It has been nearly two weeks since Reizo had gotten his troublesome pair of trainees. Just like every other day, he would have them spar with him at the crack of dawn before having them complete some missions. As usual, he would match the speed of his trainees as they sparred.
"Good, keep it up." He encouraged as he dodged a kick from Saliza. With each spar, Saliza's talent for fighting shone brighter and brighter. As her skills improved, Saliza began to enjoy the spars even more, often forgetting about the reward that came with winning.
Saliza spun her axe around and unleashed a barrage of slashes launched at different angles while giggling like a mad man.
It had gotten significantly harder to predict where her attacks would come from, especially with her unorthodox fighting style. She would often set her axe ablaze and whirl it around to shroud her movements in flames while launching attacks in such a strange way that it almost looked as if she was breakdancing.
It has been nearly two weeks since she's joined the vanguards, and yet she's making incredible progress. Her attacks have gotten much sharper and her technique and footwork has drastically improved. I've never seen anyone with such an absurd amount of talent before, it's almost as if she was born to be a vanguard.
After dodging the flurry of slashes, Reizo threw a quick jab at Saliza. She slipped under his arm and retaliated with a jab of her own to his face. Reizo tilted his head to avoid the jab and backed away to gain some distance, only for Saliza to immediately close it as she continued her onslaught of attacks.
With elegant footwork, she circled around Reizo and assaulted him from all directions in an attempt to create an opening. Unfortunately for her, Reizo still had the unfair advantage of being able to react to her attacks far faster than she could throw them.
While dodging her swings, Reizo created a metal baton in hand. With one swift strike, he knocked her axe out of her hand, ending the spar.
"Ah, another close one. I bet I'll finally get a hit in tomorrow." Saliza laughed.
"Your skills have improved, but I still don't quite understand how you came up with such a bizarre way of fighting."
"I guess I'm just sort of doing what what feels right at the moment, y'know. Like my body tells me I should do this then I do this, or if it says do that then I do that."
It's hard to understand what she's trying to say, but I'm guessing what she means is that she's following her instincts as she fights, relying on it to guide her movements. It's not unheard of, but only a handful of people are capable of doing so.
"You're up Zeigel!" Saliza called out. "You can do it!"
"No I can't. If you can't hit him then what chance do I have?" Zeigel complained, but still he took up the challenge.
He's still as pessimistic as ever, but at least he doesn't give up as easily now.
"Gimme a sec, I need to do some stretching first. Gotta keep my body healthy and whatnot."
He's definitely planning on using that same trick again. He'll try to catch me off guard by creating roots at the bottom of his feet and having them dig through the ground and strike me from below. It was a little surprising the first time, but now he's just making it too obvious.
The slight rumbling underneath Reizo told him when the roots would reach him. He leapt back right before sharp roots could burst out from the ground and stab him.
A sinister smile on Zeigel's face warned him of another trick up his sleeve. By registering the roots he had just created as an equipment, Zeigel could cast spells through it, allowing him to fire a lighting bolt from the roots.
A faint smile briefly appeared on Reizo's face.
So he wasn't just repeating the same trick again. My apologies for doubting you, Zeigel.
Reizo dodged to the side, and as soon as he did, Zeigel's sword came flying towards him. He dodged to the side to avoid it, but noticed a thin metal thread tied to the handle of the sword that connected it to Zeigel's hand, allowing him to cast spells through the sword.
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A burst of flames changed the sword's trajectory, sending it towards Reizo who parried it away just in time.
Right after that, Zeigel came rushing towards Reizo, lobbing fireballs at him with a desperate look on his face. It was easy to avoid the fireballs, but Reizo knew that this wasn't just some desperate attempt at hitting him.
Once he was close enough, Zeigel shut his eyes and raised his hand. He released a bright flash of lightning from his palm, blinding Reizo.
I knew something was off when he closed his eyes all of a sudden. Not a bad move, but he needs to make it a little less obvious.
As Zeigel opened his eyes, he noticed that Reizo's palm was aimed at him. A wind blast shot out of his palm and knocked him to the ground, ending the spar.
"I swear, this spar is rigged." Zeigel groaned.
"That was your best attempt so far. Keep it up." Reizo encouraged while handing his sword back to him.
"Keep it up he says, as if he'll actually let me win." Zeigel grumbled under his breath.
Saliza ran over to Zeigel and threw her arms around him. "Nice one Zeigel, you nearly got him!"
"But I didn't." He groaned.
"Don't be so glum, we can always try again tomorrow."
"It's going take a shit load of tomorrows before we can actually land a hit on him."
"If you're done chatting, there's something I'd like to check." Said Reizo. His trainees stopped their chatter and looked at him.
Reizo cleared his throat and continued. "After nearly two weeks, you two should be close to hitting level 10. Let me have a look at your stats just to confirm."
The two did as they were told and summoned their stats screens for Reizo to see.
Zeigel's stats:
STATS
LEVEL: 7
ATK: 7
DEF: 7
SPD: 7
AVAILABLE POINTS: 0
MANA: 78/100
SKILLS
No skill slot available
EQUIPMENT
[Zinite Short Sword]
[Light Zinite Armour]
[EMPTY]
[EMPTY]
Saliza's stats:
STATS
LEVEL: 9
ATK: 11
DEF: 3
SPD: 13
AVAILABLE POINTS: 0
MANA: 100/100
SKILLS
No skill slot available
EQUIPMENT
[Saliza's cute mask]
[Cool looking axe]
[Shiny armour]
[EMPTY]
During every hunting mission, Saliza would always get the majority of the kills thanks to her higher ATK and SPD stat. As a result, there was now a gap in levels between the two trainees.
"Good. Once one of you reaches level 10, you two will begin hunting three star monsters."
"Really? I can't wait!" Saliza cheered.
"Shouldn't the both of us reach level 10 before we start hunting three star monsters?" Zeigel asked in concern.
"Reaching level 10 is recommended, not required."
"Yeah but it's recommended for a reason right?"
"You'll be fine. I've seen vanguards slay three star monsters before reaching level 10."
I know he's worried that I'll make him fight a three star monster at his current level, and it is what I'm planning to do, but he needs stop being such a defeatist. He's far more capable than he thinks he is, but he refuses to accept it due to his cowardice and lack of motivation.
"Let's move on to the missions for the day."
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There were a total of three missions for the day. They had to gather fruits for two of them and hunt a group of monsters for the other one. It took less than an hour to complete them all and by the end of it, Zeigel was left cursing in frustration.
"I'm fucked!"
"I said I'm sorry." Saliza apologized.
"I am so fucked! No amount of apologizing will unfuck me!"
During the hunting mission, Saliza singlehandedly wiped out the entire group of monsters they were hunting and leveled up.
"I told you to let me get the kills this time! I needed the exp!"
"You did? I must've zoned out when you said that, my bad."
"I'm doomed! How am I suppose to fight a three star monster under leveled?"
"Head back to the headquarters first Saliza. I want to have a word with Zeigel." Reizo ordered.
"Uh, sure. See you later Zeigel." She waved before leaving.
Zeigel nervously approached Reizo with a grim look on his face. He anxiously gulped before he spoke. "Yes?"
"Are you interested in a way to level up quickly?"
"There's a way to do that?" Zeigel asked In disbelief.
"There is, but this method can't be used as frequently as hunting monsters for your missions, hence why I'm only letting you do it. It's also illegal, so there's that too."
"So what's the method?" Zeigel impatiently asked.
...He's a little too eager to break the law.
"I can't tell you the details right now, but if you really are interested, then meet me at the gate in the afternoon. For now, go rest up."
"Got it. I'll see you in the afternoon then."
Once Zeigel was gone, Reizo got to creating a large metal cage. After creating one, he began searching the forest for a gendion while carrying around the cage.
It took awhile, but he was able to find the elusive monster. This gendion had a claw mark on its back and was surrounded by decimated ciraken corpses. The only ciraken alive was pinned under its claws, desperately screeching and flailing as one of its wings was slowly being torn off its back by razor sharp jaws.
The gendion took its time ripping the wings off the ciraken, and when there were none left, it began tearing off its limbs, savouring its cries of agony.
This'll do. If Zeigel can defeat this, I'm sure he'll begin to have more confidence in himself.