasn’t even close to time for dinner.

“That’s enough for today.” Pallet announced.

“What? Why? I can keep going.” Melly questioned.

“Training too much is just a waste. You need to properly comprehend what you’ve been taught to get the best results. Otherwise, you won’t truly understand why I changed what I did.” He explained. “So, I expect that tomorrow, instead of just blindly doing what I told you to do, you fully realize why I told you to.”

“Ah, I understand. Thank you for the advice and teachings.” Melly bowed in thanks. Huh, she’s being surprisingly respectful.

“Good. I will be testing you tomorrow.” Palled said as he left.

“So… what wisdom did he just impart?” I asked.

“Nothing new, I was reminded that if you want basic improvement, you simply need to practice a lot. If you want to really advance, though, you must spend time properly analyzing and digesting what you’ve been taught.” She started to explain. “That’s how you overcome the second bottleneck most warriors experience. While most know how to fight well, many don’t truly understand what they are doing. Not actively at least.” She added seeing my confusion.

“Second?”

“Yes, the first is understanding how to properly integrate your mana and enhanced physique into your fighting style. People who were taught a proper style rarely need to worry about that, though, so it only really affects anyone self-taught. As such, people usually go through that stage fairly quickly.”

“Oh yeah. So, are there any other limits?”

“Only one more, other than the standard limits everyone has, of course.” She sighed. Yeah, that one’s normally a bit harder to surpass. “Anyway, the third and final limit is that you can only get so skilled while staying safe. To reach your true potential, you must truly test yourself. In dangerous situations. Most people aren’t willing to do that though.” She paused. “Like my father.” She muttered.

“Yeah, I can see why that would be a limit. Especially with how dangerous that could be.” I say, not quite knowing how to respond to her last statement.

“Haha, I can see the curiosity on your face, Eli. It’s fine, I promised I would tell you about myself.” And that I would tell you about myself in return…

“Okay, though, before I tell you, we should first eat some food. Do you think they are still serving lunch?” Melly asked.

“Well, at my church they wouldn’t, but this church has guests more often, so they might.” I guessed.

“Let’s try at least. Worst case scenario, we’ll just eat some rations.” She suggested as we headed towards the kitchen.